Halftime is for diaper-changing too.
-Vince V.
A Quote Of My Own On Fatherhood
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Tag Archives: Family
Time to start a family tradition with football
The new NFL logo went into use at the 2008 draft. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I’m a baseball fan. But I’m also a football fan. College Football or the NFL, it doesn’t matter. On any given Saturday, the sounds of a college game can be heard in my house. On Sunday, we plan around the New York Football Giants. In fact, I’m looking forward to 4:25 Eastern today.
Watching football is a tradition in my house. Last year, our little guy wasn’t into the television. He was just discovering he had hands. But this year, it’s a little different. When he sees the game, he fixates on the movement and the sounds.
This is great for me, because I now have an excuse to watch football. Sorry mommy.
My hope, as Little A grows older, is for us to watch football together. I’m not sure if I want the little one to actually play football. The concerns surrounding concussions and other potential injuries weighs on me. At the very least, I hope we enjoy watching games.
This football season I hope to start the tradition. Something father and son can share and remember as he gets older. Unless of course he likes the Jets.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Comments and feedback are welcome and encouraged!
You mean we have to entertain the kid?
Image of a thunderstorm line (in dBZ) seen on a 0.7 degree elevation PPI (NOAA) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Thunderstorms, I don’t like them. Not because of the thunder, lightning and possible windshield-damaging hail. But for the loss of cable. No TV, no internet, no home phone. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.
If you have small children, and experienced a loss of electricity or cable, this story is for you.
Last night we experienced rather intense thunderstorms. Dramatic lightning, window-pounding hail, wind gusts I care not to discuss, torrential rain, and thunder. Oh the thunder.
It’s not enough that my wife is terrified of thunderstorms. We had to lose our electronic connection to the outside world too. How depressing not being able to watch the map on the Weather Channel app as the storm is happening. As Little A sat and pointed at the TV every two minutes, I wondered what was I going to do.
My one saving grace was Little A’s desire to play with every toy we own. Fortunately I was able to keep him occupied with various plastic rings, musical things and an empty plastic water bottle. The idea I would have to entertain my son without television never dawned on me.
This is not to say all we do is have him watch TV. Between 7:30 and 8:00 pm, is time to relax however. Mommy and daddy need a breather from the day. The educational cartoons on PBSkids, buy us that reprieve.
So while my son is staring at a blank TV, the thunder is shaking the foundation, mommy is sitting in the recliner with white knuckles and closed eyes, daddy is left to ponder how he ended up in this situation. I’m grateful this wasn’t taking place in the dark, but I learned how dependent child-rearing is on technology.
I’m sure there’s a lesson in this somewhere. For now, I’m just glad I’m back on wordpress.com blogging about it.
I hope you enjoyed this post. All comments and feedback are welcome and encouraged.
How Star Wars Teaches Fatherhood: A Sunday Morning Musing
Star Wars is one of my all-time favorite movies. Actually, the trilogy is phenomenal. Aside from the Light Sabres, Death Star, and Chewbacca, Star Wars teaches two good lessons in parenting.
A Sibling Rivalry? Not So Much
The first lesson is to never underestimate the power of siblings. Luke and Lea ultimately discovered their familial link with a little help from the Force. If my wife and I have a second child, we will be aware of the possibility of the children joining forces against us. Especially if they want a dog.
The classic line symbolizes more than Vader’s attempt to sway Skywalker to the Dark Side. The Sith Lord‘s admission is an expression of love for his son. Vader you old softy. If we think about what happens in the story, Vader becomes the undoing of the Emperor to save Luke.
This is our second lesson: that is what dad’s do, we protect our kids. Father’s take note, just because you may possess the ability to use the Force to your advantage, your kids are your kids.
These are simple and obvious lessons, but for me, that is the beauty of the Star Wars story. Regardless of time and space, and galaxies, family is family. No Death Star can put a stop to that.
Thank you for reading. Comments and feedback are always welcome and encouraged.
What Labor Day Means To Family
For me, Labor Day is a unique holiday. Why? The meaning behind it is family oriented in my opinion. This history of Labor Day finds it’s beginning in the Labor Movement. Check out the History of Labor Day on the U.S. Department of Labor’s website. Labor Day allows many workers to spend time with their families. I’m one such worker.
We don’t have any significant plans this first Monday in September. But for myself, I’m grateful I get to spend an extra day with my son. In today’s world, it is easy to lose sight of the truly important things. If you are fortunate to have work, we easily get caught up in our work.
I always like to say, I work to live, not live to work.
Of course today gives me time to think about what Little A will do for work himself in the future. Which of course leads me to think about his education. Which of course leads to thinking about college. In some upcoming posts I’ll talk about college and more importantly funding college. We’ll see how that goes.
For now, I’ll enjoy today with the family. Maybe take in a Thomas and Friends movie on Netflix.
A happy Labor Day to all!
I hope you enjoyed this post. As always comments are welcome and encouraged!
Related articles
- Labor Day History (aeroknifereviews.com)
- Happy Labor Day! (jacquisenn.com)
Life In the Inflatable Family Pool
My wife and I purchased an inflatable pool with the hope Little A would like to take a dip. Unfortunately, when proceeding to lower him in, he simultaneously raises his legs and begins to cry.
He wants nothing to do with the pool.
We’ve tried several times with no luck. I only filled it with maybe two inches of water. The same result each time. While one of us lowers him in to what he believes is the Atlantic Ocean, he looks at the other parent and cries.
So, what do any self-respecting parents do? We went for a swim ourselves. The pool is 110-inches so it’s more a family size pool and not conducive to actually swimming. Nothing spectacular to say the least.
While sitting in our inflatable pool, bathing suits and all, my wife and I looked at each other and realized, this just wasn’t what we hoped it would be. Pools, at least in the back yard, really are more for the kids. I’m sure we looked just as ridiculous as we felt, but there is a point to this: enjoy it.
It was a small moment in life where mommy and daddy got to enjoy a ridiculous but humorous few minutes together. Instead of taking some time to stop and smell the roses, we stopped and sat in the inflatable pool.
Life is surely too short to not enjoy these moments together. It helps to foster the relationship which in turn makes a happier home for the little one. This was a win-win situation to me.
As for Little A and the pool, there’s always next summer.
I hope you enjoyed this post. As always comments are welcome and encouraged!
Hunter Mahan, A Dad’s Golfer
Hunter Mahan (Photo credit: Keith Allison)
Hunter Mahan withdrew from the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational to be with his newborn daughter, Zoe. Kudos to Hunter Mahan. I’ve spent much time this week pondering a post about this. I wasn’t going to write anything, but then it dawned on me, what a great story.
Lately it seems no matter where we turn, some professional athlete, (I won’t debate here whether pro golfers are athletes) is doing something bad. The traditional media, and social media, are all over it. Whether you’re a sports fan or not, you’ve been bombarded with Aaron Hernandez, Alex Rodriguez, and now the unfortunate yet not uncommon tribulations of Heisman winner Johnny Manziel.
Mahan’s story put a smile on my face. I was glad to see he put the career aside and his family first. I’m always saying there’s more to life than money. Thankfully Hunter Mahan proved me right.
Related articles
- New dad Hunter Mahan withdraws from Bridgestone (timesleader.com)
- New dad Hunter Mahan withdraws from Bridgestone (sandiego6.com)
- Leader Hunter Mahan withdraws from RBC Canadian Open when wife goes into labor (sbnation.com)
Stuff and Parenting: Just Let Go
Let go of your stuff. Physical stuff, emotional stuff, just stuff. Sounds easy right? I know from personal experience, that getting rid of my “stuff” isn’t easy. But, once you truly let go, you will amaze yourself. Imagine just how much better you will feel. Here are few thoughts on what you can let go of, at no cost to you:
The Physical Things:
- Clean your house by getting rid of junk and items you don’t use.
- De-clutter your spaces. At work, at home, the yard, your car, you get the idea.
- Go for a walk. Especially with the family.
- Build or create something.
- Sit, relax, and think.
The Emotional Things:
- Stop the negativity. Things are not that bad.
- Surround yourself with positive people.
- Set goals, whatever they may be.
- Laugh.
- Last, most importantly, spend time with your family.
I’m sure I can add to these lists, and probably will in future posts. Letting go of life’s baggage is healthy in so many ways. It’s not easy, but develop a routine. Not to mention, you will teach your children how to live healthier, happier lives too. What could be better for a parent?
The Silent Week Of Blogging and Some Wedding Advice
Wedded couple with wedding cake (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I haven’t posted all week. This is rather unusual for me. Call it blogger’s block, writer’s block, or I just couldn’t think of anything. Or, once again, life created many interruptions. This past week, my wife and I celebrated our fifth anniversary. Where did the time go?
Our time together has all life’s ups and downs, but what marriage doesn’t? However, I’m not sure if I should be concerned. On our way to our celebratory dinner, my wife tells me she watched the DVD of our wedding photos. She never had any intention to do so. The wedding DVD fell out of our entertainment center while she was putting one of our son’s Thomas and Friends DVDs away.
Needless to say, I’m still searching for the meaning in this.
After five years, we’ve both come to the realization that a wedding is just an event. The next morning you wake up, all you have is each other. The attention is gone, the pomp and circumstance is gone. You’re left with a book (and DVD) of memories. We ate the top of our wedding cake on our one year anniversary. Wasn’t the same defrosted.
I wouldn’t trade my wife in for anything. I’m truly a lucky man. No, I didn’t just say that because she reads the blog. My advice to those getting married is don’t get caught up in the event of the wedding. Look at the relationship, the person you’re planning on spending the rest of your days with. Your story starts there.
I Hope My Son Is a Yankee Fan: A Sunday Morning Musing
I hope my son is a Yankee fan. At least, I hope he’s a baseball fan. Right now, Little A is too little to understand baseball. But, as a lifelong fan of the game, and lifelong fan of the Yankees, I hope the love of the game will be something we share.
If he’s a fan of the game but not of the Yankees, I won’t be disappointed or upset, unless he’s a Met or Red Sox fan. I’m sure however, much conversation and probably numerous father-son moments will occur.
Following sports I think will be useful in teaching lessons to the little guy. I also think, following sports in today’s world will be more complex than the days of Mickey Mantle or Joe DiMaggio. Where did you go Joe? Twitter didn’t exist, blogs didn’t exist, sports news wasn’t a twenty-four-seven cycle. The way these athletes were off the field, wasn’t common knowledge and rarely discussed in the sport media. Sports in general is more reflective of the world around us than ever before.
When talking about the Yankees I hope I won’t have to explain steroids and the desire to cheat to get ahead, but I know I will. When talking about sports, I will have to talk about off-the-field situations like Aaron Hernandez.
Professional athletes are not bad, unfortunately like any other profession, there are a few bad apples that spoil the bunch. I hope my son is a Yankee fan so we can share in the history of that franchise and what it represents about sports. I also will teach him that sports are just sports. That professional athletes are just people and these men and women are not heroes.
In the end, I hope my son is a Yankee fan. If nothing else, I want to hand down my Yankee collectibles and know they won’t end up in a yard sale.
The Dad In Me 