Dora the Explorer trumps Sunny Patch..in case you were wondering.
I have been trying hard to limit the children’s television time these past couple of days. Evan…rather I…am getting a break while he watches some tv.
Search Results for: tv dad
Of Being Dad
This morning was cool…until I got up. Cathy swapped roles with me this morning and got the children ready for school. What a relaxing way to start the day! I allowed myself 20 extra minutes of sleep then calmly got dressed and went upstairs to lend a hand by making Amy’s lunch. We were right on time to make the bus but pushing it. I had a simple plan: Amy and I run to the van and get to the bus stop. I remind the air, "Don’t let Dharma out!" It has been raining and I don’t have time to clean her feet for a van ride and still be able to get Amy to school. Then Evan runs into the kitchen with sticky buns caked to his hands. I exclaim, "Go wash your hands" but he needs help and no one is moving his direction. Cathy and I simultaneously take him to the bathroom and wash his hands. Suddenly Evan is to be a passenger. I’m watching the clock tick knowing that we are at a coin flip on making the bus or not. We rush to the front door and it magically opens and Dharma shoots out. I lunge for her and miss and she lands paws in the mud then digs in to race to the van. I lose it. I engage chase and booming voice (sorry neighbors). Dharma does something new, and hides under the van. All I picture is a dog that now needs a bath on a day that I don’t need distractions. She won’t come out so I honk the horn (sorry neighbors), yell, toss some rocks, why am I still trying to make the bus, the neighbor returns from the bus stop, the children are out trying to help so I yell at them to go back inside, Sarah gets Dharma out, I smack the dog and drag her by the scruff of the neck back inside, children are crying, dog is scared, and everyone is mad at me.
How could this have gone differently? All I had to do was close the front door. Within 15 seconds, Dharma would have been scratching to come inside. We could have said something witty and laughed instead of cried. And who cares if we missed the bus. I want to be that perfect tv dad. Can I have take 2?
Why dads yell
Because we don’t get Calgon!
The decibel level in our house exceeds anything considered safe. Last night as we played D&D with some friends, Cathy pondered why our friend‘s house was so quiet compared to ours. We conjectured it is the televisions and computers but I think it comes down to Amy. 
She is so shrill! Then Evan tries to match her. We get multiple conversations going on simultaneously. So while someone is at the table finishing their dinner with the clinking of utensils, we have Cathy typing at her computer to pull up the children’s grades and talking to one of the teenagers about their school performance. I am listening in on their conversation while running water over the dishes and cleaning up counters and talking to another child with some segues to interject on Cathy’s conversation. Meanwhile Evan clomps across the wood floors while screaming like a girl with Amy chasing him and screaming. The adults increase their volume to be heard. The teenagers yell their conversation. The tea kettle blows (no reason).
Does this sound like your calm evening? We are definitely no like dinnertime with the Cleavers, My Three Sons, or Pleasantville. I think tomorrow I will wear ear plugs.
Turn Your TV Into Art
Jon has been talking about turning off the television and it is always a hot topic at BloggingBaby (see also Hottest TV Dads and Who Should Control Your TV?). I personally see the tv as a double-edged sword. I love the educational value. I have seen Amy and Evan learn concepts, songs, and words from the television. It is good. We have used it as a babysitter (good and bad). We have used it as an excuse to not play with our children or have dinner at the dinner table (both BAD!). I am often frustrated with the television and, having lived without one for a year, I recognize the benefits that could be reaped by turning the television off for a length of time. Perhaps in the summer tvs should be shut off and computers should be removed from bedrooms.
Or, we could turn our television into art! Click the picture below to see how.
Abstractor can instantly tansform any television into a beautiful piece of art. Watch and find out how to make your own. Visit Abstractor.tv
Dad’s a bad guy
So I look out the window and I see Tommy standing up in his seat, laughing manically, and swatting at another child. At least that is what I thought I saw. So, to nip things in the bud, I react and rush the bus denouncing their childish behavior and explaining that the bus driver can’t drive the bus safely with them acting as such. So the kids think Tommy’s dad is nuts. Tommy is confused. Mom is angry and I just don’t like myself much. So much for trying to do the right thing. The tv dads make this parenting thing seem so much easier.
Yes, I did call the bus driver and she explained that the kids were just chatting energetically and that the bus has been more peaceful of late. She extended my apology to the children. Mmmmmm. Crow.
The wife has thrown dirty diapers at me. I guess that means I am on the path to being forgiven.
Techno-Dad and the Neutron Babysitters
So, I’m now very inspired to put video cameras all over the house. I was able to use one of the computer cams to keep an eye on my daughter while she watched Blues Clues. I had the pleasure of programming while watching her try on her sisters hat and watch tv and play. Mostly she watched television. Here is my wife’s impression.
My life as Red: That 70s Show
It’s no secret that I want to be that tv dad…you know, Bill Cosby or Tim Allen or the like. I successfully channeled Alan Shure for a while. I think I’m maturing to be more like the dad in Modern Family. Truth be told, I’m much more like Red from That 70s Show. When you have teenagers and pets the words "hey dumbass" roll off the tongue so naturally.
So, I suppose I’ve achieved tv dad status after all…just not the one I had hoped to be.
Parenting is hard
When I said I want to be "that tv dad" I didn’t mean Red.
I suck at parenting.
frustrationfrustraTIONfruSTRAIONFRUSRATION!
I’ve spent the day trying to accomplish something that should have taken 40 minutes and is preventing me from doing the things I really want to be doing today. Something that I’m not even getting paid for. I feel that I’ve been constantly interrupted. At one point I declared, "I’m taking the next 40 minutes and finishing this" during which time I was interrupted 3 times. So finally a crisis hit. Minor. The 7 year old, the 4 year old, and the dog went missing in the creek. Normally this would not be a big deal but we’ve had substantial rain these past couple of days. Also, I believe there is a sinkhole in the creek that the children do not know about. It’s mostly covered with debris right now. It’s not really on my property and I’ve been wanting to clear the debris away to see if it is the entrance to the rumored cave that is supposedly nearby. Right now, I simply know that water flows into the ground through the debris at that point and I don’t want the children near it. So I channeled Coach Boomer (which I only now realized is one of my heroes, Bruce Campbell!) for some echo location and proceeded to be anything except that great TV dad that I so aspire to be. Several tears later, everyone is safe but mad at me. And I feel like crud.
The Dark Side of Working from Home
I’m under a lot of pressure right now. I’m trying hard to close out a project. The end of projects are always the most difficult because time and budget is usually running out. Often the client realizes they want features that either were never requested or not implemented for whatever reason. In using the product during testing, user interface issues arise or the enduser finds it would be easier with just this "one simple change". Those are generalizations to "many projects" and not necessarily talking about the one I am on. But today I have been really trying hard to reach a couple of very specific goals and it hasn’t gone as fast or as smoothly as planned.
Enter the children. Since its nearing 4pm, Sarah has to be picked up from the high school, which is right across the street from Party City aka Halloween Depot. So Amy and Cathy are off to get Sarah, costumes, and accessories leaving me with my computer and Evan until Noah gets home to babysit. Of course, Evan just wants to play with Dad so he comes down to my desk and starts moving things around. In his cuteness, he wants to help so while I type on one computer, he starts typing on the other and unknowingly messing up my test bed. I lose it. No tv Dad for me today. I’ll reserve 50 lashings for myself later when in great self-flagellation when I punish myself for my loss of temper. Of course, that won’t change the fact that I sent a crying 3 year old packing to an empty upstairs. I feel like crud. I should work at night while they sleep. I just cannot figure out when I’d sleep. Time to go make amends and give some hugs.
Parenting – nothing harder
I woke up late this morning. Amy and I would have to leave in 2 minutes to catch the bus. Wasn’t going to happen but getting to school on time in the carpool would be no problem. Well, one would think. Amy and I could not agree on her outfit. Need a tough negotiator? Send in a 5 year old! My patience ended up being tried and lost. I was outwitted by a child and my primordial reaction was to get gruff, raise my voice, and shove her to the car. Bad dad. Of course, she needed clothing so I tossed her anything and declared, "go ahead. Look like a clown." Certainly not a tv dad today! Fortunately, Mom rose from the dead, fighting back her nausea, to save Amy. She gently helped her get attired in clothing Amy liked. She wiped her tears, gave her a hug, scowled at me, and we were on our way. Amy arrived at school 16 minutes late which in the grand scheme of things was not worth one ounce of the stress I caused this morning. Coincidentally, one of her teachers was in the office and cheerfully greeted her. After asking Amy if she was ready for fun gym, she escorted her to class. Please have a great day Amy. I’m going to start mine over.
Primetime Parenting
Why can’t I be one of those cool tv dads?
From the mouths of babes
Evan, 7 year old con artist, in a soft, whispery, infectious voice: "Dad, you’re a reeeally good builder." *pause* "Putting up a tv in one day!" *pause* "Building a club house." *pause* "About to build a tree house."
From the mouths of babes
Evan, 4.5 years old: "Dad. Can we buy a gold fish?"
Dad, thinking a gold fish is not difficult to care for: "I suppose. What made you want a gold fish?"
Evan: "I want to eat it."
Dad, realizing this isn’t about watching the wrong tv shows: "Oh! You want gold fish snacks."
In yesterday’s mail
The Stigma
Apparently there’s some stigma around bloggers, particular mommy bloggers, doing product reviews. There shouldn’t be. I understand the stigma’s origins. The stigma comes from those ridiculous pay-per-post services where the participants are encouraged to write shining reviews in return for the product and/or money. They are disingenuous. The advertiser is not paying for the post. The advertiser is paying for search engine ranking. The 200 people who read that paid post, or even if it was 10,000, are not going to pay for the cost of the advertising. What pays is when someone searches for the product and the multiple paid posts have given credibility and ranking to the product in the search engines. As a matter of personal choice, I do not participate in pay-to-post programs.
Should product reviews be on a blog? Absolutely! The Internet is a reflection of the real world. In the real world, if I try a product I like, I will probably tell others about it. If a company wrongs me, I will warn others. It is only natural to extend that to the Internet. Some bloggers will even ask companies to send them products. They have the audience and clout to get this benefit. Reviews don’t have to be positive. The catch is that if you get a reputation for giving negative reviews, no one will send you their product. Mike Arrington recently accused Leo Laporte of Twit.tv of getting a pre-release Palm Pre in exchange for a glowing report and Leo took great offense.
I have products sent to me. I’ve had the best intentions of reviewing them but never have. Until someone starts BlogHim and lets us daddy blogs have cat fights over swag, I think I’ll accept products for review. Joan Goldner, a wonderful person!, sent me The Busy Body Book when my Covey planner had run out and I forgot Cathy’s birthday. I never posted a review of The Busy Body Book but it remains one of my favorite organizers despite being a Covey fanboy. I’ve been calendarless for 2009 but am just about to order a Busy Body Book. Read about it on their blog.
Yesterday’s mail
Yesterday I received two products: a bidirectional IDE to SATA or SATA to IDE Adapter and a LifeStyles premium polyisoprene Skyn "closest thing to wearing nothing" condom with Excite female stimulating gel. I’m looking forward to reviewing both of these products! The adapter I ordered from Hong Kong for $4 which included free shipping. It comes with a circuit board, power cable, and a SATA cable. I recently tried to buy a SATA cable locally, just the cable, and it was going to cost me $20 plus tax! The condom was a surprise and comes with a survey asking for feedback on the Excite female stimulating gel. I think I’ll be able to find a volunteer to help me fill out that survey (pseudo related note: We bought Watchmen last night). Now I’m off to plug a cable into something.
The Review
Here’s your quickie review: The Excite female stimulating gel product..let’s just wow! No, let’s say that twice..WOW! WOW! As for the Skyn condom, anyone with a LATEX allergy who has been horrified by a polyurethane plasticized baggy as an excuse for protection can be happy to know that your polyisoprene condom lives up to its marketing. Not only is it as comfortable and flexible as a latex condom, it truly is almost like wearing nothing.
