Day 39: Kids Were Not Feeling So Sleepy

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Oh Day 39, so close to 40. On this day, everyone was tired. Why? Well the day started at 5:30 am. Sounds about right for this dad who is still enjoying life on the PL.

Pretty quiet day although the naps were short and dad was pretty tired. It felt like a day where I did not get anything taken care of. I guess that is what Tuesday is for once Harrison goes back to school

The Spurs won, the Hawks won and Rob Ford’s world is falling apart by the minute. Now for what happened on the home front.

Teaching Our Son To Ride A Bike

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Teaching our son to ride a bike is a lot of fun.

There are many, many things on a dad’s list of things he can’t wait to teach his kids. Maybe even a million things. But one of the most exciting for me is teaching our boys how to ride a bike. I mean, the say, it is like riding a bike has stuck around for a reason right?

We bought Harrison his first “big boy” bike last year for his third birthday. It has training wheels, a bell and everything a boy’s bike should have.

He was excited at the idea of riding a big bike instead of this three-wheeler but going from thinking to doing took some time.

He hated to pedal and was not that thrilled with having to have dad push him.

So since it was fall and the snow would be coming, we just took it slow. Riding around out front of the house now and then. Pedaling, just was not going to happen.

I was not that worried as he was only 3-years old and there was plenty of time to ride.

Day 38: A New Format For The Daily Dish

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Well I am supposed to be sharing with you what I did on Friday. Seems like so long ago right? Well when you are on the PL, you get behind due to kids, being tired and all around disinterest with sitting at the computer.

I have been doing the daily posts for over 30 days now and have started to wonder if people find them boring? I mean, it is just 300-400 words on what I did that day. Nothing exciting for most. Short of my wife and family, not many will feel like they need to read the post every day.

Now if the boys and I do something fun and out of the ordinary, that is worth it. But for most days, it is just a list of changing diapers, making lunch and how I fill the time while the boys sleep.

So, I am going to combine two formats and make a new daily post format.

Parenting Is A Lot Like Weeding Dandelions


This photo literally gives my dad the cold sweats. 

Ah dandelions, those little yellow bastards that ruin everyone’s lawn this time of year. If you are like me, you are currently having that annual debate whether it is worth taking on the challenge of digging them up and returning your lawn to that pure green colour it should be.

I have the easy-dig stick thing that is supposed to make dandelion plucking fun. I have the interest to de-weed my lawn. I even have the patience to stand outside and do it for an hour or two. So what is the problem?

The problem is, no matter how much work I put into it, I know those little guys that my son calls flowers are just going to grow back and continue to taunt me. I mean, there are about 700 of them in my neighbour’s yard just waiting to come on over.

Yesterday as I was outside trying my best to get every last dandelion patch, it got me thinking. Pulling dandelions is a lot like parenting.

Try as you might to clear the deck of chores, problems, lists and events, there will always be more ready to pop up. Now, don’t get me wrong, these are not all negative things. But dandelion pulling remind me of and old adage that my dad would always use.

“_______ is a lot like painting a bridge. Once you are done, you have to start all over again.”

Again, that sounds like parenting to me.

Day 37: Forgot To Say Farewell To An Old Friend – The Swing

day36-1Last night was one of this mid-week nights when you just feel drained and the last thing you want to do is sit down at the computer. Yep, that sounds like a Wednesday on the PL.

So this morning, I am playing catch up for the dedicated readers who actually are interested in the day-to-day over here. Thanks by the way.

Before I go ahead with Day 37, I want to give a proper farewell to an old friend that I forgot to mention on Tuesday.

Charlie said so long to the swing that he has been having naps in for the last several months. Not only was he pretty much not fitting in it anymore, it was time to take back the living room.

For so long now, we have been tip-toeing around and shutting down the house when he napped in the swing. We knew it was automatic, so we rode that horse as long as we could.

Harry-isms #1: Different Ways He Likes His Cheese

For about as long as Harrison has been roaming the earth, he keeps saying funny words or phrases that my wife and I find hilarious. Now, I get that we are his parents and we have a definite bias, but some of this material is too good to pass on. So, finally, I have decided to start sharing his words with the world. Like most kids who are under 5-years old, they have their own language. Their own way of describing things and referring to things. I think it is pretty amazing stuff.

So without further rambling, here is the first installment of Harry-isms #harryisms.

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Iron Man 3 Toys Bring All The Kids To Yard

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Well this has been a post in the making for three weeks. Why? Well we can thank FedEx but let’s not focus on the negative.

The fine folks at Hasbro let the Like A Dad family choose three cool new toys to try out based on the latest release of the Iron Man movie chain.

Now, I saw the movie last week, so it is almost ideal that the toys came after the fact.

I also wish there was a way to put into words how over the moon our 3-year old son is with the toys. He loves, loves, loves them.

As for what our 7-month old thinks? Well the flashing lights were interesting for a minute but as soon as he figured out the toys were not edible, he did not care.

So what did Hasbro send up our way?

The three toys that Harrison picked out were:

Day 35: A Return To Normal

day35-1With a holiday in Canada yesterday, I was not working the PL shift. The family got back in town yesterday afternoon and we slowly moved back into normal mode.

Today was the start of a new week and that meant school for Harry. We could not figure out if he was excited or not after an extra long weekend in Toronto. He said he wanted to go and then would turn around and say he wanted to stay home. Tough, he was going.

I was home with Mr. tired baby boy. Today was probably the easiest day as a parent ever. He slept most of the day recovering from his first trip out of province.

He slept for two hours after breakfast and then almost five hours after lunch.

So what did I do with all that time? I did some blogging, some other work on the computer, played with new Iron Man toys and prepped for a smokey dinner on the Big Green Egg.