Thank you for faithfully reading, sharing, and telling your friends about my work over the past seven years. These Friday notes are quick-hitting topics that impact my parenthood but that stay just under the blog’s radar.
ICYMI, this week’s newest GBD piece chronicles my 14 year-old daughter’s three year mission to gain access to Snapchat, an app that her brothers have used since they were 12. Check it out here.
My Kids and Money
Recently I have discovered that my children never stop to assess the financial side of any decision – not how much they will make doing a job (my son refuses to ask what his wage is), not what a classmate may have paid for a pair of shoes they would like to buy themselves, and certainly never ask a clerk for the price of an unmarked item before plunking it down at the checkout stand. I should have thought harder about allowing my kids to add my debit card to their Apple Pay – ouch!
I’m not sure this is an indication of entitlement or social ineptitude. Either way, I am getting irritated with their collective lack of financial savvy.
Ben Rector’s “Live from Atlanta” album
I cannot stop listening to Ben Rector’s latest album, the full set of a recent show in Atlanta, Georgia. The only start-to-finish record I can recall having listened to this much was the Dave Matthews “Live at Luther College” from my college days.
I love this album and plan to attend his acoustic show near me in November.
Avatar: The Way of Water (and sitting for hours and hours)
My kids and I pushed ourselves for four solid evenings to get all the way through the latest edition of the Avatar franchise. The story was great, the effects were stunning, but the movie was – WAY TOO LONG for anyone. The film was so long, in fact, that we had forgotten how Sully’s family had united with their water people cohorts by the end. There is no big pay off at the end because you cannot remember where it all started.
My quick rating: 2 out of 5.
Weekly Wrap Up
I’m suddenly starting to feel the urge to think about the end of the relaxing days of summer. Maybe it was the high school principal’s email about the summer reading list, or the discovery that our first school day is on our 22nd wedding anniversary. Whatever the case may be, I am determined to hold on to every fleeting moment of this lull in kids’ activities. Every time I even think about the impending end of summer, I need to stop and re-group. After all, those worries can (and should) wait.
I hope you had a great week and will have a tremendous weekend with your family. Thank you for reading and following along.
Toby
