kids

Leave a comment Posted on funny, Nostalgia, parenting, Uncategorized

Nashville Man Mysteriously Rescued By Monster Trucks

This past Sunday afternoon as a Nashville man, Nick Shell, 33, was rounding the turn at Old Hickory Boulevard and Nolensville Pike in his newly restored 1985 Toyota 4Runner, he slid into a giant mud-filled ditch.

1985 Toyota 4Runner funny

“I had never seen mud that deep and thick before. It was all the way up to the windows. But then I looked up and saw a monster school bus and a big black monster truck with the phrase Crusader written across it. It was such perfect timing. How the monster trucks appeared immediately after my moment of need, I’ll never know,” Shell explained.

The giant monster trucks were able to nudge the 4Runner back up to the main road to safety. Perhaps miraculously, after all the mud was washed off, both the driver and Toyota 4Runner escaped the crash without even a scratch.

1985 Toyota 4Runner funny

However, the monster trucks mysteriously drove away shortly after the 4Runner was saved from the mud pit. One anonymous eyewitness who happened to be driving behind the monster trucks stated that the two vehicles had directly left from seeing Disney’s Planes: Fire And Rescue.

Did the new Planes movie help inspire the monster trucks to be on the look-out for smaller vehicles they could rescue? It’s possible.

1985 Toyota 4Runner funny

Some wonder if, in the likeness of the anonymous kindness of comic book super heroes, there will be more stories to come which tell of other monster trucks helping out drivers in need out there on the road.

It is also uncertain what exactly caused such a large area of deep mud so close to the main road. Large, asteroid-like clumps of rocky mud were also discovered near the site of the rescue.

We can only hope that where people are in despair, heroes continue to mysteriously appear to save them.

As for now, to the monster school bus and Crusader… whoever and wherever you are, your good works have not gone unnoticed.

1985 Toyota 4Runner funny

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling

Raising Jumpin’ Jack Flash, The BASE Jumper

June 10, 2014 at 10:34 pm , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

Ever since you took that gymnastics class a few months ago, you’ve made a habit of looking for things to jump off of, like a BASE jumper.

That’s right- you learned to jump, as funny has that sounds. And now, it’s something you take very seriously.

When we stayed at the hotel for the Wizard World Atlanta Comic Con recently, you were very excited to see there was an ottoman in front of the sofa.

Needless to say, you knew just what to do…

When you weren’t using Hungry Hungry Hippos as a toy, you were being Jumpin’ Jack Flash!

A recent new tradition you and I started is that every night when it’s time for you to go upstairs with Mommy to take your bath, I take a break from doing the dishes and give you a piggy back ride to your room.

Then, I throw you onto your bed.

For the next couple of minutes after that, you jump off the bed onto the carpet, only to have me throw you back on the bed.

Your face slams into the bedspread and pillows. You love it.

Convenient for the sake of you continuing this roughhousing with me, is the fact you have never gotten hurt doing any of this.

This whole time, I’ve never had to put up a baby gate on our stairway. You have always had a reverent fear of the stairs- which is part of why you like to ride on my shoulders while going up them.

But despite your new love of BASE jumping, you have no desire to try jumping down the stairs.

You know that if you get hurt jumping, or while I throw you on the bed, that you probably wouldn’t get to have this much fun.

Smart kid, you are.

 

 

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

These Are The Years You Get To Be A Kid

June 6, 2014 at 11:12 pm , by

3 years, 6 months.

Dear Jack,

Back around six years ago when Mommy and I got married, I read a book by John Eldredge called Wild At Heart.

It presents the concept that everyone, at some point in the their life, endures a psychological wound.

That “wound” ultimately ends up defining some people; though for others, it makes them stronger.

I experienced mine a while back. It’s that moment in life where you realize life isn’t actually as innoncent or simple as you thought it was.

The older I get, the more I feel like Hans Solo and less like Luke Skywalker.

Or maybe it’s that I feel more like Darth Vader and less like Hans Solo.

As your dad, there’s a part of me that hopes you never have to experience your wound.

But if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be able to reach that level of understanding and maturity that is so crucial as you will eventually grow into true adulthood.

For now, though, I hope it’s something that’s far away. These are the years you get to be a kid.

You get to live in an innocent world where part of you still believes dinosaurs still exist and that Grover from Sesame Street might actually be your teacher next week at school, as I keep teasing you about.

As for me, I’ve lived long enough to have to fight off cynicism. I have to fight off being jaded, at times. I have to remind myself to be positive, despite how blessed our lives are.

The concept of working hard to earn a good living is not something you have to think about right now. You get to sleep all night and play all day.

Seriously, how awesome is your life right now?

Let’s keep it that way. But let’s face life together- with all its blessings, its curses, and everything somewhere in between.

 

Love,

Daddy

 

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling

To See My Child Brighten Someone’s Day, It Makes Me Proud

May 1, 2014 at 11:05 pm , by

3 years, 5 months.

Dear Jack,

This morning you were so excited to take your pet dog, Chi-chi, to school. He (or is it she?) has an “on” switch which causes it to walk across the floor and bark/chirp. It’s pretty hilarious.

But since you and your friends are 3 and a half, it’s pretty much as awesome as me finding out yesterday why “A113″ shows up in nearly every Disney/Pixar movie.

You were so eager to show Chi-Chi to your friends, I was actually a bit surprised. I feared that you might freak out as a mob of your classmates would begin going crazy foryour toy.

I thought it would bother you. I thought you might quickly get possessive.

That’s not at all what happened. Instead, I saw the look on your face as 7 or 8 of your friends all circled around you in amazement of your toy.

Never was there a sign of concern as Chi-Chi (and ultimately, you) were the hit of the party.

I saw joy in your eyes as you witnessed your friends playing with and passing around the toy you brought to share with them.

You brightened their day. That made you happy.

And it made me happy too.

When we got home, I saw on Facebook that my friend Holly, from college, had messaged me:

Nick, i just had to let you know that of all the compliments I received on my pink hair picture, your son requesting a second viewing makes me feel the coolest. Hope you’re doing well!

A few days ago, Holly had posted this new picture of herself with some temporary pink hair dye. (Being half-Norwegian and half-Swedish, her hair is normally light blonde.)

You caught a glimpse of the picture on my laptop as I was scrolling through Facebook and were pretty fascinated by this seemingly magical girl with the pink hair. I let Holly know that:

“My son Jack likes your hair so much, he just asked to see your picture again!”
Of the 20-something comments and 70-something “likes” she received from that picture, your comment made her feel the coolest. Enough for her to take the time to let me know, several days later.
And if you can believe it, the fact that you made her day by asking to see her picture a 2nd time… well, it made myday.
Twice in the same couple of hours, I saw first-hand how you simply brightened other people’s days.
It makes me so proud that you are such a sweet boy. I don’t think I was that caring and giving when I was your age.
Yeah, you make me proud.
Love,
Daddy
Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

It’s A Good Thing For Little Boys To Get Their Clothes Dirty

March 16, 2014 at 9:48 am , by 

3 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack,

Yesterday morning as we were hanging out at the park, waiting for the Monster Jam truck show to begin, you got your clothes pretty dirty.

As Mommy put it, “Jack, you smell like a boy.”

That’s what she says after you’ve had a lot of fun outside, doing what little boys should be doing:

Running around, crashing your toy monster trucks into each other, rolling in the leaves, lying on the ground, touching random people’s pet ferrets…

Yeah, you managed to do all those things in a 45 minute time span.

In essence, all the clothes you wear are “play clothes.”

Because honestly, when are you not playing and getting dirty?

I know these days there are so many rules and expectations about boys “behaving” in a classroom setting.

That’s why when you’re not in school, I encourage you to let loose.

You’re a boy.

I want you to feel like one. I want you to feel like you can be one.

It’s important to me that you can be yourself and express your energy in a harmless way… by getting your clothes dirty.

Granted, our family is very into hygiene.

But there’s definitely a difference between germs and dirt.

I don’t like germs.

However, dirt I don’t have a problem with. Hey, it’s natural. It’s the Earth itself, right?

So sure, you washed your hands after petting the ferret… only to get them dirty again by lying down on the sidewalk.

Like riding on the front of a grocery shopping cartor running around aimlessly in open-ended public spaces, it’s just one more thing that little boys are supposed to do: Get dirty.

I want you to be disciplined and respectful and kind.

But I also want you to enjoy the fresh air, the green grass, and the brown dirt.

It’s only natural. Literally.

 

Love,

Daddy