Author: Nate

Parenting Experts?

Are there any parenting experts out there?  I ask because it seems that every parent I know, including my wife and myself, seems to be on a “work in progress” path to being a well-rounded parent.  It’s been said so many times before, but why oh why don’t kids come with an owner’s manual?  Ask most any parent and they’re likely to tell you that they are still trying to figure out what makes a “perfect child”.  The fact is, we parents are incapable of “creating” perfection.  Try as we might, every one of my children (yours too, come on) will leave home both an imperfect and an incomplete project.  I know many parents that really struggle with the fact that their child has this or that flaw or that if only they had done this one parenting thing better, it all would turn out perfect.  In my opinion, one trick to being a better parent is to accept that you can not make your kids perfect and to embrace that.  Don’t get down on yourself or your child because they act up in public or don’t make the grades you wanted, or aren’t the star athlete.  Your job is not to create perfection but to give children the basic core values that they can take out into the world to make their own decisions with.  Trying to inoculate your child from every possibly harmful thing you can think of will not help them be prepared for the even greater number of things they will encounter in their life. Continue reading “Parenting Experts?”

In defense of Nuclear Energy?

The horrible problems happening at the Japanese nuclear reactor have caught everyone’s attention, and have understandably spooked a lot of people about the dangers of nuclear energy.  First, some facts about nuclear energy in the US.  There are currently 104 nuclear reactors licensed to operate at 65 plants in the United States, which generate about 20% of the nation’s electricity.  The plants are located in 32 different states, with the majority of them being east of the Mississippi river.  The state with the most reactors is Illinois with 11 reactors in 6 plants. ((http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/list-power-reactor-units.html))

Continue reading “In defense of Nuclear Energy?”

Andrew and Andrea “On the Ice”

For those few of you that I haven’t told about this, my brother Andrew and his (now) fiancee Andrea headed down to Antarctica in October for 6 months “On the Ice”. We’re so proud of them for taking this leap and letting us follow along. They’ve been cataloging their adventures on their blog, but I’ve pulled together some of my favorite pictures here.
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@thebaxleys – 2011 part 1

What have the Baxleys been up to so far this year, well it’s been a busy time!

Calvin and Patrick had birthdays

We painted the dining and living rooms

We got a new van

Noah, Marie, and Calvin made it through their first year at Unity West with flying colors.

Andrew and Andrea came home from Antarctica

Noah, Calvin, and Marie did a skit at the talent show

Calvin lost his first tooth (2/28)

Patrick is walking (2/28)

Visited Ray and Besty

 

 

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How I learned to love the cloud (at least for backups)

If you haven’t heard of “the cloud”, you probably haven’t been paying attention to all of the online services that are cropping up online.  If you’ve used Flickr, Facebook, Gmail, Hotmail, or any of the thousands of online tools available today, you’ve used the cloud.  It’s a way of saying that the things you put on those sites are stored “somewhere”, but you don’t know, or need to care, where it’s stored.  It’s just in the clouds.  I’ve always been a little hesitant of putting things “in the cloud”.  Continue reading “How I learned to love the cloud (at least for backups)”

Letter to the Univerity of Illinois UC Senate

Dear Sir,
I am a proud alumnus of the University and a proud supporter since graduation. I am writing to you, the clerk of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Senate, to express my displeasure and distress at the wording of your recent resolution concerning the University’s mascot. While I completely support a search for a school mascot, I was alarmed to see this body dictating the bounds of the mascot discussion by excluding all Native American symbols. If this search is to be accepted by the students and the citizens of this state, both of which are funding the school, it should be conducted in a manner that is free of political maneuvering and allow the true feelings of the stakeholders to be expressed. I would ask that you pass my concerns on to the Senate members and encourage them to avoid unwelcome limitations on this process.

Respectfully,
Nathan Baxley
BUS ’97

I’m humbled by my wife

I have to say that after being home on paternity leave for two weeks, I’m once again humbled by the number of things that my wife does for our family. While I did manage to get the kids fed and off to school, and keep things somewhat clean, I failed at keeping things running as smoothly as she does time and time again. To top it all off, I found that even though I was doing a fraction of the work, I still felt totally exhausted at the end of the day. I’m going to say to all the dads with stay at home wives, take a week or two in her shoes.

Answers to 10 Common Questions when you tell people you’re having your 6th child

1) Yes, we know what causes this and we quite enjoy it. 😉
2) The first three are the hardest, after that, it just gets louder.
3) No, we don’t own a bus, but we’re thinking about it.
4) Nope, no twins!
5) Were still looking for a ninth man for our baseball team if you’re interested.
6) Girls are definitely harder.
7) Bunk beds!
8) Who can really say when a job is done.
9) Why yes, we are Catholic
10) No, I’m not joking! 🙂