Time Is Not Like Spaghetti

Children over time.

My children through time.

You always end up making extra spaghetti – right? Luckily, spaghetti is one of the all-time great leftover foods.  I have been known to eat cold spaghetti a day or even two after it was originally served. Yes, spaghetti can be saved in order to be eaten later.

You ever have a topic seemingly just keep popping up? It’s as if G-d or fate is tapping you on the shoulder and imploring you to listen. Well, that’s what happened for me with the movie Boyhood. First, a buddy of mine brought it up and asked me if wanted to see it.  A few days later I saw a review  on the How To Be A Dad site. A few days after reading the review, my brother and sister-in-law mentioned  Boyhood and praised the movie greatly.

So, this past weekend I actually saw the Richard Linklater movie. For the uninitiated, Boyhood takes place over 12 years and follows a boy, Mason, from the time he is in kindergarten till the age of 18 and his first day in his college dorm. The boy is now a man. It literally took 12 years for Linklater to make the movie as he filmed for a few days over each of those 12 years.

Patricia Arquette stars as the mother of Mason and his sister Samantha. Ethan Hawke is her estranged husband. Arquette goes through some turbulent times as she suffers through two marriages to drunken men. She does grow tremendously professionally and becomes a college professor. Hawke goes from a shiftless guy who means well to a responsible man with a new wife and child. However, the focus of Boyhood is the children and Mason in particular. The audience learns about him through snippets of his life and sees him grow into adulthood.

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I Choose My Family

Family at the Magic Kingdom

My family and I at the Magic Kingdom

I consider myself a good son. Despite living two hours away, I see my mother monthly. I talk to her a couple of times a week. When I do see or talk to my mother, I am polite, respectful, etc. Therefore, my actions this weekend should be no surprise.

We had arranged for my mother to come for a visit this past weekend. My family and I had not seen her in a few weeks. The boys really enjoy seeing their bubbe (Yiddish for grandmother), and I want to foster that relationship.

When my mother comes for a visit, she, Ms. MMK, and I often watch a movie together. We eat snacks – popcorn or ice cream – and relax after the children have gone to bed. As part of my preparation for my mother’s most recent visit, I checked out my queue on Netflix. I skimmed through the titles trying to pick a movie which I thought would appeal to my mother. After consulting with Ms. MMK, I moved August Osage County to the top of the queue.

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In Between Week

I love summer.

Wow – an in-between week! You know the kind of week I am talking about. Between camp and school. These weeks are challenging, to say the least.  After all, the children need to have a full calendar.

BR finished camp last week and he is headed off to grandma’s place next week. So this week was as an in-between week, a.k.a. “Daddy Day Camp.” Talk about bonding! Lots and lots and lots of bonding.

Each day we have had something on the calendar. We went swimming at the town pool on Monday and are going again today. On Tuesday, we saw Ice Age Continental Drift. On Wednesday, we went miniature golfing. Tried anyway. The wait was so long we just ended up playing at the arcade. Thursday was to be the crown jewel.

On Thursday, we went to Field Station Dinosaurs. This pricey exhibit (nearly $60 for the two of us) in Seacaucus, NJ, featured life-like dinosaurs. The dinosaurs moved and roared. Very cool.  For those who have kids that are crazy for dinosaurs, it is worth it. BR and I enjoyed it despite the hot weather. We both jumped at least once when a dinosaur roared unexpectedly.

I don’t know exactly how we will fill the rest of August (other than our vacation week). What I do know is I love summer. Even the in-between weeks. However, I may need some un-bonding space soon.

Off to the pool.

P.S. Next week, I have a new camper – SY.