parenting

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Official Announcement: My Son’s Nose Now Works

May 22, 2014 at 8:56 pm , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

It’s official: You have a nose… and it works!

This whole time, I seriously thought there was a good chance you were born without a sense of smell. But I didn’t want to say anything to anyone about it or draw attention to that fact… a fact that was, in fact, just fiction.

(Thanks to Wikipedia, I learned the word for not having a sense of smell: anosmia.)

But now I know, that does not apply to you. All of the sudden, around the time you turned 3 and a half, it’s like the switch came on.

You were just a late bloomer in a world that indeed has different smells.

Before your nose started working, it was like you only knew smells based on their sounds…

These days, it’s like your nose is the first on the scene!

Yesterday morning on the way to school, you asked me, “Daddy, do you smell that?”

I answered honestly that I did not.

You didn’t like my response, mainly because you are ready now for a vacation from school, so you were quite sensitive:

“No Daddy! You do smell that! You do!”

I decided to agree with you.

What’s funny about your newfound sense of smell is that it’s like you don’t yet appear to recognize whether something smells good or bad.

In other words, you don’t get all worked up over bad smells. “Bad” is just another flavor of the smelling rainbow. It’s probably just next to bananas or Play-Doh.

Your main concern is making sure that whatever you are smelling, you’re not smelling it alone.

The switch has been flipped on. You can officially smell things now.

One day, you will learn to (not) appreciate the concept that indeed, certain things smell better than others.

Until then, I will let you figure out on your own which are which.

 

Love,

Daddy

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The Pet Store Is The Cheap Version Of The Zoo

May 21, 2014 at 9:36 pm , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

This past Saturday afternoon, as Mommy was gone for a few hours to explore the possibility of becoming a demo singer on the side (we do live in Nashville, after all…), you woke up early from your nap.

We were both in the mood to explore; not to play Legos, cars, or trains.

I decided it was a good time for us to have a fun, free dadventure. It was even more fun because I let you stay in your pajamas.

While our zoo pass is still good for another week or so, I decided to take you by the exotic pet store right down the road from our house, called The Aquatic Critter.

Good call.

So much so, that Mommy decided to go with us again on Sunday.

One of our family favorites was the “Black Dogface Puffer.” It reminded me of Falcor, the flying dog from The Neverending Story.

But for 199 bucks, I have a feeling we won’t be making him our family pet any time soon; even if he was the perfect mix between a dog and a fish…

Strangely enough, the pet store also has some “not for sale” pets that they keep on display for the potential customers.

You know, like an alligator and some rhino iguanas.

I’m always looking for new ways to introduce you to the world. I want to find ways to mix things up.

Sure, the exotic pet store is technically the poor man’s zoo, but it’s a hit.

We’re not at the right place in life to actually consider having a pet; except possibly a beta fish.

But for now, it’s more fun (and a lot less responsibility) to just visit the pet store and pretend all those cool (and weird) animals are your pets that you visit on the weekend.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

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Daddy’s In His Quiet Place Right Now…

May 20, 2014 at 11:06 pm , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

Yes, that’s me. Those are my feet sticking out from underneath all of the couch cushions and accent pillows in our living room.

When that picture was taken, I was in somewhat of a meditative state; not simply because my oxygen supply was being fairly limited, but also because it was sort of relaxing in there.

In fact, I had no idea Mommy even took that picture until I was going through the picture folder on my flash drive yesterday, looking for a something else.

Sure, I heard what was going on outside my world of pillows:

“Hey Mommy! Daddy’s all covered. Look at Daddy. I finished his cage now.”

Then I heard your footsteps as you approached me. I saw a small opening appear between the pillows, with light coming through.

“Here you go, Tiger. Here’s your food!”

Apparently pet tigers like to eat (plastic) snakes.

This routine has become the norm. I can see why.

It allows you to completely make a mess and get away with it, as you pretend you are building a cage for your Daddy, who happens to be a tiger.

I really don’t mind it at all. Like I said, it sort of gives me 12 minutes or more of time to just zone-out on the living room floor.

With a schedule as busy as mine, I typically don’t make time for zoning out… other than when I’m running or sleeping.

It’s not so much a desperate attempt to make time for myself as it is me trying to multitask:

By being your tiger in a cage, I can spend quality time with you; because to you, I’m playing.

And I can rest my mind for a little while; because to me, being buried in a “cage” of pillows is actually relaxing.

Yes, that’s me multitasking. It’s Daddy in his… quiet place.

 

Love,

Daddy

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Daddy, Do They Still Make Old Mans?

May 19, 2014 at 8:51 pm , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

Saturday morning, I introduced you to The New Woody Woodpecker Show on Netflix.

As soon as you saw Dr. Von Kook, you proclaimed, “Hey Daddy, that’s an old man!” It was if he was a purple magical unicorn or something.

Then there was that perfect 5 second delay before you gave me a classic follow-up comment:

“Daddy, do they still make old mans?”

You were completely sincere in your curiosity.

I suppose I said yes somewhere in the midst of my immediate uproar of laughter, but I don’t necessarily remember it.

It’s hilarious to imagine human factories that manufacture people; that they purposely make “old mans.”

Which is the other thing I love about your question: the alternative way to make “man” plural… just add an “s”.

Yes, Son, they still make old mans.

Nick Shell shared The Dadabase‘s status.
May 17

“Daddy, do they still make old mans?” -Jack #thisjusthappened
In fact, I’m simply 29 and a half years ahead of you on the journey to becoming an old man myself.

I am especially reminded of that since my past couple of haircuts; noticing that my hair is now a tad thinner than it was just a few years ago.

Like most men, I will gradually go the way of the ever manly Bruce Willis. With each Die Hard sequel, he appeared wiser, tougher, more experienced, and even cooler.

And I’m totally fine with my follicle fate.

Back in 1991, I remember standing at the bathroom counter in the house I grew up in, which was furnished with the finest dark brown wall paneling and dark brown shag carpet.

As I brushed my teeth one night, I remember looking at both of my parents, who were the age I am now, around 33.

I thought, “One day I will be 33 like them. I’ve got so many years until I get there. But one day, that’ll be me.”

I was 10 at the time. I decided in that moment, to consciously remember that forever, like a permanent bookmark.

But now, that “one day” has come. I am now that age.

Granted, 33 is not old or even close to it.

They still make old mans, but I’m definitely not one of them yet.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

Top photo: courtesy of The New Woody Woodpecker Show.

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One Of The Most Masculine Things A Father Can Do

May 18, 2014 at 2:11 pm , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

Last Thursday when you and I got home from school and work, I found a package on our doormat. This was odd, because aside from holidays, I never receive mail directed to me alone.

I’m okay with that, but it did surprise me. Turns out, it was a copy of the book Lessons For Joey:100 Things I Can’t Wait To Teach My Son.

A couple of months ago, the author, RJ Licata, had asked me to write a little blurb about it to be featured on the back cover.

After creating the successful daddy blog “100 Things To Teach My Son” a while back, he recently published a book based on it.

Here’s what I said about his book:

“I think one of the most masculine things a father can do for his son is to communicate with him clearly and regularly; from the day to day to the big picture stuff. Therefore, it has been easy for me to be a fan of RJ Licata’s blog–and now his book. A good father is a good mentor. That’s why this book is special. It’s a glimpse of what hands on fatherhood looks like, fleshed out in the form of 100 lessons.”

I easily celebrate any fellow dad who publically and positively portrays fatherhood. Something I’ve learned in the 4 years of writing about you/to you is that I care less now about how the media so obviously makes dads out to be idiots.

These days, my focus is on spotlighting any entity that shares my passion of reinforcing the positive examples of fatherhood.

That’s why I mentioned him a year ago in my letter, Dads Like To Teach Life Lessons To Their Kids.

For example, I was pleasantly surprised to see the healthy relationship between the father and son the movie,About Time, that I recently wrote to you about.

It’s subtle, but it’s a big deal to me.

I read a fantastic article recently, called “Why Fatherhood Matters,” by Stephen Marche, which proclaims that fatherhood has never mattered more, as the definition of masculinity has evolved through generations:

“Only fatherhood is indisputably masculine, which is why when you ask men when they became men, they usually answer when they became a father or lost a father.”

He goes on to declare fatherhood as a marker of class.

The way I feel, this is one of the most important times to be a dad. And let’s face it… it’s also one of the coolesttimes to be a dad.

Fatherhood is masculine.

I just don’t see how a man can be more manly that being a good father- and by “good father,” a huge part of that is how well he communicates with his child.

To me, that is perhaps the most important aspect of being a father.

So while I could easily go on all day about all the times I’ve missed the mark in life, I can at least feel positive that I’m doing one thing right:

Communicating with you.

 

Love,

Daddy