Catharsis of the Bogue » Personal Growth

SAHD Friday: Cooking school

Justin Matthews — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:35:46 +0000

Well we finally decided that it was time for my 10 year old and my 7 year old to learn to cook. A bit at least. My 7 year old gets to push the buttons on the microwave and put the cheese in the macaroni and cheese. More will come as he can handle it.

My 10 year old is learning more and more things to cook. And how to tell if the pasta is done, and how to make Jello. She is able to turn on the oven and put things in and out. It is rather nice that the kids are getting old enough to do some things around the house. It is especially nice when we have to take care of the new baby.

The most surprising thing to me is how quickly they are taking to the chores and learning. They are learning how to put things together for dinner and they are learning not to be afraid of the stove or the microwave. I think half of the excitement of cooking for them is being able to use the appliances that have been off limits for so long.

I think one of the most important things that we are all learning is trust. My wife and I are learning to trust our kids to do things without us showing them how. The kids are learning that we do trust them. They are also learning that the things we have been saying for years about the stove being hot and knives being dangerous are true, and not just something we made up to repress the kids with.

This whole journey of letting the kids grow up can be overwhelming. They will always grow physically. They will get bigger and need new clothes and shoes no matter what we do. The trick is to let them grow mentally, adapting to their personalities and aptitudes as they can handle it.

Giving them more responsibility is a fine line between “too much I can’t handle it” and “not enough to keep my interest for long”. That is a line I constantly test as a parent. There are things that I remember doing at their ages that my kids are just not ready for yet. They are coming. The trick is to keep them interested so they don’t drift away on you.

They want to mow the lawn now….I am not quite ready to relinquish that yet. On the front yard people see at least.

Have a great weekend guys, thanks for reading.

-Justin

SAHD Friday: A new one in the equation

Justin Matthews — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:41:00 +0000

As you know by now, my wife and I welcomed number 4 into our family 2 weeks ago. It has been wild this week as he has only been home for this week. We have been trying to get him trained to sleep at night, as well as remember what it is like to raise an infant.

My youngest daughter is now 4 and I kind of took for granted the independent and “grown up” ways of a 4 year old, not to mention 7 and 10. I have been trying to remember how to be the complete caregiver to an infant. Strangely, it is not difficult to handle 4 kids when the older ones are so helpful.

Here is the rub, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. We have always wanted 4 kids and now we have been blessed with 2 boys and 2 girls. Our family is now complete. While I wouldn’t trade this experience I am glad we are finished having our family and getting ready for the next step in our lives.

Family is very important. Family is the only thing that will endure any other trial or hardship. As you go into this weekend remember your family. If you have kids, do something with them that doesn’t include electricity. Go play baseball, go fishing, read them a story. Just spend time doing something that isn’t distracting.

If you don’t have kids, do something without electricity with your significant other. Or even go by yourself. Get away from the computer, the television and all of it. Go be with your family.

Have a great weekend folks.

-Justin

Perseverance and the Princess Bride

Justin Matthews — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:02:19 +0000

Hey Folks Happy Monday! It was a crasy weekend so I just have a short thought and a short video for you.

This is all about perseverance. The ability to keep going in the face of great adversity. The ability to keep blogging and building your business despite the demands of life, or your family, or anything else that gets thrown in your way.

This clip is from what is probably my favorite movie ever (even though I had to give up a top 10 favorite movie list years ago. Too many good movies on it), The Princess Bride. This movie has been around since 1987. If you haven’t seen it, shame on you. Go rent it. Get it on Netflix. But check it out, it is really good, and PG so the kiddies can watch too!

To set up the scene, Inigio Montoya has been searching for the 6 fingered man who killed his father for over 20 years. He has been totally obsessed with finding this guy and challenging him to a duel for his fathers honor. He finally finds said 6 fingered man and the next scene follows:

So take this into your life and your blogging, Stay the Course. Even if it takes you over 20 years to reach your goals, you can achieve them.

Even when the odds are against you and everyone is trying to cheat and stab you in the gut when you come around the corner, find that place inside you that holds your drive and your purpose. Find it and tear it open.

Stick with whatever it is you are doing until you meet your goals. You will succeed. Man I sound like Nate Hangen today. That is a good thing!

Go enjoy the day.

-Justin

Lessons Learned in the Desert. Part 2.

Justin Matthews — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:47:42 +0000

head on back Here and read Part 1 of this story from yesterday if you haven’t already.

This weekend I taught my daughter 9 and my son who will be 7 in a week how to shoot. They kind of knew about guns but had never handled one. They mainly knew what they had seen on TV or in movies. That of course is not necessarily safe or correct. **disclaimer here- Safety is my #1 priority when it comes to guns. I once got knocked on my butt by my grandpa for turning around with my rifle (cradled and unloaded mind you, we just got out of the truck) and the muzzle passing within a foot of him. Never forgot that. Never lost track of a muzzle again either.**

Now, I needed to teach them safety but I didn’t want to be a Nazi about it. Until I realized that I had to be a Nazi about it. There was no getting around these rules. There was no give to these rules. That is why they were taught to me like that. And you know, they seem to have taken just fine. My son took them to heart and I only had to remind him a couple of times. But I could not relax on the rules.

We went through the rest of the afternoon without a problem. My son almost had it figured out. He was almost hitting the targets at the end, but he was so tired he couldn’t hold the rifle anymore. So of course I pulled out one of the big pistols and helped him shoot that. I am not sure he could have smiled bigger without some sort of injury and the giggle that came from him was priceless.

I can only hope that I have done “it” right. This is the first of many trips I am sure but I think this first one is one of the most important. I’ll never forget the lessons I learned my first trip, and I hope he doesn’t forget his.

I also tried to teach my 9 year old daughter how to shoot. She took a couple of shots and decided that it wasn’t for her. I am fine with that. Not because of some stupid notion that girls shouldn’t shoot, My aunt could shoot well, my Grandma was fantastic. My sister could prune branches from a tree with a .357 Magnum when she was about 14. My wife is pretty good as well, so that is not an issue.

My daughter decided that it wasn’t something that she wanted to do. She didn’t like the danger of it or what could happen. Again, goal accomplished. She may not be a shooter, but she knows how to handle a gun and she will be safe around them. She told my wife and I later that she was afraid of the power that guns can have.

If you have read very many posts here you will remember that my wife is a trauma nurse in the ER. She has all sorts of horror stories about people shooting each other. Those have stuck with my daughter. I respect that. I won’t push her into something that she does not want a part of. But, at any point, if she wants to learn more and shoot again, I am not going to be hesitant about it.

This was a great trip overall. There is nothing quite as satisfying as sharing your passions with your kids. Friends are one thing, but your kids are awesome. I will never forget my son trying like hell to hit that bottle so it would explode. I willnever forget his giggle at the boom and kick of the big gun. I will never forget my daughter saying she was done and she was going to go hiking.

I will also never forget the nostalgia that I felt as I placed targets up on the trees. There was a time I was walking back to our shooting “station” and I could almost feel my Dad and Grandpa there. I would like to believe that my Grandpa, Great-Grandpa and my uncles who liked to shoot but have passed were there with us watching and smiling at me passing the traditions on to my son.

It was exciting but at the same time disheartening to take over my dad’s place as instructor. Here I am, almost 36 years old and I am still growing up. I am sure that there will be other episodes where I feel like that. I just hope that I will do the right things when the time comes.

Until Next Time,

-Justin

Lessons learned in the Desert. part 1

Justin Matthews — Mon, 24 May 2010 15:53:30 +0000

Happy Monday! So this weekend we went down to see my elderly Great-aunt. We finally had the time without dialysis or Dr. Appointments to contend with. All in all it was a great trip.

During the trip we all headed out to the boonies to do some target shooting. A bit of explanation here. As you probably know by now, I live in Utah. I have since I was about 3 months old and my dad got out of the Navy and came home.

He was raised ina small coal mining town in eastern Utah called Dragerton, now East Carbon. And it is in the desert. Interesting thing: this is not the blowing sands and pyramids type desert, there are animals everywhere. Sagebrush, juniper, cedar and a myriad of grasses cover the land. It gets hot and dry in the day and can be downright cold at night. It fits all definitions of a desert. Not much rain being the big one.

It is also a place where dinosaurs once roamed. There are still fossils they are finding in the area. I have found chunks of dinosaur bone while we have been down there. It was also right around the land where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid used to roam with the Wild Bunch. Legend says there is still gold down there somewhere. I havent found it yet.

Back when I was a kid, we would go down there 3-4 times per year to visit my aunt and my Great Grandparents who lived there. We would go out hunting for rocks, or worm’s teeth (yes teeth from prehistoric worms, I have some and it was a professor who told my aunt and Father about them, 8-10 feet long at least and as big around as a car tire. The ants bring them up from way underground. You search through gravel and pick them out.) or just run the desert.

We would always go out shooting for practice and it was always a good time to get out with my father, grandfather and great grandfather and blow away cans or paper targets. We would go out to the desert and shoot for hours, totally lost in the moment. During all of those trips I learned how to shoot, how to handle the weapon, and how to interact with the surroundings.

I always liked doing something that my forefathers valued so much. In the past 15 years or so, I haven’t had much of a chance to get out and go shooting. I lost my Great-Grandfather in 2002 and my Grandfather in 2006. My father is always busy and while we talk about going, it isn’t going to happen any time soon. This is sad for my kids, because they really need to spend that time with their grandfather. Besides he is a kick ass shot, that was all he did growing up. Then they made him a sniper in the Navy because he was that good.

I once saw my dad try to hit a coyote from about 50 yards and he didn’t. A while later he hit another coyote from the top of a ridge at over 500 yards. I only aspire to be that good. I have only told the story to my kids, I hope they get a chance to see it.

This weekend we did get out to go shooting, Me and my family. This turn I was the one in charge. I was the instructor. I was the safety master. I had assumed a new role. We had gone out to a remote place in the desert just like we used to. We set up targets (those happy meal toys from McD are awesome to shoot. They get a couple of good hits and explode. Buzz Lightyear meets Mr. .22 slug and doesn’t fare well. ). We shot and shot.

Part 2 is waiting right Here!

Catharsis of the Bogue » Personal Growth

SAHD Friday: Cooking school

You may also like:

SAHD Friday: A new one in the equation

You may also like:

Perseverance and the Princess Bride

You may also like:

Lessons Learned in the Desert. Part 2.

You may also like:

Lessons learned in the Desert. part 1

You may also like: