Legos

1 Comment Posted on July 30, 2015 Nostalgia, parenting, Storytelling, toy reviews, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: You’re Not Growing Up Way Too Fast

4 years, 8 months.

Dear Jack,

I’ve never felt that you are growing up too quickly. I think you’re growing up at exactly the right speed.

The metronome in my head works just fine as it measures at what rate you should graduate across the sliding scale of baby to boy.

Maybe a good reason I feel this way is that I’ve written at least one blog post and/or letter to or about you since before you were born. That’s more than 5 years now!

There are now hundreds of stories and pictures of your life story that I have preserved in time. (And they all can be retrieved by clicking on the Blog Archives tab on the left side of the screen.)

So maybe I am the exception to the rule of feeling my kid is growing up too fast. I never find myself missing any younger version of you. I have warm nostalgic thoughts about those days, but I don’t miss them.

Because I so appreciate who you are now.

You’re perfect. You’re exactly everything I could possibly hope for in a son.

You are a beautiful, intelligent, and creative young boy.

It is a gift each day that I get to see who you are becoming.

Maybe I’m being too pragmatic here, but if I really wanted to relive the “baby days”, I should focus getting you a brother or sister…

That seems like the best way to relive that time period, but at the same time be able to appreciate the nearly 5 year-old boy you are.

But no, you’re not growing up too quickly for me.

You’re my genius son who just entered his Lego creations into the upcoming county fair. But you’re also down-to-Earth enough that you fully appreciated the “pooping moose” key chain I brought back from Grand Rapids this week as a souvenir.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on January 24, 2015 Nostalgia, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Your Self-Assigned Lego Homework Project

4 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

A week from today will be your last day at your preschool, with the big move into our new house being next weekend.

At night during dinner, all this week, you’ve been working on a special Lego plane. You instructed me to build something too, so I did.

Well, this morning you asked me to find a bag to put your plane in: The time had finally come to reveal your new creation to your friends and teachers at school.

So I found a Kroger bag and placed your plane inside it; keeping it up front with me in the car for the drive.

Once we arrived in your class room, you whispered to me, “Daddy, the plane.”

So I pulled the plane out and handed it to you.

Immediately, your friends ran over, crowding around you. They were sincerely and thoroughly impressed with your work.

“Wow, Jack! Is that Michelangelo in there driving it?” your friend Joshua asked.

Keep in mind, just a few weeks ago, you built that Lego hospital at school that all your friends protected.

I struggled to snap a few pictures of the event today, as it was truly a challenge for me to get a shot of you holding the plane without one of your friends blocking my view.

In the midst of all the I wanna see!’s from your friends, I realized that most them are a year older than you. They are 5; you are 4.

Witnessing this today made me sort of feel like the dad of Doogie Howser or something.

Even now, I’m thinking, “Man, my son diligently worked on a Lego plane that impressed his older friends. He must be a Lego prodigy… That’s pretty cool!”

Ultimately, this is one of those “dad moments” for me. I am proud of you, Son.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on December 29, 2014December 30, 2014 Nostalgia, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: My Childhood Christmas Tree, The 1980s Time Capsule

4 years, 1 month.

Dear Jack,

This year for Christmas, it worked out for our family to spend about 5 days at my parents’ house in Fort Payne, Alabama.

So last Tuesday after I got off work, and after you and Mommy had visited both Primrose and Rainbow daycare facilities as we decide which one to transfer you to once we move into our new house in a month (our closing date is exactly a month from today), we loaded up the 2014 Lexus LX 570 and made our way across the Tennessee state line.

After we settled in that night (December 23^rd), I noticed something:

The Christmas tree’s ornaments serve as a 1980s time capsule.

Those ornaments mainly consist of decorations collected during my childhood.

There are crocheted ornaments clearly displaying the year “1987” on them. There is also an array of ornaments I made in school and church, from 1987 to 1991.

In fact, the one from 1987, where I am sitting on (a very lousy looking) Santa, features me wearing a McDonald’s sweat suit.

The irony is very present; never knowing back then that I would eventually become a vegan, nor would I have been able really understand what that word even meant back then.

I also noticed a 25 year-old egg shell ornament. Back in 3^rd grade, for Christmas 1989, I had made an ornament in Mrs. Lawrence’s class, where we all brought in an egg, poked it with a needle to drain it, then covered it in sparkles, a sticker, and some glue.

Somewhat miraculously, than 25 year-old egg has never cracked or shattered!

I also laughed when I saw the Star of David made out of tongue depressors. It helps explain why I always sort of assumed we were Jewish.

And don’t forget the bubble lights! It’s amazing those things still work…

The next morning on Christmas Eve (December 24^th), your cousin Calla came over and the two of you both got to open one present early.

She got a Play-Doh factory and you got a really cool Lego set that was a tree house; which contained a Lego treasure map and a pizza!

It’s a bit of a blur, but at some point while your Uncle Andrew helped you build the new Lego set, I ended up wearing the top part of a broken sombrero that I think my Great-aunt Jennie had bought for me as a souvenir while visiting Mexico, where her parents were born.

You were pleasantly surprised when you discovered a Brother Bear figurine of the Berentstain Bears (from a McDonald’s Happy Meal); being that you had just watched on the DVD on the drive there in the car, on the Lexus LX’s built-in system.

So I guess it’s safe to say in addition to the Christmas tree’s ornaments serving as a 1980’s time capsule, my overflowing collection of McDonald’s Happy Meal toys helped add to that undeniable sense of nostalgia at your Nonna and Papa’s house.

Just check out that ice cream cone that transforms into a robot!

Love,

Daddy

6 Comments Posted on November 20, 2014November 22, 2014 Health, Storytelling, Uncategorized, vegan

Dear Jack: Your “No Artificial Anything” Lego Themed 4th Birthday Party

4 years old.

Dear Jack,

It is true, you are now a 4 year-old! And I can absolutely without a doubt tell you that you had an awesome 4^th birthday and birthday party.

Knowing the relevance of Legos, given the fact you will spend hours at a time building Optimus Prime and Dinobots, we booked your party months ago at a place called Bricks 4 Kidz.

That was the best decision for your party. Not only did you and your friends have a great time playing with Legos, but the parents felt at ease, yet still involved, with all the action.

There were also optional peripheral activities going on for any of your friends who wanted to mix things up; like making a cool spiral design on a paper plate using a Lego-operated device.

This made the first birthday party you’ve had outside of our home; I quickly realized how stress-free it truly is when you don’t have to worry about anything.

Your birthday party was on autopilot; it flowed so well.

The only thing we were really responsible for was bringing the food, which, you know me… that’s a big deal.

I made sure that in addition to your party having a Lego theme, that it also had a “no artificial anything” theme as well.

These days, you really have to go out of your way to find “birthday food” that doesn’t have garbage ingredients in it, like artificial food dyes, animal bi-products, or mysterious chemicals.

Of course, for me, your vegan dad, I knew just where to look…

I reached out to Annie’s and GoGo Squeez and they helped donate the majority of the snacks for your party. They are just as passionate as I am about spreading the word about the importance of eating real food.

Obviously, your friends loved our Annie’s crackers & cookies and Go Go Squeez pouch buffet!

And that was in addition to your vegan birthday cake that I special ordered from Whole Foods. You said you wanted it to be chocolate with blue icing, so that’s exactly what you got.

It was so good…

No eggs, no dairy, no artificial dyes or flavors… no problem! We liked it so much that Mommy and I (jokingly?) talked about ordering another cake from Whole Foods to celebrate when we move into our new house in January.

So not only was there plenty of fun to be had at your 4^th birthday party, but I was able to feel confident that I was serving you and your friends the best “birthday food” out there: Annie’s, Go Go Squeez, and Whole Foods vegan birthday cake.

Of course, there is that whole part about you opening the presents, but more on that in the next letter…

Love,

Daddy

5 Comments Posted on November 16, 2014 Nostalgia, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: A Dad’s Letter To His Son On His 4th Birthday

4 years old!

Dear Jack,

Two years ago, on your 2^nd birthday, I started a tradition of writing you a letter on each of your birthdays; which started me writing to letters every week.

A year I wrote to you on your 3^rd birthday, right as you were making that unofficial transition out of “toddlerhood.”

And now a year later, here you are, a year into boyhood. There is no doubt you definitely a real boy; not a toddler, not a baby.

Those funny “onion head” pictures on packages saying that toys are not suitable for ages 0-3 are a thing of the past.

You can now easily handle smart parts without it being a problem; as demonstrated in your amazing Lego creations.

This evolution of my son is present in the wallet cards I get from your school each time they have picture day.

I see a chubby blonde-haired baby who turned into a brown-haired boy.

These are the new “good ole days.”

I can honestly say I’m just as happy as you are to see you open your presents. These are the days of Legos, Transformers, Ninja Turtles, and Captain America. (Sounds a lot like my own childhood!)

Gone are the days of changing dirty diapers and cleaning bottles. Gone are the days of you stuttering and speaking in pigeon-English.

The fact that we’re building this new house (and hopefully moving in it in January) only compliments your coming of age to boyhood, as well as our family’s coming of age to a family with a real boy.

I am so excited to teach you to learn how to ride a bicycle in the cul-de-sac we will live in. And can’t for the day we get to “go camping” in our backyard; even though I convinced you’ll ask to go back inside after about an hour.

Things are good and about to get even better.

Happy 4^th Birthday, Son. I love you with all that I have.

Love,

Daddy

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Legos

Dear Jack: You’re Not Growing Up Way Too Fast

Dear Jack: Your Self-Assigned Lego Homework Project

Dear Jack: My Childhood Christmas Tree, The 1980s Time Capsule

Dear Jack: Your “No Artificial Anything” Lego Themed 4th Birthday Party

Dear Jack: A Dad’s Letter To His Son On His 4th Birthday

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