I read “crafts” and my mind went to the thousands of dollars I’ve spent over the years because my ADHD means if I’m interested I HAVE to have EVERYTHING related to it. I can’t have 5 molds, I have to have them ALL. Etc. Times ten. I never thought of playing an instrument or sport as a hobby. I guess gardening is one though. Especially the way she’s doing it, from scratch. Tell her that once I turned a bedroom into a grow room. Overhead lamps and a thousand seeds. Don’t tell her that I planted all the blooming flowers only to have a hail storm wipe out 90% of them a few days later. The thought of all those plants dying will break her heart. Like it did mine. I never tried that again. I did, however, turn our very plain backyard into a beautiful garden. Pond and all. Then I got dogs. My dogs are like your pigs. Even more destructive though. There’s not a thing they won’t try to eat, trample through or just chew to the tiniest pieces. I have a small pond and they’re water dogs so guess what? Yep, always trying to get them out. They’ve killed dozens of fish. So far. I have 7 left. I’m trying to figure out what to do. Just let it go this year and let them have it all or clean and fuss like I usually do and watch them destroy it. I’m leaning on the former. You gotta pick your battles and better for them to do their damage outside instead of in. THAT I know you understand.
Our daughter did the sports stuff (expensive) all the way up through college, and continued to play on beer league teams. A hip replacement and wrist surgery before the age of 40 put a stop to all that. (Her ortho doc says being a softball catcher for so many years had no bearing on her surgeries, but we question that.) Her drum playing (cheap) in h.s. and at her wedding was dearly loved but that was the end of it except for playing at home when she's stressed from teaching. These days she really gets enjoyment out of yard work and gardening but that didn't develop until she and husband bought their first house about 5 years ago. She's now 44 and her grandma would be proud that she's her only grandchild who inherited her green thumb, and like Lucy, learned most everything on her own. She was thrilled when the first tulips bloomed a few weeks ago.
Since watching a tablet requires least effort/attention, I say it's actually Waffle who's most likely to stick with her hobby for longest 😂!
Jokes aside, it's great to know your girls are keen on pursuing their respective hobbies (and you were able to find a reasonable-priced gear for them). Here's wishing they'd have more fun from music, tennis and gardening activities than I ever had. With siblings we twice got for present a cheap Electronic keyboard. The first one quickly broke down, but the second is serving us for many ears. The thing with it is that we have never been interested in learning to play it, so it's used only for few purposes - to attempt rattling Christmas carols or whenever one is: 1) bored, 2) wanting to try playing his favourite song, 3) wanting to annoy everybody else. I developed a strong dislike to playing music instruments after a year of struggling on chelo classes with teacher inexperienced and displeased with me wanting to play cello bow with my dominant left hand.
I haven't been interested in tennis. The only "hitting a ball over a net" activity I like is to occasionally play badminton with my family in our garden, using a cheap gear we bought years ago in a sports shop. As for gardening, or more specifically planting, it's strange in my case - I like it only when my contribution is mandated, both by school and family. That was the case when as school projects, I had to plant bean sprouts in "grade zero" (in Poland last year of preschool ed. held in primary school building), develop mold on a food or drink in fourth grade and make a herbarium out of plants around me in fifth grade. Same story for helping with the construction of wooden boxes mum keeps our vegtables in and unwinding the net we use to protect dad's vines. And although I hate this activity while I'm doing it, I feel great pleasure when I see the completed area I've been assigned to weed.
My cheapest and most pleasureable hobby are linked with sport statistics - memorising crazy facts about football (soccer), professional esports CS scene and Formula 1 among other motor sports, learing how the league & tournament systems work and simulating them while playing FIFA or Counter-Strike, but I have also been able to organise a league in board game based on car racing!
Lucy's hobby is so awesome!! When she starts supplying food for your table you will love it!! I want to wish her much success!! You go girl, you got this!!! And Dad, we will need updates and pictures. I admire your other daughters as well but Lucy just stole my heart ❤️
Has Mae planted anything edible yet? If not, maybe you can interest her in some summer squash or zucchini, some tomatoes, or peppers? Who knows, she might even try vegetables she grew. Squashes are pretty forgiving as long as you water them. And all of these can be grown in containers, you just have to have big containers for the squashes.
You can get by with the cheap violin, but the cheap strings are probably going to add to the screechiness of learning. At some point (maybe when those break), you may want to look into a set of Dominant strings, which are always recommended as good budget strings for students. However, if you got the $50 violin, you're probably looking at paying that again for a set of Dominants.
So happy to hear about your kids' new interests and hobbies and we know, all kidding aside, that you are a wonderfully supportive and prudent daddy. My parents supported me, too, when I tried out new things, and I'm happy to say that I still toot around on my flute that they bought so many years ago and has brought me so much joy, even though I only play for fun as an adult. My other hobby has always been writing, and that has been a nicely affordable one and one that I definitely still do. I am particularly excited hearing about Mae. My daughter has had a true passion for dance since babyhood that has carried into her college experience now (she performs as a non-major!), and that has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life to witness. Watching that passion grow and give her so much. The word passion is thrown around a lot, but it is the BEST when someone finds something they're called to early on and has it to take them through life as a steady and dependable companion, a guarantor for ongoing fascination and happiness. I'm so happy for her that she is "obsessed" and compelled to give herself to this. What a gift! And being part of it as a parent really is awesome. Good luck to all of your girls with their endeavors! Soak up every moment with them. Trust me. ;-)
Fully support the idea of supporting the kids with whatever hobbies they want to try, and also love when they find a passion. My nearly-15 year old daughter has been ice skating since she was 5 and LOVES it, and despite it being crazy expensive, I love that she loves it. I agree that Lucy’s interest is most likely to have long term passion potential (although agree with Max that Waffle’s tablet use also qualifies for long term likelihood!) — and love that she’s gotten into gardening, I think that is so cool for a kid. Totally agree you should see if she wants to try some fruit or vegetables. I think rhubarb would probably do well in your climate (it works well in Sweden) and grows reasonably quickly, as well as many vegetables or herbs. A gardening show even - I’m jealous!!
Oh - and had a laugh about not being able to hold their breath till they pass out. Maybe not at their age…but there’s a famous story in hubby’s family about his nephew (now 40ish) who as a baby/toddler would scream and cry until he fainted, on more than one occasion!
Please keep us posted on Lucy's gardening. That is a lot of work for sure, but one of the best ways to stay grounded. Nothing better than playing in the dirt ❤️
So excited for Lucy! Buying seeds is the cheapest way to garden. She could even go to plant swaps. Or start a garden for cut flowers which she could sell for cash or start growing veggies for when the apocalypse comes!
I feel that you invested most in Lucy's hobby because it has the most likely return for you in terms of a nicer property. Let's hope the girls don't start doing math in their heads about how much you've spent on their hobbies! Kidding aside, finding a trombone for $75 is a legendary deal.
Always great to hear about the antics/endeavors of the girls! They certainly keep you in your toes. Glad you were able to ‘afford’ gearing them up- maybe we’ll see you at the Philadelphia Flower Show some year
I planted 3 of those last year. My goal was a pico de gallo and salad garden. My lettuce did great, I had a good variety of leaves. Radishes were also a small success…tomatoes and sweet peppers…not so much. I got about 2 dz cherry tomatoes and all the Roma ended up with blossom end rot. So sad. The sweet peppers all looked like veggie embryos, not edible. Then the end of season surprise…BEETS! I didn’t plant them and I had a bumper crop. Lo and behold they were part of the lettuce seed mix! Their leaves were tasty but my neighbor enjoyed the actual beets. I’m taking what I learned and trying again this year. I hope your little girl enjoys that container like I did!
Huuuge fan of the newsletter, been a subscriber since the early days and they just get better and better James! The highlight of my week is reading what shenanigans the girls have put you through! You're a great parent!
I read “crafts” and my mind went to the thousands of dollars I’ve spent over the years because my ADHD means if I’m interested I HAVE to have EVERYTHING related to it. I can’t have 5 molds, I have to have them ALL. Etc. Times ten. I never thought of playing an instrument or sport as a hobby. I guess gardening is one though. Especially the way she’s doing it, from scratch. Tell her that once I turned a bedroom into a grow room. Overhead lamps and a thousand seeds. Don’t tell her that I planted all the blooming flowers only to have a hail storm wipe out 90% of them a few days later. The thought of all those plants dying will break her heart. Like it did mine. I never tried that again. I did, however, turn our very plain backyard into a beautiful garden. Pond and all. Then I got dogs. My dogs are like your pigs. Even more destructive though. There’s not a thing they won’t try to eat, trample through or just chew to the tiniest pieces. I have a small pond and they’re water dogs so guess what? Yep, always trying to get them out. They’ve killed dozens of fish. So far. I have 7 left. I’m trying to figure out what to do. Just let it go this year and let them have it all or clean and fuss like I usually do and watch them destroy it. I’m leaning on the former. You gotta pick your battles and better for them to do their damage outside instead of in. THAT I know you understand.
Our daughter did the sports stuff (expensive) all the way up through college, and continued to play on beer league teams. A hip replacement and wrist surgery before the age of 40 put a stop to all that. (Her ortho doc says being a softball catcher for so many years had no bearing on her surgeries, but we question that.) Her drum playing (cheap) in h.s. and at her wedding was dearly loved but that was the end of it except for playing at home when she's stressed from teaching. These days she really gets enjoyment out of yard work and gardening but that didn't develop until she and husband bought their first house about 5 years ago. She's now 44 and her grandma would be proud that she's her only grandchild who inherited her green thumb, and like Lucy, learned most everything on her own. She was thrilled when the first tulips bloomed a few weeks ago.
YOU are an awesome dad.
Since watching a tablet requires least effort/attention, I say it's actually Waffle who's most likely to stick with her hobby for longest 😂!
Jokes aside, it's great to know your girls are keen on pursuing their respective hobbies (and you were able to find a reasonable-priced gear for them). Here's wishing they'd have more fun from music, tennis and gardening activities than I ever had. With siblings we twice got for present a cheap Electronic keyboard. The first one quickly broke down, but the second is serving us for many ears. The thing with it is that we have never been interested in learning to play it, so it's used only for few purposes - to attempt rattling Christmas carols or whenever one is: 1) bored, 2) wanting to try playing his favourite song, 3) wanting to annoy everybody else. I developed a strong dislike to playing music instruments after a year of struggling on chelo classes with teacher inexperienced and displeased with me wanting to play cello bow with my dominant left hand.
I haven't been interested in tennis. The only "hitting a ball over a net" activity I like is to occasionally play badminton with my family in our garden, using a cheap gear we bought years ago in a sports shop. As for gardening, or more specifically planting, it's strange in my case - I like it only when my contribution is mandated, both by school and family. That was the case when as school projects, I had to plant bean sprouts in "grade zero" (in Poland last year of preschool ed. held in primary school building), develop mold on a food or drink in fourth grade and make a herbarium out of plants around me in fifth grade. Same story for helping with the construction of wooden boxes mum keeps our vegtables in and unwinding the net we use to protect dad's vines. And although I hate this activity while I'm doing it, I feel great pleasure when I see the completed area I've been assigned to weed.
My cheapest and most pleasureable hobby are linked with sport statistics - memorising crazy facts about football (soccer), professional esports CS scene and Formula 1 among other motor sports, learing how the league & tournament systems work and simulating them while playing FIFA or Counter-Strike, but I have also been able to organise a league in board game based on car racing!
Lucy's hobby is so awesome!! When she starts supplying food for your table you will love it!! I want to wish her much success!! You go girl, you got this!!! And Dad, we will need updates and pictures. I admire your other daughters as well but Lucy just stole my heart ❤️
Your kids’ hobbies are awesome!
Has Mae planted anything edible yet? If not, maybe you can interest her in some summer squash or zucchini, some tomatoes, or peppers? Who knows, she might even try vegetables she grew. Squashes are pretty forgiving as long as you water them. And all of these can be grown in containers, you just have to have big containers for the squashes.
You can get by with the cheap violin, but the cheap strings are probably going to add to the screechiness of learning. At some point (maybe when those break), you may want to look into a set of Dominant strings, which are always recommended as good budget strings for students. However, if you got the $50 violin, you're probably looking at paying that again for a set of Dominants.
So happy to hear about your kids' new interests and hobbies and we know, all kidding aside, that you are a wonderfully supportive and prudent daddy. My parents supported me, too, when I tried out new things, and I'm happy to say that I still toot around on my flute that they bought so many years ago and has brought me so much joy, even though I only play for fun as an adult. My other hobby has always been writing, and that has been a nicely affordable one and one that I definitely still do. I am particularly excited hearing about Mae. My daughter has had a true passion for dance since babyhood that has carried into her college experience now (she performs as a non-major!), and that has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life to witness. Watching that passion grow and give her so much. The word passion is thrown around a lot, but it is the BEST when someone finds something they're called to early on and has it to take them through life as a steady and dependable companion, a guarantor for ongoing fascination and happiness. I'm so happy for her that she is "obsessed" and compelled to give herself to this. What a gift! And being part of it as a parent really is awesome. Good luck to all of your girls with their endeavors! Soak up every moment with them. Trust me. ;-)
Fully support the idea of supporting the kids with whatever hobbies they want to try, and also love when they find a passion. My nearly-15 year old daughter has been ice skating since she was 5 and LOVES it, and despite it being crazy expensive, I love that she loves it. I agree that Lucy’s interest is most likely to have long term passion potential (although agree with Max that Waffle’s tablet use also qualifies for long term likelihood!) — and love that she’s gotten into gardening, I think that is so cool for a kid. Totally agree you should see if she wants to try some fruit or vegetables. I think rhubarb would probably do well in your climate (it works well in Sweden) and grows reasonably quickly, as well as many vegetables or herbs. A gardening show even - I’m jealous!!
Oh - and had a laugh about not being able to hold their breath till they pass out. Maybe not at their age…but there’s a famous story in hubby’s family about his nephew (now 40ish) who as a baby/toddler would scream and cry until he fainted, on more than one occasion!
Please keep us posted on Lucy's gardening. That is a lot of work for sure, but one of the best ways to stay grounded. Nothing better than playing in the dirt ❤️
You seem to have coerced another family member into sprucing up the outside of your house. Nice work.
So excited for Lucy! Buying seeds is the cheapest way to garden. She could even go to plant swaps. Or start a garden for cut flowers which she could sell for cash or start growing veggies for when the apocalypse comes!
I feel that you invested most in Lucy's hobby because it has the most likely return for you in terms of a nicer property. Let's hope the girls don't start doing math in their heads about how much you've spent on their hobbies! Kidding aside, finding a trombone for $75 is a legendary deal.
Always great to hear about the antics/endeavors of the girls! They certainly keep you in your toes. Glad you were able to ‘afford’ gearing them up- maybe we’ll see you at the Philadelphia Flower Show some year
I planted 3 of those last year. My goal was a pico de gallo and salad garden. My lettuce did great, I had a good variety of leaves. Radishes were also a small success…tomatoes and sweet peppers…not so much. I got about 2 dz cherry tomatoes and all the Roma ended up with blossom end rot. So sad. The sweet peppers all looked like veggie embryos, not edible. Then the end of season surprise…BEETS! I didn’t plant them and I had a bumper crop. Lo and behold they were part of the lettuce seed mix! Their leaves were tasty but my neighbor enjoyed the actual beets. I’m taking what I learned and trying again this year. I hope your little girl enjoys that container like I did!
Huuuge fan of the newsletter, been a subscriber since the early days and they just get better and better James! The highlight of my week is reading what shenanigans the girls have put you through! You're a great parent!