Men and women say “happy birthday” differently.  I know.  It was my birthday recently.  Here’s a rundown of how people wished me a happy birthday and how I rate their salutation:

• The Wife.  I got a nice hug and kiss this morning on my way out the door to work.  She’s my wife, so she gets a 10.  Plus, she didn’t complain about my choice for dinner (check out my Tweets).
• 4 year-old.  He called me at work (with help from my wife).  He didn’t wish me a happy birthday.  Rather, he told me it was my birthday and asked what present he gets.  He gets an 8.  He was deducted a few points for forgetting to wish me a happy birthday, but he scores big points by asking what’s in it for him. He’s learning quickly that men usually only care about how events directly affect them.
• My mom.  She called on my commute home from work.  A simple 5 minute conversation.  Nice and sweet.  She’s my mom, so she gets a 10.
• The interns at work.  I have two interns at work (I know they read this and will probably razz me for saying “my interns”…but they do work under my direction, so that description is perfectly warranted).  The first thing I heard from one intern this morning was “happy birthday.”  He also went to lunch with me.  He gets a solid 9.  The other IM’d me in the morning (on his personal time) to wish me a happy birthday.  Another solid 9.  Good work, interns.
• Brother.  About 11 a.m. I got a one liner instant message that simply said “happy birthday.”  I replied with a “thank you” and that was the end of the conversation.  My brother pulled it off like a man.  No need for extra crap.  He lives several hundred miles away, but there was still no need for a phone call.  A simple IM took care of all the necessary business.  Well played, brother.  Well played.  He gets a 9.
• Friend.  At 11 p.m., with one hour to spare, he sent me an instant message.  Simple and at the deadline.  Another 9.

Looks like everyone did a great job, right?  Not quite.  You see, I have another friend that just forgot.  It wasn’t like he didn’t have a chance to wish me a happy birthday.  On my birthday, I talked to him twice on the phone, exchanged a handful of emails, and had a quick IM conversation.  The week before he even made a big deal about how this year he was going to remember my birthday because he created an event in his iCal to remind him.  I guess it didn’t work.  He still forgot.  His punishment: 0/10 and this blog post.

My wife is great at Christmas gifts.  She does it the right way by putting time and thought into each gift.  Over the years she has perfected the annual gift for our parents and grandparents: a personalized calendar.

This gift works perfectly for our talents and hobbies.  My wife’s talent is scrapbooking.  Thanks to her years as a high school yearbook editor, she has a great eye for page layout.  My hobby (I can’t quite call it a talent) is taking photos.

Here’s how the process works:

1. Throughout the year she reminds me to take good photos during family gatherings.
2. My wife selects the best photos of my kids and our nieces/nephews.
3. My wife arranges the photos in calendar project in iPhoto.
4. I order the calendars and have them shipped directly to our parents and grandparents.

This year I decided to kick up the calendar a notch by adding birthdays and anniversaries.  Of course I could have easily typed those into the calendar right in iPhoto…but then I’d have to do it every year.  Like any thoughtful (and slightly lazy) man, I found a way to automate this for years to come.  This is how:

1. I created a birthday calendar (one for each side of the family) in Google Calendar.
2. Each birthday and anniversary is an all-day event that repeats annually.
3. I subscribed to those Google calendars in my Mac’s iCal application.
4. I updated the gift calendar setting in iPhoto to import the desired calendars.

It worked perfectly.  Of course I could have skipped Google Calendar all together and just done the birthday calendars right in iCal, but I use Google Calendar for everything else so I wanted those calendars in the same spot.

Image source: Google

“Take care of me, Dad,” whispered my son at midnight last night.

“I will.  Don’t worry,” I replied.  Then my little buddy drifted back to sleep.

This damn “change of the seasons” cold just won’t leave our home.  The 1.5 year old walks around the house with a constant stream of snot from his nose.  My wife has been battling a lingering cough for several weeks.  I fought bronchitis for two weeks before finally getting well.  Those were all easy.  No fevers…just runny noses, coughing, and sore throats.

Our neighbors called us last Wednesday to let us know that their son had strep.  Great.  Our sons carpool to preschool and are best buddies at preschool.  Hopefully, my little buddy wouldn’t get strep.  He had shown no signs of being sick…until Saturday.  His energy was zapped, he had no appetite, and his throat hurt all weekend.  His mild fever on Saturday peaked on Sunday night at 102.4 degrees.

A fever of 102.4 changes things.  In my mind it was no longer just a cold that will soon pass.  Nope.  This one required action.  I told the little guy that we’d take him to the doctor first thing in the morning.

At 7:30 a.m. he remembered my promise.  My wife took him to the doctor this morning.  Fortunately, the doctor said it was just a virus and not strep.

Even though it turned out to be nothing major, I’m glad my son and I had that moment on Sunday night.  He knows that I will listen to him.  He knows that I will take care of him.  I know he loves me.

Yep.  $20 can buy you a better grade in North Carolina, according to this article by newsobserver.com.  Here’s the money quote:

A $20 donation to Rosewood Middle School would have gotten a student 20 test points – 10 extra points on two tests of the student’s choosing. That could raise a B to an A, or a failing grade to a D.

This brilliant idea came from a parent advisory panel. Wow.  Nice parenting, North Carolina.  Thankfully, the school district stepped in and put a stop to this outrageous fundraiser idea.

Look, I’m all for kids receiving extra credit by doing extra work because it is credit earned.  In theory, the extra work increased the student’s knowledge even if a parent helps with the extra credit assignment.

However, buying extra credit is just another terrible manifestation of “helicopter parenting” (here’s a wikipedia link if you don’t know what that is)…and it’s not even very good helicopter parenting.  It’s just plain lazy helicopter parenting.

My kids are still young.  My oldest wont’ be in kindergarten until fall 2011.  I’m going to try my darnedest to avoid helicopter parenting.  A grade earned is a grade earned.  That’s the manly way.