Green Dads's blog

We recently got a bunch of apples from a local orchard and then wondered what we were going to do with all of them. They were just a tiny bit tart and would have sat around a long time waiting to get eaten.

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On Friday afternoon we got a phone call from school. Darius had been acting strangely at lunch and then during afternoon story time he fell asleep. It's not entirely unusual for him to still nap sometimes at 5 years old, but he never does at school. The assistant teacher took his temperature and it was 102°. So that prompted the phone call to come in and pick him up. Also, apparently several kids in the primary school have strep throat including one of his best friends from another class.

The rest of the afternoon and into the evening he slept, did not eat much and the fever continued. He claimed his throat did not hurt. We gave him Tylenol once and plenty to drink. At 4 am he got up and went to the bathroom by himself ( a first for the night time) and when I checked on him he said he was tired of sleeping. I figured he was better.

Later on Saturday morning the fever returned and he put himself to bed and slept some more (another first). This continued for the rest of the day and he still was not eating much, but kept insisting his throat did not hurt. At this point we are struggling with a question that we always struggle with. When to wait and when to call the doctor? We've known people that run to the doctor or emergency room at the first sign of a sniffle and others like my own mother who always took the "let's wait and see view".

Now it's Sunday morning and the fever has subsided some, he's awake and watching television. However, I always make pancakes on Sunday morning and he loves them. He did not eat any. He is still claiming that his throat does not hurt. So we've decided to give the doctor a call. How do other folks handle the decision of when to call, or when to wait?

From Green Dads Blog

News from Pride and Joy Families:

The Lesbian and Gay Family Building Project, with cosponsors Family Equality Council (formerly Family Pride Coalition) and COLAGE (Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere), is thrilled to announce the 2009 Pride and Joy Families Weekend Conference for LGBT* parents, prospective parents and their children in Utica, NY on April 24-26, 2009. Like our previous conferences, held in Ithaca in 2001 and Binghamton in 2005, we expect this event to bring together LGBT-led families from all over upstate New York and beyond. More than three hundred people, representing 90 families, are expected to attend the weekend-long event at the newly-renovated Radisson Hotel in downtown Utica.

We promise an exciting weekend of meeting and socializing with other families like yours, workshops for adults about parenting and family building, great speakers, childcare/COLAGE programming for children of all ages, on- and off-site family acti vities and entertainment, a resource fair and a Family Dance!

We are working to keep registration and meal costs reasonable. Conference hotel room rates are $109/night. We plan to offer financial support to families that need it. Utica is accessible by passenger rail service and is located on the NYS Thruway between Albany and Syracuse.

Please mark your calendars and let us know that you’d like to receive additional information about the Conference. Please take a few moments to visit our website www.PrideAndJoyFamilies.org and complete the online RSVP to express your interest=2 0in attending (no commitment yet!). Please also give us some ideas of the types of workshops and entertainment that you would enjoy.

*Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender

Green Dads

We just got a newsletter and photo collage from Darius' first week back at school. It is his third year in the primary class at the Montessori school he attends. It is equivalent to Kindergarten. He as really enjoyed returning to friends he has made there.

He never wants to come home from school, it's almost a fight to get him to leave. At home he only has boring old Daddy and Papa to play with. This week he starts Soccer at the school one afternoon each week. Are we now soccer dads? ;-)

Come visit us at Green Dads

Green Dads has now moved to their own domain. It's got a little bit of a different look to it, but all previous posts are still there. I could not register the obvious domain of "www.greendads.com" it was already taken. I was able to register the domain www.greendadsblog.com.

Please come and visit us at the new Green Dads blog, and remember to update your links to www.greendadsblog.com.

We finally made it to Virginia to visit cousin Tony. The boys went for a swim in the pool soon after we got here, and I tried to rest for awhile. The pool looked fun and and probably would have been more relaxing than my attempted nap.

We had a very long day and an absolutely awful drive down here. The trouble started at 7am when we intended to get on the road. My car was on the street where it had been parked for a couple days (I walk to work). As I approached the car I noticed the key remote was not working, so I just did it the old fashioned way and manually unlocked the door.

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This fall, voters in the state of Arkansas may vote on a ballot initiative to prohibit gay men and lesbians from fostering or adopting children. The ballot measure was proposed by a conservative group called the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee, which collected enough signatures to have the measure placed on the ballot this fall. The proposal will ban all unmarried couples that live together from adopting or fostering children. The state of Arkansas prohibits same-sex marriage and does not recognize same-sex marriages performed where they are legal.

A group called Arkansas Families First is challenging the ballot initiative in court. They will be reviewing the petition signatures submitted by the Arkansas Family Council Action Committee for any that are not valid. Here is an excerpt from the Arkansas Families First website on why they are fighting this ballot measure.

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