Random Nonsense

Happy Friday y'all! For more great FF posts head on over the dadblogs.





Too much like me:

My oldest(Number 1) is a total mini-me. He always has been. We're finding out more and more each day just how much like me he is.

We've been out at my sister and brother in laws in California for the past week and yesterday was our planned trip to Lake Tahoe. I'm not much of a fan of nature, blasphemy I know. I am also terribly afraid of heights(not to mention chickens but that's another story for another time).

Just ask my family and they'll tell you how I NEVER left the condo on the years we'd vacation in the various mountain locations that we did. I grew up in the middle of nowhere so I really didn't see how being in the middle of nowhere somewhere else was a change of pace...

Anyway, back to the story that I started 3 paragraphs ago. Number 1 and I spent the most of our journey with our heads in our hands trying not to yak up what little breakfast we ate(for me that would have been a whole cup of coffee). Neither one of us wanting to open our eyes because we'd been warned of the views coming over the mountains(beautiful I'm sure, if it doesn't make you feel like the ground is falling from below your feet and you're going to drop to your death).

That's just one new way that number one is following in my footsteps.

No milk at McDonald's...WTF!!! Since when does McDonalds NOT have milk? Apparently nobody in Lake Tahoe has children...or prefers a healthy beverage...

To top it off, the day started with Number 2(had to sneak him in there somewhere) spilling red tempera paint all over my sister and brother in law's carpet. And then when I went to get him out of the closet(2 tattle tales are better than 1) he knocked my coffee(which is why I only had one cup today) and I had to clean up that spill from the carpet as well.

And that ladies and gents, is my random nonsense for this week...

They don't call them classics for nothing

It's that time of week again. Once you're done here do yourself a favor and head over to dadblogs.com(just click the linky, badgey thing on the right over there) to read some other great stories by some really talented and funny people.




Yesterday, after my oldest came home from school and got done browsing through all of his new Scholastic books(remember those, man, that really takes me back), he asked if we could play a board game. It was close to dinner time so I told him that was fine as long as it wasn't a long one(since his first choice was Monopoly, I figured I was screwed) What he came back with was a total surprise to me as I haven't seen it in years(at least since he was younger).




It was AWESOME! His younger brother was able to play as well and the 3 of us had a great time. It was the first time that the youngest was able to play a game without eating half of the pieces. A few times a marble almost made it into his mouth but it only took one look and it went straight back onto the board.

Our next choice...still a bit advanced...

Routines and Recognition

It's Fatherhood Friday all over again.














I'm a totally anal person, I know it and admit it. The only way that I will get anything done is if I know exactly what I'm doing and when I'm doing it. If I have to think about what I'm going to do I won't get anything done.


I have a cleaning schedule that hasn't changed in the past 2 years since I've been a stay at home dad. I make our weekly menu every Wednesday so that I know what I need to buy at the grocery store on Thursday morning. Which really brings me to what I've been thinking about all day.


My youngest and I have been making the same shopping trip every Thursday for the last 2 years. Everyone at Target and Giant Eagle know my son by name. There are actually a few clerks at Giant Eagle that know my name lol. Whenever you're there with a small child, you really don't exist, and I'm ok with that.




Everyone at Target knows why we're there, either toys, video games or movies, which are all conveniently located in the same area, and the occasional cleaning supplies.




But what really cracks me up is that every week at Giant Eagle, the Nabisco rep takes the time to talk to my son and makes sure that she gets her weekly hello. As soon as she sees us she puts on a huge smile and says "their he is" or "hey guys". That's all really, just friendly hellos, but it makes my morning. Seeing everybody pay all this attention to my son. Just taking the time to say hello.




He loves going to the store and sits quietly in the cart. Everyone says what a great boy he is(yes, it's the same son I wrote about last week), but when you get all of that attention it's easy to be good.




People can laugh at my routines all they want, but I'm not going to change. Sure it can seem boring, but good things can come from routines.




And a little bit off topic but I know that Joeprah's been dying to see my barricaded entertainment center ever since I mentioned it 2 weeks ago on his blog. So here's a few pics for all to laugh at how far we have to go to keep our home entertainment safe from grabby toddler hands.

Holy Crap!

Literally.

We've experienced a really nice warm up, temperature wise, this week. I decided to take advantage of it and get the boys outside for awhile. On our way to the swingset I noticed something that a winters worth of snow had been hiding from us...

a literal moat of dog crap around the swingset. Generally the dog stays out of the landscaped areas of our yard but apparently this year he decided to switch things up. If it was in the yard I'd just mow over it(lazy I know).

I wasn't about to build a bridge so off to the kitchen I go for my handy supply of latex gloves(used for polishing the silver, nothing dirty so get your minds out of the gutter) and a shopping bag. About a half hour passed and the boys were safely able to enjoy the swingset and slide to it's fullest.

I can't wait for spring to be here. The warm temps have already fallen, along with a fresh moat of rainwater keeping us from the fun that's waiting outside.

Soon...very soon.

The Second Child...

I'm sure I'll keep coming back to this one for numerous stories. My first born was far from perfect(okay, he was pretty damn close) but this second son of mine...he's just plain crazy!

I always saw the child proofing items at the store but we never bought much of it. There was really no need. Sure, we had the outlet covers, but we never needed them. This was 7 years ago. Now we not only have the outlet covers but we have locks on all of our cabinets, baby gates on every set of stairs, a flexible play yard protecting our DVD shelf, a mesh tension baby gate coverring our entertainment center, and doorknob covers that I can't even work

This child eats hand lotion(and dumps the rest on the carpet), dog hair that he picks up from God knows where(ok, it's all over the floor, we got a short haired dog to avoid this crap), and he drinks baby oil. Of course he's only done all of this once(aside from the dog hair which he prefers over dinner on most days). We've learned quickly what needed to be raised higher and what he's able to reach(which is more and more with each passing day). If only I could make him forget how to climb onto the couch...

Everyone tells me it's the second child that drives you crazy. My favorite tagline now is that I wish someone had mentioned this 2 years and 9 months ago. I'm only kidding...mostly.

What's my point you may ask, half the time I won't even know, BUT this time I do. On a daily basis I am reminded that no matter how much toddler proofing we have done, we've barely scratched the surface and that no 2 children are ever the same.

It's a father's(mother's as well) job to protect his children, but what do you do when the child just laughs in your face and shows you that you need to work harder?

And we haven't even started the terrible 2's...pray for us.

It's Fatherhood Friday on the Dad-Blogs, and this is my first contribution(not to mention my first blog...). Click the link over there on the right and go see what all of the talented folks have to say :)

Hello

I've recently become a member of the Dad-Blogs community and am feeling the need/desire to contribute. I have absolutely no idea what I'll be writing about nor any idea of how frequently I'll be posting but I've decided to give it a shot. So I ask that you bear with me as I try to get the hang of this blogging thing and hopefully we'll all have a little bit of fun along the way.

Go ahead and click on the link to the right and see what the other creative dads(and a few moms) have to say.