Author: Family Friendly Daddy Blog

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

The Post-Christmas “No More Presents” Blues

December 25, 2012 at 10:01 pm , by 

2 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Christmas is over. You are currently undergoing the culture shock of entering back into a world with no anticipation of an avalanche of gifts anytime soon.

That’s what happens when your birthday is so close to Christmas: You are bombarded with gifts for about a 30 day period, then suddenly… it’s back to reality.

I noticed how after you opened about 4 or 5 presents today, you started losing your ability to comprehend what the next gift even was.

Instead, you turned to me and said, “More gifts?”

And that’s what you said after every gift you opened from that point on.

I think in a few days, you’ll be able to comprehend that your Nonna and Papa (your grandparents on my side) got you the biggest Tonka firetruck I’ve ever seen- big enough to haul all your Thomas trains in.

Speaking of trains, you’ll also realize that your collection nearly doubled in a matter of a couple of days.

It’s like you just won a pie-eating contest. Sure, you won, but now you need to let everything settle and digest as properly as possible.

You need some time to settle back in to a world where instead of getting to hang out with family all day and open gifts, you are at daycare for the majority of the day with your friends and you barely get to see Mommy and Daddy.

I’m sure by the car ride to school tomorrow it will all start setting in.

It’s strange having a period of several days with virtually no stress, and then on top of that, receiving every toy you’ve been asking for.

Don’t worry, Son. I will be your guide back to the real world.

I don’t like it anymore than you do.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Spirituality

The Letter To 6 Year-Old Jack Pinto, From His Best Friend John

December 21, 2012 at 11:43 pm , by 

2 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Last Friday, I wrote to you about how I was Processing The Newtown, Connecticut School Shooting As A Parent. A week later, the unthinkable event that happened at Sandy Hook is still on everyone’s minds.

There’s a lot of talk going on right now about how we as a nation can prevent another tragedy like this from happening again. I’m not ready to join that public conversation… yet.

Instead, today in my letter to you, I want to share a different letter to a different Jack. It has been circulating the Internet since USA Today reporter Yamiche Alcindor tweeted this photo of a letter to 6 year-old Jack Pinto, from his best friend John:

“Jack,

You are my best friend. We had fun together. I will miss you. I will talk to you in my prayers. I love you Jack.

Love,

John”

I’m predicting it’s pretty difficult for anyone to read the letter to Jack Pinto without being deeply emotionally reached; especially after seeing the pictures of Jack and John together.

For me personally, it’s tough not only because this story reflects how what happened last week affected innocent lives, but also because it’s pretty easy for me to imagine you in this picture.

It’s not something I want to say out loud, but the truth is that what happened in Sandy Hook could have instead happened in any other small town in America. Instead, I want to believe that you’re the exception to the rule and that I will always be there to protect you.

I wish somehow you were immune to chaos like this from ever getting anywhere near you. I wish I could promise you that our family would always be safe. Since I can’t promise it, I pray for it instead.

Like Jack Pinto’s best friend, John, I turn to God even in, and especially in, times like these. And from the sound of it, so is a lot of America.

I can’t remember the last time it was so popular to publicly talk about praying and trusting in God, like the way I’ve seen in the past week. It’s encouraging to see news anchors on major networks, without fear of being perceived as politically incorrect or unprofessional, so willingly interviewing priests, pastors, and churchgoers whose faith is helping them through this.

As I mentioned in my letter about this last week…

It’s times like these that cause some people to ask, “If there is a God, why would He allow such an unthinkable event to happen?”

Others ask, “How could an event like this not cause people to turn to God, in the hope that there is a saving grace stronger than the depravity of man?”

Son, we are of the latter mindset: We are not without hope in this life.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It… And I Feel Fine!

December 21, 2012 at 12:03 am , by 

2 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

There’s a big joke about the end of the world happening today because the ancient Mayan calender ends on today’s date. However, the fact that we’ve been observing leap year for the past several centuries means that today, December 21, 2012, already happened a while back.

This is the first time in your lifetime that certain people assumed the end of the world was supposed to happen. This is your generation’s version of when I lived through January 1, 2000.

While it’s fun to laugh about, there’s definitely at least some subtle unease when we are forced to face the fact that eventually, whether collectively or individually, life does finally come to an end.

I don’t feel weird for admitting it: I think about death all the time.

There for a while I wondered if I was morbid, but after listening to an excerpt of Ray Kurzweil’s book The Age Of Spiritual Machines in a similarly named album by the Canadian rock band, Our Lady Peace, I realized I’m pretty normal to think the way I do:

“Death gives meaning to our lives. It gives

importance and value to time. Time would

become meaningless if there were too much

of it.”

The way I see it, at best, I’ve only got about 50 years left to live. Assuming an even better case scenario that I get to live those 50 years with you and Mommy, it shows that I’m a very optimistic person.

I simply can’t imagine my life without you, whether that means I leave this life before or after you. My mind isn’t able to process that.

So in accordance to all the Facebook status cliches about living life to its fullest, all I can do is attempt to make the most of every moment I have with you and Mommy, until God pulls the plug on my time here…or the end of the world really does happen, like today’s Mayan forecast supposedly predicts.

One of my many weaknesses as Superdad is that I’m not a very patient person.

I’ve noticed that every time I catch myself “not living life to its fullest,” it’s usually because of something stupid like being tempted to check my email instead of immediately taking you up on your invitation to play on the floor with you as you crash your metal Thomas trains into each other.

See, the inevitability of death (or the end of the world, whichever comes first) really does help give value and importance to time, and therefore, more meaning to life.

If we make it through today, I’ll continue spending the rest of my life showing you how much I love you, through my actions, words, and daily private letters which just happen to be broadcast on the Internet.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

 

Leave a comment Posted on Health, parenting

5 Pointers To Help Avoid Foods With Fillers

December 20, 2012 at 9:08 pm , by 

This post is sponsored by Little Remedies — makers of children’s medication without artificial colors, artificial flavors, or alcohol.  

2 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

I often wonder what you will think of all the seemingly obscure limitations that Mommy and I put on our family’s food choices.

There’s actually a decent chance you will think our lifestyle of avoiding processed foods is normal, since it’s mainly what you’ve been exposed to your entire life.

To avoid all processed foods completely would mean to only eat from the food we grow and prepare ourselves. Right now as at stands, Mommy and I still have full-time jobs on top of taking care of you, so I don’t see a full family garden happening anytime soon.

So for us, we make a highly concentrated effort to avoid foods with fillers, which largely refers to processed foods.

This is both extremely easy and extremely difficult to do, but Mommy and I have some pointers to help keep us on track.

1. If we can’t recognize (or pronounce) the name of any ingredient on the back of the package, it doesn’t earn the right to enter our bodies. How do we know it’s not some harmful chemical or strange animal by-product? Mystery ingredients are fillers.

2. If the food contains artificial flavors or colors, that’s a dead giveaway the product contains “non-food” ingredients. Artificial flavors and colors are often derived from petroleum (like in Red 40 dye) or random animal by-products (like in Crimson Lake dye, which is made from the powdered and boiled bodies of insects including the cochineal scale and the Polish cochineal).

3. Food in the form of nuggets, patties, and sticks is highly likely to contain fillers. These foods by their very nature (or should I say lack of nature?) must contain fillers, otherwise they would be actual slices of meat.

4. High-fructose corn syrup is a bad influence on food. It can turn a normally healthy food into a junk food. Typically, high-fructose corn syrup, as opposed to actual sugar or evaporated cane juice, has a way of associating itself with other cheap and processed ingredients. It’s like a magnet for other mystery fillers.

5. Drinks other than water and whole milk are typically filled with unnecessary extras. The name whole milkitself should be a clue that low-fat milks have been processed and replaced with extra ingredients to a higher degree than whole milk. Even 100% juice removes the fiber from the fruit, and therefore from our diets, yet gives us 100% of the sugar. It only gets worse from there in the beverage world, like with regular soda and diet soda.

I know at times these dietary restrictions on you may seem extreme, but they are restrictions that we as your parents abide by alongside you.

After all, Mommy and I drank skim milk our entire lives until I agreed to participate in an experiment where I switched to whole milk for a month. Despite doubling my intake of milk that month, I didn’t even gain one pound. So we switched to whole milk.

As for the “no juice rule,” we’ve learned to incorporate more actual fresh fruits and vegetables into our daily diets.

I can’t always promise that you can have the “fun” food the other kids at school have, but I can promise you that we will make sure you are well fed…with healthy food without fillers.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

P.S. I invite any other readers of this letter to share your additional pointers, personal stories and struggles regarding the avoidance of fillers in foods, or even voice your disagreements; feel free to leave a comment.

Photo credit: Photostock, Little Boy Biting Big Carrot.

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

2012 Christmas Vacation Family Road Trip Checklist

December 19, 2012 at 10:19 pm , by 

2 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

In a couple of days, we will be loading up the Honda and making the 3 hour journey to my hometown of Fort Payne, Alabama to spend the Christmas holiday with my side of the family.

There is definitely potential for this road trip to be stressful…for all of us. So I want to do my part to make this as easy as possible for our family.

I’ve compiled a “2012 Christmas Vacation Family Road Trip Checklist” for us to go by. Let’s take a look:

For the car: snacks, bottled water, toys, books, crayons and coloring book, clean-up wipes and/or Kleenex, sunglasses, travel blanket, small garbage bag, iPod/CD’s

Necessary electronics: cellphone and charger, camera and charger, laptop and charger, compact DVD player and DVDs

For the destination: the Christmas gifts and cards, food to contribute to the Christmas dinner, family tradition activities (like board games and playing cards)

Toiletries: diapers, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, contacts and contact solution, razor, unmentionables

Clothes: underwear, socks, t-shirts, casual and dress shoes, outdoor play clothes, indoor play clothes, church clothes, warm coat, light jacket, pajamas, hats

It seems that no matter how hard we try to prevent it, we always end up forgetting to pack something. I’m not saying this year will be the exception, but it’s worth a shot.

I designed the list with you in mind. In particular, I asked myself, “How can I do my best to keep Jack from being bored and/or hungry?”

We will pack some of your favorite toy trains, stuffed animals, plenty of Goldfish crackers in plastic baggies, a blanket for you to “make a house” with in the back seat, and even the Carbon Leaf CD which has several of the songs from the soundtrack to your favorite movie, Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey!

If you’re happy, then Mommy’s happy, and that means I’m happy.

Now, let’s start packing…

 

Love,

Daddy