Author: Family Friendly Daddy Blog

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Dear Jack: You Got a Perm for Your Upcoming 8th Grade School Year

13 years, 8 months.

Dear Jack,

Twenty-six years ago in the summer of 1998, I went to get a perm from Chalane McClung at Golden Shears; in preparation of my upcoming senior year at Fort Payne High School.

This week, you got a perm from Chalane McClung at Golden Shears; in preparation of your upcoming 8th grade year at Fort Payne Middle School.

It was all your idea. You have been refraining from getting a haircut for the past 3 months.

And now, you have confirmed it was totally worth it.

Not only do you get to be the cool new kid who transferred in from Tennessee, but you get to be the boy with the coolest hair!

Love,

Daddy

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Aspiring to Live Quietly… in Alabama

Back nearly a year ago when our family first started considering moving to Alabama, I was completely unaware of the concept of “living quietly”.

Now that we have transitioned here for over the past month (and are apparently moving into our own house this weekend?), it has become apparent to me that we instinctively were inspired to move from the Nashville area to my Appalachian hometown, so that we could indeed… live quietly.

Here in Alabama, a weekend feels like 5 days; compared to in Nashville, it felt like a hurried afternoon.

There is much less “running around”. There is time to think. There is room to move.

Opportunities for real conversations present themselves more organically.

This is why we moved here. Life already seems more peaceful.

So while it could easily be argued whether my own personality would, in theory, actually allow me to live a “quiet” life, I definitely appreciate the idea now; which I have since learned is not a new concept.

Instead, it’s an ancient one- that is even referenced in the Bible, in 1 Thessalonians:

“Make it your ambition to live a quiet life.”

Sure, don’t mind if I do…

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Dear Jack: Your Drawing of Monkey Baby Bon Bon

13 years, 7 months.

Dear Jack,

This past month or so has certainly been a blur, but somewhere between your last day of 7th grade and our move to Alabama, I came across a drawing you did of a monkey wearing a diaper and a Superman t-shirt. I took a picture of your drawing and then I completely forgot about it.

You have always been creative, so I just figured it was a random character you created for an assignment in your art class.

A few weeks after discovering your drawing, you happened to introduce our family to Monkey Baby Bon Bon, a YouTube star.

So now I understand you did not create this character of a baby monkey in a diaper and a Superman t-shirt.

But it totally seems like something you would think of yourself!

 

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Your Fancy Cleaning Shoes

8 years, 2 months.

Dear Holly,

As our family is apparently just days away from finally moving into our house in Alabama that we have been renovating since March, you have been finding ways to help us prepare for the move.

That includes tidying up our current living space at Nonna and Papa’s house.

Nonna sent me a picture of you cleaning the floors in one of the rooms. I suppose you were being quite thoughtful and considerate, as you apparently invented some special shoes out of Ziploc bags; to prevent your feet from getting the floor dirty again.

Thank you for doing your part!

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Learning Secret Family Recipes from Nonna

8 years, 1 months.

Dear Holly,

One of the reasons we moved here to Alabama was to make more memories with family, as opposed to just waiting for the holidays or the rushed weekends trips from Nashville to see them.

This week, I loved being able to observe Nonna teaching you her secret family recipes, as she taught you the way her Mexican side of the family made empanadas and the way her Italian side of the family made calzones.

You were all in! You loved being able to help Nonna help cook dinner for us.

It is moments like this that say so much about our new life here in Alabama.

Love,

Daddy