Band Parents

Band Parents

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Not bad for a wrestler

My 12 YO son is a wrestler. We put him on a wrestling team when he was in First Grade becasue we felt he needed an outlet for his energy during the Winter. Wrestling is a great sport for an ADHDer becasue it is fast paced, energy intensive and requires a short period of focus. (Matches are rarely longer than 6 minutes).

When he was in 3rd anf 4th grade, he also played basketball. That school is a feeder to a High school known for excellence in Basketball. And that school was right across the parking lot. But this basketball league was Friday nights only. Practices and games were Friday nights. Great! Wreslting was not Friday nights. So he played. And discovered that he wa a better wrestler than a basketball player.

So imagine my surprise when he comes home with a flyer about a free-throw contest sponsordd by our parishes Knights of Columbus Council. "I can throw free-throws Mom!" So Of course, I took him. (He's having a rough year in wrestling). Last night we got a call that his 9 out of 15 shots was the record for his age group. So Tomorrow night I need to take him to another Church in town for another round of free-throws.

Oh, and he wrestled on Sunday and took second place. He got beat by the teammate who keeps beating him out for a position to go to dual meets.

Friday, January 25, 2008

I Must be crazy

Ok, So we are in the depths of Wrestling season. The 12 Yo is into it. While he keeps getting beat in wrestle-offs to be the A wreatler for the tournaments, he's still putting forth his best effort. He practices 3 days a week. Four if Dad makes him go to Friday night practice with the grade school kids. The District Tournement is in four weeks. So we'll be through, right? Nope. There will be a team to go to open tournaments. The boy wants to participate.

But I met another Mom last night and we decided we live close enough to carpool. Oh joy! Of course the boy still does not get home until 8:30. Yes, he is 12, but he boards the school bus at 6:45, which backs up to mean we roll him out of bed at 6:00 AM. I worry about making sure he has the opportunity to get enough sleep. He is starting to sleep in on the weekends, just like a teenager. He also stay up lat some nights reading.

So here is why I am crazy, I am going to sign him up for a boating safety class. It is Wednesday nights, 7 - 9 PM for 8 weeks. I have been wanting to get him into some sort of water/boating safety class. My Parents have a house on a lake with 3 boats. My Dad got a little row boat with an electric motor that he can take out himself. My son will probably spend upwards of a month there this year.

This class is conducted by the Coast Guard Auxilliary. The cost is $25. I'd be willing to pay three times that amount for such a class. So we are going to go, get the class materials. If it proves to be too much after a couple of weeks, I have no issues with pulling him out. I talked to the instructor last night asking if it would be appropriate for a 12 YO (Almost 13 he reminded me). The isntrcutor said if another family member wanted to come too, the cost would be $5 as long as they shared the materials. We also discussed retaking the class if it's over the head of the 12 YO. He said, as long as we still had the materials, the cost would most likely be $5.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Dieting stories

So my husband has decided he wants to lose about 20 lbs. Being the man he is, he gets intrigues by an infomercial, PX90 where all of the models in the commercial are ripped. He ordered the program in November. It was January before he started in on it. This is providing me some great entertainment, unfortunately it is a bit at his expense. See, I have bad genes that predispose me to obesity and then throw in misbehaved hormones, and I have been on many diets. I’ve read many books.

So in January he starts this program. He decided that he is going to shoot for the highest calorie expenditure on the chart, even though he has a desk job. So I look at it, the Plan is a low carb, high protein, makes sense since the workout program expects an hour to an hour and a half workout per day. I can work with this. I do better limiting my carbs, I do have a bit of an insulin resistance issue. So I start to make appropriate meals. I can venture away from the limited meal plan in his book. He is having trouble dealing with the one serving of carb per day. (Hey, here’s my chance to start shifting the family towards whole grain/high protein pasta.)

Now Hubby is finding that life is getting in the way of his 60 to 90 minute workouts per day. Life being 9 hour workdays, 40 minute commute and getting the boys to wrestling practice 4 evenings a week. But he’s not doing badly. He’s sticking too it longer than he’s stuck to similar things before. He’s learning to appreciate turkey bacon.

Hubby also realized how helpful it is that I am buying groceries and cooking meals and even bringing him snacks to a wrestling meet that fit with the plan. He even apologized to me for the times when I was seriously watching what I ate and he brought home his own treats. He now understands why I asked him to keep them out of the house or to at least hide them.

Last night he told me he though he had hit a plateau. He lost 10 pounds the first week and the scale is now moving very slowly. He asked if I had any hints or tips. So we discussed how all diets give you immediate gratification with a large loss of water the first week and that a healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week.

So our meals are consisting of pork loin, top sirloin, chicken and turkey. Our boys are missing the casseroles. But we are eating more rice. Hubby is learning the necessity of planning his eating. He has always operated on a “I’m hungry, what can I put in my mouth right now” mode. I have been trying to explain that “Hey you are going somewhere and will be there for a long time, you will get hungry. The Concession stand costs a lot of money. Plan ahead. At least pack some drinks and snacks so you can enjoy the hot dog or pizza without feeling like your wallet got stolen.” After fifteen years, it may be starting to sink in.

Dieting stories

So my husband has decided he wants to lose about 20 lbs. Being the man he is, he gets intrigues by an infomercial, PX90 where all of the models in the commercial are ripped. He ordered the program in November. It was January before he started in on it. This is providing me some great entertainment, unfortunately it is a bit at his expense. See, I have bad genes that predispose me to obesity and then throw in misbehaved hormones, and I have been on many diets. I’ve read many books.

So in January he starts this program. He decided that he is going to shoot for the highest calorie expenditure on the chart, even though he has a desk job. So I look at it, the Plan is a low carb, high protein, makes sense since the workout program expects an hour to an hour and a half workout per day. I can work with this. I do better limiting my carbs, I do have a bit of an insulin resistance issue. So I start to make appropriate meals. I can venture away from the limited meal plan in his book. He is having trouble dealing with the one serving of carb per day. (Hey, here’s my chance to start shifting the family towards whole grain/high protein pasta.)

Now Hubby is finding that life is getting in the way of his 60 to 90 minute workouts per day. Life being 9 hour workdays, 40 minute commute and getting the boys to wrestling practice 4 evenings a week. But he’s not doing badly. He’s sticking too it longer than he’s stuck to similar things before. He’s learning to appreciate turkey bacon.

Hubby also realized how helpful it is that I am buying groceries and cooking meals and even bringing him snacks to a wrestling meet that fit with the plan. He even apologized to me for the times when I was seriously watching what I ate and he brought home his own treats. He now understands why I asked him to keep them out of the house or to at least hide them.

Last night he told me he though he had hit a plateau. He lost 10 pounds the first week and the scale is now moving very slowly. He asked if I had any hints or tips. So we discussed how all diets give you immediate gratification with a large loss of water the first week and that a healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs per week.

So our meals are consisting of pork loin, top sirloin, chicken and turkey. Our boys are missing the casseroles. But we are eating more rice. Hubby is learning the necessity of planning his eating. He has always operated on a “I’m hungry, what can I put in my mouth right now” mode. I have been trying to explain that “Hey you are going somewhere and will be there for a long time, you will get hungry. The Concession stand costs a lot of money. Plan ahead. At least pack some drinks and snacks so you can enjoy the hot dog or pizza without feeling like your wallet got stolen.” After fifteen years, it may be starting to sink in.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Menu Plan Monday 1/14/08



Hi Everyone,

I've still been doing menu planning even if I have not been posting. Hubby started a diet. It's been pretty funny. He's apologized for the times when I dieted that he did not fully support me and brought treats for himself and to boys into the house.

He's allowed 1 serving of carb per day and low fat. I have been supporting him with the menus and showing him how he can go beyond the meals printed in his booklet. He's actually doing an ok job.

Anyways~

Sunday - Turkey meatloaf, steamed spinach (boys had fruit) and rice (I made regualr and wild)

Monday- (Hubby's out of town, DS12 has wrestling at 6 PM) - Pulled a 2 serving-sized container of Chicken and rice casserole out fo the freezer for the boys to eat. There is leftover Chicken stir fry for me.

Tuesday - (Hubby's out of town, DS12 & DS8 have wrestling at 6 PM) - I'll find something else for the boys to make on their own.

Wednesday - (Free night, yipee) Pork Loin chops, Broccoli or green beans, leftover rice

Thursday - (Just DS8 and I, DS12 has band practice after school, Hubby will pick him up, get some fast food and go to 6 PM practice) - We'll dig for stuff - homemade pizza maybe

Friday - (DS8 practice at 6:30) - Hubby works a half day on Friday's, so I leave it up to him. However he invaribly calls and asks what I have planned. Last Friday, instead of getting frustrated, I told him it was "Dad's choice" night.

Weekend - We are going out of town for a wrestling meet. The hotel includes breakfast. But we do have a fridge. So I will pack some snacks to lessen the times at the concession stand.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

I'm still here

I tried to log in yesterday, but Blogger told me my browser security was messed up. I did not have time to play with it, so I simply tried again today. Some Computer support person I am, Good thing I moved up to management.

Anyways, Hubby is dieting for the first time. He wants to drop a few pounds. He's never really gone hard core before. He did thank me for the effort I have being going through to support him and he also apologized for the times when he was not supportive of my efforts by bringing home sweets and stuff. "I now know how hard it is to have them around and not go for them."

The 8 YO has all but given up on putting much effort into wrestling practice. We did tell him we wanted him to wrestle in 2 meets per month. So this Sunday he is signed up the wrestle. He's signed up for baseball. That will start in April. With games in May and June. Then Fall will most likely be football. Hopefully Flag Football for the next few years.

The 12 YO is inconsistent with his efforts in wrestling. There are certain Jr high meets where they allow 6th graders to participate. In those instances, there are 4 kids in the 86 lb weight class. He just has not adapted to the style of this club. It is more intense than the last club. But that is a big part of the reason we choose this school.

I am being challenged with a new smartphone. The CIO has one. We had a serice problem last month. No one but the CIO complained. We eventually got it fixed, but I now hope to know about service issues befoe the CIO notices. But My Blackberry was much simpler.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Celebrating small victories

We got three trash bags of hand-me-down from my Aunt the other day. But first I made the ADHD pre-teen go through his clothes. He pulled everything out of his drawers and decided if it went into the Stay basket or the Go basket. This is my child who has trouble letting things go. He did great this time. I only nudged him a little. He made the decisions.

He is doing better about keeping his room less cluttered. It may help that the room is bigger, but there are not as many trinkets or treasures lying around. (Oh yes, Mom does not walk by his room on a daily basis in the new house. That might help also). Maybe the "Clean Sweep"-style room emptying sessions we perfomred every couple of months taught his some things. A Mom can hope, right?

Snowy Good Morning..

Yes, it is snowy today. It took awhile to get into work. The boys are disappointed that today is the last day of Chirstmas vacation and they did not get a snow day. LOL!