The Morning Routine With Boy Wonder

So what does a normal day look like at our house? Well in terms of boy 1, our 3-year old, it is very routine.

Here is a look at how our weekday mornings go.

6:30am: Dad’s alarm goes off. Now this can go a few ways. First, kid’s light is already on and he has been reading since 5am.

Second, kid is already in room looking at me in the dark waiting for alarm.

Third, kid has already woken us all up to say he has to pee or wants to get into bed.

6:33: Dad has a shower. I go and do my thing, shower, shave and get dressed. Kid has either stayed in his own bed reading, still sleeping or stays in our bed and keeps mom awake. Keep in mind, the 2-month old rarely wakes up.

6:40: Shower and dressed: If kid is not up, I go and wake him up and start the slow process of peeling him out of bed. Some mornings it is like trying to get a teen out of bed. If he is awake and reading already, he shoots out of bed to start the day. If he is in our bed, well I get him out of mom’s hair so she can go back to sleep.

6:45: Change the night-time underwear for fresh and we head downstairs for breakfast.

6:50: Feeding the farm. Before I do anything, I need to feed the cat and dog. Otherwise they are pretty annoying. Kid usually is okay with this and goes and reads or plays.

Like A Dad Remembers: Transformers – More Than Meets The Eye

Thank you Netflix. Thank you for offering the original Transformers. Today my son and I started watching the classic 1984 Transformers cartoon that I watched when I was a wee lad.

There  is nothing better for a dad than watching old cartoons with your kid. The best part, he is hooked. What little boy does not like cars and jets that transform into robots. The team that came up with them sure were on the ball. Even before Michael Bay brought them back, the Autobots and Decepticons were doing okay at the bank.

But as I watch Transformers almost 30 years later, there are a lot of questions that come to mind that did not when I was a kid.

The Monster Sleep of Charlie Bear

This morning I woke up around 6:45, waiting for the 3-year old to come down the hall to start the day. It never happened. In fact, it did not happen until just before 8am. What a treat.

What was even a bigger treat was that our 2-month old was still sleeping and had been sleeping since before midnight. 8 hours sleep almost.

I was under the assumption that this was the first over night sleep for Charlie, but he had one a few weeks ago. Anyways, it was the longest and that is that.

It is always an exciting feeling when the baby starts to sleep through the night. Not only do you get to have a good sleep but it is a sign you are moving forward.

Today’s Shooting Really Puts Things In Perspective

I won’t go into what happened today, you already know that. Opinions are flooding the Internet and TV screens everywhere. We get it, guns are bad. Why are these tragic moments still happening? It is just so messed up.

It is Christmas. All of the hustle and bustle does not seem to be that big a deal anymore. So what if that one perfect gift is sold out. Who cares of there is a long line at the store.

There are parents that no longer have the kids they started the day with. Going home to a house of what was to be Christmas cheer.

It makes me so mad and so sad all at once.

Yes, it was touching to see President Obama get choked up about it. But is anything going to change? Doubtful. The news cycle will run the course and we will go back to normal until the next shooting.

Dad vs. Mr. Independent

Watching our 3-year old son grow up by the day is fascinating to watch. It is hard to believe there is so much change even by the day. It blows my mind to look back a few weeks and months to see how much he has changed.

The latest change (for the good) is his full-blown independence. He wants to do everything himself without help.

This is most evident when it comes to getting dressed. He now fully undressing and dresses himself. It is amazing to see his brain works as he figures out where sleeves go, which shoe goes on what foot and how to put on a big winter parka.

For me, the hard part is just letting him do it. Sometimes it takes much longer than I would like and I try to help.

That is where Mr. Independent steps in. He says “no dad I am going to do it all by myself.”

This can even include him walking around the house to avoid any chance of help.

We are now working on the fact that it is okay to ask for help and he is slowly buying into this.

Now he will try his best until he gets frustrated (a new word he is using) and then will ask for help.

Cereal Saves The Day

Just had a loud and a little frustrating dinner. Luckily, cereal saved the day.

Our 3-year old was having a tired, hungry, not listening, crying tantrum just as dinner was served. The classic, “I don’t want that” and “I want something else.”

After a lot of crying, talking and trying to discuss what the options were.

The thing that did it and seemed to turn the tide (for now) was the offer of cereal for dinner.

Now usually we try to stick to everyone eating the same thing but tonight was a special case. It was like trying to defuse a bomb with garden hose. It was not going to work.

Just to bring you up to speed, dinner was a tasty pasta dish with broccoli and a side salad. Pasta is usually a hit. Anyways, not tonight.

So we offered bread, fruit and a few other things that I can’t even remember.

Please Work On Those Please And Thank You’s, Thank You

Ah manners, a lot of people have them and a lot of people don’t. So where does it all begin? Well, I would say, as a kid.

The sooner and mom and dad can teach their kids that saying please and thank you is the right thing to do, the sooner it will stick.

Pre school does their best to enforce it but really it has to come from home. If mom and dad don’t do it, why would a kid ever do it.

Our 3-year old is going through the learning of this. He gets what it means and understands that he should do it, but it is not always top of mind. I mean their brain has much more fun stuff going on. How can you remember to say thank you when you just got a new toy or your favourite food. Yes, it is hard.