Oh I just got the call.  Ben and Amanda are returning from Zumba (not Zumba-rehab, but the actually addiction, Zumba) and I have been informed that Ben is on the edge of a meltdown.

These calls are always such a joy to receive, because as a husband I am very clear as to what they mean….”I have had enough, and when we get home he is your problem to deal with.”  This is such a contrast to what I heard when they left, as I had made homemade chicken soup and was hopeful for the joyous return to eat it.  My instructions, although they were not passed on as such, but I am a smart man, are to make sure I am prepared to get him in the tub, his pajamas, (<—an Oxford comma….yes, I use them) and in bed.  What she had said was that they were on their way, he was on the edge of a meltdown and he needs a bath.  He is always MY SON at those times….after all, this is not my first rodeo.

On the plus side, my writer’s block for this evening’s blog has been cured.  But that is no comfort as I look at what lies ahead.  A stinky little boy with a bad attitude in a bath tub is like herding cats…..IN THE RAIN.  Sure, you can think you are doing well, but it is a delusion…..you are a moron.  But that is the life of a dad sometimes.  I will figure a way around all this I am sure.

So it is off to run his bath and prepare for battle.  Good thing I have finished this though.  Lord knows what I would have written after being soaked and wrestling a kid who has no desire for a bath and the will of a lion.  I’d imagine it would have been a pretty angry post!

Mr. Bubble take me away!  (sorry Calgon)

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I shared an interesting conversation tonight at dinner with my youngest, Ben, who was insisting that he didn’t like his chicken.  But I am pretty sure that this is the same kid who at dinner last week ate approximately 10,000 chicken nuggets right in front of me (other than the three he gave to his dog).

This picture could not be more appropriate.  I thought when I saw it how I would use it, but it has come to represent my day.  I have worked feverishly all day to get myself, not just caught up, but well ahead.  But as I sat down to type this blog entry I discovered that I still have 117 unread emails in my mailbox, which is not really true….I only have ONE.  It just SAYS 117.  And now you can see why this picture represents my day.

You see, I was born in 1961.  I was in graduate school before computers were in dorm rooms and I understand them no better now than I did then.

Sure, my dad has better stories, like how they all gathered around the radio and listened to games and such.  But he can complain all he wants to…….I was his antenna in the 60’s as all young kids were.  It was aluminum foil and touching the antenna with your arms extended that worked.  Cable is a big luxury for sure.  It is all so easy now.

That is except for my email.  I may be a techno-moron, but I can still count.  117 is nowhere near accurate.  And it is all frustrating enough for me to call it a day.

Tomorrow will be another.  And if I have 117 or more in the morning, screaming will be the least of my problems!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

I have to admit I was a little disappointed when Ben and I went to the library in town after I picked him up from school.  As you can see from the picture, he got his very first library card, and I thought he was anxious to use it.  But what he wanted wasn’t a book……some woman mentioned to him all the children’s DVDs.

Of course he really didn’t want any of those either, and DVDs cannot be checked out on his card anyway.  What he wanted was new superhero stuff he had not yet seen.  So we finally found a section full of “Justice League” DVDs and he picked out four.

I was happy he found them, and he seem thrilled, so I asked him if he wanted to go upstairs to pick out a book…….but he said no.  It troubled me a bit, as he used to love to be read to, and now he doesn’t.  He just exists in this weird little world of battling evil and all.  But I was tired and had a headache, so we headed home, DVDs in hand, and him pretty dang happy.

As we shared an after school snack, we watched a Justice League classic that had them saving the world once again.  I however had pulled a muscle in my back yesterday and the chairs downstairs were just too much, so we went up to my room where I could lay down and he could watch an episode of the next DVD before his mom came home to pick him up for his haircut.  I was still feeling guilty about not getting him a book, and wondered just how he was going to make it through school.

But what happened next was quite remarkable.  The episode was called “Christmas with the Joker,” or at least that’s what it said on the screen.  But Ben suddenly said “Oh no.”  So I said, “what?”  And he said, “Christmas Joker?  Really?”  My jaw just hit the floor……he was READING.  So I stopped the DVD and told him what he just did!  We were both smiling ear to ear.

Of course when Amanda got home he became Ben again.  It had only been 15 minutes so I said, “Tell mommy what you did, tell mommy what you did!”  And he looked at me with a puzzled look and said, “what?”

Thank you God for at least those 15 minutes of hope.  I am back to square one!  Oh well…..

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Yes, this is a picture from my car.  And yes, this is a picture of my youngest child.  OH YES, he is carrying a SNORKEL, because Indiana is full of barrier reefs and diving opportunities.  NO NO NO…he thinks, or better yet pretends, that it is some type of “super weapon” and carries it with him all the time.  And as long as all the bad guys dies from laughter, I can declare that we are safe.

The four year old mind is fascinating, and considering it is a Tirman mind as well, that makes it all the more worth our study.  There is very little about it that we could predict as “normal,” or at least normal as in reasonable in terms of mainstream society.  But quite honestly, it is FOR THAT that I am THANKFUL.

In all honesty, hanging with Ben is like living with a really good comedy writer…..he is funny all the time.  But more than that, he is also unpredictable.  And although he will always choose the good over the evil, there is an innocence, a purity, that refreshingly shines through.  It makes me covet his perspective on life.  And I am honest about that……life would be far less stressful if we could all just go for ride in that mind of his.

But for now I must just choose to observe him and be jealous!  I don’t carry any super weapons, although I do apparently drive a superhero around town.

It makes me feel young……and for that, I am eternally grateful!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Tonight my wife was reading me a blog she follows where the woman has a fascination for metal chickens and wolf skins (of wolves that die of old age).  She was just about crying from laughing so hard while reading this, all the while chanting, “isn’t that funny, isn’t that funny?”

In a way, I suppose it was.  And it was nice to see that Amanda enjoyed it like she was.  I am not sure if I remember correctly, but I do not believe there is a genre for such humor, so this is to say that Amanda just may be on the cutting edge of something, just as she has been by marrying me.  Thus, I do not want to be critical about people who laugh at metal chickens or wolf-skins, as it may demean the credibility of such brilliant decisions as to chase, capture, and marry me.  And if the truth be known, if she is indeed insane, what would it matter to me?  I have the better end of this deal for sure.

But more importantly than anything, the brilliant  Mr. Ben was awarded a star today for eating all his lunch and exhibiting “good manners.”  Amanda made a big deal of this, intentionally overlooking apparently the fact that some of his lunch today returned in his lunch box.  This could mean a variety of things, but I want to assume the best.  Therefore I am certain that the Good Lord added a few things to Ben’s lunch box just in case he got hungry on the way home from school.

Of course a reward is a reward.  You can score a goal by making a great shot, or by the goalie making a lousy save…..it doesn’t matter.  I am just happy for him because he is excited, and I am happy for her because she thinks he is eating all his lunch.  Flag leader, gold stars, and perhaps next week the Noble Peace Prize………as long as it is not a metal chicken, I will be along for the ride.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Well it seems that yet another day is past, and to be honest, I do not remember much of the details of it.  I do know that I was exceptionally busy, but the details of the day escape me.  And now at 10:35 pm I sit in my office trying to bring it back…..I am afraid it is lost.

These lapses used to bother me a great deal, and I used to struggle with them deeply, trying as hard as I could to remember.  What it led to more than anything was just more frustration rather than any success.  And thankfully I have learned.  I do not torture myself trying to get back things that will just not come.  I instead let them go.  And, if I am feeling dissatisfied, I just make stuff up…….

I have been living with the new me for just under four years, and in all honesty, it doesn’t matter if I like me or not (thank God I like me lots better now!) because it is what it is.  Brain trauma is a funny thing, and it is different for everyone.  Mine has made me much more laid back in addition to being a lot taller and more handsome…..and even younger.  And who wouldn’t be thankful for that?

And although I do write about it occasionally, I am really well adjusted to it.  I was going to say that it invades my life everyday, but that would be defining it as something that is bad.  It has just changed me, and really it is more than okay…..it is something for which I am quite thankful.

Maybe someday I can write a book about it, but I don’t know.  I mean I feel like it is a good idea right now……but in 20 more minutes I’ll probably forget!  Thank God!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Ben shared that he was named “Flag Leader” today at school, and when we asked him why he said, “Because I am an American.”  We had to act like we never knew.

Of course being the Flag Leader, (although we can check that off our “Hopes and Dreams For Him List”) is just the base of the iceberg in terms of our expectations for him.  At 4, he already bosses his older siblings around and they quite often actually listen to him.  And he fights crime, is a master of disguise, and knows just about everything about everything.  And we’d probably let him head off to some Ivy League school right now if they all weren’t so danged agenda driven.  Tonight’s picture is his creation which was right outside his classroom door.  It is a true classic, like a Picasso probably worth millions, but I am sure to his Nanny it will be worth more than that!

But at 4, or more accurately 4.5, he has already amazed us.  He has the Tirman sense of humor and it is remarkably fine tuned for his age.  There is no telling what he will end up being in life, but as Steph and Scott and I were talking this weekend, we ought to make sure his wife is pretty dull as to not overload my grandchildren’s DNA.  Ben will be enough for the world to handle.

But enough of the speculation on the future.  I am just here in my office enjoying an argument between he and Amanda about why he cannot leave his toys all over the house.  I would normally bet on my wife, but I have to admit he learns and adapts each and every moment.   It won’t be long till he has her in his clutches as well.

Oh yes, he gets it from me.  Every Tirman can recognize this DNA.  It’s just that in him, it seems highly unstable.  Pray for us!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+

Why don’t you like me?  Is it because of what I believe?  Is it because I choose to stand for my faith?  Let’s not pretend.  Maybe now that Tim Tebow is out of the playoff picture, we hear the negativity about him a lot less, but I/we would be foolish to forget it.

Am I just considered to be more socially accepted as a Christian because I am a priest?  In truth, that is not supposed to be the way that it works.  For I am called to form people to witness through their lives……doing the very things I see Tim Tebow do in his life.

Oh but the criticism!  Oh the judgement!  And quite often this comes from the very same people who expect people like me to marry them, baptize their children, or bury their friends and relatives.  The hypocrisy is astounding, and it insults me to my very core.

Yet I feel compelled to ask you to pray for these people, because I don’t just believe, but I know they truly need it.

I confess, I would love to see all the people I shepherd have the same sense of faith and determination I see in Tim Tebow.  He draws his strength from the wellspring of life, and he speaks truth to the people he meets.  It is truly not about him, and it fills me with admiration for his courage and commitment.  We do not need to see him less or put him away……..we need to let him speak and give people the opportunity to listen….obviously they are not getting it.

Let me give some “in kind” advice that I often receive as I express my concerns for all the trash and hatred we are bombarded with on every side, for I am often told to not watch it, or to turn my head, or to understand it is free speech and to let it be.   I would encourage those of you who do not agree with how he is living to do the same, but only in part…..to let it be.

You see, I do want you to listen, not just to guys like Tim Tebow, but to guys like me.  Don’t turn your head, because what you can learn and change you and make you into so much more than you are today….it may even save your life.  If you want more for your life than what you are living, listen to what we are saying…..God offers you more.  But that is your choice, not mine, nor Tim Tebow’s.  No one is trying to head lock you or oppress you.  We are just living our lives.

But let’s be honest people.  Let’s not use the Church and faith for things like weddings and baptisms or funerals or free counseling or anything else while beating up the people who make it what it is.  For we are praying for you, not as a sign of some kind of superiority or spiritual elitism, but because we want all people to come to know what we do.  That Jesus died and rose for all people, and indeed means you too.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!


Tommy+

I do not know exactly what to call them, “The Three Musketeers,” “The Trifecta of Cooking,” or “The Three Stooges,” I just know that I need to be out of their way.