Thank you to everyone who responded to my latest stay-at-home dad column. The column, “He’s a diaper dandy,” provided a detailed account of my 2 1/2 year-old son’s first attempt at potty-training. The story appeared in the Daily Journal on Feb. 24 and offered a day-by-day glimpse at the progress made in Bubba’s first five days on the pot.
I’ve learned a lot since then. So has Bub. He’s actually been accident-free this whole week. Bubba still wears a diaper at night and during naptime. There is usually a smelly surprise waiting for me when he wakes up, but that’s something I’m willing to live with… for now.
I did want to share a few tips I learned in the days after that first week. I’m not saying these tips will help everyone, but they were invaluable for this stay-at-home dad.
* TEDDY BEAR ON THE POTTY - I stumbled across this tip with a simple Google search. The idea is to let Bubba “potty-train” his teddy bear. Tell the tot that his bear, rabbit or cuddly frog needs to go potty. Then, let the toddler put the plush critter in the potty chair and have the stuffed animal pretend to go pee or poop. Sound effects are not required, but Bubba usually makes a ‘pssssssssh’ sound as he sits his bear in hollowed seat.
Next, tell the toddler it’s his turn. Prop up the teddy bear (my son calls his bear ‘Boo-ey’) so he or she can watch the action. This has really been helpful, particularly as my sleepy-eyed boy wakes up from his nap. Clutching Boo-ey, it was impossible for me to get him to jump on the potty after a nap. However, he was eager to put his stuffed animal on the pot after naptime, and then take a turn himself.
* WATCH AND LEARN - Stumbled upon this one by accident. I had to go pee, so I asked Bubba to come into the bathroom with me. He watched me go and was then motivated to go himself. Sure I feel sort of awkward sitting down to pee but rinsing urine-soaked undies in size 2T is even more uncomfortable.
*POTTY PLAY DATE - This one requires a trusted friend with a child who has already been potty trained. Invite them over for a play date. Set up a pair of potty chairs in the bathroom. When the trained child has to use the bathroom, the untrained child should accompany the potty-master.
This is similar to the Watch-and-Learn approach mentioned above, only add a dose of peer pressure. Of course, the parents of the potty-trained child need to go along with this whole charade. But it works wonders.
It is always a joy to make the kids’ cousins happy.
Well, one at a time, now. There are 17 first cousins and four times that many second cousins (big families).
One of my brother’s third-grade twins mailed us Flat Stanley last week.
Fortunately, it was just in time for our daughter to take Flat Stanley along on a field trip Friday to the Adler Planetarium in Chicago with her seventh-grade class.
The paper doll we decorated in camouflage, our nephew’s favorite type of clothing, had a lot of fun learning about the stars and outer space.
The purpose of writing this is not to dwell on us, but to tell you more about this awesome project we heard about for the first time when she was just a toddler.
Like many of my son’s milestones, I over thought his first visit to the dentist’s office. My 2 1/2-year-old boy accompanied me to the dentist’s lair today.
It wasn’t Bubba’s first time visiting Dr. Anne. He accompanied me six months ago for my last cleaning. Then, the idea was for him to get comfortable in the office. Bubba was my audience/cheering section. Afterward, he did sit in the chair and was even given his own tooth brush. However, it wasn’t a formal appointment.
This time, Bubba and I were both scheduled to have our teeth cleaned. I was the first in the chair. My cleaning was rather extensive, largely because of my iced tea addiction. After about an hour of removing tea stain, it was Bubba’s turn to wear the blue bib.
I had been talking up this trip for a while, hoping Bubba would get excited about the outing. On the advice of a buddy who’s also a dentist, I picked up an electric toothbrush for my boy. The movement of his spinning Diego toothbrush was intended to get him comfortable with the spinning, rubber tool dentists use to polish teeth.
Unfortunately, Bubba wasn’t as keen on the visit as I had hoped. He managed to open his mouth for Dr. Anne to have a look at his teeth. Beyond that, he wasn’t playing ball. There was no sense in forcing the issue. Instead, the dentist took what she was given and made an assessment.
“Everything looks OK,” she said. “No cavities.”
In a way, Bubba’s examination went better than mine. While he was given a clean bill of health, I was informed that I was going to need a crown. There’s no way I can feign excitement over that bit of news.
I mixed up some dinner roll dough in the bread machine and when it wasn’t ready in time for dinner, it sat there in the machine for a while (okay, it was overnight). I am forgetful like that.
The next morning, a Saturday, the kids kept saying how we haven’t had donuts in “forever.” You know how kids tend to exaggerate.
I’m trying to think fast of something to do with this dough so it doesn’t go to waste. I am rolling it out on the lightly floured surface to make little balls to bake and the 13-year-old daughter asks, “Is that powdered sugar all over the table?”
My reply was, “No, but that is a great idea.”
Once the dough wasn’t so sticky, we put the first group in the oven and rolled them in powdered sugar after they came out and were still a little warm, but not so hot they would burn our hands.
The second group, we rolled in powdered sugar before we baked them (300-350 - our oven tends to burn things so we went for the lower number) for 10-15 minutes (we went for the 10).
While waiting for them to cook, she predicted the powdered sugar would melt and looked like glazed donut balls.
Sure enough, they did have a glaze, but parts of them were still white where you could see the powdered sugar.
As they refer to it in “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” movie, this was our “second breakfast.”
The daughter then noted that “baked is healthier than (deep fat) fried.”
Oh, she has been paying attention after all was my next thought, but of course I couldn’t tell her that. Young girls are funny about those things.
In the future, we may borrow other topping ideas from our camping trips when we always use cocoa powder and powdered sugar or cinnamon and regular sugar to roll the biscuit-dough donuts around in after they come fresh out of the pan. Seems like the donut holes disappear faster than the donuts when we are all cozied up around the morning campfire.
Finally someone has echoed what I have been saying for years - Dads are overlooked as consumers. Not for all things. Men of child-bearing age seem to be the target for companies selling pick-up trucks, beer and HDTVs. But what about cleaning supplies, groceries and cookware?
An article published this week in Advertising Age suggests marketers reach out to men, pitching products they’ve traditionally marketed exclusively to women. The author, Abigail Posner, argues that modern men have been taking a greater role in family life for years. Plus, the current economic downturn is likely to see more unemployed men put into the position of full-time caregiver, while women become sole breadwinners. That means more stay-at-home dads roaming the aisles of grocery stores, big-box stores like Target and Wal-Mart and even Bed, Bath and Beyond in search of the perfect pan, pot or bowl to create an exciting, new recipe.
“True, men are still not the primary shoppers or shopping influencers of household goods. But that doesn’t mean we can’t alter their current consumer behaviors. Of course men are going to ignore products and messages that address women’s concerns, attitudes and sensibilities. But if we developed products that suited men’s needs, created communications that spoke to men’s problems or desires, and designed the store experience to be more engaging to men, then they would have more interest in products that serve their families and homes and, thus, more desire to buy them,” Posner writes in her Feb. 9 article.
My thoughts exactly! I can’t tell you how refreshing it would be to see a Swiffer commercial with a dude wielding the wand. Or a Jewel-Osco ad where the customer handing over the Fresh Values card is a dad pushing a cart with a toddler in the basket. How about a Corningware commercial with a dad pulling a hot pan of lasagna out of the oven as his working wife walks in the door?
And how about seeing these man-made commercials during a Chicago Bears playoff game? Then again, maybe that’s too much to ask… The Bears making the playoffs, not the male-centric ad campaigns.
After replacing that 64-ounce bottle of liquid hand soap twice just within the last month, I decided to investigate.
The parenting dilemma comes in that you don’t want to discourage the kids from washing their hands frequently by telling them to watch their soap usage. Believe me, I didn’t say a word about that to them for fear they would take it the wrong way.
But I just had to figure out why the rate at which this stuff is disappearing suddenly spiked so high?
I analyzed things for a few weeks, but still didn’t say anything to any of the family members.
(more…)
I’ve been enthralled by the continuing saga of our former governor, Rod Blagojevich. I’ve watched every television interview, read every newspaper article and even dabbled in some online research on our harebrained governor. Rod’s impeachment was a bigger event than the Super Bowl in our house.
Last night, G-Rod continued his national media blitz on the couch of “The Late Show with David Letterman.” Letterman is a goofball, but he’s also a tough interviewer. Unlike most of the other New York boobs, Letterman wasn’t going to let Blago stick to his script.
Of course, Blagojevich continued to claim his innocence. I think we all knew that would be the case, but Letterman didn’t make it easy. Dave specifically referred to the 13 impeachment counts, saying to Blago, “You’re telling me each one of those was a misunderstanding?” Blagojevich stood his ground, saying that when the entire contents of FBI wiretaps are heard, he’ll be vindicated. The audience just laughed - openly mocking the well-groomed governor.
One of Blago’s consistent talking points has been about his motivations for a media tour. He’s claimed over and over again that his stints on “The View,” “Larry King Live” and about a dozen other talk shows have all been for his two daughters. In his mind, television appearances where dear ‘ol dad claims his innocence somehow empower the girls to go about their daily lives during this turbulent time.
I beg to differ. How does a television stunt help 12-year-old Amy Blagojevich or 5-year-old Anne Blagojevich. If anything, the additional attention will only make their lives that much worse. If Blago was really trying to protect his kids, he wouldn’t have said anything to the national media.
Rather, he could gather his girls on the couch of his home on Chicago’s North Side and explain the situation. He could tell them about how the whole ordeal is a misunderstanding. He could proclaim his innocence in a private, heartfelt conversation, followed by a big, warm hug to instill confidence.
Instead, Blago has decided to tell the world he is innocent, feeding his huge ego all along the way. I wonder if his daughters even stayed up to watch Letterman grill their dad? I actually hope they were in bed. The interview was a nightmare of Blago’s own making.
Have you noticed that the Christmas and birthday money the kids receive seldom goes for food?
Especially not healthy food.
So, the last time we went to the grocery store as a family, we decided to allocate a percentage to each child for both to select what they want to purchase.
We didn’t make any specific rules ahead of time, but decided to tell the kids about our plan when we entered the grocery store, although we had talked about it the day before when we were studying the grocery store ads.
You would have thought they were opening a Christmas present from the looks on their faces.
One child headed straight for the specialty bread and then the unusual flavors of cheese.
The other went for donut holes, 2-liters of pop (a rare treat), lemonade that is “already made” and popsicles.
One child proved your money seems to go further when it is spent on junk food while the other went for the healthy stuff.
