Four years ago then 8-year-old Mack appeared to have some Mephistophelean help in his 5K.
Or has his mother said, “Whoever assigned the bib numbers for this race obviously knows Mack.”
Category Archives: Kids & Cute Stories
Most Popular Toys of Last 100 Years
1900-1909 Crayola Crayons
1910-1919 Raggedy Ann Dolls
1920-1929 Madame Alexander Collectible Dolls
1930-1939 View-Master 3-D Viewer
1940-1949 Candy Land
1950-1959 Mr. Potato Head
1960-1969 G.I. Joe
1970-1979 Rubik’s Cube
1980-1989 Cabbage Patch Kids
1990-1999 Beanie Babies
2000-Present Razor Scooter
Here are the details from Forbes, including other notable toys of each decade. (Article is from 2005.)
It Ought to Be a National Holiday
It’s the birthday of Mack, oldest of The Sweeties.
Happy Birthday, Mack!
The Pilgrims and the Made-Up Americans
This is Mack’s first Thanksgiving in school, so of course he’s hearing the public school version of the First Thanksgiving story. Some teachers don’t use the correct name for the indigenous people near Plymouth — Wampanoags — or even the preferred generic term — American Indians. They use the presumed politically correct term — Native Americans.
That’s what the teacher says, but what do the children hear?
Mack’s mother Jill reports:
“At school, Mack is learning about the first Thanksgiving. He came home today with a short story about it, which I asked him to read to me. It went well until he got to the first reference to what he called the ‘Made-Up’ Americans.”
First posted in 2006.
Halloween Sweeties 2012
The East Coast Sweeties on Halloween: Crypt-Master Alex, Jailbird Reid (a burglar last year), Mad Hatter Mack, Nerd Aidan and No.2 Pencil Kiley. Click for larger version.
Sam. His mother was also a bumble bee.
And though in real life she is an angel, Sofie as a devil.
If This Story
… makes you feel one-tenth as good as it does me, you’ll have a great day, too.
Jill reports on three-year-old Reidie:
Reid just woke up. He has a cold and he’s also having a hard time adjusting to the new schedule — he naps, and then he can’t go to sleep at night, and then he gets up late, and then he won’t nap and he’s exhausted by 7:00…
Anyway, he just woke up and I asked him (as I always do), “What did you dream about?”
“Darth Vader was chasing me.”
“Oh no! Were you scared?”
“No.”
“Really? I would have been scared.”
“Grandpa was holding my hand.”
[Reposted from this date in 2009.]
The Catcher
NewMexiKen had a story the other day about Reid wanting to play catcher.
Well, he got to catch. I thought you’d like a photo.
You Have to Be a Weeble to Catch
It’s Fall sports season in Virginia and we have four boy Sweeties playing baseball and one girl Sweetie in soccer. Jill reports on 6-year-old Reid:
Reid has been petitioning his baseball coach for a chance to play catcher and he finally got his shot tonight. We had to buy him a cup first. (Oh, he is tickled pink by that cup.)
Anyway, he put on all the gear and he could barely stand up. He tried to catch about 20 pitches from the machine and every single pitch knocked him over completely backwards — including one that hit him plum in the face.
I think it’s the weight of the equipment that is tipping him over, more than anything else.
It was pretty awesome.
Reid on last year’s Fall team.
Early Lifestyle Choices
First day of school yesterday and Jill reports on Mack and Aidan.
Going through Mack’s papers and one of his teachers had them do a handout about themselves and their hobbies and what they like/don’t like about school, what they like in teachers, etc.
One question is, “If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?”
Mack said he would buy a business so he could earn a bunch more millions of dollars.
Which is a good answer.
It also made me think of what Aidan told me earlier — his teacher asked them all what they would do with a thousand dollars (apparently, the rate of return on imaginary investments greatly increases between third and sixth grades).
Aidan said he would buy a hot tub.
The Sweeties
Three weekends ago the seven Sweeties were together for the first time. In back, from left, Aidan, Reid, Sofia and Mack. In front, again from left, Alex, Sam and Kiley.