A NIGHT

Any night spent drawing beats a night spent sleeping... hands down.

Gartening at Night

When I was in school, it was called "Kindergarten Round Up," as if kids during the summer months had been let run free-range all summer to the point that they resembled cattle. But tonight was the modern equivalent of just that. We took Chloe to her school. It was fun.

I like Chloe. I know I have said this before, but the truth of the matter is this: You HAVE to love your children. There's nothing anywhere that says you have to like them, but I really like her. She is really cool. I can already see things in her that I know will make her a great grown-up.

Chloe saw a lot of her old friends from last year. She ran up to them, called out their names and gave them all big hugs. My wife expressed concern that not many of the kids in her class this year, were in her pre-k class last year. Chloe responded, "But now I can make a bunch of NEW friends!" Optimism. It's still out there, and I'm proud to say a little bit of it lives with me.

Chapter Two: "How to be a Cool Dad (or Mom)"

Hook your kids up. Arm them with the stupidest knowledge. What is the stupidest knowledge? That's up to you. Here is an example:



Expose your children to insufferable amounts of pop music from your generation. While your kids are young, their tender minds will soak up the lyrics to "Material Girl" and "What I Like About You" like a thirsty sponge. With the way the recording industry and Hollywood are remaking EVERYTHING these days, this information is sure to come in handy in the future.

Throw a bunch of songs into their heads and watch the connections flow back to you. After the 300th time of singing "Puttin' on the Ritz" with my daughter, a funny thing happened. I'd sing the verse and she would respond with the refain. The call and response built to such a fevered pitch, that at one point she shouted in a monotonic growl, "Puttin' on the Ritz!"

She laughed. Then she said,"Wouldn't that be funny if a monster sang that part?" I had to explain to her that there was a movie where Frankenstien's monster (one of her favorites) actually does sing that. She's been bugging me to get Mel Brook's "Young Frankentstien" ever since. SOOOOOPAAAAAH DOOOOOPAAAAHHH!



...wait until she get's a load of Fred Astaire.