Category Archive

As the parent of a toddler I’m continuously shocked by my misconceptions of what kind of parent I was going to be back when I was yet to have one. It’s something we all go through when we start thinking about kids. I remember seeing a parent lose control once at a retail store and thinking “If that was my kid there would be none of that. No sir! My child will know who the boss is” Which didn’t turn out to be too far from the truth, because let’s face it we both know he’s the boss. I’d visit friends with children and look around in amazement at the warehouse of toys that dared to take over their entire home. Again I’d say, “My child will know the joys of playing outside. Forget video games and personal DVD players. My child will like to read and will be able to carry on an actual conversation without referring to Pokeman or Yugi-o” Two years later Blue and Steve seem to be on an endless hunt for the latest clue and it’s a wonder the wonder pets ever get turned off.

My favorite “before I became one” fantasy revolves around dinner. When you’re married without children dinnertime rarely ends in somebody crying, never is the scene of a crouton-throwing contest, and typically only one set of silverware is needed per person. Nowadays I find myself wondering if we should stop by that “Clown” place on the way to where the rest of us plan to eat because for some reason clowns make better chicken tenders than those so called professionally trained chefs at the lobster house. Not to mention somehow clowns have found a way to charge less for their efforts.

To say I have a fussy eater would be an understatement, but it’s not so much he doesn’t like eating different types of foods rather it’s the fact that he’s very moody about it. I’m to the point where I’m keeping a mental journal of what he’s eating at every meal in hopes of predicting his next change of tongue. Don’t get me wrong there’s nothing bad about having a favorite food, but what do you when your child eats chicken seven nights in a row and then on the eighth night looks up at you like you’ve just committed a crime. “How dare you feed me chicken eight times in a row. What kind of parent are you!!!” Of course we all know the answer to that question, we have learned to be parents that come prepared with not just plan A’s but also B’s, C’s, and even D’s. Unlike the parents before us, we don’t just send our kids to bed if they don’t like what is being served. We realize that doing that will only result in us having to make fried bologna at 2:00 A.M. because Jr. knows that the best way to get what he wants is to deprive mommy and daddy of sleep. We are parents in the year 2008 and that means if Suzie doesn’t want the hamburger we bought her than no big deal!! There’s a granola bar and a banana in the diaper bag. Plus, they are 10 times better for her than some greasy hamburger.

I know some people think that parents of my generation are doing nothing but spoiling their children and depriving them of the tough skin they will need to survive on their own, but I disagree. We simply have the financial means to provide our children with more than our parents provided us. After all that’s what we were always told by our parents wasn’t it? “These two jobs will be worth it someday when I see you working in some cozy corner office with three degrees on the wall.” The way I see it, by giving my child choices as dinnertime I’m simply fulfilling my parents wishes. Besides he won’t act like that when he’s a teenager…..

(Written for  Charlieblockhead.blogspot.com)

We are at the age now where my 1 year-old son is really watching everything we do. If we are sitting on the couch, he wants to sit on his couch. We eat with a fork, he wants a fork. My drink has a straw….well you get the idea. This is great and all when it comes to things that can be replaced easily enough. Straws, silverware, etc…can be wiped off or replaced if dropped. What about the TV remote though? The Phone? Car Keys? What do you do when the object of his desire is something you can’t afford to have broken or lost? The answer is simple enough in theory…you give him decoys. Old remotes, cordless phones that don’t work anymore, keys to locks long ago forgotten, all of these make perfect decoys. These are great. He loves playing with the remote ”Hey buddy here’s a remote of your very own!!” Won’t give the car keys back ”How about these shiny keys I got just for you?” He never knows he’s getting hussled and we don’t spend a grand at Target every month on universal gadgets.Pretty soon though you start to realize that the decoys begin making you appear less than sane. You get so used to seeing these decoys lying around that you forget that they no longer work and are now toys. You’re sitting there pressing the remote, nothings happening, and you decide you are either going to have to watch 6 straight episodes of Rosanne or get up and get batteries. Then at hour 5 ½ it dawns it dawns on you that you’ve got the toy remote. You walk in the room, see the other parent holding the fake phone, and immediately start whispering so you don’t interrupt their conversation. All because his toys are modeled to look exactly like yours.

(Written For Charlie Blockhead) 

Finally the weather is getting to the point where we can take Fred outside for at least a half hour at a time. Mind you he’s only borderline asthmatic, but you can’t blame us for being a little gun shy after spending 3 days in the hospital 2 weeks ago. Our problem isn’t that it’s too cold, our problem is that it’s 30 degrees today, 65 degrees tomorrow, and then back down to 30 the next. A little consistency would do us wonders.

We live near an airport and it’s a common occurrence to look up and see a small passenger plane overhead. One zipped by yesterday as Fred was learning to kick piles of leaves across the yard. Almost out of instinct the moment he saw the plane directly overhead he began jumping and trying to grasp the aircraft in his tiny hands. This reminded me of what it’s like to be a little kid and not have any knowledge of distance or size. How everything could be seen through your thumb and forefinger.

“How big is that tree? Not so big. See I can put it here ] If I wanted to I could put it in my pocket or smash it into tiny bits. Good thing I don’t want to huh?”

This seems to be the year of change for the Blockhead family. January was a sandstorm that swooped in and rearranged our lives. What once was a clear path to our goals is now somewhat hazy and we both get the feeling we can only see a few weeks into the future.

Lucy’s changed jobs and will be going to Real Estate school in the fall. My freelance work jumped off a cliff and died for a week. Leaving me shooting out job submissions for any topic that I was remotely familiar with. Then just as quickly I landed on my feet as Project Mgr. for this year’s Best Of Blog Awards. You’ll hear me talk more about them soon enough, just know that it’s a major accomplishment and compliment.

Now all in all I’d say that nothings off limits as to what we will accomplish in 2008. There are no boundaries. No rules dictating the impossible. Nothing to stop us from jumping up with all our might and taking hold of our dreams as they zip by overhead.