parenting

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Dear Holly: That Sauce That Doesn’t Make My Mouth Hurt

3 years, 9 months.

Dear Holly,

As you are now approaching your 4th birthday, your eating habits are transitioning into “real meals”, as opposed to just a series of fruit pouches and different versions of mac and cheese.

You pretty much daily eat baby carrots and chicken. Last week, you requested to me, “Daddy, I want that sauce that doesn’t make my mouth hurt.”

Through a little bit of deductive reasoning, I figured out you were asking for Ranch dressing to dip your carrots and chicken in.

To a 3 year-old, that’s the best way to request Ranch dressing; to disassociate it from Daddy’s hot sauce you see me eating with every meal.

Granted, you’ve never had any of my hot sauce, but you want to make sure you don’t!

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Getting the Purple Glove Treatment for the Flu

3 years, 9 months.

Dear Holly,

Last Friday afternoon, I received the call from your school that you had a temperature of 105 degrees! I took you to doctor and confirmed what your school had accurately predicted: You officially had the flu.

The doctor made it clear you would be contagious for the next week and were not allowed to go back to school for that long.

I was very impressed with how well you handled yourself during the entire doctor visit. You started getting a bit restless there towards the end, as you kept trying to tell me something while the doctor was explaining the process of giving you medicine.

“Oh, I forgot,” I explained to the doctor. “Holly is hoping she can take care a pair of those purple medical gloves you have there in the box hanging on the wall.”

That’s all it took to make you happy, despite how physically horrible you were feeling.

You wore then on the ride home. You wore them to bed. And you wear them the next day while you played with your toys.

Getting the flu meant you needed the purple glove treatment!

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: You’re Becoming Aware of a Sense of Fashion

9 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

As you’re now in the 2nd half of your 3rd grade school year, I am noticing the acute progression of how you are starting to care more about what you wear… and your hair.

I am sensing that halfway into 3rd grade, part of the culture is to start trying to stand out with what you wear to school.

So when you proudly wore your new WWE wrestling shirt to school, I knew to immediately ask you when I got home, “Did anyone notice your new shirt?”

I see this is as the beginning of you discovering the fine line between presenting yourself as an individual, while at the same time between aware of what is current and trending.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: We Now Have a Shooting Range in Our Living Room

9 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

Ever since your birthday, which was exactly 2 months ago, your Nerf gun collection has been growing. You now have 3 rifles, one crossbow, and one bow-and-arrow set.

In other words, there are plenty of darts to be shot in our house.

Thanks to the free cardboard blocks to that donated to us this week, we now officially have a shooting range in our living room.

Honestly, I have to say- it doesn’t bother me at all. I would much rather you shoot your weapons on a disposable yet sturdy target, as opposed to your sister.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: The Hamster Didn’t Get the Toy Blocks After All

3 years, 8 months.

Dear Holly,

Last week, my coworker Lori was able to get some free cardboard blocks from her community’s “buy, sell, trade” Facebook page. The simple concept was that these blocks would be perfect for our family’s pet hamster.

He loves to chew cardboard and make beds out of small boxes. So it was a perfect idea.

However, the blocks never made it upstairs to the hamster’s aquarium.

That’s because you and your brother have been making up games all week using them. Castles have been built. Escape rooms have been constructed. Towers have been set up.

Imagine- that kids would actually get to play with toys intended for kids, as opposed to a hamster!

Love,

Daddy