Storytelling

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Dear Holly: Now I Finally Believe That Little Girls Really Do Instinctively Love Tea Parties

2 years.

Dear Holly,

Until now, I always thought the idea of little girls wanting to play “tea party” was just a concept invented by toy marketers to sell more product. And for all I know, perhaps it is. But if so, hey… it works!

Because for your 2nd birthday last month, our good friends Lena and Mohamad got you a tea set, and not only did you immediately want to play with it, but you instinctively knew what to do with it!

In fact, having our tea parties together has become a bit of a ritual. Your tea party set is getting a lot of use!

I will say though, for me, you change it from tea to coffee. That’s because for the past 6 months, with me working from home, you have observed me making my organic instant coffee twice a day.

Whenever you think it’s getting near the right time of the day for it, you always ask, “Daddy, coffee?”

My favorite story so far with this tea set was a few weeks ago when I was finishing up cleaning the bathroom upstairs, as part of my weekend routine. I had been up there for a solid 15 minutes.

Then you stood at the bottom of the stairs, and announced to me, “Daddy, coffee!”

Mommy helped explain that you had just made coffee downstairs for me and you wanted me to come down and take a break.

So I gladly did.

It was one of those precious moments that I just wasn’t expecting.

In your mind, you thought, “Daddy’s been up there a while. I bet he’d like some coffee right about now. I’ll go ahead and make him some…”

You are such a sweet little girl. How can I not be completely in love with my little sweetie?

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: Exploring Your Great-Uncle Johnny’s Car Collection During Spring Break

7 years, 5 months.

Dear Jack,

It was just about a month ago that you had a pretty cool Spring Break. On the way back from Ruby Falls in the Mazda CX-5, we actually had to drive right past my Uncle Johnny’s house near Chattanooga; which is also near Rock City, where our family would visit a couple of days later. So I let him know in advance, and he was ready for us when we stopped by.

He has the largest collection of classic cars compared to anyone else I personally know. I figured especially at your age now, getting to see his car collection would really be an awesome thing to do.

You obviously were amazed with each car Uncle Johnny proceeded to show you; which included several class Mustangs.

But I think your favorite of them all was his 1993 Ford 150 pick-up truck.

But our visit didn’t just consist of a car museum collection alone.

Uncle Johnny was thoughtful enough, and brave enough, to insist that you drive us around in his golf utility vehicle. Granted, I sat next to you and overtook the wheel and brake pedal for much of the chaotic drive, which included us missing a tree by a few inches.

That’s why I took you to my Uncle Johnny’s house, though.

I knew it would create a memorable experience for you at this age. I have to believe that years from now, you’ll say to me, “Daddy, was that a dream that time we were at that guy’s house and he had all these cars and trucks and then he even let me drive this little car across a field, to another garage where there was this truck I got to stand in?”

Then I can say, “No, that was real.” Here are the pictures to prove it.

Love,

Daddy

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Review of the Remington HC4250 Shortcut Pro: What I Learned from Choosing to Be Bald for 3 Months

As of this week, I’ve decided to grow my hair back out from the zero guard buzz cut, to a more mainstream hairstyle.

My wife’s request may have had something to do with that decision…

In addition to my son’s recent drawing of our family where he purposely drew me with a hat on…

But for the past 3 months, I have consistently chosen on a weekly basis to be bald. I even went to The Board Room in Nashville on West End and got my head clean shaven at one point.

And I have to say, I love being bald!

It’s awesome.

(Here’s the video I made when I shaved it all all from a full head of hair, before I updated to the The Remington Lithium HC4250 Shortcut Pro, which I now use.)

I love not having to think about going to get a haircut every 4 weeks, or having to pay for a haircut, or having to spend the time to get a haircut, or having to wonder if my hair is messed up after walking outside in the wind.

The zero guard buzz cut served as a perfect outward representation of how I feel on the inside.

Even though I can still grow hair, I personally prefer the look and feel of no hair.

In my opinion, the buzz version of me with the zero guard buzz cut is when I also have a 2 week-old beard:

I even wrote a cool original song about how great it is to buzz off your hair:

So if you’re considering trying out the buzz cut look, let me tell you about a must-have that I finally discovered here at the end of my 90 days of baldness:

The Remington Lithium HC4250 Shortcut Pro

Even my wife immediately acknowledged how even my hair looked after I used the device.

It’s really easy and fun to use. And if you’re not ready to go all the way down to a zero guard (no guard), you can opt to use one of the standard length guards included with it.

Be warned though: Once you take the leap and decide to buzz it all off, you’re probably going to get addicted. That’s definitely what happened to me.

You begin to realize, as a man, that hair seems to being pointless; just a waste of time, money, and energy.

If you’re possibly interested in making this purchase, I’ll make it easy for you by including the link below, so you can get straight to Amazon to find the best deal on one:

The Remington Lithium HC4250 Shortcut Pro

Also feel free to check out these video reviews I made on the The Remington Lithium HC4250 Shortcut Pro:

 

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Dear Jack: Your Amazingly Accurate Family Portrait That You Drew for Fun at School, That Almost Got Thrown Out

7 years, 5 months.

Dear Jack,

This past weekend as Mommy was cleaning out your back pack from school, in an effort to throw out anything you didn’t need in there anymore, she found a hidden treasure, asking, “Ah Jack, what’s this?”

It was immediately obvious that you had done an amazingly accurate job of drawing and coloring a picture of your family.

The details were all there.

You and you sister have blue eyes, while your parents have brown. You mixed yellow and brown for your hair color, which is a sandy brown; unlike your sister’s blonde hair and your parents’ brown hair.

I had to laugh, because I now realize you purposely drew me wearing hat, as you’ve made it clear in a subtle way thought you don’t like my current look of choosing a zero guard buzz cut. (With a gentle nudge from Mommy this week, though, it has been decided I’ll be growing my hair back out now.)

In your drawing, Mommy’s lips were colored in full, as compared to the rest of us: I’ve never seen her when she’s not wearing lipstick.

You even took great measure to get our wardrobes right. Clearly, you put a lot of thought into this picture.

What makes me proudest about your drawing is that you chose to do this on your own, at school. It was not part of an assignment.

You just took it upon yourself to draw your family, with great personal details according to each family member.

And we’re all happy in the picture; which is a reflection of how you see us.

I’m looking at the psychological reason you drew this picture. This was your way of expressing that you love your family.

The thing is, there was no guarantee we were even going to see it.

In fact, it almost got thrown away, as it was casually mixed in with a bunch of old graded homework.

You didn’t draw this picture to impress me.

But boy, you managed to anyway.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Hitting and Hugging Your Brother “Jackie” Within a 5 Second Time Frame

2 years.

Dear Holly,

You are really having fun these days as you are learning the art of forming short, yet complete, sentences. Over this past week especially, I have noticed you are even finding a comfort level when communicating with your family.

So now, whenever you’re hanging out and playing with your brother Jack, you love to call him by his nickname you gave him: Jackie.

“You coming, Jackie?”

“Let’s go, Jackie!”

“Hold you, Jackie?”

By the way, “hold you” is one of my favorite things you say these days.

It’s of course the result of Mommy and me asking you, “Do you want me to hold you?”, when we see you are getting tired walking outside in the cul-de-sac or at a store.

So when you want Mommy or me or pick you up, you just say, “Hold you?”

Most recently, my favorite story about you and Jack playing happened this past weekend when Mommy was working on dinner and I was working on the dishes.

You and your brother were playing, when all of the sudden, you just approached him and slapped him in the chest, declaring, “No!”

He had done nothing to earn this. He was being nice to you. It was completely random that you did that. It was so random.

But immediately, before Mommy or I could address the issue, you looked up at Jack and asked, “Hold you?”

I guess it’s just proof of how well the two of you play together.

Because Jack wasn’t upset that you hit him for no reason, anyway. But then you immediately, and softly, asked him to “hold you”, which meant you wanted him to hug you, he gladly obliged.

The logic is just hilarious to me:

Approach your brother who is being kind to you, angrily slap him in the chest while shouting “No!, then immediately and meekly ask him for a hug.

I love watching you learn to communicate and interact with other human beings.

Love,

Daddy