Month: June 2014

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

Do the Halloween Hustle (Free Pumpkin Carving App!)

October 26, 2011 at 12:03 am , by 

Eleven months.

As if Halloween wasn’t already a cool enough “holiday,” with all the free candy and the part about getting to dress up as whatever you want and get away with it, there is yet another really good reason to love Halloween:

You don’t have to feel guilty for not celebrating it for the “right reasons!”

It’s not like with Christmas, where people preach to each other about the cliche of “getting so caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmas that you forget the real meaning of it all.”

And while I would love to enjoy my Peeps with a clear mind, I admit how easy it is to get distracted by the delicious pastel commercialism of Easter; instead of being reminded of how and why Jesus Christ was raised from the dead for the sake of mankind.

Heck, I can’t even have a guilt-free conscious on Columbus Day, because it’s basically just celebrating when a Spanish-sponsored Italian explorer “discovered” a continent of natives who would ultimately be conquered by Europeans for their land. I guess that’s how the history of the world goes- dividing and defeating; not that I’m okay with that.

But with Halloween, all you have to really do is just have a good time. It gives parents a reason to have just as much fun as their kids.

Now, I guess technically, Halloween is based on a pagan holiday where people celebrate their dead ancestors coming back to life or something like that. I don’t really care.

Because Halloween has become so commercialized in modern day America that all it’s about is pretending to be someone you’re not and getting free candy for it. I won’t argue with that.

To help celebrate the upcoming sugar rush, I personally invite you to download Parents magazine’s free Carve-a-Pumpkin app:

Carve-a-Pumpkin from Parents® magazine is the easiest — and safest (no knives involved!) — way to make jack-o-lanterns with your family this Halloween.

Choose from five different pumpkin styles, then either “carve” a design of your own, or pick from our library of wacky eyes, noses, and mouths.

Add a message and you’re ready to share your creation with all your friends! This easy-to-navigate, take-anywhere tool is perfect for families on the go. Products from Parents magazine help moms and dads celebrate the joys of parenthood and raise kids in a healthy, safe, and loving environment.

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting, Storytelling

Boo the Pomeranian Reminds Me of My Son

October 25, 2011 at 10:54 pm , by 

Eleven months.

Having a son means that there is always a part of me floating out there in the universe. Whether he’s simply just asleep down the hall or away at day care while I’m at work, part of my brain is constantly thinking about him.

He is in everything I see. He’s in every random thought I have; from Gummy Bears to a Pomeranian with a buzz cut.

A few days ago on Facebook I saw a picture of two Pomeranians posted by one of my former students in Bangkok atGlobal English School. So inevitably, the following conversation followed:

    • 4 people like this.

      • Nick Shell What kind of dog is the one on the right? It’s look unreal!

        October 20 at 12:32am · Like

      • A-ngoon its look unreal because its smile right ?? they both are pomeranian but the right one have a shorter hair ka nick:)

        October 20 at 2:46pm · Like

      • Nick Shell The right one reminds me of my son :)I am probably going to use this picture on my website about him.

        October 20 at 7:09pm · Like

      • A-ngoon
        ‎:)

        October 21 at 11:38am · Like

It turns out that this Pomeranian happens to be famous; his name is Boo and his Facebook page has well over 2 million “likes!”

I can’t look at Boo and not see my son Jack; the way Boo is smiling, the shape of Boo’s face- that is my son as a Pomeranian! 

Granted, a Dadabase post like this one will never show up in the Top 5 Most Popular Posts section on the right side of the screen. It’s so out there, I know. But I just couldn’t keep this enchanting and bizarre photo from the world; simply because I love to talk about my son- even in the form of a yappy little dog.

Maybe it’s just me that somehow sees the abstract resemblance. But I’m sure I’m not the only parent out there who thought their child looked like something just as weird. When you look at the world through my eyes, you see Jack-Man in the strangest of places.

Passing the Mic:

Do you think Jack looks like Boo?

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Bullying Prevention Month: Teaching My Infant Self-Defense

October 25, 2011 at 10:19 pm , by 

Eleven months.

It’s a proud moment in a dad’s life to learn that while under the care of another adult, your son elbow jabbed another kid who was hitting him on the head. And that is exactly what happened.  My eleven month old son defended himself against a bully’s repeated attacks. Interestingly enough, he and “the bully” are now friends.

My son taught the bully to respect him by putting him in his place. That’s my boy.

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. What better way for me to celebrate as a dad than to know my daily wrestling routines with my son have paid off? I play the big scary monster who hides behind the couch and charges towards him to give him a big “daddy hug.” It’s a way for him to test his strength against mine, as he knows I’m no real danger to him. I’m simply his training coach.

Why do men love sports? Playing sports is like “playing war.”

At the end of the day, no one really gets hurt too badly but the players get to engage their masculine strength (and strategies) against other “warriors.” Another thing it reminds me of is the way that dogs “play fight.” It’s their natural way of preparing for an attack by a larger dog or some kind of other serious physical threat.

So why should things be any different with my (not-so) little man? It’s simply an instinct for me to want to wrestle him and that, accordingly, he enjoys the challenge. I’m preparing for him to defend himself from another kid trying to pick on him. What I am not doing is simply teaching him violence for the sake of violence.

Preventing bullying means a lot of things. But ultimately, I’ve yet to talk to one father out there who is okay with his son not defending himself against being physically attacked by a peer.

Bullies attack those who they perceive as weak because they themselves are weak in some way; also because they have a lack of respect for others. I vow to teach my son that he is strong, both in spirit and in body. That may mean that he has to teach the bully to respect him by fighting back.

Sometimes words (and corporate policies) prevent bullying. Other times, a good ole fashioned elbow jab does the trick.

Passing the Mic:

Do you encourage your son to fight the bully in the name of self-defense? Or is my approach a perfect example of “bad parenting?”

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling

7 Things This Dad Stopped Caring About

October 24, 2011 at 11:45 pm , by 

Eleven months.

After becoming a dad last year, I quickly learned that certain things in my life which were previously important had become nearly irrelevant. The funny thing is, I’m so used to my new state of normalcy that I actually forgot that at one point these things even mattered at all. So to celebrate my recent maturity as a dad and as a human being, I now share the top seven things I stopped caring about when I became a dad.

1. Drool: Today at work I looked down at my jacket and saw what appeared to be dried slobber. It’s amazing how much I didn’t care. Maybe there’s something about changing so many diapers in those first couple months that caused me to not even think twice about something as harmless as a little bit of baby drool- whether it’s wet on my hand or dried on my clothing.

2. Sleep: At this point, my son sleeps from 7PM until 6:30 AM every day; but I’m so accustomed to those days of so little sleep for my family of three, that six solid hours each night is plenty good for me. You would think I would crash slightly after he does each night, but I guess I have to feel like I have some kind of life outside of being a dad- like staying up until midnight to publish this blog post.

3. Watching movies: Watching TV shows is different because that is so much more of a passive event. Movies require a sense of commitment- averaging from 90 minutes to two hours. Free time matters so much more to me now; movies just don’t hold their value in my new economy of time.

4. What time I eat: Dinner could be at 6PM… or maybe 7:30… 8 o’clock… it’s anybody’s guess. Coordinating my son’s own eating schedule along with putting him to bed for the night then actually cooking the meal for us parents and then sitting down to eat it; well, it’s the kind of thing that just has to be flexible. I eat when I can, not when I’m hungry.

5. Being on time, in general: I can manage to get to work on time each day despite being the one to drop him off at day care. However, making it to church on time is a whole other blog post. We used to be the people who showed up to events on time. Now the motto is “better late than never.” People seem to understand, though: We have the “parent pass.”

6. Weekend plans: Does it really matter what I’m doing this weekend? Will I be getting any more sleep than a weekday? Will it be any more relaxing than being at work all day instead? I think I just answered my own questions.

7. The perception of being in control: I feel like B.C. (before child) I actually believed I had a decent amount of control over my life. Now, controlling my own life essentially revolves around trying to control my son’s life. Ultimately, if I can keep him from chewing on the power cord to the vacuum cleaner today, then I’ll gladly count that as “being in control.”

Passing the Mic:

What would you add to your version of this list?

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting, Storytelling

My Baby on Wheels Learns to Walk

October 23, 2011 at 11:52 pm , by 

Eleven months.

Yeah, I know; that’s a pretty weird title…

My eleven month old son, Jack, is learning to walk. Up until now, he has simply been a “baby on wheels,” trampling over anything and everyone in his way. I think of how cartoons, like the Road Runner, had legs that essentially transformed into wheels once they got moving.

Jack also reminds me of a toy I had back when I was 5 (in 1986) called The Animal, a toy SUV that had tiger claws than came out of the tires when it needed to climb over a surface.

But over the past couple of weeks, Jack has been experimenting with standing and walking. He can stand on his own for close to ten seconds and can take up to six steps before he falls; not that I’m necessarily in a rush for him to gain more independence.

Of course, his further independence means my further responsibility. When I think of all the milestones of a baby’s progress, the first steps are definitely pretty high on the list. I feel like so many camera commercials capitalize on this event.

I am fascinated by the way he falls- in safe, slow-motion. It’s just funny because I know if I were falling down after walking a few steps, it would be fast and furious, possibly with a Tokyo drift. As for Jack, each time he breaks his walking stride with a fall, he’s as graceful as a cat landing on its feet.

Seeing Jack walk is almost as weird as if an animal were to start talking to me all of the sudden- it’s just thatenchanting and seemingly unnatural. My “baby on wheels” can crawl and use toys to skate around the floor with, but… walk?

Baby steps, baby steps; that is what it will take- for me to finally get used to see my infant walking instead of crawling.

Passing the Mic:

How old was your child when they finally started learning to walk? What new tricks did they start doing that sort of freaked you out?