What, Again?

Yes, I changed it again. But I added another link to the links list, changed the titles of the various sections from the boring defaults to something a little more...me ("Previous Posts" became "What I Said" for example). I think (we'll see if it works) I'll add my Launchcast station to the links, too.

And now, it's time for another installment of 1-2-3 Magic Theater. Last time, our hero was doing well under the new discipline program. Stay tuned! We're back! Ryan is still doing well. He seems to have even picked up the stoicisim that we have to exhibit when disciplining. The first few times he went to time-out, he carried on (with much wailing and gnashing of teeth). Now, he hits the chair, and sits quietly for his 3 minutes (no fuss, no muss!). That is a wonder in and of itself. So, we're pleased.

As I was driving down the interstate today, I listened to Shining Like a National Guitar, a Paul Simon Greatest Hits album on my iPod. The Cool, Cool River came on, and I felt. The last section played and Paul sang:

And these streets
Quiet as a sleeping army
Send their battered dreams to heaven, to heaven
For the mother’s restless son
Who is a witness to, who is a warrior
Who denies his urge to break and run
Who says: hard times? I’m used to them
The speeding planet burns
I’m used to that
My life’s so common it disappears
And sometimes even music
Cannot substitute for tears

I've always thought this to be a particularly moving bit, and today, as some other times, it welled up in me, bringing those tears.

--Beav (I got something in my eye, that's all)

And a little tuck there...

In case you hadn't noticed, I've given the blog a little facelift. The decision stemmed from a few things. Apart from wanting to see something a little different after a while, I also wanted to add a "my favorite links" section. I wanted to put that on my Yahoo360 page, but there doesn't seem to be a mechanism for it, and here is just as good a spot. So, there it is now, on the right, a small list that will grow fairly quickly. Also, I found that the "archives" box was pushing the latest blog entry further and further down away from its title. It was starting to get ridiculous, and this template eliminates that flaw.

So, how do you like it?

--Beav

"Save my Baby!"

Is it really that time of year again? Yes, Spring is on the way, so once again I'm saying "send me money!" But it really is for a good cause. March of Dimes is all about researching and preventing birth defects, and WalkAmerica is their biggest fundraiser of the year. As it happens, prematurity is considered a birth defect, and no one is really sure why babies are sometimes born early. So this is our focus. Anyway...on April 30th, I'll be walking 5 miles along the boardwalk in Virginia Beach, and I need sponsors to make that walk worth something. So check out my page at http://www.walkamerica.org/beaver1224 and help me help the babies.

Speaking of babies...our first is doing very well. Getting more well-behaved by the day. It hasn't been the requisite 3 weeks yet, but the progress is sufficient enough for an update I think. He hasn't had more than 4 time-outs since we started. I'd say about 75% of the time, we never have to go past "1." Awesome.

Our second is also doing well. He is much more active than Ryan was. (Which is good, cause I never got to feel Ryan do anything. He hid from me.) He's progressing very well, and we're happy.

--Beav (Ooh baby, baby.)

That's 3, take 5.

Wow. Saundra and I found a new discipline program this week: 1-2-3- Magic. It uses time-out, which is not unusual, but what I found interesting is that it stresses "no talking-no emotion." Essentially, Dr. Phelan (the psychologist who developed it) thinks that parents talk too much when disciplining their children. They aren't little adults who can be reasoned with, they are children and fairly unreasonable. Well, the program intrigued us, so we started it last night. It took a while to see how things were going to work, because Ryan was very good last night. But we did have an episode as we were starting dinner.

I counted him out (as the program suggests, with no emotion, and no talking other than the count) and took him to his time-out. After 3 minutes, his time-out was done and he came back down and started in on his dinner without fuss. A few minutes later, he started to disbehave again. I counted 1, and then 2, and he stopped and said (quietly) "no-o-o-o..."

Results so quickly! Well, we'll see how well it does over time. In 3 weeks, I'll let you all know how it's going.

Oh, and quote of the day: "...about as useful as a hot sister." When I heard that, I almost fell to the ground laughing.

--Beav (hot sisters have hot friends, don't they?)