Two brothers, two stories - isn't it great having siblings?! Suggestions please

[SuperSneak]

Mine are now 12 and 10...the 12 year old is annoyed and concerned with EVERYONE and EVERYTHING, yet stonewalls me to no end when I beg him not to let his obvious talents (art and music) go to waste as he sits on his ass consuming asinine Youtube videos all day. He is deep in the interwebs rabbit hole. The 10 year old is aware of his power to annoy and though somewhat hamfisted, is developing well along those lines. Fortunately he is an exceptional athlete and can shoot baskets for several hours on end, buying us all a little respite.
Perhaps the Jesuits can fix them in high school...they obviously did wonders for me... I may need some teenage boy raising advice soonish, my friend!

[Sava]

It had its moments but when I compare to the eighties, it was good.

yeah the eighties sucked

[Alexander's Horse]

Mine are now 12 and 10...the 12 year old is annoyed and concerned with EVERYONE and EVERYTHING, yet stonewalls me to no end when I beg him not to let his obvious talents (art and music) go to waste as he sits on his ass consuming asinine Youtube videos all day. He is deep in the interwebs rabbit hole. The 10 year old is aware of his power to annoy and though somewhat hamfisted, is developing well along those lines. Fortunately he is an exceptional athlete and can shoot baskets for several hours on end, buying us all a little respite.
Perhaps the Jesuits can fix them in high school...they obviously did wonders for me... I may need some teenage boy raising advice soonish, my friend!

Hey Sneak

I had been wondering what you were doing, if you still posted.

Two boys eh? I have four. It's not easy sometimes

[SuperSneak]

Hey Sneak

I had been wondering what you were doing, if you still posted.

Two boys eh? I have four. It's not easy sometimes

I think I pretty much stopped posting here in 2006 when my old man passed. It was a pretty tumultuous time--job change, death of a parent, kids starting to demand a lot of attention...and I just never came back. After 10 years in the same field I am out and looking to start my own business...I can afford the sabbatical and Mrs. Sneak was keen on having actual adult conversations...imagine that...so she's back to work and I'm the family chauffeur and cook. Planning on putting the boys through a boot camp of camping, fishing, museums, etc this summer. They're going to hate it!
Does anyone still play Civ??!
How are you? Still wandering the southern globe? You split time between Oz and Guam? Finbar and Hydey still with us?
Take care friend!

[Alexander's Horse]

Sorry to hear about your Dad. Mine listens to shock jocks, likes to rant about politics based on what he hears on the radio, would be a hoarder bordering on a TV episode were it not for Mum, and sometimes drives me completely nuts but he is still with us at 79, thank God. So is Mum, she forgets things now and sometimes puts her mouth in gear with her brain in neutral, but that is okay at 83.

I like to point out to my boys that all the men, all the uncles I knew growing up bar one, are now long dead. So suck it up with my Dad

[SuperSneak]

Yeah...I miss the old bugger. To make this even more depressing, mom died a couple years ago too...do you think it's me?!?

[Alexander's Horse]

IIRC your parents had some health problems

Mine are healthy, annoyingly so at times, but I had a good long chat with both of them on the phone this morning. Dad is too proud to apply for the government pension. Mum asked me to arrange it for them. She wants her benefits.

One thing today is the oldies don't just go and sit in a rocking chair on the porch. I went to see my Godmother this afternoon, 86 or 87, who is in a rehab hospital for back problems. She was out at the hairdresser...

[OneFootInTheGrave]

There are a few of us who still play civ. Some even play MP (not me though).

For kids - Youtube 24/7 is the thing these days it seems.

[Alexander's Horse]

finbar lives in Italy and hangs out on the sports forum, the rugby thread. Hydey lives in Carrum Downs and there was some incident there recently involving a car and a paddock which may have been him...

[Lancer]

Can you actually cut their internet? Makes it harder to send emails...

[Sava]

Can you actually cut their internet? Makes it harder to send emails...

if you stab hard enough
i've never tried tho
stabbing is a little cold blooded

[Alexander's Horse]

This was over quick, I like being the sort of Dad they can send ranting E-mail to

[Sava]

ranting is good
it's like shitting your anger all over someone else

[SuperSneak]

I make them deal with it in a sort of hastily arranged kangaroo court as it arises. I am trying to raise them to understand the world is full off dickheads and that passive aggressiveness is weak sauce. This summer a course on boxing and basic self defense should hopefully prepare the older one for middle school. They're both a bit undersized, but at least the younger one looks like Bruce Lee with his shirt off, due to all his aths activity. He had a bit of a coming out party in basketball yesterday, playing four straight games at both the 4th and 5th grade levels...he's a bit hamstrung on the 4th grade team, but the 5th is so bad he gets to be point guard and bombed away three pointers and beautiful spinning circus shots...even the opposing team's supporters were cheering him...I was beyond proud.
Which creates a lot of guilt: my oldest is just like me, a dreamer, pretty lazy, not very social, etc. he is creative and very kind, but in our world that doesn't count for much on the surface, and, I suppose as I don't want him to struggle like I did/do, I'm often short with him and fairly hard on him. Ironic. I feel an incredible responsibility to make sure life doesn't chew them up and spit them out...only we must feel our way along the process.

[Alexander's Horse]

you lose them at 14, they return to contact with earth at about 16, 6 inches taller