...and asked me if i had ever heard of of montreal. apparently he and a couple other kids spent the afternoon listening to coquelicot asleep in the poppies a few times.

i've been concerned about him since he "dropped out" of the sixth grade earlier this year and started at this alternative school but he's really making friends and exploring things he'd never be exposed to at the jr. high prison.

he then described to me this instrument this 17 year old kid was telling him he was learning how to play and i finally figured out it was a theramin. he wants to find a place he can go see one now.

maybe things will work out after all.

your kid smokes weed. seriously. have you had "the converstion" with him yet, baby?

Sorry, if he is hanging out with 17 year old boohoos who own theramins-----oh, he smoking weed.

That's great news! The bad news is, theramins are fucking expensive

That is very cool
My 5-year old was at a shop the other day and there was a rack of black, Ramones hoodies. He's just started reading and started pointing at the sweatshirts and said"
"Daddy! That says 'Ramones!"
"Yep," I said.
"They're pretty much the best band in the world," he replied.

I was so proud.
And I know how you feel.

And that is even better news about your son doing well at his new school. I'm happy for him.

Why'd he "drop out" of the other jr. high?

The "Of Montreal-lovin / theramin-lusting-after" life can be a good one, just as the "regular school / regular path" life can be a crappy one. Plenty of kids go the normal route and wind up bad people, and plenty have troubles for a while and then come out ok. He actually sounds pretty bright, if I may leap to conclusions. Find him something neat / rare to play (but less $ than a friggin theramin) and see where it goes.

you can get a cheat plastic one for under $100....

I suggest you buy a make-your-own theramin set and build it together. Sure, he'll probably be done with the thing within 6 mo., but you'll both have the memory of building it together as opposed to you just buying him one...

lololol.
nope. no weed yet.
i expect that may come.
believe me, to their sometimes horror, i have had almost every conversation with my kids there is to have. and i continue to have them. sometimes they roll their eyes but i believe in laying out the facts with honesty and a no bullshit manner.

in the meantime we're going cd shopping and to see sin city this weekend.
thanks for that link, aaron. now he's got a visual.

BTW that may be the only commercial theramin in existence, and as suggested earlier, most people buy kits and build them.

that's cool ayah, I was just picturing myself at his age (it wasn't boohoos playing theramins, it was older dudes with mullets playing LedZep tunes on cheap guitars); refreshing to hear that your kid is interested in some shit though I would encourage you to encourage him to get laid as soon as possible. Then, buy him a guitar and get him some lessons. And play football. And read a stack of good books.

Ooops, I need to start making babies.

whoa. thanks for these ideas guys.

aaron, we pulled him out of the junior high because he was bored out of his mind and getting depressed. he's an extremely bright kid. he's an avid reader and he started to not read. normally, a very curious kid, he was losing interest in everything. we met with his teachers (who were all dull) several times but this particular school is known to be more about keeping kids in line than quality of teaching.

so we decided to try a radical alternaitive which is like home schooling but not really. he goes to classes 4 days a week and works independently.

now he's doing advanced algebra, learning japanese and reading dante's divine comedy--by his own choice. and apparently getting turned on to cool music and ideas.

he's struggling to find out who he is and how he fits into the universe just like we all did and hopefully this will help make that journey easier.

sorry for the ramble...but thanks for all of the good thoughts.

That is awesome ayah.

And so is this:

did?

Carrying around a brain capable of stuff like that at his age is a heavy, heavy burden. I was pretty bright as a lad, according to standardized testing (these days not so much, perhaps). And I had a hard time with it, whether it was figuring out my feelings about religion at age 6/7, or being bored in class with an attention deficit the size of Ohio (no hyperactive side, tho). Kids don't ask for it, and figuring out what to do with it is really damn difficult.

Hats off to you - you did something most parents wouldn't have the guts to do, and it's going to save him in the long run.

Sounds like a kid that is almost too smart for his own good.
But it also sounds like you are doing a really good job helping him channel that intelligence and restlessness. I just hope we can do the same for our boys if the situation ever presents itself.

Laura = good mommy

Laura, if it helps, or instills you with terror, I was homeschooled in a more or less hands-off style until High School. And look at me! <nervous giggle>

Holy Hell!

Laura, can you have your son teach me Japanese? Please? It's sad, I don't even know how to speak my own language.

I know. Like, really... How else would you be able to inform the sixty-five-years-old, five-feet-five-inches, white-haired businessman on the Tokyo subway at five PM to "please, remove your hand from my cacha; hell, forget the 'please', just get it away... I don't even know how you got it in there, I'm wearing pants and underpants, not a skirt, and I'm not going commando"? Just tugging his hand out would be, in the words of Full house's Michelle Tanner, "just so rude".

thanks, todd.
you're doing so well with your boys now, i'm sure you'll deal with whatever challenges come up. in terms of too smart for his own good, i think that's true sometimes. in first grade he would be asked to write stories and he would just become immobilized. his teacher kept saying that he was lazy or just wanted to get by on being cute (she actually said this stuff to me) and after talking and talking to him we found out that he was overwhelmed because he kept thinking about titles and ideas for all of the following chapters. he wanted to write a book like harry potter and couldn't conceive of writing anything less. weird, huh? we had to talk him down for quite a while just so he could get something done.

i think i'll wait to send him over until we work out the 12 year old boy personal grooming thing. he cares about his hair (down to the middle of his back) but the showering/deodorant needs a little work.

trust me, i'm only thinking of you.

stellar!

Well, I think I'm turning Japanese.
I think I'm turning Japanese.
I really think so.

Holy Hell, that RULES. I would give anything to have had this type of opportunity. Hell, I didn't get this much academic freedom in College, or maybe I did, but I had zero guidance. Keep it up ayah. If I had the heart I'd rub this in my parents' faces, but just knowing, they can tell what they did wrong