Posts Tagged ‘ kids ’

I have a lot of PCs in my house. No, I mean a LOT. As a result of building software, testing, working with PC manufacturing partners, and owning personal computers, I have no fewer than 19 laptops, desktops, and netbooks in my home. Which prompts a number of problems … not least of which...
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I think the kids could be a little less I’m-a-very-sad-refugee-and-can’t-smile, but overall I like the message of this video:
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I’ve been looking for safe search options lately – both professionally and as a father. Since Google is the leading search engine, it’s one place you need to check. Google’s SafeSearch feature is supposed to cleanse search results of adult content. As the Google blog recently commented: When you’re searching on Google, we think...
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I watched a re-broadcast of Growing Up Online tonight. This is an excellent, nuanced treatment of issues with kids online, including cyber-bullying and online predators. This chapter on Ryan Halligan rips at my heart: My daughter Gabrielle is in middle school as well, and the thought of her being attacked online is difficult to...
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I just let the kids watch Gever Tulley’s video 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kid Do. One of them is driving your car. Immediately Aidan, our 5 year old, asked if he could drive my car tomorrow. I said no, maybe on Saturday, though. Right away he went off to Teresa and...
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Chocolate bunny Originally uploaded by johnkoetsier Aidan recently entered a coloring contest at a local store. The prize was a 5 kilogram chocolate Easter bunny, and Aidan was 100% sure he was going to win. Sure enough, on Friday last week we got a call from the store. Aidan, Ethan, and I went down...
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Just overheard in the dining room … Teresa (my wife): “Aidan, what’s your address?” Aidan (my 4-year-old son): “Aidan.com” Funny little man … funny little man.
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Ethan (my 8-year-old son) has made a jersey that he’s selling for big bucks on Cafepress. Voila: It can be yours for a mere $18.99 – $5 of which is Ethan’s profit. Hopefully there will be no pyrotechnical antics in Ethan’s future … at least until he’s grown and out of the house!
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(This is a story by my son Ethan, who is 8 years old.)Chapter 1Once upon a time there was a boy who loved to swing.One day he swung so high that he slipped of and flew though the air! Then a peregrine falcon stuck him down flying the fastest he could! He fell and...
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The kids all got their medals today from the Fraser Valley Regional Library summer reading club challenge.Aidan, when he came home with his, said now he’s got his first medal “so he can feel like a winner.”
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Ethan’s instructions: 1. Blow both balloons up first (to stretch the balloons) 2. Let the air out of both 3. Blow up the balloon that’s supposed to be bigger (on the outside) 4. While holding the outside balloon put the other balloon inside it 5. Blow up the inside balloon6. Blow up the outside...
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(a poem by Gabrielle Koetsier, age 10) Children sitting, solemn, silent. Bell rings! Screaming, yelling, violent! Running, rushing, up the stairs. “Children, wait!” nobody cares. School’s out! It’s summer! Time to play! No more teachers! Run away! We are going to the pool. Perfect way to keep us cool. Let’s go buy some lemonade!...
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This past Easter we, naturally, had an easter egg hunt. Each of the kids had a chance to hide the eggs and let the others find them. And Gabrielle, being the creative girl she is, had to make it more interesting … with clues. Here they are … Hrm …. in the library? Outside?!?...
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I love well-constructed and vivid language. Here’s a snippet I ran across today that inspired some memories: A few years back, I was struggling to liberate a new Barbie doll from the almost invincible packaging that imprisoned her … (Seen in an email newsletter from Character Counts … written by Michael Josephson.)
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Saw this today: His sister in danger, 4-year-old plays hero. The robber was holding a gun to 5-year-old Mary Long’s head when a 3-foot-tall Mighty Morphin Power Ranger leapt into the room. “Get away from my family,” 4-year-old Stevie Long shouted, punctuating his screams with swipes of his plastic sword and hearty “yah, yahs.”...
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