Author: Family Friendly Daddy Blog

Leave a comment Posted on Health, parenting, vegan

Do Little Boys Want To Eat Spiders, Shovels, & Cookies?

March 2, 2014 at 10:58 pm , by 

3 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack,

Last Saturday morning while we were grocery shopping at Whole Foods, we were informed that a cookie decorating class was about to start and that we were invited.

What it basically meant is that I used the plant-based icing (not from petroleum or crushed bugs) to draw pictures on your cookie, while Mommy did the shopping on the other end of the store.

When I asked you how you wanted me to decorate your cookie, you responded, “A spider!”

So I drew a spider in the center of the cookie.

But there were clearly other cool colors of icing on the table, which you saw as an opportunity for me to draw other random objects- apparently the first ones that came to mind.

Therefore, I also drew you a shovel underneath the spider… as well as a picture of a cookie, on the cookie itself.

Wow.

Even now, I catch myself trying to read into your artwork: What do a shovel, a spider, and a cookie all have in common?

The only answer I can come up with is that they are all things that you believed should be on a cookie.

I mean, seriously, what 3 year-old little boy wouldn’t want to eat a food in the likeness of  spiders, shovels, and cookies.

Turns out, a few days later, at school you chose to make an art collage with spiders. Why? We’re nowhere near Halloween?

In fact, I think I need to Tweet out this idea to Annie’s Homegrown…

Thanks to you, they may have just stumbled upon the next great marketing idea: Little boys want to eat food that is decorated or shaped like spiders, shovels, and cookies.

What if Annie’s Homegrown made a special edition mac-and-cheese where the noodles were shaped like those three things?

It could be the 3 Year-Old Little Boy edition. All the other boys your age would be so grateful for your clever and relevant idea of eating pasta shaped like spiders, shovels, and cookies.

Keep these creative marketing ideas coming… you never know what might happen.

Spiders, shovels, and cookies.

I dig it.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, reviews

My Thoughts On The Breaking Bad Finale: Felina (Now On Netflix)

March 1, 2014 at 12:21 am , by 

3 years, 3 months.

Spoiler Alert: Contains some minor revelations of how Breaking Bad ends.

Dear Jack,

This was a special week in the world of Netflix as people who are too cheap to pay for cable or satellite (or iTunes) were able to see the final 8 episodes of Breaking Bad.

I managed to watch them all over 3 nights; Wednesday night I only slept 4 hours in anticipation of seeing what happened, in the end, to Walter White, the terminally ill high school science teacher turned meth dealer who wanted to provide a living for his family after he was gone.

It is true I only slept for 4 hours last night, but as of 4 hours ago, I can now officially say I’ve seen every episode of Breaking Bad. #sleepinginthecarduringmylunchbreaktoday
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One of the reasons this show is so captivating is that it capitalizes on the thin line between good and evil, as well as the gradual breakdown of a “good man’s” morals, under the guise of “doing something wrong but for the right reasons.”

It’s fascinating, as a spectator of the demise, to find myself rooting for the anti-hero up until nearly the final episode; despite the fact he literally destroyed (and ended) more lives than I would care to count.

The fact that I was privately hoping he didn’t get caught reveals something about my own damaged sense of morality. It shows me that even in the smallest, unidentifiable ways, I can be wrong and be convinced I’m right.

Ultimately, Breaking Bad is a story about a man who gains the whole world, yet loses his soul.

When I say that he loses his soul, what I mean is that what mattered to him more than anything (at least, at first) was his family, and he lost them:

In the end, Walter White’s teenage son outright hates him; even changing his name to Flynn, from Walt Jr.; a subtle way to detach himself from his father, as he watches his father become preoccupied with his work, compensating with gifts, but not regular quality time.

Walter White’s marriage remains in tact only in a legal and business sense. And his infant daughter will grow up knowing her father only as a murderous drug dealer.

That’s just the damage he did to his immediate family…

However, he did manage to (illegally and off the radar) leave his family (via his son) millions of dollars ($9.72 million, to be exact) to live off for the rest of their lives.

One question that the final episode proposed to me was, what kid would choose millions of “dirty” dollars from a father they despised… over having a father who truly cared about them and loved them with all his heart, though he didn’t leave them much money behind?

To me, it’s a no-brainer.

There’s a good chance I’ll never be able to leave you with millions of dollars, but I can love you with all my heart. I know that’s what you’d rather have anyway.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

Image: Courtesy of AMC/Breaking Bad.

Leave a comment Posted on Health, parenting

New Infographic: The Importance Of Playing Outside

February 24, 2014 at 7:28 pm , by 

3 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack,

Last Friday was the last day that you and your best (and first) friend, Sophie, will ever spend together at school. (You’ve both been attending KinderCare since you met there in July 2011.)

As I officially explained to you last week in the car, you won’t be seeing her everyday at school anymore, since she and her family are moving to Alabama.

Sophie’s mommy threw her a sort of princess-themed going away party in which she brought cupcakes for your class- and dresses for your friends to try on in the theme of Frozen, I assume.

You even told me that you tried on one of the dresses, though I’ve yet to see a picture proving it.

However, Sophie’s mommy did snap a few shots of Sophie trying to give you a good-bye hug.

Yeah, you don’t look so enthused…

However, in this next photo collage you look a lot happier. That’s because Sophie gave you a good-bye gift: a motorized Mater scooter that she didn’t have room to take to her new home!

Mommy and I took you to your gymnastics class Saturday morning where you got to burn off energy like an American Gladiator (circa 1992). Then for the afternoon, while the sun was briefly out, we got to take a family walk around the neighborhood in the fresh air.

It was the perfect opportunity for you to give Mater a spin; outside of our house- since the only “road” you had previously been down was our hallway. I can’t look at these pictures without laughing, by the way.

Though the Mater scooter is electric, I think it will actually serve as an added motivation for you to want to go outside to play at parks on the weekend.

Again, you’re used to just driving Mater down the hallway, so the great outdoors is a much more exciting backdrop.

And while you’re already near a playground, we’ll make sure you’re actually burning your own energy too; in addition to your indoor gymnastics class.

I am pleased that your school is very proactive to make sure you and your friends go outside and play in the fresh air; given that the temperature is reasonable, even if it’s just a for a little while each day.

Coincidentally, I happened to come across this infographic on how many children aren’t as privileged as you, in regards to being able to play outside regularly.

Also, I like how it points out the social benefits, like negotiation skills, of recess. I had never thought about that before.

You are going to miss Sophie; that is for sure. You have known her since before either of you could even walk. Now the two you of can run and jump… and negotiate on the playground.

Fortunately, she happened to leave you a very special (and relevant) token of your special friendship. We will look forward to seeing Sophie again.

 

Love,

Daddy

Playing Outside

Source: TheNursingBible.com

Leave a comment Posted on marriage, parenting

There Is No Law That Can Force People To Love Each Other

February 22, 2014 at 10:27 pm , by 

3 months, 3 years.

Dear Jack,

My love for you is not based on a law; nor could it even be. After all, there is no law that can force people to love each other.

Same thing goes for my love for Mommy. Sure, we have a marriage license (as recognized by the state of Tennessee) and were were married in a church (in front of God and other believers)… but I can’t be forced to love Mommy, or you.

Yet I do anyway. I choose to. I want to.

On a global scale, I believe that if everyone truly loved each other as much as they did themselves, the world wouldn’t need laws; nor would there be wars… nor would there be rich people or poor people, escpecially to the degree that people are starving.

Despite a person’s acceptance level in regards to Jesus and what He taught and claimed, I think there’s no denying He spoke some truth when He summarized it this way:

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ -Matthew 22:37-39

But since not everyone does love their neighbors as much as they do themselves, the pattern of brokenness repeats itself.

I used to be a much more openly political person; thinking that my public beliefs as a [Republican or Democrat] would help convince the [opposing political party] to join “the side that truly cares more about helping people.”

But I was wrong to think that way. I was too focused on thinking that if our government would change laws to suit [my political affiliation] at the time, it would force people to stop doing the things that my religion teaches against.

I realize now, the law doesn’t prevent people from hurting each other. Nor does it change a person’s heart.

At best, when a person breaks the law and is incarcerated, it just puts them in a temporary time-out (jail or prison), yet that person (in most cases) doesn’t actually become reformed and redeemed.

Without a true change of heart… without a person truly having the mindset to love other people as much of they do themselves, how can they break that pattern and lifestyle?

And on the flip side, while it’s always the individual’s choice to commit a crime or hurt another person in some way, I do consider how that person’s home life and environment could have led them to make that destructive decision.

Had that person been more loved by those around him, maybe (not definitely) there’s a good chance he would have never headed down the path he did.

Meanwhile, my version of reality has been much different…

I realize that being a middle class American as long as I’ve been alive has given me major advantages and privileges in life; ones that you will have as well. However, I understand those advantages and privileges come with great responsibility. I try to consider this concept:

If I become richer, other people in the world are probably becoming poorer. If I become better well-known, other people in the world are probably becoming more forgotten. If I have too much, it means other people in the world probably don’t have enough.

In America, we are able to play at water parks while so much of the world is desperate for clean drinking water.

I am light years away from perfecting this “love your neighbor as yourself” concept in my life, but I have a feeling that if I’m mindfully teaching it to you, I can take a few steps in the right direction.

 

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on Health, parenting, vegan

Are M&M’s Petroleum-Based Food Dyes Really “The Finest Ingredients”?

February 22, 2014 at 9:38 pm , by