Nashville

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting, Storytelling

Silly Parents, Thomas The Train Rides Are For Kids!

September 9, 2012 at 11:10 am , by 

21 months.

Yesterday we took our toddler son Jack to the Day Out With Thomas the Train 2012 Mystery On The Rails Tour. As the parents, we had these (unrealistic) expectations of what it would be like:

Each train car would be an actual character from the TV show and we would travel through the best scenery of our city.

Instead, we boarded a normal, regular-looking 1950’s train car and traveled 12 minutes forward at about 15 miles per hour, then backtracked in reverse to where we started from.

The scenery included a parking lot of school buses, a dumping zone, and the graffiti underneath the main bridge.

And that’s if you were sitting on the right side of the train; if you were sitting on the left aisle, you got to see a brick wall for most of the ride.

It cost a total of about 43 bucks for our family of 3 to take this excursion. Granted, there were other Thomas the Train themed activities after the ride ended; like getting free temporary tattoos, visiting a miniature petting zoo, and story time.

However, the rain put a bit of a damper on most of that for us.

So maybe our expectations as parents weren’t exactly met. But when I looked over at Jack, he was totally enthralled by all the excitement.

His face was pressed against the glass of the window most of the time. He never cried nor got antsy. And for a toddler boy, that’s saying a lot!

Not all parents were as lucky as we were.

I saw plenty of fellow dads doing their best to contain their crying sons who couldn’t sit still for the event, or whose sons were even afraid to enter the train at all.

But our child was happy. As his parents, we were just along for the ride. Honestly, isn’t that a good way to sum up parenthood?

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

My Son, The Starving Chalk Artist

June 19, 2012 at 11:33 pm , by 

19 months.

Crayons are the gateway drug to chalk.

It began so innocently when we took home some crayons from Mellow Mushroom Pizzeria, followed by my wife soon after buying him a cheap coloring book.

But on one fateful, antsy Saturday afternoon, we naturally had the clever idea to buy Jack some chalk to decorate our sidewalk. And since then, you’d think the kid has 6 fingers on one hand; one of them typically being blue, green, yellow or red.

Jack values chalk more than Elmo. Yeah, you heard that right.

I mean, he still loves Elmo; calling out his name in vain as he sleeps, sometimes.

But right now, Jack is totally beginning his  ”starving artist” stage.

(I think he’s inspiring to become the next Julian Beever; that famous chalk artist whose genius work you’ve seen in email forwards.)

On the car ride to and from daycare, Jack often requests a piece of chalk; to hold, not to draw with. He just likes the satisfaction, and the pride, of grasping it for 30 minutes at a time.

That’s how much he appreciates the arts.

This past weekend we took Jack to Menchie’s, a pay-per-ounce frozen yogurt place right down the road from us.

Two things in particular make Menchie’s stand out to me:

Evidently the owner is Jewish and he has a rabbi bless each new flavor as soon as possible. That’s why certain flavors have a mysterious Hebrew sticker next to them and others don’t; because the rabbi hasn’t blessed them yet.

(I guess? I’m not Jewish so I don’t know. I’m all in favor of hearing a better explanation on that one.)

The other thing is that there’s a giant community chalkboard inside the shop for the customers to express themselves. Needless to say, Jack cared a lot more about the chalkboard than he did his frozen yogurt.

Lucky for me, because I got to eat all of his bananas and cream dessert.

Just look at that intensity. He wouldn’t have been a starving artist if he would have just eaten his frozen yogurt, though.

For more pictures of the event, go toThe Dadabase’s Facebook pageand see the picture folder called Menchie’s Yogurt Bar in Nashville.

 

“A man paints with his brains and not with his hands.”

-Michelangelo

Leave a comment Posted on Nostalgia, parenting

The Toddlers’ Beat Poet Society Of Nashville

June 4, 2012 at 8:28 pm , by 

A year and a half.

You’ve met Jack’s friends Henry and Sophie before. Well, this past Saturday morning all of us parents decided to get together so we could see how our kids play in an environment with each other outside of their daycare.

After a delicious and glorious breakfast at Henry’s house, Henry’s dad suggested we could check out the “drum circle” going on just a few blocks away.

Honestly, I had no idea what a drum circle was, but it sounded random and therefore enticing… so it was fine by me.

The nine of us made our way to a white tent, covering a man playing a giant bongo drum. In his midst were plenty of chairs for visitors and various sized of bongos for us all to play on.

I guess the concept is that you just show up and drum along to the beat, letting friendly conversations and positive vibes do the rest.

Henry and Sophie seemed to get it. As for Jack, he was more of a skeptic. The tambourine seemed to be more his speed; of course while holding a yellow car he snatched from Henry’s house.

“Jack is like the old man telling the hippies to get out of his yard playing that crazy music,” Henry’s dad pointed out.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

I did think it was funny how while we were there, it was pretty much just us parents and toddlers. The event was similar to many of the scenes in the movie Garden State.

If only Jack were able to remember going to the drum circle when he was 18 months-old, he would say, “Hey dad, remember that time we went to that weird tent where that guy was playing a drum for no reason and we all were supposed to play along? Well, what was that all about? And weren’t Henry and Sophie there too?”

As I tell this story now, it sounds more like a strange dream; which is how most of my childhood memories remain in my mind.

But really, it was the perfect morning. What better way to spend it than with friends all trying something exciting and new… and random.

Those kinds of memories are the best. Shared experiences that in hindsight seem abstract and even pointless.

That’s what adds character to friendship; even for toddlers.

Not to mention, it was free to go to the drum circle. Not even an awkward tip jar.

Even better.

Encore, anyone?

For more pictures of The Toddlers’ Beat Poet Society, I invite you to check out The Dadabase’s Facebook page.

It’s always a good place to get a sneak peak at what’s going on. You’ll even be invited to give me input and advice for upcoming articles.

Peace out, fellow parents.

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, Recaps

Dining Out With My 16 Month-Old At The Pfunky Griddle

March 31, 2012 at 7:09 am , by 

16 months.

When my son Jack was 9 months old, I wrote about how I was over eating out at restaurants. It just wasn’t enjoyable or relaxing in anyway. Seven months later, things have fortunately gotten easier for my wife and I to the point we actually want to take him out to eat.

My wife told me about this trendy place in Nashville, just 8 miles from our house, called The Pfunky Griddle where you make your own breakfast right there at the table.

Understandably, I was silently skeptical; not just for the thought of having to cook my own meal but also imagining Jack sticking his hands on the hot cooking surface.

But, you know, it works… enough so that we actually have gone to breakfast there for the past three Saturdays!

For one thing, Jack is now able to sit in a booster seat as long as he’s entertained. The sights, sounds, and smells of cooking your own pancakes (or French Toast, as I always choose) is definitely fascinating to him.

Secondly, he gets his own spatula to slap against the tile table in front of him, allowing him to believe he’s actually cooking like my wife and I are doing.

Thirdly, they always seat us in the sun room where Jack can hear the birds singing in the morning; not to mention, if he does get antsy, I can easily run him outside for some fresh air.

My wife and I are confident in the food because they provide whole wheat batter and bread (or gluten free if you request). Plus, they make really good coffee. Their dirty chai is nearly $2 cheaper than Starbucks’ version.

And at about $6 per person for all you can eat, it’s hard to complain about the prices.

Taking Jack to the Pfunky Griddle has become our new Saturday morning tradition. But we have to get there early, by 8:30, because after all, it is a trendy place.

In fact, so trendy, that back in October 2008, Parents magazine featured it in an article called “8 Reasons To Visit Nashville,” which The Pfunky Griddle has framed and featured on the wall as soon as you walk in.

The next time you’re in Nashville, you’ll probably see us there. Bring your toddler and see if he or she enjoys it as much as Jack!

 

Leave a comment Posted on parenting, People

8 Reasons to Raise Your Family in Nashville

November 20, 2011 at 10:01 am , by