"My Crazy Kids"

By Allan Olson Why is it that two weekend days always disappear faster than a single work day? This weekend seemed to go by in a flash, even though we managed to find time for both fun and work. Saturday morning was spent with our puppy Bob getting the first shot of his life. He didn’t even flinch, and took it like a trooper. The afternoon found me back in town with all of the kids at the free program about pet care sponsored by Leech Lake Legacy, the group that was in town helping with vaccinations and surgeries clinic for the local pets. The kids learned about responsible pet care and even took home a goody-bag from the event filled with treasures (yeah! more stuff to collect in their bedroom). Hopefully, they learned something from the program and will put their newfound knowledge to good use. After “wasting” half of the day, it was time to get to work. Our garage has taken a turn for the worse, with junk collecting all winter long, and so was in great need of re-organi...

By Allan Olson For the second time in just over two months, my wife left me. (Is this becoming a pattern?) This time, she left me not just with our four children, but also with our new puppy plus two nieces, a nephew and their dog, too. So there I was, abandoned again – seven kids and two dogs against one adult. Not very good odds, from where I look at it. She left me to wander off with her mom and her sister – maybe I really am second fiddle in this band. Their departure date was Wednesday night, and I had to handle all these children by myself! (Do I hear any sympathy yet?) Alright, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. I mean, they did have a return date; it wasn’t a permanent abandonment. The extra company was my two nieces, ages 11 and 14, and nephew, age nine, so it wasn’t as if I was being left with a bunch of little kids. I had some perfectly good babysitters for my youngest ones; I could go and party, if I knew how or so desired. Instead, I was the responsible adult and m...

By Allan Olson After a full year in our new home, we finally added a new family member to our household. This new family member is only six weeks old and he is lazy, rambunctious, playful and whiny all at the same time. Is it just me, or does that sound like a kid? We picked up our new family member on Saturday evening from a relative who was willing to give up this little bundle. We left my aunt’s house with a new addition to the family, and the fights began. “I want him to ride with me,” Alivia said. “He likes me the best.” “I want to hold him,” the remaining three chorus members chimed in, all clamoring to give their love to our new puppy. “He’s riding with me,” mom said. That statement pretty well ended the discussion. We crashed at my brothers’ place that evening, and the contest continued. Every kid wanted their chance to play with him; for some reason, they couldn’t all play with him at the same time. “Put that dog down!” I’ve probably said that a hundred times in t...

Welcome to the world By Allan Olson It was another adventurous weekend last weekend as we headed up north to the “old stomping grounds.” We left our home at about 5 p.m. Friday afternoon under partly cloudy skies with shades of grey. It was a perfect day to travel in the winter – or so we thought. The journey progressed northbound and as we hit our fueling station, we started to run into a little of the fluffy white stuff that we’ve seen a lot of over the last two weeks (but little of over the course of the winter). The further north we got, the worse the weather got. At one point, I figured I was going to have to yell at someone for not telling me I was heading straight into a blizzard. Thankfully, this “storm” was isolated, and we were finally able to get back to cruising speed once again. We made it to our destination only 15 minutes late for the band concert we had promised to attend. We still made it in time to hear one of our two nieces perform in the concert. Sat...

Birthday party By Allan Olson At the beginning of the month, our oldest son Nikolai turned nine. When he was born I was still a SOTAS (Sorta Older Than Average Student, in college). I know I was beaming from ear to ear for the first few days after he was born, as the proud father that I was. Of course, then came the sleepless nights and the messy bottoms, neither of which I liked. I need my sleep or I get grumpy – just ask my children – and I really don’t like things that smell unpleasant. Having a child was a life changing experience. Over the years we’ve had some interesting birthday parties for him. When he was two, we had a sledding party at the family farm. Snow was piled deep and the hill wasn’t any easier to climb back up. Honestly it was probably harder than when I was a kid. The following year, I remember we had it in our small, two-bedroom trailer. He got in a bad mood fast for reasons unknown (or just not remembered). He was ready for the company to leave, and fi...