Storytelling

1 Comment Posted on April 23, 2015 Nostalgia, parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: To Hide Away From The World

4 years, 5 months.

Dear Jack,

I saw it coming; that once we had finally settled into our new house, that the rest of the world would seem to begin to fade away. Or maybe instead, that the I would feel myself unplugging from the rest of the world- which I am, at least compared to recent years in the world of social media.

And I don’t see that as a bad thing.

That’s exactly where I feel I’m at right now; in that place. Gone are the days when I was required to share my soul 6 times a week during those 3 years I was writing for Parents.com; where I would I felt that pressure to check my Facebook home page throughout the day.

After all, I haven’t checked my Facebook page even once since we moved in this house nearly 3 months ago. I assume I must be out of the loop with what’s going on in the world.

But I’m fine. I’m happy. I appreciate our life as a family like it is right now.

The result from me sort of laying low is that I have more time to spend and just hang out, without as many distractions, with you and Mommy.

Life is supposed to be this simple. Well, actually it’s supposed to be much more simple than this, I believe.

I would love to be able to just work from home and live a slower paced life. I’m working on making that happen; as this week I’ve invested a portion of my birthday money into teaching myself to edit videos for my YouTube channel.

It just seems there’s this cliche that you watch your kids grow up way too fast; then you regret that you were too busy worrying about temporary things in the process.

I don’t want to feel that way in 10 or 20 years.

This is me taking time to truly appreciate you drawing funny pictures of monsters that look like snowmen. And letting you squeeze glue into cups of water, just to see what will happen.

These are the quiet and grateful days in the lives of our family; just appreciating what we have.

At least until our upcoming road trip to Pensacola when we go digging for dinosaur bones and treasure chests in the sand.

Let’s just say I’ve got something up my sleeve to make that happen…

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on April 16, 2015 parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Cupcakes/Music Lessons/Upcoming Pensacola Road Trip

4 years, 4 months.

Your teacher Ms. Aimee lets your class do something special every time you guys earn enough marbles to fill up the jar, on account of good behavior.

A few weeks ago, it was a pajama party. This past week, though, you all had a cupcake party. I was surprised to see the pictures… you actually made your own cupcakes, thanks to Ms. Aimee’s handy dandy cupcake maker.

I didn’t even though that existed… we might have to get one for our house. Here’s your teacher’s note:

“Hi Nick!

Today was our cupcake party!

Jack had a blast mixing all the ingredients together to make our cupcakes.

The best part was frosting and decorating them!”

Jack had a blast today with our guest, Mr. Adam, from Firey Music!

He showed us how to play the; guitar, banjo, and mandolin! Jack got to try each instrument.

Mr. Adam also gave each student an instrument all of their own (the greatest sight you’ve seen, 14 children’s eyes lighting up, finding out they get their OWN instrument!)

Jack has also fallen in love with our magnet tiles! He is the master of building rockets!”

Aimee Cornelius

Lead Rockstar Preschool Teacher (self-titled)

Rainbow Child Care Center

Spring Hill, Tennessee

www.rainbowchildccc.com

Coming up, we have a fun road trip/mini-vacation planning for Pensacola, Florida. We will be reviewing a 2015 Toyota Sienna, which will only add to the excitement!

On our itinerary is a fun trip to the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park, as you are currently obsessed with sea animals since watching and reviewing Dolphin Tale 2 a few months ago. You have already decided your souvenir for our trip will be a dolphin stuffed animal.

And it should go without saying, I will officially be reviewing the city of Pensacola from a “vegan friendly” perspective; as I’ve already done with our trips to Atlanta, Asheville, and Lake Tahoe.

I’m excited to see you play in the ocean. I have a feeling you will be looking for baby crabs there on the beach.

Pensacola is apparently only about 6 and a half hours from our new house, which is a bit closer to the ocean than our home in Nashville was.

This may turn out to be a new regular vacation spot for us, like Asheville has become.

All fun ahead, it sounds like!

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on April 9, 2015April 9, 2015 parenting, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Our Easter 2015 Egg Hunt/Visit To Hawkins Spring Park

4 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack,

Our Easter tradition every year since you have been born has been to take you to the big egg hunt that Nonna and Papa’s church has at someone’s (very large) house.

I gave you several coaching sessions before the hunt; sharing with you the effective strategy of immediately running to the far corner of the field, where no one else bothers to go. I also reminded you not to stop to open the eggs; just to throw as many as you could into your basket, then worry about opening them after the hunt is over.

Without surprise, you easily obtained more eggs than the other kids by doing so. While you are still not quite inspired to kick the soccer ball during your games, egg hunting is a sport you can get excited about!

What’s funny is that you’ve yet to really look through the eggs, even now. You were happiest about bringing home some of my old stuffed animals from when I was your age; not what was inside the eggs.

Later on, we all went to Hawkins Spring Park there in Fort Payne, Alabama; my hometown. Where I grew up, there were several parks around our house, yet I never really went to this one.

Had I known about it back when I was 4, this might have been my favorite park; especially since a giant creek runs through it.

Of course, I didn’t let you and your cousin Calla have all the fun on the playground. They happened to have an adult playground where grown men like me and your Uncle Andrew could test our agility and strength. We were victorious… mostly.

Oh, and we rescued an old abandoned tire from the creek. We helped the environment!

A common question I have been getting this week is, “Did you have a good Easter?”

I did. We all did. We have nothing but good, fun, quality time as a family… while visiting family.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on March 19, 2015 People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Your New Pet Spider At School

4 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack,

When Mommy and I got married nearly 7 years ago, I quickly learned that one of my roles was to kill the spiders in our home.

Of course, I knew it’s not wise to kill every spider. After all, certain spiders like granddaddy longlegs are there to prey on the other spiders that may actually be harmful to people.

So I had to teach Mommy that you definitely want to keep a few spiders in the corners of the house; like having a cat in the barn to catch the mice.

Therefore, it is not in my nature to kill a spider simply because it’s a spider. Unless it’s poisonous and/or potentially harmful to people, the worst I’ll do to a spider is move it outside.

As my son, you are the same way. Your teacher at Rainbow Child Care Center, Ms. Aimee, sent me this note:

“Last week Jack found a very tiny spider. Instead of smashing it (like what a typical child would do) he wanted to save it from being stepped on. I helped him move the spider to a safe place by the fence where it could be free in the grass.

Jack then decided that our new spider friend needed a house! So he searched the playground for items he could use to build the house. He found rocks, mulch, and grass (so he could eat in the comfort of his home).

The next week he made sure to check the spider’s home every day, to see if it came back. We found a spider web today and came to the conclusion that he must have been playing on the play equipment!”

Your teacher also sent me some pictures of you at school from this past week, ranging from “Dr. Seuss Day” to St. Patrick’s Day.

Speaking of St. Patrick’s Day, I’ve got some pictures of my own to share, so be on the look-out for that…

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on March 19, 2015 funny, parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Why I Dressed Like This On St. Patrick’s Day

4 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack,

I think it’s safe to say that St. Patrick’s Day was just as much fun for me as it was for you. You enjoyed your party at school and seeing your teacher dressed up.

As for me, I had a lot to prove…

Last year the office manager where I work asked me to wear my vintage green corduroys on St. Patrick’s Day. Half-jokingly, I responded, “Only if you promise to put me on the cover of the monthly company magazine.”

And so it came to pass…

So for the past year, I have been known as the “official leprechaun” of our company, despite my Mexican and Italian heritage.

However, a coworker in the corporate office in Kentucky (I am in the Nashville division) publically challenged me to a duel; the winner to be determined by social media.

In other words, he was challenging my title.

So to make things interesting, I made this video:

I challenged him to wear “leprechaun tights”. I suggested that if he were willing to man up by wearing tights, surely the people on social media would declare him the winner over me.

As for my wardrobe, my favorite description I heard from a coworker was that I looked like either “the dictator of Candy Land or a gangster in the land of Oz.”

However, my efforts fell flat when compared to my challenger, who to my surprise, indeed wore tights.

Not the kind of tights I expected him to wear, but he definitely wore them. And a wig.

Plucky O'Guinness

So in the end, he won the official title.

But in my mind, I won the psychological aspect of it: I got a grown man to dress up in ladies’ tights and a wig.

Your Daddy is a clever guy… but I think you already knew that.

Love,

Daddy

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Storytelling

Dear Jack: To Hide Away From The World

Dear Jack: Cupcakes/Music Lessons/Upcoming Pensacola Road Trip

Dear Jack: Our Easter 2015 Egg Hunt/Visit To Hawkins Spring Park

Dear Jack: Your New Pet Spider At School

Dear Jack: Why I Dressed Like This On St. Patrick’s Day

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