This week as you turned 4 months old, you discovered your feet. It’s been very exciting for you, as your toes are like a new toy for you.
Sometimes as I’m talking you while you are laying down, you’ll be smiling at me and even talking to me (in your “goo goo” language), and then all of the sudden you’ll just grab your toes and instantly roll over.
Because that’s another thing you’re into these days: Successfully rolling over on your tummy.
Even in the midst of being really tired and ready for me to wrap you up in a blanket for a nap, it’s typical for you to grab your toes and roll over… if for no other reason, to kill time until I get you to sleep.
Something I’ve officially learned about you this week is this: Pink is definitely your color.
We had you dressed in a blue outfit on Monday and you just didn’t seem like yourself. It was as if you felt out of place.
But every day since then, Mommy has chosen pink outfits for you, and you were back to thriving!
Obviously, I’ve been Instagramming you a lot. One of my recent favorites is from Tuesday, when you decided while I was feeding you breakfast, that it was more fun to play than to eat.
The way you looked at me, it was as if you were so much older than a 4 month old girl. I think you knew exactly how you adorable you were.
Another one of my favorite pictures of you is one that I took of you right before I took you and Jack to school. You held your hands together in a way that seemed to say, “I’ll just be here if you need me.”
I’m pretty sure that everyone knows I’m crazy about you.
You love being grown up. Kindergarten is cool. You were so ready for it.
Every morning, I drop you off at Holly’s daycare; from there, you ride the bus to your school. After just a few days of our new routine, you started telling Mommy and me about a new friend named Jenna.
Apparently, from Day #1 she has taken the initiative to be a special friend to you. It sounds like it all started when the two of you starting walking onto the bus together and sharing a seat.
We’ve yet to meet Jenna; as she apparently shows up after I drop you off each day. But we do know that she’s older; she’s in 1st grade.
Sure, you like hanging out with the boys and girls in your actual Kindergarten class, but undoubtedly, there’s something special about that 1st grader, Jenna.
As for now though, she remains a mystery to your parents.
Meanwhile, I love watching you develop your style and interests. As I took a picture of you last week, I thought to myself, “He looks like a little skateboarder.”
Then over the weekend, Mommy was telling me how you’ve been talking about wanting a skateboard.
In our cul-de-sac, it appears that boys ride skateboards while girls ride bikes.
Here you are, going on 6 years-old, and you don’t know how to ride a bike. But thing is, you don’t seem to care. Instead, you want to ride a skateboard.
As your parents, we’re here to support your interests and talents.
Therefore, our kitchen table is currently covered with different colored pieces of construction paper, in which you’ve drawn the names of each person in our family… in glue.
Wednesday evening after you finished dinner, you looked up from the paper plate with an ice cube on it, onto which you were squirting glue.
You suggested, “Hey Daddy, they should make a movie called Glue Vs. Ice.”
I’m confident you were inspired after this past weekend when you and I watched the straight-to-Netflix movie, Airplane Vs. Volcano.
When I asked you who you thought would win the fight, you confidently replied, “I think it would be the glue that wins, because it would just stick to the ice; but the ice couldn’t stick to the glue- it would just explode.”
Two weeks ago, I released a new video on my YouTube channel which invited the free world to attempt to offend or insult me. I had theorized that since I don’t give other people authority over my emotions, it would be scientifically impossible to hurt my feelings.
Not only did I predict correctly, as indeed no one successfully emotionally attacked me, but hardly anyone even tried.
I did have one Internet troll ridiculously attempt to plant doubts in my mind that my wife might leave me for a younger guy, while implying that I was probably seeing other women (or men) on the side anyway.
But clearly, the comment instantly translated into comedy for me. So yeah… officially not offended.
So that got me thinking. Why is it that no one can offend me? Is it simply because I’m wired this way?
The answer is no. I wasn’t always this way. I became this way over the course of my life, as I made myself more and more familiar with what emotional intelligence is all about:
Emotional intelligence (EI) or emotional quotient (EQ) is the capacity of individuals to recognize their own, and other people’s emotions, to discriminate between different feelings and label them appropriately, and to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.
Five years ago, or even two years ago, it was possible to attack my emotions. Not anymore; not after I simply recognized that I could be 100% in control of my emotions, instead of handing the keys over to people.
After receiving the clever suggestion from a friend to consider doing a video series on anti-bullying, I figured I would give it a shot.
I feel that what sets apart the theme of my anti-bullying series is that I am attempting to help the viewer focus on psychologically preventing the issues. So far, I have created over 10 videos, currently viewable on my YouTube Channel:
It’s Impossible to Offend Me
Being Offended Vs. Constant Mindset of Forgiveness
The “You Can’t Insult Me” Challenge
Psychologically Outsmarting Bullies
Find Your Allies
People Care about You
Do You Respect Those Who Insult You?
Are You a Victim or Victor?
I Know How You Feel
The Proximity Effect
You Too Can Choose Not to Be Offended
In my anti-bullying series, I challenge my viewers in many ways, in hopes they can ultimately outsmart potential bullies through strategy. To summarize it…
Realize that perceived bullies can’t force you to be offended; you have to allow them first. You have to respect their opinion for it to matter to you.
Be ready to openly acknowledge others’ perceived flaws in you, so that when they “attack”, you’re able to beat them to the punchline, surprising them with your lack of emotional response.
Find and create a network of people from the friendliest people from as many different cliques as you can; who will be there to socialize with and support you wherever you are.
I hope my series helps people. If nothing else, I hope I can remind you today that you too can choose to not be offended.
It is my passion to help the world realize the importance of choosing to live like victors, not victims; which is ultimately what emotional intelligence is all about.
Thirty years ago when my mom was a manager at Shoney’s, I was introduced to kale. It was that nearly plastic-looking leafy thing on the side of my plate, next to my Philly Steak sandwich.
My sister and I would dare each other to eat it. Apparently it was just a garnish to “cleanse the palette” at the end of the meal. Eventually I took a tiny bite of it, only to learn it really didn’t taste like anything.
It was… just there.
Fast forward to April 2013, when I became a vegan. As I found myself converting to the plant-based lifestyle, I looked around me and realized that apparently, I was supposed to love kale.
I would see fellow vegans at Whole Foods wearing t-shirts that read “KALE” in the front, in the likeness of Yale.
For half a second I thought to myself, “Well, I guess I’m supposed to get one of those shirts and join the club.”
But I never did. Because I really, really don’t like kale.
However, I force myself to eat it; ideally once a week.
A couple of days ago, I had lunch at Whole Foods, taking advantage of their “5 for $5” special; where I can get a pound of vegan food, in divisions of 4 ounces.
They had all my favorites: the mushroom salad, the sweet potato and olive salad, and the grilled pineapple salad. For my 4th item, I chose the kale.
It was seasoned nicely and I didn’t mind it, especially because it was paired with cabbage.
Yet still, I only ate it because it’s so full of protein and the roughage is good for digestion.
Perhaps it’s heresy to admit it, but I am a vegan who is not a fan of kale. If you can relate to me on lack of passion for kale, just know you’re not alone.
Today my sister found an old picture of us when my friend Will Biddle was spending the night, back in the summer of 1990. Her caption simply read:
“You don’t even look human in this picture! I can’t stop laughing!”
After I saw myself, on the far left, I had to instantly agree. I’m assuming my mom was holding the camera, saying, “Okay, now let’s do a silly picture!”
What you see is the result of that.
I guess I was doing my impression of a Goomba from Super Mario Bros. mixed with Steve Urkel? I’m not really sure.
Standing next to me, in the middle, is my friend Will; who sadly, a few months ago, passed away.
And on the far left is my sister.
In an age where posting current pictures of our own kids on Instagram is the norm, it can also be a lot of fun to do the opposite: To show the world the funny kid-version of ourselves from the 80s or 90s.
This photo is 25 years ago.
I hope this picture brought joy to your life today, as it did mine.
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