Those Were the Days, My Friend, We Thought Would Never End - Did You Ever Own A Big Wheel?



Parents love their children and want all the good things for them. You want them to be intelligent; but intelligence is a nebulous term. What you want is that they can solve problems and that they possess good judgement; choose not to take drugs; choose not to smoke or drink; choose the right friends; learn how to handle money, never spend more than they earn, handle credit wisely; believe in God, learn to have unshakable faith; pick a good spouse, grow up and be a parent that doesn't enable; don't be influenced by liberals. All we as a parent can do is model the right behaviors and hope the kids learn from and survive our own mistakes of judgement.




When does a boy become a man? Can you pick what day that happened? Can you pick what year? What are the determining factors? It must have a lot to do with how soon a child has to assume responsibilities. I think we all know that you can be an adult and a child at the same time. I wanted my children to stay children as long as they could. Play with toys. Believe in Santa and the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Rabbit. Stay curious and hopeful about the world. Be creative and use their imaginations. And we their parents make mistakes and our children are forgiving of us. We were never taught how to be a parent.




I love babies. A mom is the most important person in a child's life. Especially when they are babies, but holding them is just as satisfying to a father.




My second house on Hillendale built by A.W. Seekatz, builder of homes in the country. That tower you see rising behind the house was so I could turn the antenna towards Rockford when the Bear games were blacked out in Chicago.




I was divorced when Jill was in kindergarten. I had her on weekends, holidays, and most summers. I missed her on those week days when I would come home from work and she wasn't there and Tommy had to be alone.




Grandma's swing. Burns built this porch. When I visited Mississippi with my dad, he slept on this porch. It looks like we just returned from swimming at Thomas's pond.



Two of my favorite people. Tommy was their first grandchild and since they had three daughters, him being a boy was an added reason to adore him. They did. He was ALWAYS their favorite and they were very generous to him. Grandpa Stenberg was a hero of WWII. His ship was on fire and he kept going below deck to get more men out.



A motel on the way to the farm. How cool is that Gulf gas station?




A visit to the Lincoln Park Zoo.




Jill on her Big Wheel. I miss grass. I miss the lake at the end of the block. I miss Wisconsin's good roads and schools. I don't miss the snow. I don't miss Wisconsin's graduated income tax.