A Top 5 for Sunday Morning: The ideal day versus reality

Sunday’s are interesting days. Sometimes they are filled with relaxation and football. Some of us worship in our respective ways. Others spend the day with family around a table eating. Still others need the time to mow the lawn and do all the things they didn’t get to during the week.

I started thinking about what I do on Sundays. Sometimes I end up doing basically what I don’t want to be doing. So what are five things I think most dad’s ideal Sunday would be:

1. Watching football, baseball or golf.
2. Eating.
3. Not doing yard work.
4. Sleeping past 7 am.
5. Checking the football schedule for next Sunday.

The items above make a great plan. Below are the five things that will actually happen today:

1. Watch cartoons to keep the little one happy.
2. Hopefully eat lunch sometime between 12 pm and 2 pm.
3. Mow the lawn.
4. I was up at 6:30 am.
5. There is no point in checking next Sunday’s NFL schedule.

Enjoy your Sunday!

I hope you enjoyed this post. All comments and feedback are welcome and encouraged!

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The joys of parenting

You just changed the diaper. The little one is all clean and fresh. You let them roam free to play with their toys. A moment goes by, you smell something. It can’t be. It better not be.

It is.

The joy of parenting.

A Quote Of My Own On Fatherhood

Halftime is for diaper-changing too.

-Vince V.

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.

“Luke, I am your father“

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.

 

How To Pay For College

How to pay for college is a question on the minds of many parents. Regardless of how old your child is, funding their future education is a major concern. My wife and I are fortunate because we have time. Then again, our neighbor’s son who was just in diapers went to kindergarten today. Maybe we don’t have as much time as we think.

This is a new series where I will explore college education and why I believe it’s vital to a child’s future. My four years at Plattsburgh State University were some of the best years of my life.

I believe education is the key to a better future. Sure, one may get lucky and invent the next Facebook or iPad and not need college. If this is your kid, kudos and enjoy your tropical island. For the rest of us, college is key. Let’s start with deciding to or not to help financially.

The Decision

Prior to actually creating a fund of some kind, parents need to decide if they want to fund their child’s education. If they truly don’t want to put any money towards college, hopefully they’re honest with themselves. Then be honest with their children.

My wife and I knew from the start, we wanted to help. Deciding what to do wasn’t easy, but I think we both rest easier knowing that we are helping.

Fortunately we have no plans to become the Brady Bunch so this makes decision-making easier. Paying for college is really a personal decision that stems from many factors surrounding the parents. Once you make the decision, stick with it.

Stay tuned for the next installment, How to Pay For College Part 2: Do We Have Options?

Thanks 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!

 

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Life After the Inflatable Pool: A Sunday Morning Musing

In my last post, Life In the Inflatable Family pool, my wife and I learned life is different now that we are older. After Little A didn’t want anything to do with the pool, it was time to deflate and pack away for this year.

It is with sadness I report in the end, the pool ended up in the garbage.

Inflatable pools are filled with air, not water. What do I mean? As we went to lift the pool to drain the water, we found it harder to move than expected. Somehow, water filled the two bottom inflatable rings. This was only learned after much aggravation, ( and a frustrated daddy Kung-Fu kick to an inflatable ring). Oh, and mommy seeing the water.

If you’ve tried to move the Blob before, you understand our difficulty.

The End

Ultimately, I had to slice the two rings open to expel the water. I was disappointed at the thought of cutting the pool. I’m not sure what it symbolized to me subconsciously. Maybe a failing in my parenting abilities? I digress.

Little A of course, wasn’t phased by the situation. In fact, I think he’s secretly pleased. Mommy was more frustrated at my Bruce Lee impersonation. I’m just glad I can re-grow the grass that started to burn underneath the pool.

In the end, life moves on. So the lesson we learned while sitting in the pool holds true. Enjoy the little moments and be weary of inflatable pools.

I hope you enjoyed this post. As always comments are welcome and encouraged!

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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!