parenting

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

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling

How Is The “3-Year-Old Look” Different Than The 2-Year-Old’s?

December 19, 2012 at 12:11 am , by 

2 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

Mommy and I couldn’t help but notice the consistency between random strangers’ comments when they see you in public.

They either A) comment by saying, “Wow, you’re a big boy!” or B) they assume you’re 3 years old instead of 2.

I’m intrigued by this phenomenon. Why do strangers, and even my co-workers who see your pictures hanging up at my cubicle, assume you’re a year older than you actually are?

It might be assumed because of your size, but here’s the thing, kid: You couldn’t be a more average-sized 2-year-old boy. The doctor confirmed at your 2 year check-up that you are in the 50th percentile for height and weight.

As I’ve explained before, you’ll grow to be about 5’8”, which is double your current height of 34 inches.

Could it be that you “act older?” Maybe, but your vocabulary doesn’t seem to reflect that of a 3-year-old.

Maybe it’s that these random strangers don’t have daily access to a 2-year-old boy, to know what’s normal. Perhaps it’s been a decade or so since they were exposed to the accurate size and behavior of a 2-year-old.

This may seem like the strangest reason, but maybe it’s simply your hair that makes you seem older.

Mommy and I have been keeping your hair cut short on the sides and back; ever since you were just a few months old. We decided the default chili bowl haircut just wasn’t for you.

So whatever it it is, possibly even a combination of all the explanations, I have a feeling you will continue looking like you’re a year older than you are. Granted, your skin is as wrinkle-free as Ryan Seacrest’s, but you just have the look of a 3-year-old; whatever that is.

I’m really curious to know: How can you really tell a 2-year-old from a 3-year-old if they’re not standing right next to each other? Observe your 3-year-old friends at daycare tomorrow and let me know!

 

Love,

Daddy

 

3 Comments Posted on parenting, Storytelling

Breaking Scientific News: 2-Year-Old Zoologist Discovers Missing Link

December 18, 2012 at 12:08 am , by 

2 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

I had always imagined your first favorite movie being a Disney classic. However, Disney classics have been late to arrive on the scene of Netflix live streaming, soCurious George 2: Follow That Monkey! it is.

How could it not be your favorite? Curious George, The Man in the Yellow Hat, and a circus elephant named Kayla accidentally travel across America in, of all things, a train!

I have now watched Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! somewhere around 17 times, but never all in one sitting. The same goes for you.

What I like best about us watching the movie together is when you observe out loud the relationship between Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat:

“George and his daddy are on the train!… George’s daddy is sleepy!… George’s daddy rides the bike!”

In other words, you perceive that The Man in the Yellow Hat is Curious George’s biological father. So that makes George like a half-boy, half-monkey missing link.

It’s sweet of you to associate their relationship to a real father and son. You observe the kind ways The Man in the Yellow Hat treats Curious George and relate it to how I treat you.

Granted, I’m reading between the lines on that, but I’m pretty sure that’s what you’re doing.

I have a feeling that a lot of little boys think the same thing about Ted Shackelford (A.K.A. The Man in the Yellow Hat) being George’s Daddy.

Likewise, I bet there are plenty of dads (and moms) out there who think their own young son reminds them of a curious little monkey.

I think about how often when we are together, you say “Daddy hold you.” That’s my cue to pick you up, like a pet monkey, as you wrap your arm around my neck and we take a walk, exploring the world.

You’re my monkey. I am the Man in the Yellow Hat.

 

Love,

Daddy