Before Christmas, I wrote to you about how we were deciding between Primrose Schools and Rainbow Child Care Center as the top two contenders for the new school to put you in; for our move from Nashville to Spring Hill.
While both preschools are magnificent and I would personally highly recommend either one, the preschool we went with was…
When Mommy took you there to visit the first time back in December, you were eager to explore the classroom and get involved right away.
I was personally impressed that they have their very own gym in the middle of the school where you get to play twice each day; except for when it’s nice enough to play outside on the playground.
And of course, I appreciate how accommodating they are to you being a vegetarian. While you are the only vegetarian student in the whole school, both your teacher and the school director are vegetarians.
Something we are not used to is that we now are handed a personalized meal schedule for each week. I like that.
I am happy to see that you haven’t been nervous at all this week as we’ve been walking into Rainbow Child Care Center each morning.
So I can tell you enjoy being there, even though it’s a completely new environment for you.
On Monday, your very first day, your teacher let you feed two crickets to the pet frog. That was a cool new experience for you!
And last weekend we officially realized something else about your new school: It’s literally directly behind our new house! We can look out our dining room window, or the upstairs bedrooms, and see the roof of your school!
Granted, until the neighborhood behind our backyard is built, there won’t be a road directly connecting our house to your school.
Still, it’s a cool thought that your new school is visible from our house; and it’s just a 5 minute drive.
Not to mention, I love the fact that we now have a garage to pull out of in the mornings. No more having to worry about frost on the windows or it being cold in the car.
We love our new house! And moving in is what it took to get you all set up with your new school.
Of course, you’re going to like Rainbow Child Care Center and I imagine lots of fun stories taking place there in months to come.
This past week was very special because not only did Nonna and Papa (my parents) come back in town to help us move in, but so did Grandma (Mommy’s mother)… she flew in from Sacramento!
You helped Papa and I build a 2 person desk for our office. (I’m sitting on it now as I write this.) Something we are learning about things we bought for our house (like the Roman Shades and your bed we finished last week, as well as this desk) is that they look awesome once you work your way to the finished product…
But getting there is quite a task. That’s what happens when you buy stuff cheap from China. It’s basically the equivalent of a Lego set.
Yes, we bought a desk; in theory. But in reality, we purchased all the pieces necessary to build it completely ourselves. Over two days, it took us a total of about 4 and a half hours.
You celebrated the finished product buy karate chopping the Styrofoam packaging, then “taking a bath” in the aftermath.
We also had a lot of fun seeing you flying a kite for the first time… in our cul-de-sac.
I love it that we live in a cul-de-sac. I know this may sound weird, but I always liked the idea of living in one- and now we do.
And it was awesome being able to play in our very own backyard for the first time as well. I felt so… American.
I helped you find dirt to put in your dump truck, so that you could them “wash the animals in dirt shampoo.”
Our moving in process still continues, but it’s very rewarding to see certain rooms coming together now.
I’m really enjoying our new home and there is no doubt you are too!
We have every reason to celebrate our new home. After all, we’ve earned it. Our family has paid our dues to get where we are.
Simply put, I’m now consolidating a week’s worth of social media activity into just a couple of hours per week; during a specific window of time, from now on…
Starting 2 weeks ago, I began only publishing new posts here on Family Friendly Daddy Blog on Thursday nights.
Similarly, I am now only logging into Facebook (as well as all other forms of social media; it helps that I don’t have a smart phone) just once a week now on Thursday nights, when I publish my new posts for the week.
I’m also done paying any attention to my “home” page on Facebook, where it shows everyone’s status updates. I just don’t see how that daily exposure is enhancing my life; it only seems to complicate it.
My addiction and attention span to “keeping up” with all that stuff is apparently expired.
I guess moving into our new house has sort of… recalibrated my priorities and changed my mindset.
Ultimately, I don’t want the video game of Facebook or my hobby of blogging to interfere with the actual reality of my life with my family.
I’ve come to the realization that I no longer have to pressure myself the way I did when I was writing for Parents.com for those 3 years when I did The Dadabase.
Something I’ve learned is that I ultimately get as much traffic no matter when I post new stuff, so I might as well just save it all for one day each week.
It’s similar to concept of “binge watching” premium TV shows like Breaking Bad and Man Men. Instead, I’ll be “binge posting” my new publications each Thursday night here on Family Friendly Daddy Blog.
That way I don’t have to be constantly preoccupied with publishing new stuff throughout the week; therefore dividing my attention all week long. Now I can actually live my life with my family without that distraction.
Over the past couple of years now, I’ve struggled with my relationship with Facebook. I see now I used to put way too much thought into it.
Recently we had to go 4 days without Internet as we moved in the new house, and once I did finally check my Facebook, I realized I actually didn’t miss anything.
While Facebook is full of people I care a lot about, the overall emotional intelligence of status updates in my daily feed ultimately seems to clutter my life; not enhance it. I am choosing to pull the plug on my daily exposure to that large daily nose of negativity and sarcasm.
If I am thinking about someone I’m friends with on Facebook, I can go straight to their profile page on Facebook. That way I don’t have to feel compelled to rely on my “home” page to find out on what is supposed to be my social news for the day.
I discovered the people I most wish to be like in my circle of friends are the ones who are the least active on Facebook and the most active with their families away from social media.
It’s true; I used to be much more involved with Facebook, as I attempted to be clever and engaging. These days, I suppose I’ve just moved on with my life.
Maybe it’s because this is truly the most settled I’ve felt since getting married.
For the first two years I was married, my wife was getting her Master’s Degree. Then once she received it, she got pregnant with our son.
Next we moved to Alabama to be closer to family and went further into debt; only to eventually move back to Nashville. After that, we had to completely work our way out of debt, other than our mortgage on our townhouse (while I studied for my certification for Human Resources). Finally, we were able tosave up enough money for a down payment on a bigger, more efficient house for our lifestyle.
Now that we’re in our new house, and not in debt, and having more quality time together as a family in our new suburban life, I am experiencing a feeling of completeness I haven’t previously known with my wife and son.
I’m thinking that now, I can just enjoy this new house with my family.
So I invite you to tune in every Thursday night, when you can catch up with our new simple life. You don’t even have to go to Facebook; you could just subscribe to Family Friendly Daddy Blog by clicking on the button at the top of this page.
As for Friday through Wednesday, you probably won’t hear a peep out of me.
I’m sure certain exceptions will pop up along the way, but they will definitely be the exception to the rule.
But as it concerns my own personal schedule, I’m choosing to unplug from social media now, except for on Thursday nights.
After closing on our house last Thursday night, we began moving in some of our things into our new house from our friends’ house where we had been living in between. Then Mommy and I took off work on Friday to prepare for the official move on Saturday.
I had been saying, and still am saying, that it’s important to keep my expectations realistic (meaning low) as we move in. I’m not expecting everything to work out perfectly.
For example, they accidently forgot to install a power outlet in the closet where the cables are set up for Internet. So for a few days after moving in, we had to rely on Internet based on an extension cord draping down from the bathroom sink, running past the toilet, over to our closet.
The builder sent someone over to fix it after the weekend, as it’s covered under the one year warrantee.
However, a few days later, the electrical outlet outside froze over, so we had to get AT&T and the builder over to get that all straightened out.
The weekend of moving, along with our first week in our new house, in had its share of predicted hiccups; like your new bed…
There were absolutely no instructions in the box whatsoever!
Well, actually, some of the pieces had an “L” label on them for “left” and some an “R” for “right,” but only some of them were actually labelled correctly.
But in the end, Papa was able to figure out how to successfully build it anyway. He definitely has all those mechanical skills that I don’t.
And while Mommy saved us over $700 by ordering our Roman shades offline for all our windows as opposed to hiring someone to install blinds, Papa and I learned just how finicky they are to install.
Something this week has taught me about moving in to a new house is, unless you hire professional movers (which we are too frugal to do), it takes a while to get settled in and set up.
We finally have a 2 car garage, but right now it’s still full of unpacked boxes. I’m hoping by the end of the weekend we will have that taken care of.
So far, nothing has gone perfectly as scheduled, nor have things gone perfectly horrible.
Yes, there are blue lines on your forehead in this picture. That’s because while Mommy and I signed the paperwork to “close on our house” (in other words, to officially buy it, closing the sale), you were busy drawing pictures with a blue pen on a note pad, as well as on your face.
Oh well, it kept you entertained for the 45 minutes it took to close on our new house.
You and I also had to officially inspect the house to make sure all the proper changes were made, based on our final inspection last week.
No problems there.
You and Pandy made sure everything was legit. For some reason, it was important for you to take with you some straw from our yard; I suppose as a souvenir.
After our closing, we walked over to Burger Republic to celebrate the official sale of our new home.
We made a “cheers” to our new life in our new home in Spring Hill. Here’s to life in the suburbs!
In many ways, it’s a sense of closure. Of course, by no means does this bring an end to the story of “Our New House.” As the cliche goes… this is only the beginning!
We still have to move in and get settled.
Actually, tonight while you were asleep, since we are still living with friends who were here in case you needed something, even though you didn’t… Mommy and I both drove separately with both our cars fully loaded; to get a head start on the official move taking place this weekend.
Tomorrow will be your last day at your current preschool, as Mommy and I will be getting the new house set up, making some Lowe’s trips, and waiting around for the Internet to get set up; as well as for the delivery of the refrigerator.
Today, I have been thinking a lot aboutt his: Our first payment will begin in March; the month before I turn 34… Mommy turns 34 a few months later.
My realistic goal is for us to have this house paid off by the time Mommy and I both turn 50.
We’ll do what it takes to reach that goal, yet still have fun as a family.
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