Storytelling

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I’m A Cool Rockin’ Daddy In The USA… For Now

July 4, 2012 at 8:50 pm , by 

19 months.

No matter how cool of a dad I may be in my son’s eyes now, I’m led to believe that will all change about a decade or so from now.

But as for the time being, Jack looks to me as a leader in many aspects on how to be a guy. A cool guy, might I add.

While playing “Animals” with him, if I place a chicken on top of a horse on top of a truck, he will instantly repeat that awesome thing his dad just did.

Jack thinks all the cool kids have a blow-up mattress in their living room, which serves as a necessary wrestling mat. Because his dad set one up for him.

And several years from now, when I teach him to play Chess with me, I’m sure it will become our mutual obsession. Same thing goes for when I help him become the only kid in his class to solve a Rubik’s Cube… in less than 3 minutes.

Unless I’m the exception to the rule, then in theory, at some point I will stop being considered cool with the age 18 to 35 demographics.

As a modern young dad, wearing plaid or cargo shorts is in style. Wearing pleated khaki shorts, on the other hand, is not.

Similarly, being a fan of Dave Matthews Band and Jason Mraz means I have good taste in music.

But at some point, will my love for their music be a sign that I’m out of touch with what is cool?

Granted, I’ll never be a skinny jeans kind of guy. So if that’s what’s cool, I’ve already missed that boat.(Fortunately!)

But for now, I’m a 31 year-old dad who assumes the culture of a 25 year-old guy; minus the iPhone.

Jack thinks I’m the coolest guy in the world, even if by default.

After all, his dad wears a Spiderman mask while chasing him around the house. And pulls him around the neighborhood in a Radio Flyer wagon.

If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.

(As I if it needed saying, that’s not my cool classic car in the picture above. But at least mine isn’t the minivan next to it, either.)

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My Kid’s Absurd Dinner: Broccoli, Applesauce, And A Truck

July 3, 2012 at 8:48 pm , by 

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The Hunger Games: Toddler Edition

July 2, 2012 at 10:58 pm , by 

19 months.

Jack associates Jill with food. He associates me with… doing weird activities, I guess.

When he whines or gets antsy, my wife’s natural reaction is to assume he wants a snack. So he gets one.

But my natural reaction is to move him to a different room or take him outside. I just change the scenery and he so quickly forgets about why he was upset.

When I am taking care of Jack, he doesn’t get snacks. He doesn’t ask for them. He doesn’t think about them.

My wife is the nurturer. I am the adventurer.

For the rare times I get home with Jack before Jill gets there, Jack and I head straight to the living room and start playing.

It’s not until Mommy arrives that Jack remembers he’s hungry and immediately runs to his high chair, moaning on account of the munchies.

With me, he only wants three meals a day; no snacks.

With my wife, he wants three meals a day, all complete with 2nd helpings; and of course, a snack or two in-between each meal.

Why? Does his appetite truly increase when Jack sees his Mommy?

Nope. But seeing her triggers him to think, “I could eat…”.

What made me think of this double standard is the routine of our family car rides on the weekends. Typically, whenever we leave the house, it’s just after a meal.

Then we load up in the car, with me in the driver’s seat and Jack and Jill in the back. Once we’re all strapped in, I start driving. Then I hear Jill getting out a snack for Jack.

Not because he’s hungry, but because he wants an activity to entertain him. And hey, if Mommy’s activity involves food, he’s not going to turn it down.

I imagine if Jill was the one driving and I was the one entertaining, Jack wouldn’t be eating at all in the car. Because I would be too busy annoying him with his toys for him to think about unnecessary snacks.

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Girls Don’t Have The Cooties… Yet!

July 2, 2012 at 9:25 pm , by 

19 months.

You mean there’s a difference between girls and boys? Who cares.

Best I can remember, girls didn’t get the Cooties until I was in preschool. And by Kindergarten, I stopped caring.

As for Jack, he’s far from the “Cootie awareness stage.” I’m sure he recognizes that boys are different from girls in some subliminal way, but I think it’s mainly because of the different playing styles of the two genders.

Because boys play more rough. Put Jack in a group of girls and he escapes from the crowd, looking for the loudest, most dangerous adventure possible.

This weekend before we dropped off Jack at the nursery at church and were printing off his name tag, I noticed some “Allergy Alert” stickers.

Without thinking about it, I grabbed the pen and wrote  ”Girls” on the sticker and slapped it on his shirt.

So clever and witty, I am.

Interestingly, it turned out that there happened to be 10 boys his class and only one girl. The sticker ended up being appropriate, after all.

Something Henry’s dad was telling me about recently is how Henry can tell if a person is a man or woman; no matter their age.

How does a kid know? I’ve never thought about it before.

Sophie’s mom and I have joked about how, by default, Sophie is sort of a tomboy right now at daycare: She’s always right there in the mix of whatever hijinks that Jack and Henry are into.

And this is interesting to me, because Sophie is the girl Jack is around more than any other.

So clearly, Jack hasn’t yet developed any preconceived ideas about girls. Sophie is just as cool as Henry… for now.

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Extreme Makeover: The Dadabase Edition

June 29, 2012 at 11:49 pm , by 

19 months.

If you’re reading this, then I assume you’re aware of The Dadabase‘s new facelift. That’s right. I’ve “had some work done.”

You’ve probably noticed the new logo, the quicker load time of the web page, the easier-to-read font, and sleeker overall look. But that’s just the surface of the updatedDadabase.

Because more importantly, navigation is easier than ever now; so is your ability to share aDadabase article if you feel so inclined.

Or maybe you just want to subscribe to this blog and be instantly notified whenever I publish a new post.

Well, Christmas/Hanukah has come early this year. Because you can do all those things. Let me steer you through it.

Look at the top of this (and every) actual blog post. You see an option to instantly “like” it on Facebook, publicly recommend it on Google, share it on Facebook, Tweet it, or even directly email it with ease. Try it out right now if you wish.

Now look to the right side of the screen. It says “Search This Blog.” Was there a time a while back when you remember me writing about circumcision or Cheers or Smurfs and want to revisit that exact post?

Now you can. Type in any random word you can think of, and there’s a good chance I’ve written about it in my now 400+ Dadabasearticles.

Try me. See if I haven’t mentioned the Dharma Initiative or gay marriage yet. I dare you.

There’s an option to pull up my articles from a certain category, too. Feeling nostalgic? There’s a category for that. Deep thoughts? Got ‘em.

Okay, now you’ve probably picked up on the fact that I’m a little bit obsessed with time travel. If you share my same lust for going back in time, I have something to fill that void in your life: An “Archives” option.

You can click the month and year you want; going all the way back to April 2010 whenThe Dadabase was first launched with the announcement of my wife being pregnant.

Keep in mind that since I always tell how old Jack is (or how far along Jill was in her pregnancy) at the top of each article, you can figure out what was going on here at that time.

Right now in June/July 2012, Jack is 19 months. If your kid is 9 months old, do the math. Then click on the right month and year and there you have it.

Maybe I have already been there, done that, and got the Bedazzled sweatshirt. Find out if I am able to enlighten you with my past experiences as a parent.

And if you feel the need to further inflate my ego, there’s conveniently a section called “Follow Nick Shell.”

Go to straight to The Dadabase’s Facebook page. Or Twitter page. Or subscribe to The Dadabase. Or email me directly.

I just realized how easy I’ve made it for  you to stalk me right now. Oops.