parenting

Leave a comment Posted on January 21, 2015January 21, 2015 new house, parenting

Dear Jack: Saying Goodbye To KinderCare, Your Preschool Since July 2011

4 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

A week from this Friday, Lord willing, we will officially be moving into our new house. And for you, that means you will start going to a just-opened preschool, right around the corner from where we will be living.

Since before Thanksgiving, we have been renting out a bedroom from some friends. It’s a very nice place to stay; but obviously, it’s a bit like living in a “tiny house” since there are three of us living in the same bedroom.

Once we move, Mommy will be able to start working from home once a week.

Plus, she will start going in to work early (meaning I’ll be the one who will be getting you ready for school in the morning, which I am very happy about!) and therefore Mommy picking you up earlier than you’re used to.

I am also really excited about the extra quality time you will be able to spend with Mommy.

That’s why we’re moving you to this new school. KinderCare is great; there’s just not one where we’re moving.

Moving you to this new school near our new home is the best decision for our family, to have more quality time together now that’re moving 35 miles away from Nashville, to the “bedroom community” of Spring Hill.

We’ve had you enrolled at KinderCare since July 2011; since you were only 8 months old. As of today, you are 4 years, 2 months old.

That makes 3 and a half years of your life, more than 80%, in which your daylight hours of weekdays have been spent at KinderCare. That’s a lot of time!

So it’s a big deal that you will no longer be going to school there. Two weeks from today will be your last day there.

You’ll have to officially say goodbye to all the friends you’ve made over the years, along with your teachers.

It’s even a little bit sad for me as well, because I’ll no longer taking you on the hour and a half or more daily round trip commute to school and work with you.

Instead, I’ll drive you about 5 minutes to school each day. Then, Mommy will pick you up (earlier than you’re used to) and drive you back home the other 5 minutes.

Imagine that: Just 10 minutes in the car each day as compared to at least an hour and a half!

That’s good. Despite the quality time I’ll miss with you in the car each day, you won’t have to be in the car as much, plus you’ll be in school less than you’re used to, and you’ll get to spend more quality time with Mommy; which you definitely need more of.

It’s a bittersweet symphony, but I believe it’s definitely for the best. I’m looking forward to our family’s future.

Love,

Daddy

2 Comments Posted on January 19, 2015January 19, 2015 movie reviews, parenting, Uncategorized

Paddington: Family Friendly Movie Review

If I remember correctly, our family has been waiting to see Paddington since last summer when we first saw the trailer for it, before Planes: Fire and Rescue.

I was so excited to take my family to see it the weekend of Christmas, as the posters advertised, only to learn that was the premiere in England, not the United States.

But finally, Saturday morning at 10:30, we saw Paddington on opening weekend here in America!

I went into it knowing it was going to be good (it currently has a 98% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes!), as all the reviews have been extremely positive, and knowing Paddington was made by the producers of Harry Potter.

This made my son’s first movie in a theatre that wasn’t a cartoon. I didn’t think about that until near the end of the movie as I noticed him getting a little antsy.

Here’s what that tells me: While I definitely would recommend Paddington to anyone, I would be cautious to take a child younger than 4 years old, which is how old my son is.

I noticed that the kids sitting in the theatre that were younger than him couldn’t handle sitting through the movie so easily.

However, the kids older than him were glued to the screen.

If your child 4 years old or older, I say definitely take them to see Paddington!

My wife and I teach a 5^th grade Sunday School class and I mentioned to some of the students that we had just seen Paddington the morning before.

They immediately responded in excitement as they all told me how much they loved the movie.

The goal of me writing these “Family Friendly Movie Reviews” is help other parents know if a particular movie is age appropriate for their child.

For Paddington, other than making sure your child truly has the attention span to sit through a 90 minute movie with “real people” and a well animated CGI bear, I have no other concerns.

Please know that I am a detective when it comes to find inappropriate language in movies. There is not word a single “cuss word”, nor any sexual innuendoes, in Paddington.

It is rated PG, but for what I call the Disney reason: It contains themes of death, along with mildly intense action sequences.

If you were paying me to just really nitpick the language, in the beginning of the movie when the English explorer finds Paddington’s family in Peru and realizes they are a strange breed of bears who can talk, the man’s response is, “Good Lord!”

I just recently wrote a post (Why “The D-Word” Is Considered A Cuss Word , Or, Why I Think “OMG” Is Just As Bad As “G.D.”) talking about how using God’s name in a non-religious context is overlooked these days.

Instead, mainstream America is more concerned with “cuss words” they deem more offensive than breaking one of the Ten Commandments, which is to not take the Lord’s name in vain.

So there.

If that’s the worst I can come up with in regards to perceivable inappropriateness, then you can clearly see Paddington is not a PG rated movie that you have to worry about taking your kids to…

As long as you believe they can handle sitting through 90 minutes of a well-produced, beautifully shot, well-acted and written movie with a loveable, innocent, English gentlemen of a bear.

It’s a solid, heartwarming, fun, family movie. I’m so glad we went to see it!

Leave a comment Posted on January 18, 2015 new house, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Our New Home’s Fence, Trees, And Shrubbery

4 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

In theory, two weeks from now we should already be sleeping in our new home; as the closing date is January 29th.

So obviously, our family is very excited about our upcoming move…

However, at the same time, I’m equally nervous about it. Because I’m not kidding myself on the potential logistical problems that can and may easily occur before or on our closing date.

Mommy and I are both taking off from work the day after our closing date to facilitate the move; for me, one of my assignments is to be there for the guy to install our Internet and also for another guy to move in the refrigerator.

And I’m anxious about the “final walk-through,” worried it won’t happen this week as it’s supposed to, and worried that for the things we do find that need to be fixed, that they won’t be fixed in time to move in on time.

From there, I fear that we will have to choose sacrificing moving in the day we are supposed to… over having some small issues taken care of, like some of the doors not closing as smoothly and the front porch light already having a crack in it.

Well, I guess we’ll find out pretty soon how that part of the story works out.

As for now, I’ll spotlight some of the finishing touches we noticed on our visit yesterday, after seeing Paddington.

They put in grass, shrubbery, and trees for our yard; they finished the construction of our fence, and they stained our shutters for us.

It’s pretty cool to be able to look out the windows of the back of the house and see ourbackyard.

Our backyard. We’re going to have a backyard. That is definitely a new concept; as constrasted to the townhouse we’ve lived in all these years.

We’re almost there. I’m really looking forward to us already being moved in though.

That’s why this whole thing doesn’t end once we do move; there will surely be much more to the story.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on January 11, 2015 new house, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: The Carpet Is In; The Yard Is Started

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Yesterday our family visited our new home for the final random time, as our next visit will the final walk-through!

So obviously, as we are scheduled to be moving in 3 weeks from right now, the carpet is finally in. Not that there is anything particularly glorious about carpet in general, I would have to say that having the carpet installed in our new home now makes things feel very real and official.

Mommy brought the tape measurer so we could measure for the TV in our bonus room.

We also took a good long walk around the living room downstairs as we are, in all seriousness, considering getting a pool table instead of a couch; when that time comes. (We’re not immediately furnishing our new home; just as it fits the budget.)

With Craig’s List, there’s a good chance we could get a pool table for free if we are willing to come pick it up from someone’s house. We’re not quite ready to make that decision now, but we are in the consideration stage.

I thought I was just joking when I mentioned it to Mommy, but to my surprise, she apparently thought it was a cool and relevant way to utilize our living room; since our TV will be upstairs anyway.

We also noticed that our yard is being filled in with dirt; meanwhile our fence’s construction has begun.

Next weekend we’re planning on going to see Paddington in the movie theatre, then just a few days later is our final walk-through.

The time is almost here. And I still haven’t taken the time to officially declare that our town house sold a couple of months ago…

Again, until I can know how much money we made off the deal, I just don’t feel closure with that story yet. We are still waiting on a refund to come in the mail on that.

We are so close to moving in. Our family is more than ready!

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on January 6, 2015 parenting, reviews, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Monster Jam 2015 in Nashville- Family Friendly Review

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Last January, our family drove to Huntsville, Alabama to see Monster Jam 2014 because the Nashville arena only had show dates at night, which would have kept you up way past your bed time.

However, this year, with you being 4, Mommy and I can get away with letting you cheat your bedtime every once in a while like we did a few weeks ago for Marvel Universe Live.

Well, turns out that this year in Nashville for Monster Jam 2015, there was a Sunday afternoon show date. So we went!

Yes, that is an anteater in your arms. That was one of the specific things you asked for your birthday in November.

You named her “Annie.” And she apparently loved the monster truck show as much as you did!

One of your favorite monster trucks was there: Grave Digger.

Not to mention, Son-uva Digger showed up too.

Something I have learned after seeing two Monster Jams is that the location of the venue determines which trucks will show up, because I supposed that’s based on which drivers live closest to the arena it’s being held. (We were at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN.)

As you can see from the shots of the crowd, it was a packed stadium! Nashville shows up for monster trucks, that’s for sure.

I think your favorite part was seeing both Grave Digger and Captain’s Curse flip over and have to be rescued by the machine.

They also had some ATV racers there as well. Which, speaking of, I hate it that we’ll miss the Arenacross event at the end of this month. However, that’s the weekend we move into our new house!

We sat next to the winners of the ticket giveaway I did on the Facebook page for Family Friendly Daddy Blog. They had a blast as well.

Granted, I should define “had a blast” when referring to 3 and 4 year-old little boys like the two of you.

You weren’t necessarily screaming and cheering the entire time… That’s because typically when something overwhelmingly entertains you like that, you just sit there and soak it all in.

From there, you will go on to tell all your friends and teachers about it at school for the following weeks. Going to the show also feeds your ongoing interest in playing with your growing collection of toy monster trucks.

It was no surprise that as soon as you got home, you began racing your Monster Jam trucks on the bedroom floor: “Vvvvvvvrrrrroooo! Eeeeeeccckk! Jch-jch-jch!”

You are a kid who loves Monster Jam. And your anteater, too… at the same time!

Love,

Daddy

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