"My Crazy Kids"

An unadventurous weekend By Allan Olson After a birthday party last weekend, it was great to have just “us” at home this weekend for a relaxing two days. We didn’t do much, and the kids still managed to annoy me by either not listening (yes, they occasionally choose not to listen) or just plain being a pest. On Saturday morning, I cut down a rotting tree in my yard. I had the kids help clean up the mess made by cutting it down. I had to explain to them – multiple times – that if the bark and other debris didn’t get picked up, it would hurt my lawn mower. We won’t get into the details of how long it took to cut down one simple tree and the struggle I endured to accomplish that task, but ultimately I won the battle, and I didn’t get injured, other than a small cut on one finger. Let’s just say that I’m not a lumberjack, either. Like most kids, they kept trying to avoid the real work, but then wanted to help with the stuff they weren’t strong enough to do. Abigail insisted ...

A birthday adventure By Allan Olson We officially made it five full years of raising twins this week. More importantly, maybe, is the fact that we’ve been parents for over eight years, and parents of four children for nearly four years. As any parent knows, raising one child can be a difficult task, and four can at times be a little challenging. This past weekend we celebrated our twins’ fifth birthday with lots of family and some friends. The countdown began several weeks ago, and eventually ended up in a countdown of days with large numbers posted on the wall, in the hope that they would use that as a reminder rather than pestering us with the incessant questions about the number of days before their birthday. We decided that they would get their birthday presents early, and got them each a new bike. While they were both happy to have a new bike, Abigail was much more excited. The difference is, her first bike is too small for her long legs, and a used bike we had was in p...

Another Year By Allan Olson As the old saying goes, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Well, this much I know is true. Time truly does fly by when you have children. This weekend my twins will finally be five. I’m not sure where all that time went. It seems not that long ago, we were trying to feed two infants at the same time, and while some aspects of that haven’t changed (we’re still usually feeding them at the same time), now the process is simplified – they can fork the food in by themselves. Of course, as they’ve aged, they seem to require more food. At some meals, they manage to polish off more than I do myself. While there were some benefits to them being infants, the older ages far outweigh those few. Abigail, while seemingly clueless most days going about her business, always hears far more than it appears. She has already offered her babysitting services for her youngest cousin, who is all of a week old. That is a big step for a five-year-old. She, of course, ...

Changes in store By Allan Olson Every day is different around my house – with raising four kids (or any kids) challenges abound. Whether it’s challenges with your own self learning to keep your cool during times of frustration or simply learning how to handle the different attitudes of young children. This past weekend, as we started our back-to-school shopping, the three kids were excited to get some new supplies. Nikolai, being the oldest, is used to this and thought he knew what needed to be purchased. We kept referring to the list and, while we were distracted filling the list for the twins, he added some stuff he “thought” was needed. Thankfully, someone (not me) was awake at the checkout counter and caught the extra and unnecessary items before the clerk rang them up. The week previous we had scouted out the supplies and grabbed a list, but only the boys had had a copy as we headed into the checkout lane with our purchases, Abigail was visibly upset that her brothers...

Another Fishing Adventure By Allan Olson It was an impromptu decision (something of a rarity for me) – I decided to take a day off from the rat race of work and spend some time with the family. After some discussion with my wife and a couple phone calls later, fishing plans were made for Friday. We quickly packed up for our family of four kids and ourselves for the weekend and headed to my parents’ on Lake of the Woods. This trip was quite different from the last time – the most obvious difference being it was July versus January. We knew heading up to Lake of the Woods that Grandma wasn’t home, and if we wanted to go fishing all the kids would be coming with – a thought that stirred mixed feelings. While we want our children to learn to love and enjoy the fun of fishing, it also makes fishing harder, since you’re always corralling kids, putting lines back in and re-baiting their hooks – all while trying to tend to your own line. It would be a challenge, but three adults should e...