I wasn’t excited about purchasing a special converter box for my upstairs television. In hindsight, I should have eagerly forked over the cash.
We generally watch television in the basement. The basement is also storage for kids’ toys. This arrangement allows my two sons to play with their toy trucks and bouncy balls while I catch a ball game or The Wife watches some home-improvement show.
The basement television is connected to a cable box, as well as our DVD player, VCR and stereo system. It’s the centerpiece of our main living area.
Upstairs, we have a room with a couch and fireplace. We intended this space to serve as a seating area for after-dinner conversation or quiet reading. Then, a generous relative offered to give us their old television after they upgraded to an HDTV. Our basement television was superior to the hand-me-down set. Thus, the free TV went upstairs.
I plugged the TV into the antenna that was left on our roof by the previous owners. To my surprise, the reception was decent. We kept it plugged in and found we did watch the free set on occasion. Then, I heard that our free ride might be coming to an end.
I hate to admit it, but the start of the school year is less than a month away.
We can just hear the moans and groans from our kids already.
That makes it the ideal time to step back and look at late May’s and early June’s to do list and determine what you would still like to fit in.
What do you think?
We aren’t talking about planning a big, expensive road trip or anything, but things to do at home or nearby that are interesting for the family. Some could be considered fascinating opportunities for the younger ones.
I know almost nothing about the female gender. Plenty of guys say that, but I’m basing my statement on personal experience. I’m the oldest of four boys. Without any sisters, my wife and mother are my only frames of reference for female behavior.
It seemed like kismet that I’d have two sons. My 2-year-old son, Bubba, and 7-month-old son, Peter, are fun-loving boys through and through. They love wrestling on the basement carpet, watching Spider-Man cartoons and dreaming up gross things to eat. (Armpit hair sandwiches are my particular favorite.)
Recently, The Wife and I have been asking ourselves how many children we want. The question remains unanswered, but it led me to another question. What if our next baby is a girl?
I know some parents - often moms - really want to have a daughter. My wife isn’t in that category. It’s not like she would mind having a little girl to dress in pink outfits with matching bows for her hair… that’s just not a reason for either of us to have more kids.
I really wouldn’t mind having a little girl. I’m just terrified because of my lack of experience in the women’s department. To set my mind at ease, I presented my dilemma to Dr. Michael Thompson, a clinical psychologist who has spent his career examining the behavior of boys.
I spoke with Thompson last month for a column I wrote in the Daily Journal about how 2-year-old boys grow attached to teddy bears, blankets and another beloved toys. Thompson spent a few pages explaining this connection in his latest book, “It’s A Boy, Understanding Your Son’s Development From Birth to Age 18.”
Now that the kids are both back from camp, it is time to get back to taking on projects that will help the household cut down on costs.
Offering to pay them to complete each short chore list doesn’t provide much of an incentive because the pay is low.
As many parents are quickly finding out in these tough economic times, all the money-saving projects around the house are very time-consuming.
No wonder Mrs. Ingalls in “Little House on the Prairie” never had a job beyond working at home (well, except for that episode when she was the school’s teacher).
Beyond laundry and dishes (those never get caught up) there are long lists of money-saving projects to do that we try to prioritize and break down into smaller daily lists. If you are in the same boat, some of these big projects may include: sewing clothes, taking the best care of the food-producing trees and bushes on your property, making freezer meals, taking the time to do careful planning so as to consolidate necessary trips, and organizing things around the house so you can find them quickly and thus avoid buying replacements.
This past weekend, while visiting family members and at church, I received compliments for the amount of time that I spend with my kids.
The words of affirmation included, “You need to take a break for yourself.”
My grandmother said that one, as she knows I work a second job at Target to ease the burden of baby expenses — diapers, toddler foods, formula, etc. And right after punching the clock around 10:30 p.m., I’m back home washing bottles and getting up in the middle of the night to help feed my 5-month-old son, Jayden.
The praise I received at church came when I took my 18-month-old daughter, Zion, into the men’s bathroom to change her diaper.
“That’s what I like to see,” and “Go ‘head, brother,” is what some men told me, as Zion squirmed while on the changing table, making me nervous about getting poop on her clothes and on my hands.
Sometimes, I get embarrassed and don’t know how to respond when people commend me for my efforts. Why?
I absolutely love spending time with my kids — making silly faces at them, blowing strawberries on their stomachs, and calling them by their nicknames in a squeaky, baby voice. But people say they applaud me simply because they don’t see too many men do what I do.
The latest string of 90-degree days brought about the return of a familiar friend - the kiddie pool. My son was given an inflatable pool for his second birthday last month. A hot and muggy forecast motivated me to beg the neighbor for use of his air compressor.
My neighbor graciously wandered out of his garage with an air hose. Together, we began to fill the three massive inner tubes that make up the sidewalls of the pool. When the pool was finally inflated, it was the size of a compact car. Needless to say, I would have died of an asthma attack trying to blow up the pool without the compressor.
I hosted a playdate the next day. The inflatable pool was the main attraction. The get-together was scheduled for 9 a.m. I didn’t know how long it would take to fill the pool that’s roughly three-feet deep. To be sure, I turned on the hose at 6:30 a.m. The water was overflowing when I checked the progress an hour later.
Our friends came by to share the pool, and we ended up emptying the water to about its midway point. The kids kept falling down, plunging themselves under the cold water. Leaving the pool only half full (or half empty depending on your opinion of the world) prevented any surprise submergences.
It’s been a long time since I’ve played in a kiddie pool. Rather than the plastic pools popular in my youth, my parents used a cow trough. This large, metal container was round, unlike most troughs that are narrow ovals. I remember looking for pennies with a diving mask and snorkel at the bottom of the sturdy trough. When summer was over, the trough returned to the pasture.
Now as a dad, I still enjoyed the backyard pool. Only this time, I have to keep a close eye on Bubba while holding his seven-month-old brother, Peter, in my lap. We ended up having a ball, as did our guests.
My brother gave Bubba the pool as a birthday gift. I called him that evening to thank him for the pool as well as report on all the fun we had. He offered a useful suggestion. Rather than fill the pool exclusively with cold water from the outdoor spigot, run the hose into the laundry room and fill the pool - in-part - with warm water.
A useful tip that just might avoid some teeth chattering.
I smell an Emmy Award for “190 North.” The television show that features various people, places and events around Chicago recently visited a play group for stay-at-home dads.
Though the play group usually meets far from my house, I occasionally make the drive to Chicago’s North Side to hang with my brethren. The show was looking for volunteers to talk on camera. I agreed to participate. The segment aired last week.
You can see the video on the “190 North” Web site. Click on the link here. Then Click on the ‘Watch 190N’ tab on the main page. This will take you to a page where you can choose to watch several different segments from the most recent show. Click on ‘190 North: Stay-at-Home Dads’ to see my cameo.
Road trips to take kids to or from camp (thankfully, they are all in state) are a good time to tackle those pesky paperwork projects.
Tim loves to drive and I don’t, but I like to stay busy, so I was recently thinking about how I could best organize my food files.
Just talking about food makes us all hungry. Good thing we always pack a snack bag.
Last Saturday, my wife Alicia and I took our two babies to Splash Valley Aquatic Park for fun and relaxation during the hot Fourth of July Weekend.
The trip marked the third time that my 18-month-old daughter, Zion, visited the water park. But it was the first time my son Jayden, now almost five months, had ever gone swimming.
For most of that afternoon, Alicia and I carried our children back-and-forth across the kiddie pool, letting them stretch their legs as if they were swimming on their own.
Watching the shirtless Jayden kick his short, chunky legs was hilarious. Both he and Zion seemed to enjoy themselves as they stared at other kids playing in the pool, while taking turns “swimming” in the arms of Mommy and Daddy.
But prior to my visit, I was a bit nervous about taking Jayden into the pool. I’m still trying to get used to washing him up in a bathroom sink; when wet, he’s so slippery that I fear dropping him onto the hard countertop. So you know I held onto Jayden, and Zion, with all of my might to avoid dropping them underwater.
I was relieved, however, to see other kids their ages in the pool. And parents, when they saw us with our kids, fondly reflect on how they took their children swimming at such early ages.
But how old should kids be before parents take them into a pool?
A while back, I wrote a column in the Daily Journal about orthopedic shoes. I wore orthopedic shoes, as did many kids from my generation. Marlene Reid, a podiatric physician and spokeswoman for the American Podiatric Medical Association, explained that times have changed. Those bright-white shoes of my youth have largely been discontinued.
The current thought is that most minor foot problems will cure themselves as children mature. The only problem with the new approach is that kids nowadays rarely see a foot specialist. As a result, children with easily corrected foot problems largely go undiagnosed.
I was a bit miffed to learn that the Pee-Wee Herman shoes of my youth were likely unnecessary. But I was also glad to hear that the slight “intoeing” (commonly known as pigeon-toes) that I noticed with my two-year-old son was probably no big deal.
Still, I mentioned baby Bubba’s awkward stride to Reid. She suggested I get Bub checked out by a specialist. It’s likely nothing, but if surgery or corrective braces are needed, it’s best to fix any problems early, she said.
I put off her good advice for three months before consulting an orthopedic surgeon. I chose a doctor who is also a family friend. Thus, I was confident he wasn’t going to sell me useless shoe inserts or line up an unnecessary surgery.
Well, Dr. Ed had Bubba run down the hallway barefoot, then walk down the hallway. He examined his gait and had him stand on the examining table. He then asked Bubba to perch himself on his tiptoes.
“He’s fine Howie,” Dr. Ed said.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I was happy to have the peace of mind and even more delighted to walk out of the office without a prescription for those gaudy, white shoes.
