Kids
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Never Lead with Fries and Other Lessons from the Day
Every day as a parent is a day of learning – the subject is typically a surprise, but you can always count on a lesson. Today my boys taught me… 1.) Never lead with fries – No matter how good of an eater you’ve got, don’t lead with the fries. It will be hard to near impossible to get them to eat anything with any greater nutritional value once they’ve got a yummy, greasy, salty fry in those chompers. You want some chicken? [shakes his head no] You want some broccoli? [shakes his head no] You want a fry? Yeah! Well crap. 2.) Sometimes you have to break the rules…
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From the Mouth of My 3-year-old
It is true, kids say the darndest things. My 3-year-old continuously amazes me with his remarks. Especially when he says something which lets me know that he knows more than we give him credit for… or when he demonstrates a brazen act of talking back, but said with such innocence, that he has you questioning whether he was really just talking back. The answer to that question is almost always yes – he’s smart and he’s a charmer, so he’s already mastered the art of manipulation. So here are a couple of his one-liners from the last couple of days. I really need to keep a pen and paper more…
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Dining Out with Kids is Rarely a Good Idea
It’s the same question every time… why, oh why, did I think it was a good idea to go out to eat with the kids? It’s like I periodically develop amnesia when I suggest we go out to eat, forgetting what little monsters they were last time. They each have their vices – Brogan can’t sit still to save his life and he needs to be the center of attention. Beckett screams at the top of his lungs any time he doesn’t get his way. Looking back on my childhood, there was probably a 5-year stretch where my mom rarely took my two brothers and me to a restaurant. She…
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The Many Adventures of a Mini Road Trip
A solo road trip with young kids can be a scary proposition. Not a lot of upside – if they’re good and quiet, it’s still not enjoyable because you ride with the anxiety that the mood will turn any moment. Now the downside, however, is pretty significant. There is not much worse that being stuck in a car with a screaming baby or toddler, by yourself, when they are flipping out and there is nothing (short of pulling over) that you can do to stop it. You’ll try anything – sing, make funny noises, turn on the music, turn it up, turn it up even louder – anything to make…
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Love These Guys
Do you ever have a night where your kids just exhaust you? Like, completely wipe you out? They push every button, get on your last nerve… get you plotting a 30 minute earlier bedtime? Yeah, that was tonight. Blake has been working late every night this week, so I’ve been doing this thing solo. While it has surprisingly been a really good week, I think my nerves were just shot tonight. But funny thing about being a parent, as crazy as they can make you, they still bring you so much joy it’s unbelievable. When I tell Beckett it’s time to go night-night, he instantly lays his head on my…
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We Speak Opposites in My House
This may be a shocker, but our three-year-old doesn’t like to do what we say. It’s not just that he doesn’t like what we have to say, or that he doesn’t want to do what we ask of him, the simple fact that it came out of our mouths makes it utterly unappealing. We’ve been observing this behavior pattern for a while. When it first started and was still “cute” we would mess with him and tell him not to do things that we really wanted to do. After a couple rounds of “don’t you play Joe Diffy!” to get him to sing and play his guitar in front of…
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The Secrets of Parenthood
I’m going to let my non-parent friends in on a couple of the secrets that we parents don’t want you to know until you join the club. I’m probably breaking some code of silence, but here goes. It’s ugly, it’s shameful, but it’s the truth about being a parent. 1.) We try to look like we’ve got it under control (even when we don’t) – Every parent has been there. Out in public with your little one when they totally freak out on you. There you are, in a sea full of criticizing eyes, knowing that your kid is winning this one. What does a parent do? Fake it. Act…
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A Backyard Camping Adventure
So last night, after putting Brogan to bed, Blake tells me he has an idea. He smirks and gives me a look that means you’re probably going to think I’m crazy, but… he wants to take the boys camping in our backyard. My first question was if he just saw the Folgers commercial, to which he answered uh, no. Much to his surprise, I actually thought it was a great idea and I knew Brogan would love it! I immediately recused myself from participation (not that I’m sure I was even invited), since I really enjoy sleeping in my bed and was looking at this outing as a chance for…
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Crime and Punishment: The Age-old Parenting Dilemma
We’re facing the age-old parenting dilemma – how do you effectively punish your children? How do you strike that balance between teaching them boundaries, respect and the difference between right and wrong, but at the same time, not make your home a no-fun zone where you are the dictator? Theoretically, we know what we’re supposed to do. You’ve got to be firm and consistent. Be loving and nurturing. We’ve been taught to count bad behavior – we’ve read 123 Magic – we’ve actually got the book and the DVD. But philosophical guidance does you no good when you are toe-to-toe with a three-year-old, and you are unwilling to let him…
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Making Great Sleepers
My boys are not model children. They don’t always listen, Brogan talks back, they throw fits, they scream, they hit… but, they sleep. Hallelujah, they sleep! We have gone through fits and starts with the sleeping, but overall, they have been very good sleepers. They were both sleeping through the night around three or four months. Brogan took two long naps a day until he was 2 ½. And the biggest thing for me is that they go to sleep on their own. As with most things, Brogan was better with this than Beckett – probably because we had the time to follow all of our own rules. I think…
