theMangoTimes

kendra has sent me several videos from this guy…and each time they keep getting better. this one is prophetic, because it’s a fairly close description of growing up with my dad and his key storage system…
quietly making noise,
fletch

Posted on May 20th, 2008 by Fletch
Filed under: meet my dad | No Comments »

joseph pinter fletcher made his way into our world at 9:59pm on monday, may fifth 2008. as i’ve said before, he’s as big and long as the previous seven mangokids (personally, i only care about weight and length if it’s something circus-like), but for those of you that require details: he weighed in at 7.1 ounces and he’s twenty inches long.

delivery went well…i was tasked with photography and drink support. auntie lisa was there for labor support and this time we even had two young attendants (mangogirl #1 and katy bug were there to learn all about the wonders of live birth and midwifery). my best friend eric even showed up multiple times throughout the day to shower us with yummy treats, food, and drinks (he’s really milking the mr. thoughtful role…).

kendra had a pretty nice cocktail of pain medication, so we were a little unsure of what to do with ourselves and all of a sudden little joe made his arrival. i lost the bet on kendra’s blog by a few hours, but i’m glad he made it on cinco de mayo…his birthday will be celebrated with chips, salsa and margaritas for the remainder of his years.

here are some photos of the joyful event:

“joseph pinter fletcher, born 5-5-08″

what we refer to as “the epidural smile”

auntie lisa, patient advocate/bully if needed

mr thoughtful showed up with starbucks”

mangogirl #1 cutting the cord (yikesy!)

all toes and fingers accounted for

” One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts.”

quietly making noise,
fletch

Posted on May 6th, 2008 by Fletch
Filed under: being dad, living in mangoland | 30 Comments »

bear with me, i’ll get to the title of this post in a minute…

so i’m reading the online version of our newspaper this morning and the front story was about a silent rally at a few local highschools in our community. it wasn’t life-shattering news, just another social cause that a handful of highschoolers rallied behind in their schools. this was not an educational cause…the students were not rallying about curriculum or class size (do kids ever rally about educational issues?). no, this was purely a social issue…and had nothing to do with the education process. it was about tension, tolerance, and acceptance of different people groups on the school campus.

(pardon me while i pause for some brief commentary…)

i’m not much for high school “causes”…secular or Christian. here is the deal, i think school should be a place to emphasize learning. i know it is a unique idea and maybe i’m the only one that has this vision, but maybe we can focus more on education and less on the stuff that belongs on “after school specials.” maybe we could return to a time when the high school campus existed primarily to encourage studying and the pursuit of academics? that way the administration of the school would have less marching, sitting, rallying, meeting, joining, and all the other ridiculous flag-waving/pro-ethnic/right/left wing politics/race debates/sex discussions/rock the vote/blah blah blah junk to deal with. again, i’m not playing favorites here…Christians should also realize that our kids are not primarily in school to be evangelists for the right-wing evangelical political machine (ouch…i can’t believe fletch is really saying this…this week is the national day of prayer?).

sorry, i’m not done yet…i’ll get back on topic in a moment, but let me continue my rant for a few more paragraphs…

those pesky homeschoolers
over the years, i’ve noticed that one of the top criticisms of homeschooling by the professional educators is that students educated at home will not receive the same “quality of education” as they would receive from professional credentialed teachers…indicating that school should be about correct teaching…proper learning…the right books and professional lectures…right? it’s about the education…okay…i got it!

of course one of the other criticisms, often applied by parents, is the whole misapplied socialization question which i’ve already addressed. this critique really stems from parents that assume your kids will miss out on the opportunities provided through “social events” like prom, pajama day, organized school sports, group showers in the locker room, and the current ticketed item: “sober grad night” (i’ve been hit up by several patients in the last few weeks asking me to sponsor this event at their school). the conclusion one should draw here appears to be that extracurricular activities are the important aspect of schooling. it’s about the extracurricular stuff…okay…i got it!

so, homeschoolers get skewered from both sides: either we’re depriving our kids from a “real education” or we are are isolating our kids from certain “rights of passage.” we are told that they are both so very important for the “normal” development of our children…(picture me rolling my eyes…).

(thanks…i’m back now…and i feel refreshed)
i apologize for deviating so far from my catchy blog title, but this finally gets me back to my post. like i said, the newspaper reported about teenagers that spent their entire school day in unity behind a social issue (aha! here is a third area where homeschoolers are missing an opportunity). not only are we missing the super fantastic professional education offered by the government and the great social opportunities in the cafeteria/gym/locker room, but our kids are also missing out on silent (or noisy) protests!

the article reported that in an attempt to prove a point, one of these silent high school protestors shared the following profound statement: Love is Love! hmmm…now i’m not sure i know what that means, but i assume it was something bono said at a U2 concert or maybe something heard on oprah. regardless, this quote is just goofy : “Love is Love” is about as powerful as “vote for Pedro!”

the slogan that really caught my attention though was this one: “God Doesn’t Hate!” i’ve heard this before and i understand the attempt to paint God as an all-loving warm-hearted grandpa sitting in the clouds. by the way, i’m not picking on the kid either (what does he know? he thinks “love is love…”). i’m thinking of all the Christians that say this all the time and fail to consider that scripture paints a slightly different picture.
This little slogan immediately brought to mind a familiar psalm that many of us sing.

Psalm 5 says:
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD,
Consider my meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.

i’m sure many of you are humming the tune now in your head. that part sounds familiar, right? but what about the rest of Psalm 5? what about this part highlighted below beginning in verse 4:

4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil dwell with You.
5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

are you reading what i am reading? david, writing about God, says that “God hates.” really? God? Hates?

this verse seems to oppose one of our favorite quotes: “God loves the sinner, but hates the sin!” verse 5 actually says that God doesn’t just hate iniquity, but that he hates all workers of iniquity. what is iniquity again? oh yeah…it’s sin! what is a worker of iniquity? oh yeah, that’s someone who sins (otherwise known as a sinner…). God hates ALL workers of iniquity?

i don’t expect this high school kid to get it. the bible was kicked off campus long ago and we don’t expect students to actually read it anymore. so he’s wearing an armband that says “God does not hate.” relax…just chill fletch… well, normally i would, but i hear Christians saying the same thing. they are the ones often painting a flowery picture of a tolerant God. ignoring specific passages about God running out of patience…forgetting about Nadab and Abihu and the followers of Koreth. i understand the high school student is protesting the hatred one man has for another, but let’s not misunderstand the holy God we serve.

okay…rant is over…back to theMangoTimes!

quietly making noise,
Fletch

Posted on April 28th, 2008 by Fletch
Filed under: homeschooling thoughts, what i believe | 3 Comments »

don’t let the previous post confuse you…i have no ability to dance…and will never be chosen for abc’s new show “dancing with the dental professionals,” but i have finally gotten serious about my presidency of TSLC* and the ramifications of my club membership for the past ten years.
*TSLC - the sedentary lifestyle club

this year we introduced organized sports to our family. over the years, we skipped little league, soccer and all the other kiddie sports available to young children. we dabbled in tennis and gymnastics, but never committed to any sport that involved evening practices or weekend games (it was mostly a time issue, but also a general lack of interest in those sports offered and i didn’t want to flake-out on any commitment to the team or the coaches).

last summer we found a sport that we were willing to let the kids play (or truthfully…we found a sport that i was willing to attend with the kids). realizing my fondness for being poolside, the mangoboys and i have begun playing water polo.

“like a slow moving florida manatee”

mangoboy #1 is playing on a team for the first time. unlike me, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s muscular and he recovers remarkably well from practice. i am old, slow, not so muscular and it takes me a few days to recover just from the effort it takes me to put on my speedo.

one for the highlight reel

it’s been 20 years since I last played the sport and aside from realizing how horribly out of shape i have become, overall it’s been a great experience. i joined a master’s polo program - which i thought meant “old,” but in reality means anything past the age of 20. a few middle-aged guys like me show up, but typically i workout/play twice a week with players that are 1/2 my age with twice the speed and strength that i have. i’m having a lot of fun…it’s great exercise, the young guys are fun to try and keep up with, and it gives my boys another reason to laugh at their dad (read: speedo).

quietly making noise,
fletch

Posted on April 22nd, 2008 by Fletch
Filed under: fletch, what i did this weekend | 4 Comments »

i’ve mentioned it before…the seventies were the best decade on record (yes, i know that there were gas lines, crooked politicians, and disco…but there was also scooby doo, farrah fawcett and evel knievel…not to mention the really bad diet food). i loved the seventies!

the space race!
as the space race continued through the seventies, there were a variety of “space products” that came out for kids: i can remember drinking Tang and watching Steve Austin as The Six Million Dollar Man (gentlemen…we can rebuild him…we have the technology). one of those cool things that hit the local grocery store was a little snack we all enjoyed: space sticks!

astronaut food

do you remember these? they were tube food that held a putty-like substance that tasted similar to peanut butter (i emphasize the point that they “tasted similar to”). the truth behind this treat was that we were so jazzed to pretend we were astronauts, we forgot the food tasted like flavorless paste. it’s been so long, but if i remember correctly, they were a dough-like stick that resembled current processed string cheese.

now they are wrapped in individual cubes. i ate one and gave one to each of the mangokids…we each thought they tasted really really bad. it doesn’t help that we don’t have any popular astronauts anymore…bionics just aren’t as cool as they once were. that would probably help us to enjoy these treats.

quietly making noise,

fletch

Posted on April 17th, 2008 by Fletch
Filed under: the good ol' days | 1 Comment »