Connecting Digitally with Your Kids

For Father’s Day my son cracked me up when he wrote in my card, “I love you more than the games on my ipad! :)” So touching. But the reality is, my son is growing up in an age where he plays on an ipad as much as he does with physical toys and games. I’m delighted that Lego still captures his imagination as much as Minecraft, and that he’d still rather play outside than on his X-box, but at the same time I have a love-hate relationship with iPad games. There are times I wish he didn’t have one – but I also realize that touch-tablet technology is the world he is growing up in. While he can use the family iMac with ease, it is very likely that by the time he is a teenager, the computers we use will be the technological dinosaurs of a past age. I enjoyed growing up using the very first personal computers and leaping on each advancement as they came out. Even waiting in line for a new Apple OS to be released instead of the free downloads of today. But this ‘Old Dog’ has to recognize that both the reality of…

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Dad, I Need to Talk

For my birthday I got this cool home marquee sign so I can put light up signs in my office. I had a message that said, “WELCOME TO THE KIDOLOGY HQ.” My son came down yesterday while I was busy working and asked if I minded if he played with it and changed the message. I said, “Go for it!” and showed him where all the letters were. A few minutes later he says it is ready for viewing. This is what I saw: Wow! Kids have a way of getting our attention. So I sat down, put my arm around him and asked, “Well, what do you want to talk about?” (Wondering if it was serious or something had happened at school.) He answered, “I need to tell you in a note. I’ll be right back!” and he ran upstairs. I thought perhaps he didn’t want to say what was on his mind with house guests around. He soon returned back downstairs with the following note. I was relieved it was nothing serious. (I can post-pone “the Talk” another day!) You are going to have to come with me out frint there is something I want to do with…

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A Father’s Forgiveness

My son is nine. He has always amazed us with his incredible memory. He will randomly bring us experiences and family events that happened long ago that we didn’t think he was old enough to remember. Often, we had forgotten, but his memory brings back ours. I marvel at the things that stick in his little head and it reminds me to be intentional about how I conduct myself as a Christian, a husband, and a dad in his presence. But there is one type of question he brings up every now and then that bugs me as a dad. Luke is a pretty good kid, and rarely does anything intentionally wrong – usually when he is in trouble, it’s something he’s learning about life rather than outright willful misbehavior. His heart is usually in the right place and when emotions get him carried away, he is quick to apologize when he calms down. As a result, we have rarely needed to discipline him other than verbal correction or mild things like a “time out” or missing out on something or going to bed early. However, the few times we needed something more compelling – he remembers those, and often…

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Happy Birthday, Buckaroo!

Luke is 9. WOW, I can’t believe it. So proud of this kid. He is smart, kind, considerate and never lacks energy. He makes friends well, and has a caring heart. He must get all of that from mom. Yeah, I make music videos of my kid. I keep them on my iPad for when I travel; I love to watch them. Here are two of my favorites that I posted on my blog years ago, but decided to post on YouTube today, as I celebrate 9 years with this awesome kid. This one is my favorite, made in 2008: And this one I made as a night-night song for him in 2007: If you want to read more about this cool kid, here are a few of my favorite blog posts about Luke over the years, or just click on the Luke Category! These feature some cute pics of him growing up: How to Raise a Dew Baby! Watermelon Boy The Adventures of Illinois Luke Luke and Touch-a-Truck Rest Stops in Life Luke Turns Four! Yelling Out the Window Frustrating My Father Doctor Poncho Just Thinking About Kids and Behavior Dads iPhone Camera Tells it All The Perfect Birthday…

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Happy New Year from the Bastians

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas Season – we went to visit family in California, so I got to swim in an outdoor pool over Christmas. Then came home to a delayed White Christmas and enjoyed spending my New Years Eve snow blowing about a dozen homes around my house on a beautiful snowy evening. I wanted to post our Christmas Letter and Year-End Video before now, but life was just too busy enjoying the holiday, so here they are now: #1 Enjoy Our Christmas Letter: (Click to download PDF) #2 Watch Our Year in Review Video! Looking forward to a new year of deepening friendships and serving you!

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