Steven Helmer Publications

My oldest daughter is a very bright child and can easily get A's on most of her tests in school. But, she also tends to be a bit lazy when it comes to turning in her homework and it is starting to affect her grades. My tough love approaches haven't been working so I changed course and made her a deal. She is a big K-pop fan, especially when it comes to the band BTS and I'm using that to my advantage. Starting with this semester, I have offered to purchase BTS merchandise for her if her end-of-semester GPA is 2.5 or higher. The maximum amount spent on that merchandise is based on the GPA itself. 2.5 = $25. 4.0 = $40, for example. So far, this seems to have worked. Last night alone she turned in roughly 10 missing homework assignments and bumped up one of her class grades by two scores. Today, she was getting clarification about where she stood in each of her classes so she could figure out what she needed to do to make sure she had the highest possible grade in each...

Of course, my first reaction (jokingly) was "why do I need to go to the orientation, I already graduated high school." But, I must admit, the informational meeting was pretty informative and I did come out feeling a lot more confident about my oldest daughter starting her freshman year next month. The thing I found I liked best about their setup is how they have a class period that is set aside to either "enhance" or "intervene." In other words, if a student is doing good in all of his/her classes, they can participate in an additional activity but, if they are struggling in a class, that period is used for extra time with the teacher. This was something my daughter actually needed last year, when she was struggling in algebra. She knew she needed help but her teacher never seemed to be available to help her. I'm glad, at least at the high school level, they are recognizing this is a need. I'm still not a big fan of the fact they allow studen...

My daughter started up again last night (a week later than planned due to some ice issues). And, from what I can tell, had no rust despite having a month off. In total, we were there about two hours last night, giving me plenty of time to read. I think I made more progress in my book in one night than I did in the week leading up to it. The start up of ice season did mean having to plan dinner accordingly. Good thing we have two crock pots. I ended up making pork ribs and potatoes and they were ready to be eaten by the time I got home from work, giving us both a chance to eat before we were at the rink.

I still think there's a screw up somewhere. I'm finding it really hard to believe she's going to be a high school freshman next year. I know I wasn't changing her diapers just a few weeks ago, but I could have sworn she was in elementary school last year.

Because, apparently, "I went another year without strangling your grandkids" isn't enough of a present.

Next week is the start of ice show rehearsals, which basically means my daughter and I can plan on pretty much living at the ice rink for the next month or so. We're pretty much veterans of this now so it shouldn't be too terrible. The hardest part will be making sure she stays on top of her homework, especially on Mondays, when she needs to be there not long after school is over until just before she would normally be going to bed. I guess I should get some books to read since I'm going to be there too. The ice show, if anyone is interested, is Rapunzel's Story and there will be four shows April 20-22. http://www.swancityiceskaters.org/page/show/1287589-swan-city-ice-show

Her elementary school had its concert this week (I snapped a photo of the empty stage before it started) so, instead of being able to stay home last night, my wife and I attended that. Her third grade class did a good job. I especially liked their kazoo version of the Nutcracker and they were probably the only class that acted like they wanted to be there. Most of the other kids honestly looked like they were being punished or something.

My oldest daughter, Azalea, officially becomes a teenager today. It's something I knew would eventually happen. But, it sure did seem to happen a lot faster than expected. After thirteen years of parenthood, I think I've come to a realization. Everyone, upon becoming a parent for the first time, thinks they will be a perfect mom/dad to the perfect child. But, eventually, reality sets in and they realize there is no such thing. My wife and I have made mistakes. Our daughter has made just as many. And, all we can do is be patient, do our best, let her become her own person and hope things turn out OK.

Last night, I got a cup of water to drink while watching a movie with my wife. The cup had a lid (too keep the cats out of it) and I needed a straw to drink it. I reached into the box of straws and pulled out a pink one. I immediately returned it to the box. This wasn't because I necessarily cared about what color the straw was (it's just going in the garbage anyway). It was because my youngest daughter loves the color pink and I wanted to leave it in the box for her. As I sat down, I realized it was one of those things us parents do for our kids that normally would go unnoticed.