Hooters Miya Is Ready For A Big Holiday Weekend, Caleb Williams Already Throwing INTs & MEAT For The Holiday
Slowing down for reflection, relaxation and berry bushes as we start summer
- Guy G. in Western NY paints a picture for us this morning:
Moving into Memorial Day weekend, and looking towards the summer, I am excited to get the grills going, and not let them cool. Going through dialysis is not fun, but as my health returns, so does the need for grilling.
In order to get that done, we had to Do Hard Things all spring. 2186 berry bushes have been installed, along with 277 vegetable plants, many of which were started in February, 104 strawberry plants, 15 blackberry bushes, 12 raspberry bushes, 2 peach trees, and 4 plum trees. Mrs. G has been a workhorse getting most of this done.
Yacht rock is loaded, and the pond has been mowed around. It’s going to be mostly beautiful here in WNY, and we aren’t doing a thing. Cold drinks and reclining chairs in the sun for this kickoff to summer!
Kinsey:
For the first time this year, I have outdoor golf scheduled this weekend. Outside of that, I have absolutely no plans and it feels great. I didn't receive a single invitation to attend a Memorial Day weekend cookout and it feels amazing.
Diesel invited me over to his deck build to have a beer and observe which is one of the biggest Midwestern moves ever. It actually sounds relaxing and I might do it if I get really bored.
If the kids decide at the spur of the moment that they want to go race go-karts, we can do it. If the kids get into a big neighborhood kickball game, have at it. I'll be content right on the patio.
Mrs. Screencaps already scheduled a greenhouse visit with her mom and I couldn't be happier for her. Go have fun.
After what feels like an 8-9 weekend stretch where we haven't stopped, it'll be nice to chill. I might even watch a bunch of racing while throwing the tennis ball for the dog and listening to music.
Oh, and I need to work on the mower. See my TNML content.
Advice for a single dad – Brian in Utah - from those who've been there
- Tom writes:
My heart goes out to Brian in Utah. My wife left me when my two girls were 6 and 1-1/2. I swore that I would be the best part-time dad that I could possibly be. I wasn’t perfect, but I made it through, and I have a great relationship with both of my girls - 24 and 19 now.
I had a pretty good job, but with $1500 a month child support\college fund, we couldn’t do expensive stuff all of the time.
Here are my suggestions:
Never get a babysitter – when they are with you, they are with YOU.
Always do stuff – don’t plop them in front of the TV until late in the day, after you have done a bunch of stuff and you need a break.
Go to any kind of local festival.
Play barbies or dolls.
Teach them to play some sports.
Play board games.
TEACH THEM TO RIDE A BIKE. This is your responsibility as a dad.
Go for a walk in the park.
Get a pet.
Make cookies.
Go to the airport or local train yard and watch trains and planes.
Take them to a football game. Tailgate, watch the band, watch the cheerleaders, … then leave after the 1st quarter when they get bored.
Get into the holidays… always put up decorations.
When they get older… binge watch a great show…. We did Monk, 30 Rock, Seinfeld …… many others.
I am an empty nester now, and listing this stuff makes me a little misty eyed. My oldest daughter rags on parents who entertain their kids with I-Pads… she told me that she really appreciated that we always DID STUFF. That made me feel very, very good.
Go be the best part-time dad that you can possibly be!
Tom added:
Mini Golf. Kids get bored fast with putt-putt….. but if you give them $10 for every hole in one that they make, they get very excited! I lost $40 one day…
… it was fun.
- Rex shares:
Almost 20 years ago I had the chance to hear Bill Bissmeyer speak at a "Dad's Day Breakfast" with my daughter.
It was profound and touching and still impacts me to this day. I wish I could find a recording of that speech but I can't.
The short form is that his son suddenly died in his sleep one day and he encouraged dads to connect with their children. Spend time with them....
Schedule a breakfast away from the home and tell them you are proud of them and why.
That's my advice. Make a regularly scheduled simple event. A one on one event that is just theirs and yours.
Breakfast is great. Let them choose what they want from the menu. Talk with them. Play a card game. Tell them and anyone who will listen why you think they are great. Hug them.
Here is the closest thing I can find that tells his story:
- Mike N. shares his advice to the single dads:
I am sure this idea popped into the head of almost every SCs reader with kids in high school & college: Help coach her soccer team (and as many sports teams as you can). Either head coach or assistant coach. Zero experience necessary. There are hundreds of YouTube videos of How to Coach X for X year olds. You can be that dad or coach whose #1 goal is to make sure the kids find that sense of accomplishment and enjoy it enough to come back next season. If you travel or work late, make the practices you can. I had years where I changed out of my work clothes at stop lights on the way to practice, or showed a tackling drill wearing a suit & dress shoes.
Time moves fast, good luck!
- Otis in Mobile shares a good one:
My son has always loved eggs and eats a ton of them.
During COVID we built a chicken coop and got three chicks that grew into chickens that produced so many eggs we ate our fill and still were giving them away. Would let them out during the day for a few hours to roam the yard and I can assure you it's much nicer to sit outside at night after 3 ravenous chickens have consumed every bug they can find in the yard. We used to love watching them roam around, kind of like peacefully watching fish in an aquarium. They were very tame and would jump on your lap if you were watching the outside TV.
Obviously depends on where you live on if you can do this, but we designed and built the coop with wheels and wheelbarrow handles so that the location of the coop could be moved every couple of days to a new area of the yard that could use the natural fertilizer.
- Kevin in Toboso, OH has a great idea:
Take her fishing. I made sure all of my kids fished with their dad and enjoy the outdoors. You may have to bait the hook and take off the fish but it is cheap, and fun for kids. Especially if you take a mess of panfish and fry them up. Don't need a boat or expensive equipment. Can of worms, bobber and hooks and a zebco push button rod and have at it. She will love it.
Costco toilet paper analysis
- Joe P. emails:
Do you know about the Charmin toilet paper from Costco? It has wavy cutouts that are supposed to rip cleanly. Well…in theory.
A fashion trend that doesn't make sense, but more and more Screencaps readers are spotting: Guys wearing black long sleeves at the beach
- Charlie says:
Right on cue about the black long sleaves....Live on a beach, was having happy hour on beach with neighbors like we do a couple times/week, , and as if right on cue....there's a 30 something dad out there (with wife & /7 or 8 year old kid) surf fishing, with BLACK TIGHTS AND A BLACK LONG SLEEVE fishing shirt! WTF? We're all free to make fashion statements, but if you show up on my boat to go fishing dressed like that, you're going to need to change-or wish you had due to the verbal abuse you will receive for next 10 hours!
The Red Lobster news continues to rock the Screencaps community
- Wyn in Colorado will #neverforget if this is the end:
The Red Lobster backruptcy and corruption stories hit me in the feels (Translation for the boomers: made me sad). From the age of 6-18 I went to Red Lobster for every birthday dinner to eat shrimp scampi and cheddar biscuits. Better hit the local Costco (#notsponsored) to stock up on biscuit mix like I did with the Twinkies in 2012.
Things readers see out in the wild
- Dale A. writes:
When I think of America, I think of the Bloomin Onion. Is this Australia’s greatest export to the U.S.?
Explorers believe ‘Marge’ has been found
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That's it this morning. I can't wait to hear about your Memorial Day weekend adventures. Send me reports from the road. What are you seeing? What did your kids get into? What did you eat? Keep your head on a swivel for Screencaps.
Yes, there will be Saturday, Sunday and Monday Screencaps. I'll have Saturday and Monday like usual. I need to calculate the Screencaps run we're on. We haven't missed a day since SeanJo took over Sundays in 2022, I believe.
And we're not missing this weekend, but it'll be lighter than normal. My tee time is at 7:50 tomorrow morning.
Go have an incredible weekend and remember that no matter what kind of garbage is going on in the world, we're beyond fortunate to call this place home.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com