parenting

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting, Storytelling

A Front Row Seat For The Train Show (1000th Dadabase Post)

June 7, 2014 at 8:13 am , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

I always wondered where my 1000th Dadabase post would land.

Well, this is it. Completely random and unplanned, this one is about your love for trains and how you got a “front row seat” for a real train.

Our family drove to my hometown of Fort Payne, AL for Memorial Day for your cousin Calla’s 3rd birthday.

While there, you asked if we could all go the park.

As Nonna pushed you on the swing and Papa pushed Calla, we heard a that famous thunderous roar, as the train whistle tooted.

“Jack! The train is coming! Let’s go see it right now! Come on, run!” I announced.

Needless to say, we might as well have been right there in the presence of Elmo; because you were in such awe of the majesty of this Norfolk Southern train passing in front of you as Nonna held you.

I can only imagine what was going through your head.

Until that day, you had never seen a moving train so close up; only from our car, but even then, it wasn’t nearly as close as this train was.

You have spentcountlesshours over the past couple of years meticulously crawling around the carpet, pushing your Thomas the Train and Chuggington trains on their plastic tracks.

I have watched you day after day as you have carefully lined up each train so perfectly; matching up “line leader’s” train with the appropriately color matching coal cart.

This is something you’ve always been very serious about. So to see the real thing, it was more than a big deal to you.

I’m glad I was able to witness you seeing your first real live train.

While it may not be some epic letter to you in this 1000th Dadabase post, I think it does properly symbolize what’s important to you as a 3 year-old boy: family and trains.

 

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

These Are The Years You Get To Be A Kid

June 6, 2014 at 11:12 pm , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

Back around six years ago when Mommy and I got married, I read a book by John Eldredge called Wild At Heart.

It presents the concept that everyone, at some point in the their life, endures a psychological wound.

That “wound” ultimately ends up defining some people; though for others, it makes them stronger.

I experienced mine a while back. It’s that moment in life where you realize life isn’t actually as innoncent or simple as you thought it was.

The older I get, the more I feel like Hans Solo and less like Luke Skywalker.

Or maybe it’s that I feel more like Darth Vader and less like Hans Solo.

As your dad, there’s a part of me that hopes you never have to experience your wound.

But if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to reach that level of understanding and maturity that is so crucial as you will eventually grow into true adulthood.

For now, though, I hope it’s something that’s far away. These are the years you get to be a kid.

You get to live in an innocent world where part of you still believes dinosaurs still exist and that Grover from Sesame Street might actually be your teacher next week at school, as I keep teasing you about.

As for me, I’ve lived long enough to have to fight off cynicism. I have to fight off being jaded, at times. I have to remind myself to be positive, despite how blessed our lives are.

The concept of working hard to earn a good living is not something you have to think about right now. You get to sleep all night and play all day.

Seriously, how awesome is your life right now?

Let’s keep it that way. But let’s face life together- with all its blessings, its curses, and everything somewhere in between.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

Leave a comment Posted on funny, parenting, Spirituality

What Does “Gods” Look Like?

June 6, 2014 at 10:37 pm , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

After our routine prayer before dinner one night earlier this week, you asked Mommy and me, “What does ‘Gods’ look like?”

That’s one of those classic kid questions. I love it.

Yet I was so caught off guard by your sincere question of what God looks like, that now, I couldn’t even positively tell you how I answered you.

I mean, you’ve grown up with prayer in our house: In the kitchen before meals, in front of the house before we all leave for work and school, and in the car before we go on long trips.

You’re very familiar with the concept of our family speaking to someone we can’t actually physically see.

Just tonight, while you were holding hands with us during prayer, you began whispering the words to “Ring Around The Rosie.”

I thought you were attempting to pray.

Actually, I guess you were- the best way you knew how.

Still, you have the ability to understand that God is real and invisible; unlike monsters, who you know are not real and only visible on cartoons.

I love admiring the way you are attempting to understand God; because I’m in the same boat, just about 29 years ahead of you.

Of course, speaking of years, the way I see it, time only exists as we know it because of the rate at which the Earth spins and the rate at which it rotates around the sun and the rate at which our temporary bodies age.

That’s how we measure time here on Earth.

But beyond us, greater than us living on this planet, I wonder if time really exists?

Is it true that my Italian grandfather who I was so close to growing up is actually waiting to meet us in Heaven? Or in the “Heavenly Time Zone,” will we pretty much just appear there about the same time he arrives?

So many questions I have about God and Heaven and what life really is like outside of our version of life right now.

With that being said, just know that when you asked what God looks like, it’s something I wonder too.

I think a lot of people are going to be shocked if He doesn’t have a long white beard and a robe.

 

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting, reviews, Storytelling

Family Friendly Road Trip: Wizard World Atlanta Comic Con

June 5, 2014 at 8:51 pm , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

I have learned that there are certain things that are just so much better once a child is introduced to the equation.

Swimming would be a great example. The only times I’ve bothered stepping into a swimming pool in the past 3 and a half years has been because of you.

Having a child has also introduced me to new experiences that I might not have otherwise been exposed to.

When I was invited to attend the Wizard World Atlanta Comic Con, to my surprise, Mommy said she wanted to go too, and of course, we brought you along as well.

Turns out, it was a really good idea to take a 3 and a half year-old little boy who loves Spiderman and Captain America to a place where there would be a lot of people, many of them who were dressed up as Spiderman and Captain America.

So we loaded up the Prius and took the fun drive from Nashville to Atlanta. When you’re in the presence of so many adults dressed in impressive costumes of comic book characters, it’s only natural to want to get your picture made with them.

In fact, I got the feeling that’s part of the culture at Wizard World Comic Atlanta Con: It’s as if there is an unspoken contest going on the whole time in which those who show up in costume are seeing who can get the most “uncostumed” people to ask to get their picture made with him.

And of course, we helped many costumed attendees gain points from us.

In addition to the array of Captain Americas and Spidermen, we also saw many scary looking villains and zombies. The funny thing is, they were some of the friendliest to speak with.

You just went along with it, no matter how scary or creepy; Mommy and I explained to you beforehand that the Wizard World Atlanta Comic Con was kind of like Halloween.

Our road trip proved thatAtlanta is a very friendly and fun place to visit, and this was easy evidence of that.

In fact, Mommy suggested that we go to the Wizard World Comic Con when it comes here to Nashville in September.

Only, we wouldn’t be going as spectators… we’d be going as a family dressed up as comic book characters.

I think Halloween might come early this year for us…

 

Love,

Daddy

3 Comments Posted on food reviews, Health, parenting, reviews, vegan

Vegan Friendly Review Of Atlanta, Georgia

June 3, 2014 at 10:03 pm , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

As I just mentioned in the letter before this, we spent last weekend in Atlanta for the Wizard World Atlanta Comic Con. While there, we had a little adventure riding the SkyView Ferris wheel, on a whim.

I’ve noticed that my letters to you are taking more of a turn these days, as I find myself focusing more on reviewing road trip destinations, toys, movies, and vegan food… from a family friendly perspective.

So it only makes sense that I would like to point out something really cool that I learned last weekend:

Atlanta is undeniably vegan friendly!

I would have never assumed that.

Having grown up in Fort Payne, AL, just a 2 hour drive from Atlanta, I was familiar with a culture in which fried chicken and sweet tea were simply part of one’s identity.

To have even thought of not eating meat, dairy, or eggs was somehow… unChristian, unpatriotic, and basically, just overall blasphemy for a Southerner.

With that being said, Atlanta continues to show up in nearly every Internet search for “Vegan Friendly Cities in America.”

And it didn’t take long for our family to see that.

As we approached the Georgia World Congress Center where the Wizard World Atlanta Comic Con was being held, we encountered “Vegan Man” with his homemade costume, accompanied by his other friends from a group called Mercy For Animals.

Once I looked down at the pamphlet they were handing out to passersby, I responded with, “Yeah. I’m a vegan.” I instantly received a hug and great cheer.

When you’re a vegan family, it’s a given that you have to do your meal planning in advance.

So we found a perfect 100% vegan Asian fusion restaurant calledThe Loving Hut. It was inexpensive and delicious!

While we were waiting for the food, you enjoyed “putting the ants in their bed.” (That consisted of you sprinkling salt and pepper in their tray.)

Conveniently enough, the restaurant was right across the street from the Sandy Springs Whole Foods, which was just right around the corner from the Le Meridien where we stayed.

So between The Loving Hut and Whole Foods, we never had to worry about where our plant-based meals would come from.

I loved being able to start each morning withBuchi on tap. (That’s basically the vegan version of soda; it’s a brand of Kombucha tea, based out of Asheville, NC.)

As for you, as a treat, you got to enjoy some “natural bears” and “squishy fish,” which were basically gummy bears and Swedish fish that were made without dyes from bugs or petroleum.

So with all that being said, we are now officially confident to visit the wonderfully entertaining city of Atlanta again, as a plant-based family.

Yes, Atlanta is very vegan friendly.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

P.S. Our next “family friendly road trip” where we will test the “vegan friendliness” of a city will be Lake Tahoe, Nevada… in just a few weeks!