THE WALDRONS

Earlier this morning, Austin gave a short speech to all of the teachers in the Chittenango school district, to kick-off their ‘Professional Development Day’. And while Keith has reservations/concerns about using a select number of advanced students to over-inflate the confidence of teachers when they should instead be concentrating on the difficulties they have advancing the lives of children who do not arrive at their classrooms as ready to learn…it was an honor, nonetheless, for our boy to be selected to represent his entire school as a ‘presenter’. A few weeks ago, the principal of Austin’s school had called to ask if it would be okay for Austin to participate in the event – one student was being selected from each elementary school (and the middle school) to present to the audience what they liked about their school and their own personal goals; the principal had selected Austin. This was […]

Keith took the day off from work today to spend the day with the birthday girl; she had a busy day! After walking Austin to the bus stop, Victoria and Keith went to the coffee shop in town for pancakes (and sausage, for her). Later in the morning, after a bath, she went to the zoo, went out to eat for lunch, picked out her ice cream cake and came home – only to have her fall asleep on the couch. This was after she had a busy day yesterday too, when 3 families came over to the house to celebrate her special day. Her favorite gifts from the weekend included a new bicycle with training wheels and roller skates – each she has used in the house, because the weather remains damp and cool. If you ask her, Victoria will inform you, “I have been waiting my whole life […]

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Keith has recently decided to begin audio recording conversations with the kids…inspired by some the wonderful moments captured spontaneously by producers of some of his favorite podcasts. Two weeks ago, while at breakfast at the local coffee house with Austin (in our customary seats with our usual orders), Keith recorded a conversation that he would not have soon forgotten, even if the recorder hadn’t been running: Keith: So, I have to tell you something buddy. Austin: What Daddy? Keith: I was reading something on the computer last night that was posted to facebook by someone I know in Colorado, and I thought what he posted was a great idea. Do would like to hear what the gentleman’s idea was? AJ: Sure. Well…what is one of the first things that I do when I get home from work? Give me a hug and kiss? Yes, I do that. But after that. […]

While Christine was out for the evening, Victoria and I were eating pizza; Austin was eating chicken wings, because he does not like the feeling of the cheese if it gets stuck in his orthodontic appliance. Midway through our meal, Austin asked, “Who do you think is enjoying their meal more, Daddy? Me or you?” I don’t know,” I responded, “and we never will. You can never know how much I am enjoying my pizza and I can never know how much you are enjoying your wings.” “I have an idea Daddy,” he said, “Why don’t you give me a number to tell me how much you like your pizza tonight?” “Is a big number good or bad?” I asked. “Big numbers are better,” he replied, “How high can we go?” I wondered aloud. “10? 100? 1,000,000? Infinity?” “No Daddy…” Austin said, “…just 10. 10 means you like it the […]

At summer camp, the counselor was drawing caricatures of the children, Austin being one of them. After the counselor spent many minutes drawing, erasing and crafting a rendering of our son, he turned the work over for Austin to see. “Neat,” said Austin. “Thank you,” he said as the counselor handed over his art to our very polite boy, who then immediately walked to the garbage can and promptly disposed of the drawing. “Hey…why did you do that?” the counselor asked. “I am just going to have to throw it out when I get home, anyways. Now I don’t have to worry about losing it.”

It was one of those rare and special moments that a father cherishes. She was sitting on my lap cuddling peacefully with her favorite blanket while I read her a book when (for the first time) she put three words together consecutively to form her first legitimate sentence. She uses two syllables for names (i.e. “Mommy, Daddy, Harvey), but otherwise, our days are filled with “mine”, “bee”, “milk”, and other assorted monosyllabic utterances. Only with two exceptions (“all done” and “thank you”), will she speak with two words and even those are canned phrases that she has been conditioned to use in particular instances only. So when she put three words together in series for the first time, I praised her, gave her a huge hug and told her how proud I was before quickly and swiftly removing her from my lap. After all, that is what she asked for […]

Things have changed a lot over the years. When we were younger, her birthday dinners were at the Villa Roma, the River Palm, the Sea Shack or the Melting Pot. It was just the two of us at a quiet table (except at the Villa Roma, where Lilli was always loud…and we loved her for it!). We would sit and talk for two or three hours, discussing another year gone by and dreams and goals for the future. That was then… Now we have two children, one of whom (despite our best efforts) cannot sit still, can only be occupied for three minutes at a time, and talks very loudly. While she is yelling, he is dominating the conversation with questions and the insight of the average seven-year-old (which is an achievement considering that he just turned five). Very few eateries are suitable for the “energy” that we bring. There […]

Careful what you wish… There are moments in every day when I wish I could be where I am right now. The house is clean. Everything is where it belongs. The only screaming is on the radio and only if I am in the mood for that sort of thing. There are no constant interruptions. The football games are on. Even the cat and dog are getting alone. On most days, I would consider this is my utopia. This morning, I simply missed my family. …you just might get it.