by Brian Happy 4th of July! Jolee’s characters are having fun watching an amazing firework show. From left to right, we have Paintbrush, Lightbulb, Taur, Scramblez, Prince, and Harmony. We are going to be taking some time off from the blog this summer and heading into our move to Wisconsin. Please feel free to provide any feedback or drop us a line if you get a minute. Many thanks!
by Brian
“If your world doesn’t allow you to dream, move to one where you can.” -Billy Idol
As our year-long apartment leases recently came to an end and we needed to answer one question… “where to next?” We started to really evaluate how far we had come. Were Dylan and Jolee really on the path to independence or did we just move co-dependence over one building?
by Brian
“The only reason I’m coming out here tomorrow is because the schedule says I have to.”
Sparky Anderson, MLB Player and Manager
Schedules are beneficial for most of us, but absolutely critical for Dylan and Jolee. If left on their own, Dylan and Jolee would only do preferred tasks such as Wii or drawing. Needless to say, chores and appointments would be quickly neglected. We also found that a lack of knowing exact times that things needed to occur caused a lot of unnecessary stress.
When Dylan and Jolee first moved into their apartment, we tried to give complete control of their schedules to them with just verbal reminders of what needed to be accomplished. This did not work. So on to the next option.
They are both visual people, so we set up large wall-mounted dry erase boards to help them stay on task and productive. We worked together to create their weekly schedule. Since we didn’t want to remove their independence, the kids were provided the tasks that needed to be accomplished that week plus any appointments. It was then up to them to decide the day and time that they would perform these tasks. To improve the functionality of the schedules, we also purchased small circular two-sided magnets. One side of the magnet is green with a smiley face while the other is red with, you guessed it, a frowning face. We found these schedules useful to add structure to the kid’s day and the dry erase part made it easy to add, delete, or swap days or times for key activities. Putting together the perfect schedule was not only helpful for Dylan and Jolee, but also a good scorecard for us when we stop over. At a glance, we can see whether the day is green or red and a given activity is done vs. incomplete. I find there is something very pleasing about crossing an item off the to-do list or in this case moving a green smiley face next to a recently completed task. Even better is flipping a red frowny face over to green. Makes me smile, how about you?
by Jolee
Today we get to remember all those who died to protect us! Thank you.
by Brian
I find it fascinating the number of people we meet during our relatively short lifetimes. We literally interact with thousands and thousands of people. So how many do we choose to hang out with? How many do we invite over to our house? How many of them really made a difference in our lives?
by Brian
To say our kids are different is an understatement. They are polar opposites in many ways. One way is their preferred communication and their cell phone’s place in it.
by Brian
In this weeks comic, Jolee has highlighted how birds can choose the most improbable places to place their nest.
As we settled into our apartment after our move, we planned to get a lot of use out of our balcony. In our excitement to enjoy our outdoor time, we purchased new chairs, a small table, outdoor carpet, and curtains to provide shade. Unfortunately, we soon realized that there were tenants already occupying our outdoor retreat. They were squatters, two doves with a nest of eggs, who made it clear that we were not welcome on our balcony no matter whose name was on the lease.
by Brian
In Jolee’s comic, Junior is meeting Taur for the first time as Taur is not feeling well. In true form, Junior jumps in to help his new friend.
I am definitely a dog person! This week, I thought we could discuss the critical role that our dog, Junior, plays in our family’s daily lives. He is a Bichon Frise, which is a breed that often wins best in show with its cotton ball head and fluffy body. Although Junior is very cute, he is not winning any beauty competitions anytime soon.
by Brian
Most kids look forward to their birthdays. Many adults do not. I have always had a love/hate relationship with getting older. Certainly, as a kid I could not wait to be old enough to date, drive, or perhaps even drink a beer. As I get older, I find myself wanting life’s clock to stop or at least slow down significantly. The interesting thing is that none of my immediate family – Bobbie, Dylan, nor Jolee – really seem to care about aging. Their birthdays are mainly about doing the simple things that make them happy.
by Bobbie
Hi everybody. These are some crazy times for our family right now so Brian asked me to step in and give my thoughts this week. As a parent of Dylan and Jolee, wife to Brian and pet owner to our dog, Junior, I often feel like I am juggling many balls all day, every day. This includes appointments, transportation, medication, paying bills, making sure food is available and the list goes on and on. Exiting the Nest is all about helping our kids learn independence and gain confidence in themselves which in turn will remove some of their responsibilities from Brian and my shoulders. What I didn’t expect was that they would also be able to take on some of our responsibilities at times.