parenting

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling

Could Your Parenting Prevent An Antichrist From Existing?

June 27, 2012 at 10:54 pm , by 

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling

My Son Isn’t Cuddly Like The Snuggles Bear

June 27, 2012 at 9:52 pm , by 

19 months.

One of the highlights of my day is always picking up Jack from daycare, because I know he will come running to me with a big smile on his face.

Then, he’ll cuddle up close to me like a koala bear as I hold him and collect his things before taking him out to the car.

With Jack, moments of cuddling like that are rare. It’s safe to proclaim, he’s just not a cuddly kind of kid.

I want to say that I wish he was. But that would be me being selfish.

Because he was designed to be an adventurer and an explorer, so it’s not in his nature to want to let me squeeze him like the Snuggles bear whenever I feel like it; which is actually quite often.

Jack wants to be led into swashbuckling missions. He wants to see the unknown. He wants to ride in the bottom storage part of the shopping cart at Whole Foods Market.

I have to let Jack be Jack, even if that means that at least for right now, I can’t just lay on the couch with him, being close and cuddly. Because that’s what I want.

So I accept that his love language is probably not physical touch.

Instead, I think Jack interprets love through quality time and acts of service.

That typically involves me exerting a lot of energy and burning a bunch of calories and not having much time to just chill out when I’m with him.

It’s not so much that I’m constantly having to entertain him; it’s that I’m constantly needing to engage him. Interestingly, the activities that best express my love to him in a way that he accepts as valid are the ones that most wear him out and cause him to need to take a nap.

Now I can understand even better why roughhousing with my son is so vitally important.

Chasing him like I’m a lion, then gently tossing him on the random air mattress in our living room is the equivalent to snuggling with him. That’s how Jack sees it.

And perhaps my subconscious realization of that naturally makes me want to play rough with him in the first place.

It’s been no secret that Jack and my dad have always had a special bond.

Even when Jack was only a couple of months old, he always appreciated my dad carrying him around the house, showing him the insides of bedrooms and the pictures on the walls.

What is it about that special bond between grandfather and grandson? It’s not just their same first and last name.

I believe it has a whole lot to do with the fact my dad does a perfect love of expressing love to Jack in a way that Jack can best understand it.

Remember the whole water hose incident last weekend?

Prime example. Put Jack and his Papa together, and they’ll figure out something fun to do.

My son isn’t the Snuggles bear.

But I do think he might be Curious George.

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling

My Kid Is Obsessed With Animals

June 26, 2012 at 10:57 pm , by 

19 months.

Jack has recently acquired a farm/zoo. And boy is he proud to take care of his Made in China plastic toys. I mean, his furry little friends.

This past weekend at his cousin Calla’s house, Jack discovered a “Farm Animal Play Set” my sister and her husband had bought on clearance for 3 bucks at Target. The set consists of a clear backpack filled with many familiar animals.

Why exactly the “farm” set included a mother and baby ostrich as well as a wolf, I don’t know.

Nor could I tell you why there is a random African-looking tree along with two logs. How certain things made the cut remains a mystery.

Not to mention that the “baby” animals are simply miniatures blended in from some leftover batch from Taiwan; clearly not originally intended to be in relation to the “mother” animals, which for some reason all have red eyes.

Needless to say, I named the dog with red eyes, Cujo.

And I couldn’t help but notice the adult duck is nearly the size of the adult ostrich.

One more thing, the larger sized animals were glued together; you can clearly see where the cow’s head was glued on to the rest of its body. (I have seen these exact ones sold separately at Michael’s for like 2 bucks a piece.)

Well, I shouldn’t have been surprised that Jack is completely unaware of just how “Frankensteined” his mismatched farm set is. All he knows is, he loves his animals.

Don’t all kids?

Jack has to be holding 3 of his animals at all times: in the car, in bed, during meals, even while running from me as I chase him across the house during playtime.

Yesterday when he saw that the dishwasher was empty, he grabbed the utensil caddy and carried it over to the coffee table. Then he carefully placed the mutant duck and Cujo in their own separate compartments.

He waited a few seconds and stared at the wall, as to symbolize the passing of several hours. Finally, he woke up the animals and removed them from the utensil caddy, I mean, their stalls: The plastic rooster had apparently crowed.

Kids love animals. Heck, they’re obsessed with them.

Take a look through your child’s favorite books or check out the covers of their favorite DVD’s. Humans are rare. Instead, talking animals have replaced us.

To a toddler, animals are something to be enthralled by.

Animals look funny, they have their own strange movements, they make weird distinct noises, and they’re lovable; except for the ones that are vicious and deadly; but in a child’s world, they by default are all enchanted.

(Have you noticed how many friendly lions and alligators are featured on your little boy’s shirts? I have. It’s pretty funny.)

I’m not the kind of guy to use the word “sweet” in the emotional sense, but I have to admit, it makes my heart smile to see him so earnestly trying to care for the needs of his animals.

You’ve already heard about Jack hosing down Cujo and Mutant Duck. (They must be his favorites.)

Well, now you know that his animals are a full-time responsibility.

They must not only be cleaned, but also fed and given a good night’s rest in their stalls. As long as the dishwasher isn’t full.

For more pictures of Jack with his animals, visit The Dadabase’s Facebook and click on the photo album,Jack’s Farm/Zoo.

 

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

My Son’s New Power Tool: The Water Hose

June 25, 2012 at 11:24 pm , by 

19 months old.

This past weekend while in Alabama celebrating Jack’s cousin Calla’s first birthday, Jack decided that his new plastic pet dog and duck needed a bath.

My dad, who Jack calls Papa, found a make-shift wading pool so Jack could take proper care of his furry friends. I mean, I’m sure Cujo and Mutant Duck needed a good cool-down as they were getting pretty smelly in the hot summer sun.

So Jack was introduced to a new power tool: The water hose.

I imagined he would go crazy with it right away. But instead, he took on the demeanor of a middle-aged man joyfully yet carefully working on a weekend project involving power tools.

My dad helped show Jack how the nozzle on the hose could change the speed and intensity of  the water shooting out.

It was at that point that the inevitable finally happened:

Yes, Jack turned the weapon on his Papa.

As you can see from these pictures, Jack had a blast…

Or maybe it was my dad who had the blast, literally.

This was definitely one of those unplanned, accidental good memories that wouldn’t have been quite as good if it were planned.

It was completely spontaneous. Jack didn’t have time to switch to swim clothes first.

All I know is I was talking to my mom and sister in the kitchen, then Jill walked in and said:

“Come here, you have to see this!”

It was the perfect result of my son’s quest for adventure and my dad’s knack for making adventures out of ordinary things lying around the house.

On the drive back to Nashville yesterday, Jill and I were talking about how we wish there was some way Jack could actually remember this event happening.

Well, I have a feeling we’ll be doing this spontaneous, unplanned water show again the next time we visit.

For more pictures of the water show, visit The Dadabase’s Facebook and click on the photo album, Jack’s Farm/Zoo.

 

 

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

How I Get My Kid To Smile For Pictures

June 24, 2012 at 10:13 pm , by 

19 months.

Last Friday morning as Jack was enjoying his sliced banana and whole wheat French toast breakfast, he randomly picked up one of the morsels of bread and pretended it was a rocket ship: “Vvvvrrrooo…”.

In an attempt to capture that classic moment of toddler randomness, I grabbed my camera from the counter and stepped up to Jack.

Well, I missed him piloting his magical French toast morsel, but even better, Jack broke away from his fantasy world and smiled really big for the camera.

He knows what the camera is for now. In other words, he has broken the fourth wall in his human state of awareness.

I should point out, though, that Jack isn’t so much wanting to make exciting pictures for some potential audience.

No.

He does this for his own entertainment.

Jack knows that as soon as I take an up-close picture of him, I will reward him by showing him the picture on the small screen on my camera. He gets to see the artwork.

I can imagine he is somewhat fascinated by the fact he is able to fit in that little box; the camera screen. And Elmo gets to travel with him.

It somehow reminds me of on the 1971 classic movie Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory, when Mike Teevee gets shrunken into Wonkavision.

Fortunately, Jack doesn’t remain only a few inches tall when it’s all done.

Needless to say, when I was Jack’s age back in September 1982 eating my Cookie Crisp cereal with a banana in hand, there was no such thing as instant gratification when it came to taking pictures.

Even by the time I got to Junior High, a disposable camera was still only as instant as things really got.

Of course, Polaroids existed but my parents never got one because they said the quality of the pictures looked too cheap.

The real irony is that now people use Instagram to help make their pictures purposely look like Polaroids; instantly.

So if you’re having trouble getting your toddler to smile for the camera, try the instant reward system of showing your kid their picture from two seconds ago.

Be warned though; a common side effect may include a tad too much enthusiasm , as seen in the picture of Jack eating his French toast.