As I dropped my youngest off at daycare this morning, the teachers’ in the 18 month old ro… more
Posts Tagged ‘coop’
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Dad Random
By Daddy Clay Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Some odds and ends from the weekend that was.
I am completely justified/exonerated in getting the new car. With Coop in the back seat, I’m cruising down 360 at or near the posted speed of 60mph, when dude in his 1995 Ford Escort “Sport” darts out from behind cars on the crossover, directly in front of me. In a move that made Jeff Gordon wince even though he didn’t know why, I stomped on the brakes hard enough to engage the anti-locks and the traction control.
If had been in my old 3, we would still be skidding down the median on the roof.
Because my wife was not with me in the car, she was still not impressed nor convinced. But Coop and I know the truth. Thank you Mazda engineers.
Speaking of the trip home from school, in my effort to transform car time into quality time (upcoming episode alert), Coop and I have been picking out some favorite music to sing along with on the runs to and from pre-k. His current fav — “Tailspin” by the Jayhawks. I’m not exactly sure what to make of this. Other than to observe that he has good taste, and knows a great hook when he hears one. In terms of having to hear a song over and over again, this one wears pretty well. Do your kids have unexpected likes when it comes to grown-up music?
A final note, as my one-show-fits-all Valentine’s gift, I gave the whole family a trip to see Circus Oz at the newly remodeled Bass Concert hall on the campus of the University of Texas. Overall, the show is what you would expect a bunch of Australian former Olympic gymnasts to cook up in the back yard if they had lots of time, pogo sticks, a swing set and a Klezmer band. The best part of the show was the drummer. She rawked the rafters. Good time had by all. New tradition — going to live events for Valentine’s Day from now on. Any tradition that gets us all in the theater together is a good one.
Finally some links:
Think you can guess the top ten sites most frequently blocked by parents? Check your answers here.
And in case you aren’t feeling guilty enough about packing junior off to kindygarten with his Lunchable, there’s this.
Daddy Clay’s Parenting Resolutions
By Daddy Clay Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
Parenting Resolutions
More activities – Seems like with the oldest child, I was more prone to go out of my way to create or host some kind of special activity or outing with the kid. Now that we have three, I find myself more in a sit back and watch the madness unfold mode. I really should put down the cocktail and get down on the floor with the kids. Or just go on a nature hike, or get one of the dozens of little “kits” we have accumulated over the years. Lets put the goal at one per week.
Travel very little – Being away puts huge pressure on my working spouse, and increases stress for everyone in the family. Seems like half the time I travel, the kids get sick, which is even worse. This is a tough one because we’re getting asked to speak at conferences and events more and more, and with the book coming out in June, this is just going to pick up. It’s tough to turn down a great opportunity, but I resolve to. No more than one business trip per month, no more than two nights per trip.
Find tradition with youngest – I’ve created special one-on-one traditions with my older two kids; a fishing charter on the Cape with Bubba, and going to the Nutcracker with Ri-ri. The kids love these events out of all proportion with how much fun they actually are. Me, too. So now that Coop is four, it’s about time to think one up or him. The ideas came pretty clearly for the other two. Coop may be tougher. He loves puzzles and pirates and animals. Maybe a trip to the San Antonio Zoo? I resolve to have this picked and ready to execute by his birthday in May.
Make sure “discussions” with wife are understood – My wife and I both have forceful personalities and we have our moments of disagreement. But that’s not really the issue. We’re so spirited in our opinions that when we are in complete agreement on a subject talking after dinner, the kids sometimes think we’re fighting. They’ve said this on a couple of occasions. I know that worries that parents are fighting can be deleterious to kids. So my wife and I need to tone down our agreements. Resolution to take place immediately.
Keep sports/extra-curricular involvements in balance – From the moment our oldest first started with 3-on-3 soccer when he was about 5, my wife and I decreed that we would never fall into the trap of over-scheduling or over-programming our kids lives. No more than one activity per season! Period. End of paragraph. Problem is we started to doubt ourselves. Other kids seemed to be progressing faster because of deeper involvements. Maybe we were holding our kids back with our philosophy (dangerous thinking). So we’ve had some Activity Creep. Letting a little overlap between seasons seep in – a few little extra training camps…But no more! It’s back to the one activity per season rule. Starting with the Spring season in 2009.
Get back on track with college savings – Nice fat returns on the college accounts we’ve established over the years had lured me into easing back on our monthly savings discipline. By the time the crash came, I hadn’t invested in our 529 funds in months. Now, with those funds decimated, it’s time to get back to socking away the cash. I’m going to look at vehicles other than 529s, but those tuition bills aren’t going to go away just because the Dow has tanked. Resolution: to set up a vehicle with the first automatic monthly withdrawal on January 15.
Lose weight – The classic Resolution, but this year it’s serious. At DadLabs we are launching a HQ-wide contest/initiative: The FitFatFit Dad challenge. It wasn’t so much the “big fat daddy” lines from the kids as it was being forced to watch myself get slightly larger with each successive video on DadLabs. I know that I would be more active with the kids (see #1) if I shed a few. My goal is 20 lbs. If you want to join in the FitFatFit, you can register at DadLabs and slim down with us.
Pre School Pre Christmas Pre Vention
By Daddy Clay Monday, December 22nd, 2008
The pre-Christmas countdown period certainly has its sweet moments — picking out and decorating the tree, time with family members you don’t get to see on a weekly basis, holiday parties — but the family stress levels are certainly increased with the loss of routines, the additional stimulation, bad weather limiting outdoor time, and the anticipation of Santa’s visit. All of these things seem to me to have the biggest impact on the pre-school set.
Kids younger than three are blissfully unaware, happily toddling their way thought the Yuletide land-mines. The school age kids can manage the welter of emotions with a little more sophistication, and/or can be bullied with the whole “Santa is watching” meme. But for pre-schoolers, Christmas is the season of volcanic eruptions. Because pre-schoolers are old enough to know what is happening, to get swept up in the hype, to desperately want things to take place right now, but without the ability to accept the delay of gratification. They can find the demands to behave at meals with guests, to mind dad in the mall, to wait in line for Santa, to be overwhelming.
In other words, our youngest is struggling.
He’s trying to be a good boy at the parties, at the grocery store, at meal time, but the loss of his school routine (and subsequent increased exposure to his older sibs) along with his anticipation of Santa’s visit have completely worn him out. There have been meltdowns aplenty in this Festive Season. One sign he had hit the wall came on our fourth consecutive night of entertaining for dinner — Coop simply could not even drag himself to the table for another meal with adults. We made a policy exemption for that one. Sometimes an orange and a dose of Dora is the healthiest dinner.
Another sign: Coop fell asleep in his mother’s lap, mid-refrain of “Jingle Bells” at the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar.
We’re trying to head off boredom and inter-sibling violence by programming the holidays pretty aggressively. The Armadillo is part of that. The Armadillo Christmas Bazaar has now entered the “Tradition” category for us. The event takes place at the Austin Convention Center downtown, and is essentially a venue for local artists and artisans to show their work during the holiday shopping season. There are always a few pieces that we drool over and dream about being able to afford some day, but honestly, most of the stuff is not for me. Too folksy/crafty.
The highlight for us is the music. Many of Austin’s best musicians play the tiny stage at the center of the bazaar. It may not be the purest place to listen to music, but it is oddly intimate, and a great place to see the artists up close. They also program the best local kids performers. Yesterday, we were treated to a great performance from the Biscuit Brothers and the inimitable Sara Hickman. Because their TV show is so adorable and engaging, it’s easy to forget that the Biscuit Bros have serious musical chops. The touch is light and bouncy, but the harmonies and instrumental work is rock solid. And there is to my old friend, Buttermilk Biscuit! She’s the best. Great to re-introduce the kids after the show.
And what to say about Sara Hickman? My first date in Austin with my wife was to watch this rockstar shake the rafters at Liberty Lunch, and she still brings that charisma and joy to every show she plays. It was so cool to bring my kids into that loop. She played some “Sara” songs, some of her kids music, and brought a whole herd of kids onstage for som
Catch Without The 22
By Daddy Clay Monday, December 1st, 2008
The ball arced gently through the air, a perfect spiral, aimed precisely at Coop’s open arms. But as the ball approached, a light of recognition went on, and Coop quickly turned around and the pass plonked him in the back. He then happily turned around to fetch the ball. Then he ran away with it.
The beautiful pass came not from me, but from a boy exactly Coop’s age.
That’s when it dawned on me that I ought to play catch with the boy more often.
It is the most archetypical dad-child activity, the game of catch, and I’ve always had a strict Always Say ‘Yes’ When Asked to Play Catch policy. But my youngest doesn’t ask much. And I’ve become less likely to initiate sports activities as the kids have gotten older and more independent.
As the visiting friend and his dad (a varsity coach at a major Div 1 university) threw perfect Father’s Day poster-worthy passes to each other, I spiraled down into parental guilt. When did I stop playing catch with the kids? When was the last time I built a fort? Or led an activity? Am I that old? That fat?
I work on a parenting website! This cannot stand! I must research activities on the internet. I need to pull out all the kits in the shelves and do them all at once; build the Eiffel Tower out of K’nex; take them all own to the soup kitchen and hand out ladles. I am going to create an intramural badmitton league complete with round robin playoff. I will be active!
Wii does not count! Wii does not count!
I come out of my guiltfog as Coop looks up at me. I buckle the strap on his helmet. He tells me he loves me and pedals off.
There is something to be said for just being present (I’m good at that). But I’m not letting myself off the hook that easily. I need that one extra thing a week. More than just snuggling. More than reading before bed. More than driving to games and events. More than sitting down to dinner. One moment of full engagement around a shared activity.
Seems like my New Year’s resolution showed up a month early.
