I remember when I was a kid, I loved Saturday morning. I would wake up early and run downstairs, fix breakfast and watch cartoons.
Now, Saturday morning is a little different except, now the boys are picking cartoons. I am still waking up early, now my breakfast is coffee and fruit and the boys are right by my side. We sit on the sofa and laugh and watch cartoons. This is my Saturday morning now.
And I love every minute of it and we are currently watching Wreck It Ralph.
I’m amazed everyday at the changes that I am seeing in my sons on a daily basis. From saying Please and Thank you on a more consistently basis to potty training to more social interaction.
Holding a new born baby is awesome, there is no greater feeling. But being able to see these changes and being able to interact and have conversations with the boys is completely different. They are able to express themselves, their wants, their needs in words. They are able to do things for themselves, like getting dressed, getting things out of the fridge, etc. I have no words at how cool it is to see these changes happen, right in front of my eyes.
I’ve been asked lately by several friends how the boys were doing with their school transitions? To which I usually reply very simply, “How do you prepare a 3 year old for the unknown?”
We have already started preparing the boys with letting them know that they are going to a new school soon. And we’ve arranged with the school for them to start visiting once a week for at least a half day. But how do you really prepare them for school transitions?
I’ve had lengthy conversations with my mother who was an elementary school teacher for 44 years and she agrees that the slow approach should work well. But, she also agrees too that the boys adapt really easily, so they should be fine.
Am I concerned about this transition? Not really. This is the best move for the boys long term, as they prepare for school. And at the end of the day, that is really all that matters.
It is all fun and games until someone takes a poop on the floor. Yep, that happened today.
We’ve been working on potty training big time and the boys, I have to say, have done a pretty good job. A few accidents, but they have been really minor. Today, Baby A said that he had to go upstairs to poop. Great, off we went. Get upstairs and within a minute, he is pooping. High fives and we are off back downstairs. Literally two minutes later, he is standing on the rug, clinching his little butt cheeks. I ask him what is wrong and he starts to get ready to cry. It is then when I realize, he has to poop again. Off we go, but not before I look down and realize that there is poop on the floor.
When we were sitting upstairs, Baby A is obviously upset. He kept saying that he was sad. We talked. I explained that he has to tell us when he needs to poop and that he has to control it, but that sometimes it is hard to control when you have to poop and that you have to just go with it. That was when he smiled.
He smiled because I was not mad with him. How could I be? He pooped, he didn’t break the tv. He made a mistake. But what I hope that he realizes, as his brother, as they go through life, my job is teach them right from wrong, good from bad. My job is teach them and show them how to and how not to react to situations. I hope that they realize that sometimes, it is ok to poop on the floor.
Change happens daily. It it just a basic part of life. Sometimes, change can be good. And sometimes, it rains.
Last night, I had to make a difficult decision and inform our nanny that we were changing to a different daycare provider. Our nanny has been there and taken care of our children from day 1. She has been a part of our family and our lives, but my wife and I made the decision that the boys needed something different as they prepare for school.
Change can be used in so many forms, as a verb or a noun, but at the end of the day, no matter how you use the word, it still can be difficult.
Tonight was a tough night. It seemed like literally within 5 minutes, if it could have gone wrong, it did.
Tonight, was a tough night. I got hit with a lot within a very short amount of time and that is after a very long day. I got the boys fed, upstairs, quiet, relaxed and in bed within less than 30 minutes. I poured a beer, heated a pork roast that I made yesterday in the crock pot and some red potatoes that I made and did I mention that I poured a much needed beer?
But tonight, even though it was a tough night, in 1 quick act of kindness from my son that made all of the things today, seem non existent. Baby B laid down beside me on the floor, which is not uncommon for him, as I held his brother’s hand, he simply whispered “kiss” and then gave me a kiss and then gave me an Eskimo kiss. And then he fell asleep. Just like that, today, tonight, the things that frustrated me, they all went away.
Ferguson, Missouri have you ever heard of it? Neither had most until last week. That is until Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer.
Those are the facts as I have read them that are undisputed. I say that, because everything after that is in question. Here is another fact, there are only a few people that in fact know the truth, the police officer and Michael Brown. Pretty much everything else is hearsay and speculator.
Since the news broke about the shooting, a lot of things have happened:
Here are the problems as I see it:
At the end of the day, I know this much to be true. A young man is dead and for that, I am sorry that his parents have to go through burring their child. I also know that a police officer, who has a family, is dealing with the fact that he shot and killed someone. And at the end of the day, it isn’t our place to decide what happened. We have a court of law that does that. But, in the last several years (Google George Zimmerman and several other cases) the media tries the individual on tv and in print and social media, before all the facts are ever heard in a court of law.
Now, I have a lot of other thoughts and feelings on this case, but I will keep those to myself, as they serve no purpose on this blog. But tonight, I pray for those in Ferguson, Missouri. I pray for the soul of Michael Brown. I pray for his family and friends that tonight are suffering and are hurt. I pray for the police officer. I pray for those that will be effected by this tragedy, i.e. potential jurors, co-workers of the police officer, etc. This will not simply go away. No matter what happens in this case, whether the officer is charged and found guilty or found innocent, it does not matter. There are no winners tonight in the town of Ferguson, Missouri.
This past Thursday afternoon I took the plundge and had the Baloon Sinoplasty and Turbinate Reduction surgeries. For 30+ years, I have had problems with sinus infections and allergies. The last straw was last month when I met with my ENT and we discussed that 3 sinus infections was two much and that it was time for surgery.
The he surgery was a breeze. The numbing process took longer than the actual procedure. And yes, I was awake for the entire thing, which made it even more interesting. I have a high threshold for pain, but this was really easy.
Because there was bleeding, they did bandage up my nose before leaving. When we got to the house, I walked in and the first words out of Baby A’s mouth was “Daddy has a boo boo”. I was concerned that the boys were going to be afraid with seeing the bandage and/or the blood. But they were fine. They were really concerned about my boo boo.
This morning, two days after the surgery for the first time in my life, I can breathe through my nose. I was laying in bed, trying to rest as my wife took care of the boys and Baby B climbed in bed and kissed my boo boo. He smiled and said “all better Daddy”. And it was. I loved that he did that on his own. I love he was not afraid. That he wanted to make it all better.
I love these little guys. And yes, my boo boo does feel so much better.
I don’t have many memories of one of my grandfathers, but one memory that I do have is that when I would see him, we would get in the car, just he and I and we would go and get Strawberry Ice Cream. How I can remember this, I’m not really sure, especially considering the fact that my Grandfather died when I was in 1st grade.
I remember a lot about the day that he died. I remember being pulled from class and talk with the principal. I remember my mother crying and we left school early that day. I remember asking my mom if my Grandfather was going to buy me Strawberry Ice Cream that afternoon and she just cried.
Years pass and not a lot is talked about my Grandfather. Not sure why? But last night, of all nights, my sons ate 4 chicken nuggets, 4 large strawberries and a handful of string beans. And after they finished it up, Baby A looked up and saw an ice cream cone and asked for Strawberry Ice Cream.
In that moment, I was transported back to when I was a little boy. I was taken back to when I was a kid, asking my Grandfather for Strawberry Ice Cream. But tonight, both boys, after they literally cleaned their plates, they both asked for Strawberry Ice Cream and in that second, I remembered my Grandfather. I remembered those Sundays at the Ice Cream place. I tried one other Ice Cream, I didn’t like it and he immediately asked for Strawberry Ice Cream and he quickly ordered it for me.
I could do no wrong in my Grandfather’s eyes. I was his only Grandson. And tonight, my son’s could do no wrong. We sat at the table and laughed and talked and ate Ice Cream, Strawberry Ice Cream cones, just like I did when I was their age.
We all go through things in life, mostly good, but there are times where it isn’t so good.
Over the last several weeks, I’ve had a chance to reflect on my childhood, as I want to avoid mistakes and things that my parents made with me. And I kept coming back to one thing, “It’s Not Your Fault”.
And with the passing of Robin Williams yesterday, I was reminded of this scene. It took me back to a place a few years ago that I was talking with a friend and I mentioned how this scene resonated with me, because I took a lot of my parents problems on my shoulders. And just like Will in the movie, it took someone caring for me and pushing me to realize that I wasn’t at fault.
Life is hard. Kids are put into situations and forced to grow up way too early in life. This scene really has hit home for me. Sorry about the language, little ones, ear muff it, but the scene is important.