Took down the kids' trampoline today...

[ouwasp]

Got it for their 6th birthday. The twins will be 18 soon, and gone not long after... friends, not sure how I'm gonna handle that.

My next door neighbor is doing some remondeling, has one of those big dumpsters out front. Told us to feel free to use it.

My son helped take the trampoline apart. Daughter was at work, so she didn't get to veto like she did last year. Then she used it again, once. Interesting to see how soon she notices it gone. The thing was old and had been looking ratty for some time... it needed to go. Lotta good memories though.

But like taking the swingset apart back in '04, the act let me know about time marching on...

I'm up late with a John Wayne movie on in the background wondering where did the last 18 yrs go? Seems like the kids oughta be about 11 or 12. :confused:

[olevetonahill]

I know the feeling Bro My BABY girl is 32 and HER Son is 14. Just the other day I was holding her in one arm

[batonrougesooner]

I've got a two year old daughter.

I hate seeing her grow up but I love it at the same time...

[Jacie]

I feel a song coming on.

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little Boy Blue and the Man in the Moon . . .

[tcrb]

I've got 3 sons...28, 26, and 24. Where the hell did the time go? Now I feel old.....wish I could take a nap. :cool:

[Partial Qualifier]

That had to be a little emotional. Lot's of good times on that trampoline, I bet. I know I'll be a little sad when my son outgrows the trampoline.

Sometimes though, I can't wait to take that thing down. I get tired of moving it around to mow the grass :)

[Sooner_Bob]

I hear ya. Mine are 12 (almost 13) and 9. I can't believe they are that old.

Our trampoline is about to fall apart after almost 7 years and two safety nets. I'm about ready to take it down too.

[soonerbrat]

I feel your pain. my son is graduating college and my daughter is graduating high school, both in May. Then in July my daughter is going far, far away. I'm going to bawl like a baby.

[Sooner_Bob]

I feel your pain. my son is graduating college and my daughter is graduating high school, both in May. Then in July my daughter is going far, far away. I'm going to bawl like a baby.

It'll be a rough first couple of months but you guys will do fine . . . :D

[soonerbrat]

i don't think she'll be allowed to call home for a while though. I'm so gonna miss the little brat.

[StoopTroup]

I was talking to my 13 year old daughter about this very thing yesterday and told her how I can see the day Wasp is talking about coming. I've got shots of her with a crimson bow in her hair and a OU Cheerleader outfit on with me at games when she was 3-4. Those already get me feeling it....lol

[olevetonahill]

Dont Blink

[jumperstop]

I hear ya. Mine are 12 (almost 13) and 9. I can't believe they are that old.

Our trampoline is about to fall apart after almost 7 years and two safety nets. I'm about ready to take it down too.

You're one of those parents. What's the fun of a trampoline with a safety net around it? How are you supposed to power bounce your friends off twenty feet in the air?

[sappstuf]

Got it for their 6th birthday. The twins will be 18 soon, and gone not long after... friends, not sure how I'm gonna handle that.

My next door neighbor is doing some remondeling, has one of those big dumpsters out front. Told us to feel free to use it.

My son helped take the trampoline apart. Daughter was at work, so she didn't get to veto like she did last year. Then she used it again, once. Interesting to see how soon she notices it gone. The thing was old and had been looking ratty for some time... it needed to go. Lotta good memories though.

But like taking the swingset apart back in '04, the act let me know about time marching on...

I'm up late with a John Wayne movie on in the background wondering where did the last 18 yrs go? Seems like the kids oughta be about 11 or 12. :confused:

When I was growing up, my cousins had a trampoline. It was one of the old rectangle ones that you could really do tricks on. Everytime we went down there, I would jump on that thing.

25 years later, that trampoline is at my dad's house and my two kids were jumping on it all day with their cousins just like we did a generation earlier.

It could use a coat of paint, but other than that, it was built to last.

[StoopTroup]

My Brother had one for his three kids. After a near miss by a tornado they found it about a 1/2 away in someone's yard. I don't think he ever replaced it.

[XingTheRubicon]

Got it for their 6th birthday. The twins will be 18 soon, and gone not long after... friends, not sure how I'm gonna handle that.

My next door neighbor is doing some remondeling, has one of those big dumpsters out front. Told us to feel free to use it.

My son helped take the trampoline apart. Daughter was at work, so she didn't get to veto like she did last year. Then she used it again, once. Interesting to see how soon she notices it gone. The thing was old and had been looking ratty for some time... it needed to go. Lotta good memories though.

But like taking the swingset apart back in '04, the act let me know about time marching on...

I'm up late with a John Wayne movie on in the background wondering where did the last 18 yrs go? Seems like the kids oughta be about 11 or 12. :confused:

This makes me think of a scene in that incredible movie "In the Bedroom" when Tom Wilkinson's character is slowly and methodically disassembling the swing set.

My kids are 9, 6, and 5 months and I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. Not that long ago, my first born little girl was eating cheerios in a high chair and scattering them all over. Now, she's a little person with opinions. Where the hell did all that time go...no national titles either.;)

[StoopTroup]

Dont Blink

Exactly.

[C&CDean]

I think daughters are a lot different from sons in this regard.

Of course I've never had a daughter, but when each of the boys left home I wasn't sad at all. In fact, I was the antithesis of sad. Yes, I've had my moments while looking at a picture of them in their cub scout or football uni from days long gone, but overall, it rocks my face off that they're out of the house.

Also, their trampoline finally bit the dust in those mini-tornadoes we had last year. I was glad to see it go - although I'll probably end up buying one for the grandkids one of these days.

[Sooner_Bob]

I think daughters are a lot different from sons in this regard.

understatement of the year. :D

[OU-HSV]

Our daughter recently turned a year old and our son turns six this week.

All of you younger guys and gals pay attention...this is coming from a 30 year old here (who is probably still considered a young guy to many on here/no offense :D )....time freaking flies by, if you don't believe me then get married and have a couple of kids and then get back to me.
I recently turned thirty and I've come to realize we have to try to appreciate every day with our kids and family. That is something that is easier said than done because we all lead busy lives, but I have to stop and remind myself that a lot lately, because I'm 30 now and I can't even figure out how my 30 years have flown by so fast. And I truly can't believe my son is about to turn six and my daughter is one already, geeze.
When I was a kid I remember several adults telling me time goes fast. Now I've come to realize they weren't lying.

[soonerbrat]

daughters are definitely different. I adore my son but him going to college wasn't that big a deal. then again, he didn't go very far. Baby girl is just the baby...i think it might be even harder for daddies to let little girls go. My ex actually cried at homecoming...only other time I've seen that was when his grandpa died in 1988.

[soonerinkaty]

It seems like just the other day I got my first speeding ticket. Oh wait,...

[olevetonahill]

daughters are definitely different. I adore my son but him going to college wasn't that big a deal. then again, he didn't go very far. Baby girl is just the baby...i think it might be even harder for daddies to let little girls go. My ex actually cried at homecoming...only other time I've seen that was when his grandpa died in 1988.

Hell Brat I cried when My Step Daughter Graduated :pop: and we only had her foe 2 years :eek:

[Soonerson1975]

I swear I've read this somewhere before today.

[Sooner_Bob]

You're one of those parents. What's the fun of a trampoline with a safety net around it? How are you supposed to power bounce your friends off twenty feet in the air?

Please tell me I'm right by assuming this is loaded with sarcasm? :)

[ouwasp]

So my daughter is compiling a massive poetry project... this is one of her submissions:

"Birthday Gift"

I was six years old when it came
It was my birthday gift
Two big brown boxes in the pick-up
Required an all-day shift

My Dad and Uncle worked for hours
Using tools, bolts, and sweat
A large trampoline soon took shape
Surrounded by a net

Blue, black, and green with silver pipes
It surely was the bomb
We jumped and jumped and jumped
With warnings from my mom

We had good times and bad times too
But good outweighed the bad
Jumping, diving, flipping, bouncing
Just how could one feel sad?

But time passed and the years add up
We rarely used our friend
It stood alone for a long time
Its time was near the end

In years to come I shall recall
My birthday trampoline
We had jumped and jumped and jumped
That's my nostalgic scene

:)

[Sooner in Tampa]

Wow...it's dusty in here

I have 4 girls...2 in college as we speak, one getting ready to start HS next year...and then the baby girl...going into the 4th grade.

I absolutely DREAD the day the come to me and say they want to move away. It will CRUSH me...I don't mind them moving...just don't move out of town.

Anyway...a toast to the dads of daughters here. There truely is nothing sweeter than when that little girl says...I love you daddy

[Howzit]

I went through the exact same trampoline deal with Jr when she graduated highschool. Then within months she went away to college...in NY. Tough time.

I posted this back then...not sure if it helps or not. :)

On Children


by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

[Mjcpr]

I went through the exact same trampoline deal with Jr when she graduated highschool. Then within months she went away to college...in NY. Tough time.

I posted this back then...not sure if it helps or not. :)

On Children


by Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

It does help.

You got a pic of her?

[Howzit]

I kill you.

[jk the sooner fan]

It does help.

You got a pic of her?

did she cut you off in traffic?

[Mjcpr]

Howzit, Jr is Asian?

QKcSZfY1sf4

[soonerbrat]

My baby's high school graduation is Saturday...She reports to NAPS July 26...I'm gonna rilly, rilly miss her.

So far I've made it thru 3 senior nights for sports, homecoming (she was the queen), and senior awards night last night without tears. Tonight is sports awards, Friday is Baccelaureate and Saturday graduation. I"m stocking up on kleenex.

[Howzit]

My baby's high school graduation is Saturday...She reports to NAPS July 26...I'm gonna rilly, rilly miss her.

So far I've made it thru 3 senior nights for sports, homecoming (she was the queen), and senior awards night last night without tears. Tonight is sports awards, Friday is Baccelaureate and Saturday graduation. I"m stocking up on kleenex.

Yeah, that was a very tough part of graduation, going to all the events I had gone to through the high school years and knowing this was the last time. I remember going to an event in the school auditorium, thinking about the first one four years earlier when she was a freshman, and thinking, "How could it have gone so fast?" It seemed like a blink of the eye.

[TUSooner]

Life is full of moments like that. I still remember feeling a little gut-punched when my oldest told me to give away her softball gear after almost 10 years of playing. She just said, matter-of-factly, "I don't play softball any more." Now she's graduating from college and heading to Europe next year. My "baby" just came home after finishing her first year at OU, and she will probably want to stay in Norman next summer instead of coming "home." But I'm glad she feels that way, especially after having a rough first month or so away from home back in the fall. If you look back, you'll crack up. So you've just got to move forward!

[ouwasp]

Thanks for all the input... must be kind of therapeutic for us getting-ready-to-be empty nesters...

Went to my son's final sports banquet tonight. They were Academic State Champs in Tennis! Then I came home to see twin sis working on her poetry thing spread all over the floor...

Graduation is Friday. Tick tock, tick tock...

[Sooner_Tuf]

It's pretty cool watching them go out in the world and make something of themselves. It is why we do/did everything we do/have done.

As much as you hate to see them grow up and go having the house and your income back is pretty wonderful too. I'm glad I did it and I'm glad that part is over.

Dean I don't remember how many boys you had but girls are different. They are easier in my opinion. You worry more about them but at least our house they pay attention better and can learn without having to make every mistake for themselves. I had two girls and one boy. He was tougher to get on his way than ten girls would be.

Congrats to everyone on a job well done. It's hard in this day to keep them on the straight and narrow. Paying for everything they need/want is no cup of tea either!

[oudavid1]

I may be 19 and annoying to most of you. But I learned a lot from this thread. Cant take life for granted. I sure wont. I just want to be where you guys are today. Family is everything. Family, and God.

[olevetonahill]

I may be 19 and annoying to most of you. But I learned a lot from this thread. Cant take life for granted. I sure wont. I just want to be where you guys are today. Family is everything. Family, and God.

Ill Trade ya right now.:D

[oudavid1]

Ill Trade ya right now.:D

I meant when I get there. Im in nor hurry.

[olevetonahill]

I meant when I get there. Im in nor hurry.

:D

[jk the sooner fan]

i say take down the kids trampoline, and put up a new one for the adults....

bouncing is FUN!

[soonerbrat]

and bouncy

[SoonerJack]

Man, what a thread. My youngest graduates from HS this evening. Oldest graduated from college last week and will be getting married in August. Talk about changes.

With all this trampoline talk, I may get one for me and the missus. ;-)

[Mjcpr]

Man, what a thread. My youngest graduates from HS this evening. Oldest graduated from college last week and will be getting married in August. Talk about changes.

With all this trampoline talk, I may get one for me and the missus. ;-)

Don't break a hip.

[swardboy]

Well great. My son and daughter have birthdays in May, he's 28 & she's 26, are both over 800 miles away, and I have to read this thread today. Oh well, I can at least remember with fondness when my ex broke her ankle on the trampoline.....

[soonerbrat]

Man, what a thread. My youngest graduates from HS this evening. Oldest graduated from college last week and will be getting married in August. Talk about changes.

With all this trampoline talk, I may get one for me and the missus. ;-)

our babies are the same age...my son graduated college on the 7th and is getting married june 2012, baby is graduating high school this saturday.