Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Making Lunch for the Dude

Yeah, I'm that the Dad that puts peanut butter on both sides of the bread so the jelly doesn't soak through.

'cause that's how I roll.

But it's a fun thing to pack his lunch every day. I remember what it was like eating lunch with my friends in school every day and I can tell he does too.

Heck, we even had a good time talking about the stop light in the lunch room that goes to red if it gets too loud.

Ah memories.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Asking for help

The newest generation of Tranformers toys come with a disclaimer; the toys are designed to pull apart when excessive force is used.

What this literally translates into is 'Parental units, be ready to put Megatron's arm back on several times a day.'

During J's learning phase of getting a new one, I have to put some piece or limb on once an hour or so.  A day or two afterwards we nip that in the bud by offering one free fix a day.  Afterwards, we fix the limbless Autobot or Decepticon and keep him for the rest of the day.  It teaches him to take care of what he's got.

The new issues is getting help for that fix.  He knows I'll do it, but he can't pull himself away from what he's doing to come get the help...to the point of tears.  "Why Daddy?!  Why won't you come fix Optimus Prime?!  I want you to do it now!"

"Buddy, does the mechanic come to our house to fix my car?"

"No..." he says as he's processing it.

"Do the nice checkout people bring us our groceries from the grocery store?"

"Nope!"

"It is impolite for you to demand something when you need help...especially if you're the one that caused the problem."

"But Dad! Brawl's leg fell off all by itself."

"Do you want to go into timeout for lying to me?"

"No..."

"So when you want help, it is rude for you to make me stop what I'm doing to help you.  I want qand will help you, but you've got to bring Starscream to me.  Do you understand?"

Grumpily, "Yeah..."

I then proceeded to put Megatron's arm on backwards and break and fix him again.

Friday, June 26, 2009

*In Orcish Grunt* Jobs Done!

Wake up early and go get gas in the van for the Mrs....check.
Pick up donuts on the way...check
Finish loading the dishwasher and get it going...check.
Get the kids fed...with a nibble of donuts...check.
Get a kiss for bringing the Mrs an apple fritter...check.
Put away a high chair that hasn't been used in over 6 months...check.
Throw away a vacuum that hasn't been used in 4 years...check.
Clean out the filters of the current vaccum...check.
Repair a transformer...check.
Coffee...*consumes mass quantities*

Now it's time to play with the kids. Or referee, depending on their temprement today. :)

Monday, June 8, 2009

...And Nothing But the Truth

A recent conversation with my son:
 
"Um Dad?"
 
"Yeah Jonathan?"
 
"I uh...," he says shyly, "I saw some of my favorite baby blankets in my sisters room and I wanted to know if I could have them back."
 
I chuckle.  "Let me get this straight bud.  You want baby blankets?"
 
He nods eagerly.
 
"Why?"
 
"Because they're my favorite."
 
I think quick, and come up with an option where everyone wins and I'll get a chuckle.
 
"Don't you have your favorite baby blanket on your bed anyway?"  (It's actually his Winnie the Pooh comforter that was his crib set...it clashes his Lightening McQueen set now, but why bother?"
 
"Ummm yeah."
 
"And did you know those baby blankets aren't for your sisters?"
 
I chuckle at his screwed up surprised face...gets it straight from his mother.  "They're not?"
 
"Nope, they're for Mom."
 
"Why does Mom need baby blankets Dad?" he asks, chuckling.
 
"She doesn't need them now, but she'll need them when you're older."
 
"Why?"
 
"Because she'll want little reminders that she can hold in her hands to remind her that you were once a little baby who puked on her all the time!"
 
The infectious laughter begins, "No!!!  That's not why!!!"
 
"Actually dude, it is.  She wants to keep them to remind her that in the future when you're taller than either one of us, she wants those little reminders that you were once her little baby.  You okay with that?"
 
"Yeah."
 
"You ready for bed now?"
 
"Yup."
 
"All right, I love you, see you in the morning."
 
"And um Dad?"
 
"Yeah bud?"
 
"Should I go ahead and put them back?"
 
I bust up with a deep belly laugh.  Then quickly stifle it because the girls just went to bed too,  "Yeah buddy, in the morning, go ahead and put them back."
 
"Love you Dad."
 
"Good night man, love you too.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Paternity Leave

I took 4 weeks when my son was born, and I took 4 more when my girls were born. I'm all for taking leave when the new tots come to town. They're only born once, and you've got to start the corruption early. ;)

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