Thanks to the writers over at #MenWhoBlog for naming us a a TOP DAD BLOG for 2022!!!
Honored to be Named a “Top Dad Blog” for 2022
Tag Archives: kindergarten
Harry Potter and the the Goblet of Fire (Part Four in our Read Aloud
This blog entry will Chronicle (pun intended) a father and son’s continuation of the first time reading the Harry Potter series together. We finished Book One, Two and Three now will move onto Book Four: Harry Potter and the the Goblet of Fire. I’ll update it after each chapter so that I can capture the most memorable moments. Come back often and check in on our progress and leave us a note or some feedback!
I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I know Jax and I will.
Chapter 1: The Riddle House
(The first few chapters Jax asked if he could “talk to text” his summary of the chapter. Why not, right?)
“I was reading the chapter 1 the Riddle House and I was wondering what going to happen right away. So, when my dad read me the first page it made me, kind of like happy and then I thought this book was going to be good, but then the next page made me kind of suspicious about what this chapter might tell us.”
“So, we read on the next page that all the Riddle family were all killed by something and I thought it was the gardener Frank that takes care of their house when they’re gone.”
“Everyone in the town thought he killed them too, so they arrested him and then were like, ‘you’re innocent and you didn’t do anything,” so they let him go!”
“One night after getting out of jail, Frank woke up and the lights were on in the house and there were people jumping around the house. He was like those ‘darn kids again’ he thought. So, he went to the house and it wasn’t kids. There was a fire and then he went upstairs; he looked inside a small opening of a door in a bedroom. He looked and he saw a weird man that had his face covered and also a man that looked very old and looks and sounds like a rat. (We met them in the last book… The Prisoner of Azkaban… Peter Pettigrew.”
“Then a weird snake walked into the door and then the strange man that had the hood on said, ‘how are you doing Nagini’. (Nagini was the snake)… so Nagini, who was now in the room told the man with the hood that there was somebody waiting outside listening to all they were talking about. Then the man opens the door and said, ‘come in man’.”
“So Frank walked inside and then what he saw was the last thing he ever saw in his life… a GRREN FLASH!!!!! And then just like that, he’s laying on the ground, dead.”
“DEAD AS EVER!!!!”
Chapter 2: The Scar
“So Harry woke up with a SCREAM and was YELLING. The Dursley‘s were banging on the wall and telling him to… like, ‘shut up’ and he woke up and his Scar was burning more than ever!”
“When he woke up, he found a strange bird, he opened the window and found the bird was from Sirius Black! The letter said, ‘Hello Harry, I hope you’re having a good time, but I also know you aren’t really having a good time, because the stupid Dursley‘s are really rude to you.’”
“So, then Henry sent a note back that said, ‘Yeah I’m doing a little bit fine. But, my Aunt Petunia found Dudley smuggling donuts in his room yesterday. He’s on a diet so they took away his money and he threw his PlayStation out the window. Also, my Scar hurts really, really bad!’”
Chapter 3: The Invitation
(For clarification purposes we are still in Jax-Talk-to-Text summary mode)
“Not much really happens in this chapter, but I can tell you a little bit… So in Chapter 3 the Invitation, Harry got a letter in the mail from Ron that had about 38 stamps on it and there was just a little bit of writing in the middle. It said, ‘Harry we’re gonna come and pick you up to bring you to the Quidditch World Cup.’”
Chapter 4: Back to the Burrow
“Harry woke up on a simple morning same as always, went downstairs and Petunia and Vernon commanded him to make breakfast. So it was a normal morning until they heard something and the flames in the fireplace turned green, it was hotter and hotter in the room, he heard a whoosh, they saw legs… then they heard something that sounded like the Weasleys.”
“They were stuck in the fireplace! Mr. Weasley destroyed everything they were crumbs everywhere from the fireplace. Out spilled Mr. Weasley, Ron and the two twins Fred and George (you can’t tell them apart)!”
“As they were leaving Fred and George accidentally dropped some kind of magic candy. Dudley ate the candy one by one. Dudley ate all the candy and then his tongue grew 100 pounds! And the Dursleys were freaking out!!!”
Chapter 5: Weasley Wizard Wheezes
“Fred and George (the two twins), they love, love, love… (like, you can say love one million times????) love jokes. They once played a joke on their mother and they make fake wands and fart bombs. So now they decided to make a joke shop.”
Chapter 6: The Portkey
(Back to you’re regularly scheduled summary of chapter by chapter)
“…Portkeys. They’re objects that are used to transport wizards from one spot to another at a prearranged time.”
Jax: “So dad, if anything can be a Portkey… can we use your weights from the basement, it’s not like you use them anyway!”
Chapter 7: Bagman and Crouch
We’re getting to the point in the story where we are meeting so many new and IMPORTANT characters… it’s hard to keep track of them. But most of all, they’re all suspects!
“Dad, this Crouch guy doesn’t seem to be all that trustworthy! Look at his mustache, very creepy!!!”
Chapter 8: The Quidditch World Cup
“So… Krum is like Aaron Judge of Quidditch!???”
Chapter 9: The Dark Mark
As we read the chapter Jax is starting to worry about the book a bit… it’s starting to get a bit dark and now that we meet actual Death Eaters and see the Dark Mark, “Dad, THE DARK MARK IS A SNAKE!!??!!… Syltherin?!?!!!” Things in the Wizarding World and Chapter by Chapter are getting real!
Chapter 10: Mayhem at the Ministry
This chapter is a bit of a quiet one compared to the last couple. I have to be honest, it took us a couple of nights to get through this one! 💤💤
Chapter 11: Aboard the Hogwarts Express
Thanks to this chapter, every time I ask Jax to take out the trash… I’m confident he’s going to go all Karate Kid on the garbage cans. of course he found this hilarious.
Chapter 12: The Triwizard Tournament
Dumbledore announces the Triwizard Tournament and we are ready to win! It’s pretty obvious from the title, but we are at the point where Jax realizes that if something is going to go wrong in these books, it’s going to involve Harry!!!
Chapter 13: Mad-Eye Moody
This is one of the chapters that I’m so excited to watch with Jax in the movie! When Malfoy attacks Harry, but Moody turns Malfoy into a ferret is one of the only scenes that’s better in video form!!!
Chapter 14: The Unforgivable Curses
Another chapter filling in lots of details and setting the stage for a lot of things to come. Interestingly, we talk a lot about the Unforgivable Curses.
- “Why would anyone use them?”
- “Avada Kedavra—— that’s what Voldemort used in Harry!!!”
- “Cruciatus? Those are the things mom puts in her salad right?” (He says with a smile, knowing he’s now trying to be funny!)
Chapter 15: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang
“There’s way too much homework at Hogwarts!” Jax apparently isn’t a fan of homework?!??
Chapter 16: The Goblet of Fire
Dumbledore introduces the Goblet of Fire to the students and explains that those who wish to enter the Tournament should place their name on a slip of paper inside the goblet; he adds that he has drawn an age line around its perimeter, meaning that no one under the age of seventeen can approach.
Jax is fascinated by the age line and can’t fathom why anyone wouldn’t just tie something heavy to piece of paper with their name on it and throw it from behind the age line into the Goblet of Fire… (Hey Jax, maybe you should have told that to Fred and George before they tried an aging potion)!
“Dad, can’t they just ask someone older to drop their name in for them?!?? (Again, pretty good critical thinking Jax).
Jax face when Harry’s name came out of the Goblet:
Chapter 17: The Four Champions
Professor Dumbledore sends Harry into the back room. Everyone is like, “what?!?? Well that’s new!”
They are trying to find out who put his name in the Goblet of Fire. Jax thinks Malfoy did it because, “he’s a jerk,” but then remembers he’s not old enough… so changes his mind and says maybe it was Dumbledore.
Chapter 18: The Weighing of the Wands
Jealousy is such a deep rooted and higher level consciousness. I can’t expect Jax (a third grader to pick up on the subtleties of jealousy in a friendship that is in a book.
Then again…
“Ron is so mad!!! He thinks Harry snuck his name in the Goblet of Fire!!!” (Then again he’s still stuck on the fact that the Twins turned into old men!)
Chapter 19: The Hungarian Horntail
Jax has just about had it with Rita Skeeter at this point.
Jax is also becoming slightly obsessed with where Bertha Jorkins is. Sirius says that she was last seen in Albania, oddly enough, where Voldemort was last sighted. “That’s it, she’s done for! I know Voldemort had to have killed her…!!!”
Chapter 20: The First Task
We read this chapter as Jax holds his wand (he’s confident that he knows the spell to beat the dragon).
Chapter 21: The House-Elf Liberation Front
I’m not going to exaggerate to make this chapter by chapter something it isn’t. Jax is secretly happy Harry and Ron are friends again. But we struggled through this chapter and considering how unbelievably exciting the chapter before was, that’s not surprising here.
Chapter 22: The Unexpected Task
They needed to find people to go to the ball with. Harry decided to go with Cho Vhamg but she was already going with Cedric Difgiey. Then he found out he needed to dance with a girl. I would NOT want to dance with a girl at the dance (well except my “girl” friend ____.
Chapter 23: The Yule Ball
When Dobby wakes Harry up and gives Harry his present: a pair of mismatched socks he made himself I asked Jax why he thinks Dobby is so obsessed with socks.
He said to me that it’s obvious, “Socks set him free!”
He then turns to me and says (deadpan), did someone set you free with sneakers?
Lucious Malfoy gave me my first pair of Jordans
Chapter 24: Rita Skeeter’s Scoop
Empathy is such an important trait that so many people lack. I’m watching Jackson empathize with characters in this series. Rita Skeeter writes a defamatory article about Hagrid and Jax becomes quiet for a little while (anyone who knows him, knows that this happens very infrequently). A few minutes later he asks me, “why there are so many mean people in the world.”
Chapter 25: The Egg and the Eye
After reading this chapter we are now apparently ordering a hot tub and tons of scented and colored bath bombs!
Chapter 26: The Second Task
Jax: “Dad what’s a Grindylow?”
Me: “Grindylows are very aggressive water demons known to live in the Black Lake at Hogwarts. Or in other wards, you and your brother when I’m trying to relax in the pool.”
Chapter 27: Padfoot Returns
Jax quotes this chapter:
- “Wait so everyone loves Ron now?!?”
- “Rita skeeter sucks!”
- “I knew Barry Crouch, Sr was a bad guy!!!”
Answers:
- Yup
- Yup (PS don’t say that something sucks).
- Yes, sort of. But, well… keep reading.
POSTSCRIPT: Also, click here for our other alouds:
Sorcerer’s Stone: Chapter by Chapter Read Aloud: https://chroniclesofanewdad.com/2021/07/01/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone-our-first-read-aloud/
Chamber of Secrets: Chapter by Chapter Read Aloud: https://chroniclesofanewdad.com/2021/09/24/harry-potter-and-the-chamber-of-secrets-part-two-in-our-read-aloud/
Prisoner of Azkaban: Chapter by Chapter Read Aloud: https://chroniclesofanewdad.com/2022/02/23/harry-potter-and-the-prisoner-of-azkaban-part-three-in-our-read-aloud-series/
Preschool Graduate
Our second child is graduating pre-school. Next year, he’ll be entering Kindergarten. I know, I know. You’re thinking, “Your baby is growing up!” Most parents get all teary at this revelation. In fact, the teachers gave parents tissues at the gate before the ceremony… all the parents in my son’s class get glassy-eyed when we talk about “graduating.” Especially those, like us, whose youngest child is the upcoming pre-school graduate.
Last week, mom wrote the last check we’ll ever write for preschool. For the better part of the last eight years, we’ve have had a kid in daycare or “preschool”. We loved our boys’ schools. Everyone one of them. Their teachers, their email updates during the day with pictures of our children interacting and having fun with their friends.
In preschool, there are programs for every holiday. Sweet little songs and children dressed up in costumes. Handmade Christmas gifts with photos of our kids and Mother’s/Father’s Day poems and stories and some very sketchy art projects that often resembled those ink blots that you see psychologists use in movies.
The preschool teachers are family. They are more than one and done. They have watched Oliver grow from the time he was a few months old until now, in cap and gown accepting his preschool superlative Caring Classmate (I would have voted for Crazy Classmate).
Preschool graduation means no more hand-holding while walking into school. Oliver, our baby, will trade in the preschool drop-off, for the big, yellow school bus. His class size will double. We will say goodbye to the teachers who have known him since he was born. We will say goodbye to many of those hand made gifts. Kindergarten is the big time, but this time we’re ready. (Or at least we say we are). There is no doubt that Oliver is ready for the big time. He’s a leader, kind, helpful, FUNNY and his graduating class’ Caring Classmate.
Mom and I watched our baby on the preschool stage (wood chips) wearing a pint-size cap and gown, we sat through the slide show from the past five years, we saw pictures of our little boy across multiple rooms from his past five years, but the tears I anticipated didn’t come.
Instead this time, all I could do was smile and nod. This time, I was prepared, ready and confident that we did the best we could. I was confident that nothing can ever be totally planned and that the most important aspect in life is trusting that what got you to where are now will help you continue to succeed. So with that being said, Oliver keep being the caring, crazy classmate you are! Mom and I could not be anymore proud of the little boy you have become.
Oliver, you will be successful in whatever you do as long as you always put forth your best effort. Always be kind to others, treat those who need help with respect and kindness and never stop asking questions and learning from everyone you meet.
So with kindergarten on the horizon, I didn’t think I would be… but I’m ready this time. And, more importantly, so is our son.
Happy 8th Birthday Jackson
Dear Jackson,
Eight going on EIGHTEEN! Seriously, when I woke up this morning I feel like you had a full beard and were reading the Wall Street Journal. It’s insane to me how much you have grown. You are such an exceptionally hard worker, a fierce, fierce friend and most importantly a loving big brother.
Eight years after you were born and we (mom and I) are still amazed by you every single day. Yes, you drive us crazy, there is a lot more talking back and many, many more “No’s” than all those years ago, but we wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Covid has put a damper on so much of your childhood, but you continue to persist. Masks, virtual learning, vaccinations and social distancing are as much part of your birthday as cake and balloons. Yet, here you are… eight years old and still making the best of everything.
I’ve watched you pick up your brother when he falls, then push him back down five minutes later, then pick him back up again! I’ve watched Oliver have a meltdown and you try to calm him, then laugh. (Always with him, never at him… just like a big brother should do and I would know!)
You have become such a leader in your school and among your friends. You know right from wrong and always make sure to advocate for anyone that needs help.
Mom and I want nothing more than you to be happy, healthy and grow into a caring, kind and respectful young man… and if the past eight years are any indication… then you’re already there!
Happy Birthday, Jackson. We all love you very much!
Love Always,
Dad
“It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.” -Albus Dumbledore
Is My Kid Hallucinating?!!
We’re at the point in parenting children (in terms of a nighttime routine) where it’s not just dealing with diapers and trying to get them to sleep w out crying. Those infant stage all-nighters are expected when you have babies. They poop themselves and they want to eat that’s what babies do. But now we have older kids… no more babies. They are supposed to read a book and fall asleep peacefully.
Therefore, taking care of two children who are almost eight and five years old we expect nighttime cooperation. Unfortunately, these damn kids are at the age where they have learned that they have some power in the world, and they’ve decided to seize any opportunity to use it. We’re not surprised by our mini-negotiators saying anything to stall their bedtime—even if they’re about to fall asleep mid-sentence. That’s not an issue. I can deal with that.
But, this is different. This is every night at 1am… 2:30am… every night. They seek us out. They are just there. I don’t know how they get in our bed. I don’t understand the science behind being able to climb over us get under the blankets and not wake anyone up. They just do it. It’s magic, it’s sorcery. Somehow they just appear. Every. Goddamn. Night.
I wake up with either a foot jammed in my back, or with someone crying about a monster that might be in the closet, or bathroom, or on the roof. Listen, I respect that. I had my fair share of nightmares a kid. But, I’m starting to wonder if these stories are just made up. Legit, made up dreams to make mom and I just give in and let them stay in bed with us.
Case in point:
Last week… It was the middle of the night, and we were sound asleep (Steph had already abandoned ship after being up for hours trying to calm a miserable four year old who wanted to stay up and watch tv/ have a drink of water/ have a snack/ read one more book/ etc, etc, etc). I thought I had finally gotten a night of sleep only wake up at 3:30 to the sound of someone having a full on conversation in the bed. It took me a minute to realize it was Oliver talking to someone. I looked around to see who he was talking too. “Steph?,” I whispered. That’s when I realized we were alone.
I jumped out of bed and did whatever a guy needs to do when he believes his home is being invaded, (or his son is possessed), I screamed like a 14 year old seeing Harry Styles for the first time in concert. “Ok, everything is fine,” I said to myself. No one is here. No poltergeist or anything like that, right? But then I heard more mumbling… “Gyro [who is our neighbors’ dog] is barking! His face is right there, but it’s square?!!!”
My first thought: what the heck is he talking about?!? My second thought: Is my kid hallucinating?!!
That’s our life now… waking up to children in our bed at 2am talking about our neighbor’s dog. (And we thought the baby night time stage was hard). It’s exhausting, but the good news is I’ve read some advice from a parenting blog (clearly one that takes themselves way more serious than #ChroniclesOfANewDad. Their advise was:
“Carry your midnight wanderer back to their room every time they bust into yours. If you let them crash with you, you’re setting the stage for a never-ending bedtime battle. Consider hanging bells on your doorknob so you can hear your toddler coming; that way, you can walk them back to their room before they climb into your bed and make themselves comfy.”
“Walk them back, tell them to stay in their own rooms, carry them back yourself”… it’s not working here (there’s no way it’s happening anywhere). Everyone has advise, everyone has ideas until they wake up with child’s foot in their ear and a four year old talking to the next door neighbor’s dog!
“Every morning when I wake up, my first thought is, ‘When can I come back here?’ It’s the carrot that keeps me motivated. Sometimes going to bed feels like the highlight of my day. Ironically, to my children, bedtime is a punishment that violates their basic rights as human beings.”
–Jim Gaffigan
Words My Kid Makes Up
“Wet Air Conditioner“
When this face calls the humidifier a “Wet Air-Conditioner,” it will forever be known as a “Wet Air-Conditioner.”
Credit: Oliver 2022
The Baseball Rookie Card Business is Booming Thanks to a New Superstar’s Card
If baseball is America’s national pastime, then collecting baseball cards is a close second. People everywhere are searching every nook and cranny of their childhood home for those boxes and binders of cards! Could there be a Frank Thomas NNOF, or a mint Ken Griffey, Jr ’89 Upper Deck? Closets, crawl spaces, and attics across the country are full of cards from every era. Years ago, the Mantles, Ruths, Williams and others from the prewar days were stuck in bike spokes or lost forever as children grew out of the hobby.
Baseball card values depend on many factors, like age, condition, scarcity, and the collectible market trends at the time. Mantle’s Topps RC card recently set an auction record and sold for $5.2 million, people everywhere claim they have an original 1909 Honus Wagner T206 card. Every year there is a new card that sets the market on fire, a Mike Trout Gem Mint 10, an Ohtani Gold Foil, or a 1993 Jeter SP. There is always something new. Either way, few things for collectors elicit the adrenaline rush of finding a legend’s rookie card.
Obviosly, pulling a rookie card out of a pack of an up and coming superstars or finding a rare and expensive legend are especially coveted. Jackie Robinson first appeared on 1948-49 Leaf and Hank Aaron’s rookie card is in the 1954 Topps set. Roberto Clemente’s first baseball card is a 1955 Topps card and maybe the most famous baseball card, besides Wagner, is the Mantle rookie either his 1951 Bowman (which I prefer), or the aforementioned 1952 Topps.
Baseball card collectors have always had their own reasons for collecting. Some collect their favorite team, or player, but in recent years, a large push in the card industry has been the intentional investment in the rookie cards of unproven players, hoping they will become stars one day and that their card will skyrocket in value. Everyone is buying out the minor league top draft picks; Juan Soto and Robert Acuña are proving those collectors who invested early to be correct (and rich). They were the focus of the “new” collectors recently. That was until the newest and hottest card in decades was released.
On August 23, 2021 the hobby was turned upside down. A card was released that not only shows what some in the hobby say is the most handsome player to ever don a baseball jersey, but also say it could become the first $10 million baseball card.Introducing the most sought after card in the industry right now… Oliver’s 2021 Rookie Card:
Get it now folks… order on eBay, wait in line at Target, or take your chances in a razz. Either way get this kid now, before it’s too late.
Half Birthday
Listen here readers (and by readers I mean the mother of my two children). Let me be VERY clear we… are not starting a half birthday tradition. We already have mom’s birthday weekend which has suspiciously transponder into a birthday month. I can’t deal with now having to remember half birthdays and anniversaries and other dates that are all jumbled up into forty something years of celebrating other people’s days.
When your birthday is in January and it’s covid …you get a 1/2 birthday party. He said it was the best birthday ever , spent with his preschool buddies. Today, this amazing, chaotic, handsome, weird, hilarious little guy celebrated 4 1/2! With that being said (and knowing that I’m not in charge around here) Happy Half Birthday to Oliver!!!
Half birthday or no birthday, I watched my little guy play with his friends, they played soccer and basketball. They swam, they played tag and ate cake. He didn’t ask mom or dad to play or push him on the swings… he just played. He laughed and gave hugs to his two amazing teachers who showed up to see their students (which is probably why mom and dad were put on the back burner). I get it, when you’re in pre-school and your teacher shows up to your birthday party you’ve pretty much solidified yourself as the coolest kid in the school!
I’m sure the day will come when his electric smile and HUGE brown eyes won’t want mim and dad to lay with him at night, or read him a bedtime story. I know there will come a time when I won’t be able to lay awake holding him close after he sneaks into our bed (thinking he did it slyly and no one noticed). He’s growing up so fast. Four, four and a half, or five years old… it doesn’t matter… Oliver is growing up way too fast.
Dear Teacher,
Two year ago today Stephanie and I were excited to celebrate with Jackson his Pre-K “graduation”. We were excited, nervous, yet most of all optimistic. Later in the summer we were notified of his kindergarten teacher. We didn’t know much about her, but we hoped for the best.
As an elementary school principal I have high expectations for teachers. One of the most important characteristics of an excellent teacher is the ability to create a learning environment for all, not just for their students, but for the families they serve as well. I firmly believe that the most effective educators are learners at heart and work diligently to create an overall culture of learning.
True teachers believe in everyone, encourage us to reach our highest potential, and convince us that we can do anything we set our minds to. They help foster a love for reading, writing, and learning. They take pride in the little things their students accomplish and the milestones they make. They celebrate student accomplishments and although teachers know they only have their students for a short period of time, they are proud to see them succeed and move on.
The past two school years for our son have been more than that. They have been a time for him to develop into the amazing little boy he is today. A leader, a kind soul, an inquisitive little boy who wants to know more about everything. That is part him and part her. Her being the teacher who has inspired him to ask questions (and to make sure the questions are on topic and relatively appropriate… I know my son and relatively appropriate is pushing it).
Mrs. G you are a saint. You are a true kindhearted and special person. I know my son. He’s not perfect (god knows none of us are), but he tries. He loves you, and I’d like to think that I know positive student/ teacher interaction. You helped support his love for learning, but more importantly his love of “wondering”. You never shut him down. You never made him feel like he was asking too many questions. You helped shape his inquisitive mind, while pushing him to want to know more. That, I will never be able to thank you enough for.
Mrs. G, as an educator I truly believe there is not better compliment you can give another educator than to say you want your children to be in their class… with that being said… do you have any interest in looping to second grade?!??
Sincerely,
A Fellow Educator,
but more importantly,
a Dad
Blank Calendar
There’s nothing in the world as a parent that’s worse than waking up in the morning to a list of things that need to happen… Four-year-old’s birthday party… play date at the playground on the other side of town… Or meeting some new people from your child’s class.
Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t a parent we’ve met that I haven’t enjoyed hanging out with. We’ve met some of our best friends through the boys, but at what point do parents of young kids get a break. It never ends. Baseball, soccer, swim lessons… play dates…
As an aside… WTF is a play date? Merriam-Webster defines “playdate” as “a play session for small children as arranged by their parents.
First, of all any attempt to label the word play as “session” annoys me. Why is everything timed now a days… “hey boys, your play will commence now. You will have fun for the one hour that has been allotted for this activity.” Why do we need to formalize the word play? A session should be used for scheduled visits with your personal trainer or therapist (although I’m not sure which one I need more after this pandemic shutdown!)
But, I digress… I woke up this morning to this email. (It was the greatest email of my life):
I needed a day of this. Both parents needed a day like this. We just need to normalize not having anything to do.
_________________________
PS: We I wound up inviting multiple people over to swim in the pool this morning… so much for relaxing!
Sorry Sons: Chronicles of a New Dad 