Ding Dongs

Off Topic
21

As a parent of an 11 yr. old boy and a 10 yr. old girl, I’m gonna agree with those who’s gist is to just let him be a kid. My son for instance just got thru with basketball. 1 game a week and one practice. Now we’re gonna do swimming lessons. He has wrestled for the last 4 years and wanted to try something new. Cool. I told him I would support him in anything he wanted to do, but he had to choose something.

Not just watching tv or playing video games all the time. I’ve gotten him into powerlifting. He wants to compete with me this spring. I don’t have him regimented or anything and he comes and asks me or I’ll give him little reminders about lifting. I don’t force it. Now that will change as he gets older, but hopefully by that time he will have experienced enough that he knows what activities he wants to pursue on a “commitement” basis.

For instance, when he’s 14 I think he’s gonna have to start going with me to the gym and have stuctured workouts and goals and such. Now he’s learning safety and form and technique.

Sorry to ramble. Its just my opinion. I’m sure there are many ways to skin the cat. The fact that agonize over it means you care. Give yourself and him a break. Sounds like your a good dad. Let him be a little boy. He only gets to do it once.

Peace

22

[quote]That Sloth Guy wrote:
I’d just like any tips on ways to try to explain the concepts of ‘responsibilty’, ‘maturity’, vs ‘fun’ to him, if possible. [/quote]

Responsibility is knowing what needs to be done.

Fun is knowing what you want to do.

Maturity is knowing the right time to do each of the above.

Oh, and Chocodiles trump Ding Dongs, any day of the week.

23

[quote]Minotaur wrote:

Responsibility is knowing what needs to be done.

Fun is knowing what you want to do.

Maturity is knowing the right time to do each of the above.

Oh, and Chocodiles trump Ding Dongs, any day of the week.[/quote]

I did find him a box of King Dongs, and now, I think i got to find ‘Chocodiles’.

DB, before you go all callin’ Zenith1234 on me… I’m not planning on forcing the poor little guy into anything. And I am listening to what’s said here.

I do plan on ‘lightening his extracurricular load’, somewhat. I do force the swimming issue, because as his parent, I feel it’s important for him to learn to swim well. I generally make him eat brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and whole grain bread, because it’s healthy. Even though he complains, and would prefer white rice, white pasta, and Wonder-fucken-bread. However, he has a nice King Don in his lunch today for dessert.

He’s got some of my less desirable traits, one being that he gets angry when he can’t make something work right away. He’ll get a new Lego toy, then get pissed when he can’t get it together easily, and say he doesn’t want it anymore. Then 5 mins later, he figures it out, and he’s all happy again. So, just because he says he wants to quit something, doesn’t mean he KNOWS he wants to quit. As his dad, I have to try to interpret his feelings, and talk to him about them. ( sounds a bit gay, I suppose, not that there’s anything wrong with that ).

So, my plan, if anyone is interested, is to have a talk with him about what he really WANTS. I’d like to try to explain to him the benefits of Karate, beyond just having fun. If he doesn’t want to go, then he doesn’t have to. He may be more than willing to go one ‘semester’ a year, when it doesn’t conflict with anything else. We’ll see.

I appreciate all the advice, and I am considering it all, to formulate my ‘chat’ with him. Don’t worry, it won’t be a ‘sit down, son, we have to talk’ chat. It will probably take place in the hot tub at the pool. Somewhere that we are both comfortable, and we can talk about ‘stuff’.

|/ 3Toes

24

You know, the lack of Ding Dongs in your area almost makes me want to make your 7 yr old my own personal charity case and buy him a box and mail it! LOL!

EVERY kid should TRY a Ding Dong! My God! My husband is enamored with Swiss Cake Rolls. It is NOT the same. No siree, Bob. Not the same. No matter how much he tries to convince me it is.

Ok, what about Funny Bones? Anyone like those? I can’t find them in Texas - ANYWHERE. But they were in Boston and connecticut when I went up there in December!

25

[quote]Carrie77 wrote:
You know, the lack of Ding Dongs in your area almost makes me want to make your 7 yr old my own personal charity case and buy him a box and mail it! LOL!

EVERY kid should TRY a Ding Dong! My God! My husband is enamored with Swiss Cake Rolls. It is NOT the same. No siree, Bob. Not the same. No matter how much he tries to convince me it is.

Ok, what about Funny Bones? Anyone like those? I can’t find them in Texas - ANYWHERE. But they were in Boston and connecticut when I went up there in December![/quote]

If these are what you’re talking about, then it appears that you can order them online here…

http://orderdc.com/catalog/index.php

As for Ding Dongs… now that we have found King Dons, which according to the Hostess web site are the same thing, he’s fully initiated into the ways of the Ding Dong. Life as we know it may never be the same.

26

Interests change as you get older. Karate gets less and less fun as you get older, from my experience. If he doesn’t want to do it now, he’s got a good 70 years to go back and pick it up again. Don’t rush him.

But I do agree about swimming…that is an essential.

27

I disagree with Rainjack. Having your son do lots of stuff will develop a good work ethic and time management skills. I’ve known many intelligent people who were gettings Ds in high school simply because they had too much time on their hands and didn’t know what to do with themselves and had no work ethic. Yeah, he’s only 7, but these habits need to be instilled early. As long as he is enjoying the activities and you’re not forcing him to participate, it’s okay IMO.

28

[quote]The3toedSloth wrote:
If these are what you’re talking about, then it appears that you can order them online here…

http://orderdc.com/catalog/index.php

As for Ding Dongs… now that we have found King Dons, which according to the Hostess web site are the same thing, he’s fully initiated into the ways of the Ding Dong. Life as we know it may never be the same.

[/quote]

Ooooh. Oh, wow. I did not need that information. I can do without the aded sugar and crap. lol! Thank you. :smiley:

King Don and Ding Dong… The name bugs me. But I get what you’re saying! Ok then. Smart boy. :smiley:

Someone suggested frozen ding dongs. I’ll have to give that a shot.

29

all i want is a blizzard sloth thats it but do the have a DQ in england NOOOOOOOO. so now i feel bad so thank you very much :frowning:

30

[quote]pappapump wrote:
all i want is a blizzard sloth thats it but do the have a DQ in england NOOOOOOOO. so now i feel bad so thank you very much :([/quote]

This is the best I can do for you. Unless, perhaps, you can open your own DQ franchise over there?

Dairy Queen Blizzard

Ingredients:

1 Health candy bar
1/4 c Milk
2 1/2 c Vanilla ice cream
1 teas. Fudge topping

Cooking Instructions:

Freeze the Heath bar. Break the candy into tiny pieces with a knife handle before removing form wrapper. Combine all of the ingredients in the blender and blend for 30 seconds on med. speed. Stop the blender to stir the mixture with a spoon; repeat until well mixed. Pour into a 16-oz. glass. Your homemade blizzard may not be as thick as its commercial counterpart. If you would like a thicker treat, after pouring the mixture into your cup, simply place it in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes, or until it reaches the desired consistency.

Serving Suggestions:

VARIATIONS: Try substituting different candies.

31

[quote]doogie wrote:
While teaching, I’ve noticed that kids in Karate are the biggest dorks. I don’t know why that is, but it holds up. Everyone of them seems to be a social mutant.

Of course soccer is a girls’ sport for weenies with moms who don’t want them to get hurt playing football.

Being a parent is hard.[/quote]

In HS our soccer team sent more kids from the other team to the ER in one game then the football team did the entire season.

One of my buddies from Judo had been doing it since he was wee little. He wanted to quit many times when it wasn’t fun. His dad told him that if he wanted to quit he had to be the one to tell Mr. Kim. Mr. Kim commands this sort of respect just with his presence so it never happened. Now my friend is an elite player on the national roster.
I think a “if you want to quit, you have to be a man about it” approach is the best way to go. Then you have to respect that decision.

32

I didn’t read any of the other posts so forgive me if this has been said:

  1. Stop looking for junk food to give your kid. Kids start out in life pretty much only knowing what you tell them. And only eating what you give them. Give him a glass of fresh homemade fruit and vegetable juice…um tell him it’s a Ding Dong :).

All kidding aside there is nothign wrong with a little crap food now and then. But why hurry the process?

As to the Karate thing, let him quite, he’s right and you’re wrong!

By the way, Karate class in the year 2006 is dam near worthless. I mean 10 year old kids running around with their black belts on. And how they got them…well that’s another matter. Karate studios are pretty much baby sitting classes today. Pay your monthly fee and sooner or later your kid will be a black belt…(BIG YAWN).

Why not put him in a wrestling club (class, team whatever) and make a real stud out of him?

Oh…and don’t over tax your kid with all the extra curicular activities, it won’t make him any better. In fact it might make him worse. The more time he spends with his Dad the better off he’ll be (as long as you don’t stuff his face with junk food that is :).

33

Sloth,

Don’t let him quit Karate. When he’s older he’ll thank you for it.

34

[quote]DiogenestheCynic wrote:
Sloth,

Don’t let him quit Karate. When he’s older he’ll thank you for it.[/quote]

Or resent him for it. There is a fine line to walk in these circumstances and every child/parent relationship is different and none of us can pretend to know how it will turn out. Sloth ultimately has to do what he feels is right for his son and only he knows the dynamics of their relationship and what makes his son tick. I wish him the best of luck and hope it all works out well for them.

I still urge moderation when it comes to organized sports for kids. My sister’s kids were all very talented soccer players at young ages, but they were completely burned out by the time they hit 12 due to all of the practices and tournaments. It got so bad that the parents of the kids on the team all wanted their team to lose early in the tournaments so that their whole weekends weren’t shot. To me, that’s just wrong and counterproductive.

And I hate Sloth for making me want to go get a King Don at lunch;)

DB

P.S. Sloth, sorry about being a flippant yesterday, it was my first day back at work from vacation and I overreacted.

35

Growing up, I was involved in lots of things. Soccer, football, wrestling, hockey, scouts, the works. My parents didn’t force me to do it. The only rules were: School first, then chores, then the activities. If I signed up, I was committed for the season/term, what ever. If I missed a practice, it was because I didn’t do my school or chores, or was in trouble for something. Should this happen, I was responsible for calling the coach/leader to tell them I was missing and why. If activities were on the same days, I had to make a choice… one or the other, and I had to stick with that decision. I learned responsibility and commitment. Now that I’m a dad, I teach the same to my kids. This whole “you can pick both, and go to soccer one week and Karate the next” is, in my oppinion, crap. Now, before I get jumped on, my thoughts are based only on what I’ve read. We raise our kids the best way we can. I don’t know the whole story, so read on. Where’s the commitment? You’re teaching your son to sit on the fence and not commit fully to either, putting half assed effort to both. Not fair to coaches, teammates, instructors or himself. So what if other kids don’t show all the time. Are you raising your son to be just like the other kids?

36

DEVIL DOGS. Remember Devil Dogs. They are hard to find in stores now. I have stubbled on them in a Hostess outlet store for day old bread. You have to eat them with milk because the cake drys out your mouth. The filling is sweeter than a ding dong too. Nothing really replaces the fake chocolate on a ding dong that you can nibble off with your teeth or the perfectly combined pleasure of sweet filling with cake in your mouth. I gotta go get some!

37

[quote]dollarbill44 wrote:

Sloth ultimately has to do what he feels is right for his son and only he knows the dynamics of their relationship and what makes his son tick.

[/quote]

Absofuckenlutely. I started this thread, asking for advice, and that’s what I’m getting. I appreciate it all. Ultimately, the boy will decide if he stays in Karate. I just want to be able to attempt to explain the benefits of it to him, if possible. I’d like to see him stay in it. But I certainly won’t force him.

thanks.

|/ 3Toes

38

[quote]sowhat wrote:
DEVIL DOGS. Remember Devil Dogs. They are hard to find in stores now. I have stubbled on them in a Hostess outlet store for day old bread. You have to eat them with milk because the cake drys out your mouth. The filling is sweeter than a ding dong too. Nothing really replaces the fake chocolate on a ding dong that you can nibble off with your teeth or the perfectly combined pleasure of sweet filling with cake in your mouth. I gotta go get some![/quote]

I have no trouble finding Devil Dogs in my area. Twinkies are hit or miss though, for some reason. I’m a Little Debbie Swiss Roll guy though. I like to nibble off the chocolate coating. It actually comes off in sheets if they aren’t warm.

DB

39

[quote]sowhat wrote:
DEVIL DOGS. Remember Devil Dogs. They are hard to find in stores now. I have stubbled on them in a Hostess outlet store for day old bread. You have to eat them with milk because the cake drys out your mouth. The filling is sweeter than a ding dong too. Nothing really replaces the fake chocolate on a ding dong that you can nibble off with your teeth or the perfectly combined pleasure of sweet filling with cake in your mouth. I gotta go get some![/quote]

Oh man! Now I want Devil Dogs AND Ding Dongs! Darn you!!!

40

[quote]The3toedSloth wrote:
Ultimately, the boy will decide if he stays in Karate. I just want to be able to attempt to explain the benefits of it to him, if possible. I’d like to see him stay in it. But I certainly won’t force him.

thanks.

|/ 3Toes

[/quote]

Well, my cousin (female) is training to be on the 2008 Olympics USA Tae Kwon Do team. Do they have an equivalent for Karate? That might be a goal to shoot for. She’s been training since she was a child and has been a blackbelt since age 13.