Recommended Posts

Posted
3 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

image.thumb.jpeg.2e3f43d3525d30430025433033d5fef9.jpeg

So, my kids decided to build a snowman to win a competition at their school.  It appears to be leaning now.

They built a northern Italian snowman.

Posted
15 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

image.thumb.jpeg.2e3f43d3525d30430025433033d5fef9.jpeg

So, my kids decided to build a snowman to win a competition at their school.  It appears to be leaning now.

Clearly they should have made a snowdog. ;)

Posted
8 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

Has it escaped your attention that they have an Asian father? :D

If you had been an Asian mother, I'm sure they would have heard, "Why did you make only three balls? Are my children not smart enough to make four balls? You are lazy!"

Posted

Around noon, the temp warmed up.  The snowman melted enough to allow the upper balls to fall down.  We couldn't put humpty dumpty back together again becuase there wasn't enough snow left.

We waited until the temps went down again (too much slush).  We could only use three balls in the reconstruction.

image.thumb.jpeg.ebc604b80a68de36f0a16b32d378f2f0.jpeg

Posted

Competition results:

1. Each snowman was submitted by family/household rather than individuals.
2. They couldn't submit the 4 tier snowman because each family was limited to one submittal.  So, they only submitted the other one.
3. The school decided to widen the awards to multiple categories.  Their 4-tier would have won "Tallest Snowman."  But...
4. My daughter got another award for scholastic achievement for the term.  And (while not official practice) the school tends to try spreading the awards around.  So, it was unlikely that they'd get an award for their snowman unless ours was above and beyond.  The snowman that won was truly impressive.  So, no awards.

Posted

I have mentioned before that I am not the high achiever as my other siblings.   A week ago, we got together at Lake Palisades near Aften Wyoming.   Two of my siblings have cabins in the area.  Over the weekend we woke up to temperatures of 28 degrees below zero.  For fun we would toss hot water in the air and watch it disappear.   My youngest brother maintains a weather station at his cabin.  Though the cold is not an all-time record – this is a colder than normal year (according to my brother).

 

The Traveler

Posted
36 minutes ago, Traveler said:

I have mentioned before that I am not the high achiever as my other siblings.   A week ago, we got together at Lake Palisades near Aften Wyoming.   Two of my siblings have cabins in the area.  Over the weekend we woke up to temperatures of 28 degrees below zero.  For fun we would toss hot water in the air and watch it disappear.   My youngest brother maintains a weather station at his cabin.  Though the cold is not an all-time record – this is a colder than normal year (according to my brother).

Next time, take a child's bubble blowing wand and solution (or just use water with dishsoap).  Blow bubbles in the freezing air - they (can) turn out gorgeous!

Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Traveler said:

I have mentioned before that I am not the high achiever as my other siblings.

Wait... so, you're saying you're the underachiever of the family?  I didn't know you were Asian. :D 

Edited by Carborendum
Posted
4 hours ago, Carborendum said:

Wait... so, you're saying you're the underachiever of the family?  I didn't know you were Asian. :D 

Funny you would make that reference.  I love Asiah and spent time working there.  I admit to culture shock from my family heritage.  I also have a personal theory about the role of Asians (gentiles) in the last-days.

 

The Traveler

Posted
On 1/22/2025 at 5:50 AM, Carborendum said:

We waited until the temps went down again (too much slush).  We could only use three balls in the reconstruction.

You are lazy! You embarrass your family because of your laziness!

Posted
4 minutes ago, Vort said:

You are lazy! You embarrass your family because of your laziness!

FTR, I have an Asian (Chinese) sister-in-law. She has always been friendly to me, and my brother assures me that she is an excellent mother. She is very much into the idea of children bring honor or shame to their parents. I guess that's as old as humanity.

Posted
22 minutes ago, Vort said:

She is very much into the idea of children bring honor or shame to their parents. I guess that's as old as humanity.

Grandpa LM is long gone, and neither kid had any time with him.  But I've put an awful lot of effort into teaching my kids about him, telling stories about his life, and pushing ideas like "Grandpa LM wouldn't stand for crap like that", or "Grandpa LM would be proud of you".   When my kids hit a certain age and their "dad cool/dad embarrassment" switch got flipped, they'd still be impacted by Grandpa LM stories.  I must report a certain effectiveness.  To the point where I had to remember to not only tell the truth, but also never overuse this power, or use it to get my way.  

Posted
20 hours ago, Vort said:

FTR, I have an Asian (Chinese) sister-in-law. She has always been friendly to me, and my brother assures me that she is an excellent mother. She is very much into the idea of children bring honor or shame to their parents. I guess that's as old as humanity.

 

20 hours ago, NeuroTypical said:

Grandpa LM is long gone, and neither kid had any time with him.  But I've put an awful lot of effort into teaching my kids about him, telling stories about his life, and pushing ideas like "Grandpa LM wouldn't stand for crap like that", or "Grandpa LM would be proud of you".   When my kids hit a certain age and their "dad cool/dad embarrassment" switch got flipped, they'd still be impacted by Grandpa LM stories.  I must report a certain effectiveness.  To the point where I had to remember to not only tell the truth, but also never overuse this power, or use it to get my way.  

I do not think this is just an Asia tradition.  This was strongly a part of my Scandinavian LDS pioneer upbringing.  I was constantly reminded that my behavior reflected on my parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and especially on my siblings.  After college, part of the reason I took a job with the Defense Department on the East Coast was to get away from being my father’s son, the brother of my siblings, and the relative to so many.  I dearly longed to be known by my own name.

A great epiphany occurred when my parents came to visit me and the local dignitaries, upon meeting my parents would say, “So you are the parents of ‘The Traveler’ – it is an honor and a pleasure to meet you.”  It was the first time I felt I belonged in my family.

The epiphany is – that not only will children bring honor or shame to parents – the honor or shame is reciprocal.  That parents (family) will bring honor or shame to their children.  All of this has deep roots in the words of a prophet (which I forget) that said something along the line that the greatest thing or gift a father can give his children is to love and honor their mother.  Similar for the mother – the greatest gift a mother can give her children is to love and honor their father.

I have come to believe that the greatest shame of all eternity is to break this traditional (temporal or spiritual) bond of honor, trust and love of family.

 

The Traveler

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...