Author: Family Friendly Daddy Blog

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling

The Closest Thing I Get To A Vacation, As A Parent

September 2, 2013 at 8:58 pm , by 

2 years, 9 months.

Dear Jack,

A few weeks ago, Mommy asked me if I had any idea why my weekly paycheck was significantly higher than usual. I wanted to believe that I had been given a raise by my boss, without me being notified first.

Hashtag, “wishful thinking.”

Turns out, my extra vacation days had just automatically cashed out since I didn’t take them since the anniversary of my hire date.

That’s the way it has to be, though. I have to prepare for several extra days throughout the year for you to be sick.

Fortunately, you hardly got sick this year so I didn’t need to cash in my sick days on your behalf.

As for myself, I don’t get sick either but there are definitely days I just wish I could call in sick and truly have the day off.

But then I would feel guilty driving you all the way to school for that; just to have a day with truly no responsibilities. Not to mention, I hate the thought of spending gas money on that, too.

And by now, I have clearly established the fact that a family vacation is not truly a vacation, but a quest for fun.

Still, I am not without hope.

The closest thing I get to a vacation, as a parent, is taking the 2 and a half hour drive to Nonna and Papa’s house, for the weekend.

I still get to spend time with you but with a 3 to 1 adult to kid ratio, since your Auntie Dana, Uncle Andrew, and cousin Calla are there too, along with my parents.

You and I are both more relaxed. I like for you to be able to see me in that sort of mind; not just the one where I have to be in charge all the time.

So it’s kind of like a vacation for both you and me.

From sitting on Papa’s face (featured as top picture) to hearing Nonna read you and your cousin Calla a story (featured directly above), it’s just good, easy times for the whole family.

We don’t need a fancy trip or destination. It’s funny how family is not only home, but also a vacation.

 

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: New Infographic- Rent Vs. Own: Which Option Is Best For You?

3 years, 8 months.

Dear Jack,

I’ve been mentioning to you about our family’s plans to move out of our townhouse and into “a real house with a yard and one that’s in the right school discrict.” (That’s important here in Nashville.)

After having owned our townhouse for 6 years now, we are finally at the point at which we could sell it and actually make a profit.

For now it’s sort of a waiting game, as we continue to build our savings after having gone debt-free a year ago. Meanwhile, the prices in the neighborhoods we are considering moving to are now affordable… but how long?

The paradox: The longer we wait to move from our townhouse (as we continue to put more in savings for the down payment on our next house and watch the value of our townhouse continue to rise), the more likely the prices will also rise on the house we want to move into.

When should we move? We’ve got our sights on early next year.

This brand-new infographic below does a great job explaining which option is better, renting or owning. While it doesn’t relate to us in that we already own our townhouse instead of renting it, it does relate in helping me personally see that by owning it 7 years makes it more of an investment than selling it sooner.

Ten years would be ideal, but again, we have to keep watch on prices of the neighborhoods we’re interested in.

It’s hard to imagine what it will be like actually moving into the house that our family plans to live in for the rest of your childhood.

We’ve been working towards this goal for a while now.

I remember back in the days when it seemed the value of our townhome would stay in the negative forever.

But we’ve worked hard to pay off our debts, save our money, and keep a close eye on what’s going on out there.

Maybe by early next year…

 

Love,

Daddy

Infographic courtesy of SpareFoot.

Courtesy of: SpareFoot

 

 

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I’m 32, The Age I’m Supposed To Turn Into My Parents

August 27, 2013 at 10:24 pm , by 

2 years, 9 months.

Dear Jack,

A concept that is going viral right now is that at age 32, according to a poll on Netmums.com, we “turn into our parents.”

The Netmums News Team explains it like this:

“It is at this age when we are most likely to find ourselves echoing our own parents’ phrases or mannerisms…

The grown-up responsibilities of having children, owning a house and having a busy career all contributed to the feeling of becoming more and more like your own parents.”

Fate would have it that I just so happen to be a 32 year-old daddy blogger at the exact moment in history when this concept has gone viral. That’s pretty cool, huh?

So, have I become my parents? Do I echo their phrases and mannerisms? Do I feel more like my own parents because I have a child and own a house and have a busy career, too?

Yes and no.

No, because I feel like they made this parenting thing, as well as the busy career and owning a house thing, seem so worry-free and easy.

In that way, I feel like I haven’t turned into them, though I want to.

Maybe I’m realizing that I am giving myself an extra challenge as a parent because I want this all to seem as easy as I thought it was for my own parents.

As far as how I have definitely turned into my parents, I do admit to using my hands a lot when I talk- which tends to happen when your mother is half Italian.

Basically, my personality comes from my mom. I’ve never really thought about that before… interesting.

And it’s pretty evident to me that I am ultimately a vegan (I mean, I’m living a plant-based lifestyle; which is the more marketable, less offensive term) because it seems like my dad was always teaching me as a kid to question where our food comes from and to relate eating processed foods to getting cancer and diseases.

So it should be no surprise that, as a 32 year-old adult, I now associate Monsanto with the devil and I see GMO foods as the mark of the beast. (That’s a slight exaggeration. Not really.)

I felt so deprived because it seemed I was the only kid I knew who wasn’t allowed to eat white bread or drink soda at his own house except for on very special occasions. (I thank my dad for that now!)

He seemed to always have a distrust of medicine and the FDA, instead teaching me to rely on what was already available in nature to prevent and cure health problems. (Which is exactly what I successfully did with my eczema, severe allergies, and sinus problems!)

Plus, he was always open-minded to the unpopular theories that mainstream society and popular culture often ridiculed or ignored, which I think was fundamental in me becoming a Libertarian, in regards to my political stances.

So yes, at age 32, I’m pretty much a mix of my parents the way I remember them while growing up; which again, wasn’t at all a negative thing.

The question is, will you become me in about 30 years? If so, you’ll basically become your grandparents.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

P.S. The pictures of me with my parents, featured above, are from around Christmas 1983, nearly 30 years ago, which is when I was about your age now.

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Warning: Do Not Feed The Goats Your Jogging Stroller

August 26, 2013 at 9:53 pm , by 

2 years, 9 months.

Dear Jack,

Though you’ve pretty much memorized the entire layout of the Nashville Zoo since we bought our family season pass several months ago, it wasn’t until yesterday that we actually bothered to check out the petting zoo area.

I was really surprised when you wanted me to unstrap you from the jogging stroller and even more surprised when you actually wanted to pet the goats with the brushes the zoo provides.

It’s just that I figured you’d probably be a little freaked out by the goats, the way you are fascinated by dogs from afar, then shy away once you actually get close to one.

But no, you totally petted the goats and they were totally cool with you doing so.

The only problem was, the goats were a little toofriendly. They really made themselves at home.

Actually, it’s their home, so…

I wasn’t too surprised when we got back to our jogging stroller to learn that one of the goats had finished off your Clif Kid Zbar snack.

He was aiming to get your water bottle but you stood your ground.

However, that didn’t stop another one of the goats from licking off the spilled water on the stroller, leading him to chewing and tasting the stroller itself.

Then he ate a Starbucks napkin you had been using as well.

Lucky for us, we only paid about 20 bucks for that jogging stroller off of Craig’s List. And amazingly, even after the goat taste-tested it yesterday, I didn’t even see any teeth marks or rips in the fabric.

So perhaps you have mixed feelings about the goats:

The good news is, they’re very friendly.

The bad news is, they’re very friendly.

Between the hungry goats and the mutant giraffe man we met yesterday at the zoo, I’d say we had some serious father-son bonding time.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

P.S. To see more pictures of our father/son visit to the Nashville Zoo today, go to The Dadabase Facebook page and find the photo folder called “The Mutant Giraffe And The Hungry Goat.”

 

 

 

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Explaining Mutant Animals To Your Child

August 25, 2013 at 10:50 pm , by 

2 years, 9 months.

Dear Jack,

We drove away from the Nashville Zoo this afternoon with you asking me, “Daddy, why Giraffe Man? Why he there?”

I attempted to explain to you that he really likes kids and giraffes.

But that just raised even more important questions.

You evidently concluded from my answer that “Giraffe Man” sleeps in the zoo with the other giraffes but has the privilege of walking through the midst of human families at the zoo and having his picture taken with them.

We kept talking about Giraffe Man even after we got home.

I’m pretty sure you want him to join us for dinner in the near future.

At some point, you’re going to ask me if Elmo and Mickey Mouse and Giraffe Man are real.

That will be a sad day for me.

I love it that your imagination leads you to believe that these mutant creatures might actually be part of the real world, instead of people in costumes or controlling a puppet.

As I look at the ridiculous picture of us with Giraffe Man, I sure hope that of all random events you may or may not be remembering for life right now, that you remember this day.

It would be awesome if in a few years from now, you ask me about being at the zoo with me and seeing a giraffe person or something.

Then I can say, “Yeah, that was from when I was training for the half marathon and you and I spent a Sunday afternoon at the zoo together. I ran while pushing you in the stroller throughout the whole zoo and at the end, we had our picture made with a man (or woman) in a giraffe costume.”

I never really know what you’re actually comprehending or remembering at this age. It’s interesting to think about, though.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

P.S. To see more pictures of our father/son visit to the Nashville Zoo today, go to The Dadabase Facebook page and find the photo folder called “The Mutant Giraffe And The Hungry Goat.”