Travel Report

A quick note from lovely Pleasanton, California, where I am away on business travel. My friend Ed advised me to get a pair of web cams and use them to video phone back to Susan and Sam. (Two other families we know used this to stay in touch with family overseas.)

What a great idea! At four a child doesn't quite get what Friday means when it's Monday. This makes it all just a little more real for him. (Note: The video quality is low because Susan and Sam were sitting in a darkened room at the time.)

In the middle of the night last night he called out for Daddy and when Susan came in told her, "I said Daddy!" When she reminded him I was in California he said matter-of-factly, "I forgot."

So we each have web cams, and he got to see my hotel room and see that I was still alive. He was very curious about the hotel, and especially how big the tv is.

Susan and I have also enjoyed being able to stay in touch visually as well as verbally--as the last snapshot demonstrates.

This convinces me we should get webcams for Columbus and, especially--since we make it out there less frequently--South Dakota! Sam doesn't yet have much patience for sitting in front of the monitor (after maybe ten minutes he wanted to go back to the Andy Griffith episode Susan was letting him watch), but just giving him the chance to see his kin in far-away places would help with continuity of relationships for him. And it was extremely easy to pick one up and get it going. Took mere minutes.

Other Sam news: At Montessori they've had him making little booklets where he writes a different word on each page and staples the booklet together with a colored-paper cover. He loves it! So much that if he makes one of these booklets at the start of class, he is sure to carry it with him the rest of the morning. His teacher, Ms. Mulvaney, made a point of telling Susan's he's entering what they call a writing explosion--so it sounds like things are going to change quickly. Fun to watch!