Author: Family Friendly Daddy Blog

Leave a comment Posted on funny, parenting

Potty Pride: “They Don’t Make Azteks Anymore”

December 26, 2013 at 10:37 pm , by 

3 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

As I was lying down on the floor in the aftermath of watching you open Christmas gifts, you announced to to the whole family that you needed to go potty.

You recruited your Uncle Andrew to accompany you to the half bathroom, which is basically connected to the living room, where everyone was.

Not only did you want him there for moral support, but you wanted the bathroom door open so the rest of us could be aware of all the excitement.

There you sat down on your training potty, with your face between your knees as you looked for… results.

Uncle Andrew sat across from you on the actual potty, seat down of course, as he acted as your coach.

Once you realized you were throughdoing the deed, you immediately looked up at him and proclaimed, “They don’t make Azteks anymore.”

You then added, “They don’t make Pontiacs anymore either.”

I’ve got two different theories on why you decided to announce what I’ve taught you about the demise of both Azteks and Pontiacs as we’ve sat in Nashville traffic everyday going to and from school.

One is that you were so deep in thought as were going potty, your brain focused on car facts to get you through it; to serve as a motivational distraction. Then, by the time you were done, you decided to share that news with Uncle Andrew.

The other theory, held by Uncle Andrew himself, is that in the likeness of a situation where two dudes try to change the subject after a seemingly akward shared experience, one says to the other, “How ’bout them 49ers (or other relevant sports team)? Heck of a game, heck of game.”

Either theory could be valid.

However, based on the look of your face as the training potty was being emptied into the big potty to be flushed, I think you were anything but ashamed.

That’s a look of potty pride, if I ever did see it.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

Leave a comment Posted on car reviews, parenting

2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid Review, From The Dad’s Perspective

December 25, 2013 at 11:12 pm , by 

3 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Okay, so I think by now, it’sdefinitely safe to say that I can add “Online Car Reviewer” to my resume on LinkedIn.

Last week Toyota sent us our 4th car to review: A 2013 Avalon Hybrid.

For me, this was pretty epic. If anybody is a huge fan of the electric car, it’s me!

I suppose Toyota has pretty much made it obvious they they have cornered the market of electric cars in America.

Of course, I naturally think of their Prius. So I was really surprised to learn that Toyota also makes hybrid electric/gas Avalons as well.

We tested out the Avalon for its stowing abilities last Thursday when we took your teachers their Christmas gifts. I wanted to get a picture of you next their bag of gifts, but you weren’t interested… not until I popped open the trunk.

You wanted inside, with the gifts. I guess that officially marks the first time you’ve been in the trunk of a car.

Monumental moment… let’s savor it for a minute.

[Dramatic pause.]

Before going inside your school to deliver the gifts, you wanted to go find a brown leaf to put in your cubby.

You found the best one!

I’m thinking that was your attempt at helping me write my review of the Avalon Hybrid.

Yeah, I see where you were going with it…

Leaves are easily associated with “going green.” It’s just that I’m not too sure how a brown leaf plays into that.

Maybe brown is the official color of hybrid cars? Somehow?

Not sure I fully understand your genius idea yet, but if it ends up being a hit with the marketing department at Toyota, don’t worry, I’ll make sure they give you all the credit for it, Son.

In closing, I really liked the Avalon! It was totally up my alley.

Our family drove it for an entire week, plus we took a 2 and a half hour trek to spend Christmas with my side of the family.

As you can see from this picture, we drove 345 miles on it, with still 157 miles before it would have ran out of gas.

How cool is that? The Avalon hybrid can go about 500 miles before needing to go to a gas station.

Yet, it was like driving a “normal” car… except the fact the first time I tried to start it up, it took me four tries before I realized it was already started- that’s how quiet the thing is.

With it being a hybrid, it apparently knows when it’s better to kick back and forth to “gas” or “electric” mode, accordingly; because each time I stopped at a red light, you always responded the same way:

“Daddy, I hear an owl. I think he has a whistle. Is he flying over us? Where is he? Where’s the owl?”

You were hearing the transition into electric mode. And that transition translates into dollar signs being saved…

I’ll put it this way: The 2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid gets 40 miles per gallon in the city and 39 on the highway. Basically the same! Annual fuel coast is only about $1350.

So… up to this point, I think this is not only my favorite car I’ve reviewed yet, but Mommy’s too. I’ve got a little more to say about it, but I’ll save it for my next letter to you, about us going to the recycling center.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

Disclaimer: The vehicle mentioned in this story was provided at the expense of Toyota, for the purpose of reviewing.

 

P.S. Here’s a collection of my Toyota reviews so far; just click on title to read the full story:

2013 Rav4

2013 Toyota Rav4 Review, From The Dad’s Perspective

2014 Tundra

Dad Gives 3 Year-Old Son A Monster Truck For Birthday… Sort Of

Nashville Dad Introduces 3 Year-Old Son To Country Music

3rd Birthday Monster Truck Road Trip: Build-A-Bear

3rd Birthday Monster Truck Road Trip: Little River Falls, AL

3rd Birthday Monster Truck Road Trip: Mountain Driving

3rd Birthday Monster Truck Road Trip: Canyon Land Park

3rd Birthday Monster Truck Road Trip: Canyon Mouth Park

2013 Sienna

We’re Ready For A Family Road Trip… Minivan Style!

It’s Officially Cool To Drive A Minivan Now

 

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling

It’s Easier To Fall Asleep When Mommy Drives Away

December 22, 2013 at 10:25 pm , by 

3 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Here’s the dilemma:

I’m quicker and more efficient at getting you to bed for both naps and bedtime.

Mommy is quicker and more efficient at doing the dishes after meals.

However, Mommy depends on that quality time with you of putting you to bed… so I do the dishes while she puts you to bed.

And that’s no problem. I’m cool with whatever, asking myself the question, “What would Jack Jackson do?“

He would do the dishes. So I do, too.

But here lately, you have really… what’s another way of saying “taken advantage of the situation”?

You’ve really capitalized on the fact that you know Mommy will come back to comfort you if you call her after she leaves your bedroom.

Of course, you don’t do that with me if I happen to be putting you to bed. You just go to sleep because I make things less interesting, and comforting, I suppose.

So this weekend, Mommy and I tried an experiment.

For your noontime naps, Mommy went through the typical routine for bedtime for you, while I did the dishes from the recent meal, but then she called me upstairs right as it was time for her to leave the room and for you to start falling asleep.

Then, Mommy had to go to get gas for her car. (Or drive to the next neighborhood while I closed the deal with you.)

The most important part of this plan working was that you actually saw Mommy literally drive away. All I did after that was sing you a quick version of the theme song from The Lorax, and you were in Dreamland by the time I could walk downstairs.

With there being no hope of her coming back to your room to comfort you anytime soon, you gave up trying to delay falling asleep.

That’s when I texted Mommy to come back, just a few minutes after she drove away; that the coast was clear.

Hey man… it works

 

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting, Storytelling

It’s All About Being A Big Boy, These Days

December 21, 2013 at 8:47 pm , by 

3 years, 1 months.

Dear Jack,

I’m officially aware now that if Mommy or I add the phrase “big boy” in front of just about anything, you’ll be interested in it. It’s similar to the way I’ve distanced myself from using the word “toddler” to reference you anymore, especially since you turned 3 last month.

In other words, you are doing away with all that baby stuff, because this is like your bar mitzvah of Big Boyhood.

For example, I’ve noticed that in recent photo collages I’ve been making, I typically include a shot of the men’s restroom sign, to signify that you went potty there… and didn’t get your “big boy underwear” wet.

It’s like my way of documenting The Great Potty Tour of 2013/2014.

I was thinking about this the whole time you were at the dentist, when I took you earlier this week. I was so impressed by the way you just went with the flow, despite it being potentially intimidating to a 3 year-old.

Granted, the huge fish tank, the multiple horsie rides, and the arcade room surely helped distract you in a good way.

It was very rewarding for me as a parent to sit back and watch you at the dentist, seeing that you clearly wanted to show me how brave you are.

When I was your age, I was more afraid of new things. But you, you’re different.

You have a level of self-confidence I don’t remember having until after I survived 6th grade. In other words, I was probably about 13 before I had the chutzpah you already have.

So basically, you’re ahead of me by about 10 years.

Ideally, in theory, you could be where I am now, maturity-wise, by the time you’re 22; I’m 32 now.

That’s my goal for you, in a way. I’m doing my best to raise you to have more maturity, life skills, knowledge, charisma, and humility than I had at whatever age you are now.

So far, it’s working…

 

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on funny, parenting

The Rules Of A Game Sometimes Change With A 3 Year-Old

December 19, 2013 at 10:35 pm , by 

3 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Last month for your birthday, one of the gifts Mommy and I got for you wasDinosaur Train: Make A Match.

It’s the classic memory matching card game, but with a few twists… like the “Take Buddy” card.

The game comes with a little plastic action figure of Buddy, one of the characters from the TV show.

Whoever has Buddy at the end of the game gets a lot of extra bonus points, which in itself could lead to winning the game.

Of course, you don’t care about the points. For you, winning the game means not losing Buddy.

As Mommy and I learned, the game actually ends the moment that she or I draw the “Take Buddy” card and try to, as the card implies, take Buddy from you.

The youngest player starts with Buddy, so if we actually played by the rules, it would mean about 90 seconds into each game, the game would end… because you would get Buddy taken away from you.

So, our rules for the game mean that no matter what, Buddy is yours for the entire game. It’s just about matching the cards, and sometimes, you even use the kitchen tongs to pick up the cards and place them in your Tonka dump truck.

There will come a day when the rules will actually matter when we play family board games. But for now, just as there is no crying in baseball, there is no crying in Dinosaur Train: Make A Match.

And the reason there is no crying in this game is because we don’t play by the rules.

I think it’s safe to say we need to very slowly (!) work our way up to other classics such as Monopoly, which is all about taking away from the other players until they gradually wither away to nothing.

Yeah, we’ve still got a few years before we try that one out as a family.

 

Love,

Daddy