And Another One Bites the Dust

Well, another holiday season has passed in our house. All the last minute craziness is over and all the kid's presents are scattered throughout the house.  Our last few days will be spent at the In-Laws just getting a little much needed R&R.  It's also a great time to reflect on the last few days and the passing of the Christmas Season.  What will we do different for the new year? 

This year, my oldest daughter and I spent a lot of time together shopping for the family, wrapping presents, and just talking.  She's getting old enough now that I wanted to make sure that she understood the real meaning of Christmas and why we celebrate it every year.  To my amazement, she already knew and really surprised me.  It really warmed my heart to hear my daughter tell me the story of Jesus's birth and sacrifice for mankind.  She really understands the meaning of the Season. 

Another thing we talked about this year differently then last, was the need out there for people that don't have anything.  If you watch any TV, you see commercials all the time about "for $.25 a day, you can feed this child in Ethiopia."  My daughters saw these commercials and repeatedly asked me why the child was so sad and where their parents were.  It was sad to hear them ask and it really made me reflect again on the meaning of Christmas.  This lead me to discuss needy children and how my oldest daughter felt about it.  Together, we decided next year that we are going to go through our local churches, angel tree, etc and take all the money we spent on ourselves and give to needy children next year.  She really liked the idea of being able to help others and that made me feel good.

This is all a plan to make sure that when my children grow up they understand that you don't have to have a lot to be rich, as long as you have your family and that there is always someone else out there that needs more then you do.  I don't think I said that exactly right, but you get the point.  We have been blessed in so many ways in our life and now is as good a time as any to share those blessing with others. 

So, with that being said, I hope you and your family had a very Happy Holiday.  May you be blessed with more then you can ever imagine and may you share those blessings with the one's you love.  Happy New Year!

It's Beginning to Feel Alot Like Christmas...

Well, not really.  One of the perks living in the south is fairly moderate, but unpredictable weather.  We rarely have days below freezing and the thought of snow is almost laughable.  Today's high temperature will be in the 70's and that is just not Christmas weather.  It makes it so hard to get into the Christmas spirit.  It just doesn't feel like Christmas. 

Thanksgiving day we put up our Christmas tree.  It was fake, of course, and it is a pain in the butt to put up.  It's been in my family close to 20 years, but it is still a Christmas tree.  We used to have a real tree for Christmas.  My wife and I would spend hours looking for the "perfect" tree.  That used to start putting us in the mood for Christmas.  Ever since we moved back to where I grew up though, it's been a fake tree every year.  There's just something about a fake tree that doesn't do it for me.  It took us another three weeks to actually put lights on the tree an decorate it.  Again, another message that it just doesn't feel like Christmas.  We actually don't even have any presents under our tree because we are scared the kids are going to get into them.  It's actually kind of sad.  It's just not Christmas in our house yet. 

So, how do you get into the Christmas spirit when your walking around in shorts and a T-shirt, complaining about the heat, hating the tree that you see everyday, and not wanting to wrap presents?  I say you remember why we celebrate Christmas, be thankful that you're not dealing with three feet of snow, and just try to enjoy this special time of year with your family.  There will always be next year to get fully engulfed in the Christmas mood and it will be here soon enough.  So, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone out there.  Remember the reason for the season and be thankful we've had another year. 

Who's Coming For Christmas?

So, every year we ask our children what they want for Christmas.  Most of the time it amounts to about every darn thing, but for my six year old, it was different this year.  She only asked for two things and she asked for them consistently.  Yes, my child is growing up, but it's way scary to hear what she wants now.

Justin Beiber now infatuates my little girl.  NO!  She wants a Justin Beiber doll.  Now I don't know if she really wants it for her, or if she wants it because everyone else wants it.  I can't figure it out yet, but I don't except that my little girl has been beiberized.  It's very scary for a DADD.  She also wants a makeup kit (to replace the one her sister's broke last year.)  She adds that last part consistently as well.  So, a my six year old wants makeup and a boy doll.  Someone please shoot me and put me out of my misery.  I thought I would at least escape this stress until she was a teen/pre-teen, but I guess not.  My little girl is growing up.

So, the next hurdle is the fact that Santa is not bringing her a Justin Beiber doll this year.  Have you priced these things?  They are ridiculous.  I just can't justify getting her one on top of what else we have gotten her.  We thought her "Santa" gift this year would be a MP3 player since she now loves music.  We've gotten her some books she's wanted and a couple of odds and ends.  I feel guilty though because all she has asked Santa for is that doll and a makeup kit.  How can I not get it for her? 

What are your thoughts?  Beiber or no Beiber, that is the question.

People Should be Born with a Universal Remote

Wouldn't be nice if everyone was born with a univeral remote?  Mute, volume controll, rewind, pause; how nice would that be?  It could be so usefull in everyday life.  The evil would probably corrupt its pure principal, but I think it would be worth the risk.

I can remember clearly waiting anxiously for my girls to talk.  Random Girl began talking early age and hasn't stopped since.  I can't say she hasn't stopped, she doesn't talk when she reads, most of the time.  It wasn't long after she began talking I was repeating one of my Dad's favorite phrases, "Can I just have five minutes of peace and quite?!"   I wasn't sure then why five minutes was so magical and now I know why. Five minutes to a 6 year old is a blessing.   Five minutes is actually a manageable goal to try and reach. Ten minutes would just kill your child and would throw the whole world off balance. 

It's kind of funny though because as Monkey and Punky Doodles came along, I had the same anxiety about wanting them to talk.  I actually told my wife that I was worried about Punky because she hadn't began talking yet.  How silly am I?  Now, again, just five minutes please.  Words start flowing out of their mouths at about 5:30-6:00 am and don't stop until, well, they don't stop.  Monkey actually talks in her sleep, constantly.  It has become my morning tradition when I am not at work to put on my headphones and listen to some music while they are occupied by the cartoons.  They even talk then.  I know that makes me sound like a terrible dad, but it's my five minutes of peace before the day really begins.

This handy little tool would be useful with my job as well. I would love to be able to rewind and let people hear what actually comes out of their mouths.  Sometimes I want to look at them and go, "Seriously, did you just say that?"  The worst part about it is that more and more people actually do not understand the amount of junk that is coming out of their mouth.  It's becoming an unreasonable world and the greatest thing about my job is that I have to put up with it.  Sometimes I just want to ask them where they work so I can give them a visit one day and let them understand what it feels like.  Enough about work though.

So, kind of like the movie "Click," we all need a universal remote.  We don't need to to fast forward through our lives or to navigate our past showings, we just need it to shut some people up sometimes, turn down their over inflated volumes, or just to get the five minutes of peace we need from our children.  I don't think that's a lot to ask for, although it is pretty selfish.  What do you think? Would a universal remote come in handy in your life?

Dream a Little Dream

So, when the idea of being a dad came to be almost 8 years ago now, it was definitely a new experience.  It was so surreal to think that I was going to be a father.  Now, it seems like it was just always meant to be now that we are expecting our fourth child.  It was dream of mine to have a family as I got older, but it hasn't always been my dream, not wholly. 

Growing up I was able to experience a lot of different things.  I played football, baseball, and soccer as a small kid. I went to sports camps and was pushed to be a little athletic.  I dreamed of being a great sports star.  My parents never took the time to tell me that my shot of making it to the pros was slim to none, one in a million.  They let me have that dream and as most things do in small children, it changed over time. 

What were your dreams growing up as a kid?  Did you dream of being an astronaut or a fireman?  Did you want to fly to the moon or did you want to own a horse farm?  What did your dreams consist of?  The reason I ask is that I believe we grown and develop as children based on our dreams and hopes.  As young children most of us had imaginary friends we played with.  We built forts out of blankets and had entire worlds made of Legos.  We developed through our imaginations,our hopes, and our dreams.  So as parent's, do we cultivate our children's hopes and dreams or do we introduce them to the hard facts of life early.  I ask this based on a parenting theory I just read, parents should not lie to their children.  The question is, what is so different from cultivating their belief in Santa Clause or the Easter Bunny and lying by omission, telling them their dreams of being the next world class ballerina is not realistic?  I ask this in all seriousness because to me it is one and the same.  Parent's fib to their children constantly, trying to protect them from the real world, trying to coax them into doing what is best for them, and trying to help them be children.  Really, what's crossing the line.

Now, I know that this stretches the idea of being a good parent, but I think it just feeds to the fact in all reality, everything we do is to make our children happy and keep them safe.  I believe that is the ultimate goal of all parents,  We all just have different methods to get there.  There is no single path better then another and we just have to accept that all parents are not created equal.  Don't judge other families for wanting their children to live our their dreams.  If I could say anything to a parent it would be to let your children dream, let them imagine, and let them enjoy being a kid.  It doesn't get any better when you get older and your dreams consist of paying off your car.  Let'em dream.