parenting

Leave a comment Posted on January 16, 2017January 16, 2017 fatherhood, parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Grateful. Exhausted. Here. (My 3 Word Response These Days When Other Parents Ask Me How I’m Doing)

It is very important to me when I communicate that I am direct and honest, yet not negative. Therefore, I am currently embracing my new official response to when other parents see me and say, “Hey Nick, how are you doing?”

Typically the person asking this has an assuming smile on their face; that I will predictably reply with, “Good, and how are you?”

But no. I tell it like it is; though with a smile on my own face:

“Grateful. Exhausted. Here.”

So far, it seems people appreciate my sincerity. I crafted my answer in a way where it hopefully doesn’t come across as Debbie Downer, because I am making a conscious effort to remove negative people from my social circle. I don’t want to become the type of people I am trying to avoid.

However, it’s fundamentally important to me that I make my communication impeccable. To me, my 3 word response accomplishes my goal of being optimistic, real, and funny.

“Grateful. Exhausted. Here.”

I start off by being optimistic: Grateful. As a person who chooses to be victorious instead of allowing myself to become a victim, I make it clear that I am thankful for the life I have. I am grateful for my wife, my children, our jobs, our home, and the fact we live in a free country.

Then I immediately follow up by being real: Exhausted. People know that both my wife and I work full time and have a Kindergartner son and an 8 month-old daughter; who is still mainly formula and often catching the newest sickness. So I don’t go into details- I never need to.

Lastly, I cover the funny part: Here. I have to assume it’s a universal part of being a parent in modern-day America that simply just showing up to events is quite a task. So yes, being “here” is an impressive thing.

This past weekend the 4 of us drove over 20 minutes to a birthday party. We were early. Really early.

In fact, we were the first people there. The girl on the front desk of the party place asked my wife, “And you are the party mom?”

That’s never a good thing when you’re already 10 minutes to a party.

My wife checked her phone. Turns out, we showed up at the right time… just the wrong day.

Grateful. Exhausted. Here.

Hopefully here, at least.

Leave a comment Posted on January 12, 2017 parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Will You and Your Sister Both Adopt the Only Child Mentality?

6 years, 1 months.

Dear Jack: Will You and Your Sister Both Adopt the Only Child Mentality?

Dear Jack,

Back in college, I was really into this book called The Birth Order Connection. It explains the theory of how our personalities are ultimately guided by what order we were born in the family.

It describes how an “only child” is different than a first-born child; but if a first-born child is at least 6 years-old when the 2^nd sibling is born, both children ultimately become more like only children because those earlier formative years are not shared with another sibling of the same age.

When I Googled “traits of an only child” just now, here’s the first thing that came up:

“Only children, being firstborn themselves, tend to exhibit traits more similar to those of other firstborn children. However, only children seem to have better self-esteem and are higher achievers than children who have siblings (Brophy, 1989, p. 54).”

When your sister was born, you were about 5 and a half years-old; to be exact, 7 months shy of that 6 year-old mark. So really, you’re borderline on whether you will adopt a first born (older brother) mentality as opposed to an only child mentality.

And then same can be said for your sister, as long as no more siblings are born within the next 5 years. In theory, she may never really develop the mentality of “younger sister”. Instead, the two of you could easily both end up having that ultra-independent personality of an only child.

After all, the two of you will never really have to share your toys with each other. The two of you get to live next to each other, but always in different stages of childhood development.

Earlier this week on the drive to school, I told you, “Jack, when Holly’s your age now, you’ll be 11 years-old; you’ll be finishing up 5^th grade when your sister turns 6; the age you are now.”

You laughed at the thought of it.

But that’s the reality. You are her older brother and she is your younger sister, but really the two of you may end up technically more like only children.

Love,
Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on January 12, 2017 fatherhood, parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Holly: You are Pulling Yourself Up on Furniture/Puppy Mode

8 months.

Dear Holly: You are Pulling Yourself Up on Furniture/Puppy Mode

Dear Holly,

You are officially in puppy mode. That’s right- with your newfound curiosity now that you’ve learned to crawl, having you around the house is like having a cute little puppy among us.

I’ll be on the floor, playing with you, and then you’ll suddenly start crawling to the kitchen to follow Mommy around as she prepares dinner. You often just like to hang out near her feet…. like a puppy. I always warn her you’re there so she doesn’t step on you.

But right now your favorite thing to do is to crawl over to something you can use to pull yourself up on. You are always so proud of yourself once you are standing up. I can tell that you instinctively know what a big accomplishment it is!

It’s exciting to see how you’re just naturally wired to tackle whatever the next physical challenge is. It’s not like I’m reading articles online to help prepare you for the upcoming stage.

Instead, you just go ahead and get started on it; like it’s no big deal. I love your initiative!

Dear Holly: You are Pulling Yourself Up on Furniture/Puppy Mode

You only recently learned to crawl. It didn’t take long at all before you decided you were capable of more. Now here we are on the pulling up stage, which will lead to the standing up stage, and then the walking stage.

No, I’m not rushing you along in the process of growing up. But… I do admit, I’m looking forward to you turning 1 year old in April. By then, I predict you’ll reach a comfortable balance of increased physical mobility and a dependence more on solid foods (which means we get to save all that money we’ve been spending on formula- not to mention, having to clean all those bottles!), but you’ll still be in baby mode.

Or puppy mode…

Love, Daddy

1 Comment Posted on January 10, 2017January 10, 2017 movie reviews, Nostalgia, parenting, Uncategorized

Parental Review- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Rated PG-13)

*May contain mild spoilers related to the plot.

If you’re considering taking your child to see Rogue One: A Stars Story, but aren’t sure if it would be age-appropriate, I am confident that I can give you closure. Here at the facts- from here, you can decide for yourself:

Profanity: None.

Sex/Nudity: None.

Violence: Constant, yet not bloody or gory.

As the title of the movie implies, Rogue One: A Stars Story is a war movie; perhaps more so than many other entries in the Star Wars franchise.

In particular, this is the story of the suicide mission leading up to the events of the original 1977 Stars Wars movie. By its nature, a movie about a suicide mission is likely going to feature countless on-screen deaths.

Granted, this is a Disney movie. So even with all the use of weapons (mainly lasers, grenades, and bombs), this is no blood bath. In fact, I don’t recall any blood- in the likeness of old Western movies where people are constantly getting shot and dying, yet there is no visible wound shown. The character simply falls to the ground after some sparks and smoke appear from the impact point.

So really, your decision whether or not to take your child to see Rogue One: A Stars Story comes down to your thoughts the violence aspect.

Again, there are no curse words- not even close to one. And as is typical with Star Wars movies, there are no sexual situations.

I say it really comes down to what your child has already been exposed to. If a movie like Captain America: Civil War is something you deem acceptable for your child to watch, which is another recent PG-13 Disney movie, then you will likely not have a problem with Rogue One: A Stars Story.

Thank you for visiting Family Friendly Daddy Blog and for reading my review today. I am hope you found it helpful.

5 Comments Posted on January 9, 2017January 9, 2017 fatherhood, food reviews, Health, parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized, vegan

Dear Jack: Rogue One Star Wars (Weekend of Manliness! in a 2004 Honda Element, Part 3/3) No Spoilers

6 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Our Weekend of Manliness! concluded as we left Monster Jam and made our way towards The Mall at Green Hills; a place you had never been to before.

On the way there though, we made a quick stop to Army & Navy War Surplus; as I am currently interested in replacing my current overnight backpack with a military version; since we travel to California at least once a year and I want something more durable as a carry-on.

Thanks to one of your aunts giving you Regal Cinemas gift cards for Christmas, everything was free!

The time had finally come… the time for us to see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I had only heard great things about it. Nothing prepared me for how amazing of a movie it is!

Just about 20 minutes into it, I was already ready to see it a 2^nd time!

It made me so proud to be able to take you to see it. The Star Wars franchise is such an undeniable part of American boyhood. I feel it’s a responsibility as your dad to introduce you to all thing Star Wars.

What a convenient decade for you to be a boy! At 6 years old, you are old enough to be able to appreciate these new Star Wars movies. Your 1^st introduction was a year ago, when I took you to see The Force Awakens.

And as much as I loved that one, this new one is even better. Ah, what an amazing, must-see movie!

After the final credits rolled, I looked over to you and asked, “Well, how many of your Sour Punch Rainbow Straws did you eat?” I always assuming you took care of at least half the package.

You explained, “Just four; one of every flavor.” Apparently your agenda is to savor the rest over the next couple of weeks, as Mommy and I rarely let you eat candy. It’s such a commodity to you.

At that point though, it was time for us to find some dinner- as it was nearly 7 PM. Earlier in the week, I had proactively reached out to a really nice restaurant there at The Mall at Green Hills called Table 3. I offered to feature them on my blog in an exchange for a free meal for us.

I never heard back from them. I take that to mean they’re doing well without any additional positive publicity. Oh well, it was worth a shot. Never hurts to ask. The law of averages, you know…

So instead, we landed at Noodles & Company, and boy am I glad we did. We were so pleased with their selections!

They very easily catered to our manly dietary restrictions; with you being a vegetarian and me being a vegan. You got their kids’ meal: Mac and Cheese, Go Go Squeeze, and a fun Rice Krispie Treat. Granted, I made you eat some of my broccoli from my Thai Curry Bowl with tofu.

It was the perfect ending to our Weekend of Manliness! Unsurprisingly, after such a busy day, you quickly fell asleep in the back seat.

And, I’m already planning our next Weekend of Manliness! for just a few weeks from now…

Love,

Daddy

Weekend of Manliness! January 2017 Series:

1st Snow of 2017

Monster Jam 2017

Rogue One Star Wars

“Grateful. Exhausted. Here.”

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