Category: Evan
Bad Dad
I am trying to work. Evan comes downstairs carrying a game CD and a case for Mart Kart Wii because he likes playing Mart Kart Wii with me. Instead of acknowledging the cuteness and giving him the 4 minutes it takes for him to get bored with the game, I got frustrated with the distraction and angered that a CD/DVD was out of its case being handled by a three year old. Don’t ever forget, they just want your love and your attention! To give a child what they want often takes very little. Make the time.
From the mouths of babes
Evan: "Dad, let’s get dressed as pirates up there." (Up there meaning up stairs.)
From the mouths of babes
My son has experienced his first ever Emergency Alert System message on the television..and it wasn’t a test!
Evan, 3 years and 5 months old: "Daddy! Come look at tv."
Dad, hears that an Emergency Alert System message is on: "It’s okay. It’ll go away in a moment."
Evan, turns television off then back on and message is gone: "I fix it!"
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.
Oh, Nebraska, not Target!
Big families should use the buddy system and we do. In the parking lot, before entering a store, Cathy chimes out the buddies: "Amy, you’re with Dad. Evan is with Sarah. Noah is with me." (Tommy is at the border of Kentucky and Tennessee) As the children have grown older, they gain a little independence. For instance, in Target, Noah in the Middle is allowed to hang out at the video games on his own leaving him buddyless. Unfortunately, this hasn’t worked out too well for him. Today we shopped at Target for Amy’s homework supplies to decorate a pumpkin as Fancy Nancy. After checking out and loading the car, Sarah questions, "Uh, where’s Noah?" We forgot him! Again! One day Target is going to gain a night employee. Sorry Noah!
From the mouths of babes
I’ve been ratted out regarding this tweet.
Of Being Dad
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.
SuperDad!
This sippy had chocolate milk in it yesterday so we can just rinse it out and put more chocolate milk in it right?
I took Evan to the IRS office today in the John Duncan Building and we played with cannons, walked a maze in the courtyard of one of my favorite downtown churches, played on benches, took pictures with statues, and generally had a nice little adventure downtown. Almost got our paperwork turned in too! Time to call the levy department and beg one more day then get back to coding.
From the mouths of babes
My son has a love/hate relationship with our Roomba. He loves to start it and watch as long as someone else drags it out of the Roomba hiding spot but he still finds it the robot scary. This morning, the brisk air outside and the full moon made the dogs extra frisky so as they wrestled they simply ignored the Roomba trying to join in the game by bouncing off their feet.
Evan: "Robot clean Molly and Dharma!"
Now why did this child wake up at 7:15am? I was really hoping he would sleep in! Thank goodness he does self-play really well. He and I will have an adventure today as I will take him to the IRS office in the John Duncan Federal Building. "And Homeland Security detained a local man after his feral children ran rampant through security…"
Evening Status
We survived the day without much of a productivity hit to my coding. After getting 3 children off to school, I hit the keys. Recovered the pre-schooler and did an errand on the way. Let the tv do some babysitting until the 6 year old came home and then she babysat fought the 3 year old. Then the 12 year old came home, the tv was turned off, and he was placed in charge of his siblings until it was time for dinner. Everyone ate and the 12 year old was ushered off to bathe and prepare for scouts. I slipped in some more programming while the two little ones played nice upstairs. Noah’s ride took him to scouts. I bathed and jammied the two little ones. And now I’m debating just how horrible it would be to take a 3 and 6 year old in pajamas into the Weigel’s to buy milk for the morning.
The scream was like a banshee in pain
The house quieted. Evan declared, "Give me bop. I go bed now." And with a little reluctance, he put himself to sleep. Noah coaxed Amy to bed but she sprang back after he slipped out to read a book. In the meantime, I took the dogs outside and sat on the porch, shirtless to enjoy the cool evening air with no mosquitoes and chant. Shortly into chanting, the peaceful neighborhood with its waxing gibbous moon (96% full) being sung to by crickets erupted into a cacophony of barks and howls. I continued to chant and Dharma and Molly, my German Shepherds, sat silently alert. Then there was the shriek! Altogether to close! Thanks to our camping in the Okefenokee, I am quiet familiar with the sound of fighting raccoon and I do not want my dogs tangling with one of those. Chanting ends. I usher the dogs inside to find Amy having trouble sleeping so we go to her bed and chant together until she is calm enough to sleep.
And the girls are gone!
Cathy and Sarah along with Missy took off this morning in a decked out Saturn Vue loaned to them by GM to attend BlogHer in Washington, DC. Today was also my deadline for getting my IRS paperwork straightened out before they begin levying bank accounts again. Despite my pleas for one more week, they wouldn’t budge. Fortunately since today is a Sunday and tomorrow is a federal holiday, I have until Tuesday to turn the papers in. For a variety of reasons from "I didn’t feel like it that year" to "Cathy’s name didn’t match the records at the Social Security Department," I had missing or rejected IRS tax returns from 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006. This makes Uncle Sam not like you. And when Uncle Sam doesn’t like you, he takes away a bunch of your money in fees, interest, penalties, and brute force.
The paperwork is straightened out. Amy has been to a birthday party. Evan and Noah to the circus with the grandparents. Noah is nursing a migraine. Amy and Evan are playing. And I’m programming (think I’ll slip some dinner in somewhere).
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?
From the mouths of babes
Evan poking me in my side hard enough to bruise: "Daddy, I want you come upschairs."
Dad: "No I have to work."
Evan: "I have to work too."
Dad: "Oh you do? What are you working on?"
Evan: "I work on compshure."
I wish I could live long enough to see a society where our "work" was solely the development and growth of our children and that our skills were simply contributed as needed to the community. Ray, where’s that Singularity?
