parenting

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Dear Jack: Our Unexpected Trip to Dinosaur World in Cave City, Kentucky

6 years, 7 months.

Dear Jack,

About halfway during our nearly 4 hour drive from our home in Spring Hill, Tennessee to the Louisville Zoo in Kentucky, we all turned our heads to the left, as we couldn’t help but notice the giant T-Rex statue.

He was surrounded by two billboard-sized signs, in red and yellow (which are the colors used by fast-food restaurants to get people to “slow down and stop”, as that color combo subconsciously reminds them of the meaning of the yellow and red traffic lights).

The signs read this enticement:

DINOSAUR WORLD

EXIT NOW

OVER 150 LIFE-SIZE DINOSAURS

While I didn’t immediately pull over our built-for-adventure 2017 Toyota 4Runner, Mommy and I did begin secretly muttering plans to stop there on the way back from our Louisville road trip to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary.

After all, I pride myself in not being an “impulse shopper.” First, it must be a plan and placed on the schedule… then, it might become a possibility.

The thing is, I’ve been seeing that sign for over a decade. So to pass it by this time was more of a confirmation: Now that I have a 6 and a half year-old boy who is obsessed with dinosaurs, there has never been a more appropriate and necessary time to visit Dinosaur World.

And so we did!

You took great pride in navigating our family through the park, proclaiming the name of each new dinosaur the moment you saw it.

It was a glorious event for you. We definitely made the right decision in taking the family to Dinosaur World. And I have to admit, your 1 year-old sister loved every minute of it too!

Good thing for that giant T-Rex statue and the two huge signs right off of I-65 North. Otherwise, we would have never given it a thought.

Clever marketing on their part. It worked.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Your 1st Visit to the Louisville Zoo

1 year, 1 month.

Dear Holly,

As part of our 9th wedding anniversary celebration, Mommy and I took you and your brother to Louisville, Kentucky in the outstanding 2017 Toyota 4Runner.

While this made your brother’s 3rd time to this zoo, it was your first time to experience it.

The highlight this time ended up being when we got to see the bear taking a fun swim. It was like he was just showing off; like a cartoon bear! The exhibit was built around a 2 story tall tank.

We started out seeing the bear from the bottom floor of the tank. As you can see, you and Mommy marveled at the sight!

Your brother asked, “What if this tank burst open and we had to swim with the bear?”

After a few minutes of taking it all in, we went upstairs and saw the swimming bear from a higher perspective. It was almost like he was smiling at us as he swam!

Being that your current animal obsession is birds, you obviously loved pointed each one out to me, whether it was an owl or a parrot.

When it came time to see the gorillas, I’m not sure you were convinced it was even an animal! After all, you’re used to me sometimes dressing up in my Chewbacca pajama onesie as a joke.

So yeah, you may not have been impressed by the gorilla for that reason, but at least your brother was.

Speaking of the gorillas, perhaps one of my personal favorites parts of our visit to the Louisville Zoo was when we all individually got our pictures taken in front of the “How do you measure up to a full-grown gorilla?”

Your picture is hilarious, as you’ve obviously so small and cute compared to the outline of a gorilla! Meanwhile, I was the best match to the gorilla- which I guess is a good thing?

Love,

Daddy

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Fun Parenting Idea for the Beach: How to Make a “Buried Treasure” for Your Child to Discover

Last month our family traveled to Destin, Florida for our summer vacation. The week before we left, I put together a “buried treasure” kit for my son to find.

I started out by driving over to Party City on my lunch break, where for $4, I was able to find a metal lunchbox shaped like a treasure chest. A few aisles down, I picked up a pack of plastic casino chips for $6 that look like gold coins.

Next, headed over to PetCo and for another $6, I found an actual buffalo antler.

Knowing that my 6 and a half year-old son was already preoccupied by the idea of finding a dinosaur bone or a saber tooth tiger’s tooth, I then headed over to PetCo and for another $6, I found an actual buffalo antler.

Lastly, I found a paper bag in the recycle bin at work, and tore part of it into the shape of a sheet of paper.

Now that I had all the supplies, I finalized the items.

I got a hold of some matte black spray paint to cover up the Disney cartoon theme of the metal lunch box. Then I threw it down several times on the concrete, to give it a more rustic look.

Afterwards, I wrote a letter, as a pirate from 1700’s, explaining that my treasure was buried nearby. Using a lighter from a friend, I then singed the edges of the letter, then splashed it in water to help make it look a couple hundred years old.

Fast forward a few days and several hundred miles later: I threw the items in my old Gap backpack from college. As my son played in the sand just about 15 feet away, with his back turned to me, I dug 2 separate holes in the sand, about 6 feet apart; one for the treasure chest filled with gold coins and the pirate’s letter on top of them, and the other one for the “saber tooth”.

As you can imagine, it was quite an adventure!

And that’s how it’s done.

Now, if you found this blog post to be interesting and relevant, I hereby invite you to read another blog post I did, which shows the pictures of the actual event taking place.

Click here to check it out.

 

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Everything is in Place- How To Perfectly Organize Children’s Birthday? (By Guest Blogger Angela Berry)

We all know how much children love birthdays and how much they look forward to them, and parents are those who try their best to make it all happen. Every parent wants their kid to have the best birthday party there is, but usually, they don’t know how to begin organizing it. Here are some elementary things you should start from, so better grab a pen and paper and take some notes.

Space

Before actually choosing the space, you have to decide on how many guests you’re going to invite. Are you planning on having a children-only party or are their parents going to be there as well? Do you want kids to be in one room with an entertainer to take care of them, and parents in another where they can chat and relax together? When you decide on the guest list, you can start thinking whether you want to have the party at home or out of the house. If you decide on your home, the advantage is that your kid will be on their own turf, so they will be in a good mood. Also, at home you know where everything is.

You can stop kids from wandering around by defining party areas with balloons and decorations, and keep other rooms locked. If you don’t want all that creative mess happening in your home, so you can decide on renting a play room, having a party in a restaurant or at the park (if weather permits). Again, make sure to define different areas, keep an eye on them and put safety first. Additionally, it’s always good to have a contingency plan in case of bad weather or another unforeseen event, just don’t cancel everything and disappoint your child.

Entertainers will turn the party into a Fairy Tale

You have a big variety of entertainers to choose from today. You can hire a balloon artist, a magician, a clown, a dance instructor, professional storytellers, DJs, hairstylist (check the local hair salon for a recommendation), finger or face painters and many more. Sometimes you will know right away who to hire, but sometimes you will need to ask them about their show. Remember to ask about the age of the kids the show is designed for and how long it will last. You can gather references from other parents, or you can ask about the best entertainers in children’s museums and libraries. Also, if your kid loves animals, in some places you can rent a petting zoo or have a mobile petting zoo brought right to your backyard. Kids usually love those.

Quality food is equally important

Your guests (kids as well as grownups) are going to get tired pretty soon, so you have to prepare some refreshment and some nourishment. Make sure that the food you prepared is fun, creative, healthy and nourishing. If you don’t have time (or skill) to prepare the food by yourself, you can get fun, tasty and colourful food from companies dealing with finger food catering and they will prepare everything for you. Of course, you mustn’t forget about the cake. The cake should be the centre of attention when it comes to food, and make sure it gets nicely decorated. You can opt for your kid’s favourite cartoon character, hobby, sports team, car, musician or actor.

Fun decoration is the key

When it comes to decoration, first visit a party store. You can practically spend hours in there. There you can get piñatas, flags, party hats, balloons of all sizes and shapes, confetti, costumes and sculptures. You can also buy straws, party cups, plates, plastic forks and tablecloths there. Some stores rent bouncy castles and slides, so you can book those if you have a big backyard. Basically, you will be able to get everything in one place. If you’re planning on having the party out of the house, prepare balloons and everything to decorate the place. To put everything up, use something that won’t smear the walls, such as low-tick tape, string, and removable adhesive hooks. Here you can go back to your childhood days and just be creative with decoration. Also, you can prepare a nice outfit for your kid. Make sure your kid can easily move in it, and that it can get dry-cleaned.

A professional photographer

Maybe your kid won’t care about this aspect of the party, but you will. You want to keep memories of that happy day and remember all those smiling faces forever, so it’s best if you get all that on camera. You can tell the photographer to concentrate on some things you want to see on photos, but it’s best if they focus on emotions rather than setting and decoration.

We believe this little guide will help all of you who got stuck with planning and organizing your kid’s birthday party. What’s important is not to leave everything for the last moment and always have a contingency plan. This way, you’re going to throw your kid a perfect fairy tale birthday party they will remember forever.

photo
Angela Berry
Editor, Ripped me
E angela.berry@ripped.me W  https://ripped.me/
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Dear Holly: Sharing Spinach Snacks with Your Brother’s Dinosaur? Or Simply Making Them Disappear Another Way?…

1 year, 2 months.

Dear Holly,

Tuesday when I came home from work, the first thing you and Mommy and your brother did was check out our new ride for this week, the 2017 Toyota 4Runner. Twenty minutes later, we finally made our way back into the kitchen.

While Mommy made pizza, and your brother made fossils from his dinosaur toys and Play-Doh, I helped feed you a new bar that Mommy picked up last weekend at Kroger: Happy Tot Organics Fiber & Protein Soft-Baked Oat Bar, Apples and Spinach flavor.

I told Mommy, “Wow, look at Holly! She really likes this apple and spinach snack bar. We need to keep buying these!”

As I was pinching off little clusters for you so that could easily consume them, I noticed you were really intrigued by what your brother was doing with his dinosaurs.

So I borrowed one that had an open mouth, and stuffed one of the clusters in it. You loved the challenge of using your little fingers to remove the green food from the Triceratops’ mouth. To heighten the theatrics of the event, I made low-pitch growling sounds, in an effort to convince you that he dinosaur was wrestling you for the food.

You growled back and you ate the bar, cluster by cluster.

Finally, the bar was gone and I had to open a 2nd one for you!

A few clusters into it though, you finally had your fill. At that point, I took you out of your high chair and we played on the carpet with your toys until dinner was ready.

Fast forward to about an hour and a half later, after you and your brother were asleep, and Mommy and I were finishing up cleaning the kitchen.

As Mommy was wiping down your high chair, she commented, “Either Holly dropped a lot of these bits from that bar… or she was hiding them down here the whole time!”

Hmmm…

Holly, you may have done an excellent job of successfully convincing me you were actually eating those apple and spinach bars. Perhaps I was so caught up in playing dinosaur with you, that you were secretly just dropping the clusters beside you without me ever realizing it.

If so, nicely done!

Love,

Daddy