Kidneys, Kettlebells, Car Repair, Migraines, Fishing, Diapers, and Stay at Home Dad Stuff

Tag: SAHD

SAHD Friday: Cooking school

Well we finally decided that it was time for my 10 year old and my 7 year old to learn to cook.  A bit at least.  My 7 year old gets to push the buttons on the microwave and put the cheese in the macaroni and cheese.  More will come as he can handle it.

My 10 year old is learning more and more things to cook.  And how to tell if the pasta is done, and how to make Jello.  She is able to turn on the oven and put things in and out.  It is rather nice that the kids are getting old enough to do some things around the house.  It is especially nice when we have to take care of the new baby.

The most surprising thing to me is how quickly they are taking to the chores and learning.  They are learning how to put things together for dinner and they are learning not to be afraid of the stove or the microwave.  I think half of the excitement of cooking for them is being able to use the appliances that have been off limits for so long.

I think one of the most important things that we are all learning is trust.   My wife and I are learning to trust our kids to do things without us showing them how.  The kids are learning that we do trust them.  They are also learning that the things we have been saying for years about the stove being hot and knives being dangerous are true, and not just something we made up to repress the kids with.

This whole journey of letting the kids grow up can be overwhelming.  They will always grow physically.  They will get bigger and need new clothes and shoes no matter what we do.  The trick is to let them grow mentally, adapting to their personalities and aptitudes as they can handle it.

Giving them more responsibility is a fine line between “too much I can’t handle it” and “not enough to keep my interest for long”.  That is a line I constantly test as a parent.  There are things that I remember doing at their ages that my kids are just not ready for yet.  They are coming.  The trick is to  keep them interested so they don’t drift away on you.

They want to mow the lawn now….I am not quite ready to relinquish that yet.  On the front yard people see at least.

Have a great weekend guys, thanks for reading.

-Justin

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SAHD Friday: The Time Is Now, It’s All You Get

Hey everyone, I hope you are jazzed for the weekend.  I know I have been neglecting my Fiction Saturday lately, so I am sorry.  Tomorrow will be no different.  I am heading out to Kidney Kamp with my kids so I am going to run all of the Man with the Hazy suit posts and then end it with a bang in a couple of weeks!

As for today, it is stay at home dad time.  I realized some thing this week.  Actually I have been observing it for 2 months now, but I am finally writing about it.  What I am talking about is my new son.  As I sit and hold him or play with him now that he is learning how to smile and laugh, I realize that there is never going to be another time just like this one.

I thought back to my other 3 kids and realized the same thing.  There were several points that I needed to remember, that was all I got.  Even with Amelia’s dialysis and transplant, there were several things that were so worth remembering.  How she acted while all of these horrible things were being done to her and how tolerant a one year old could be.  There is another post about that later.

What I wanted to bring up is this little sound clip, Amelia speaks mouse.  She was 2 when I recorded this becasue she loved to sit and watch “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” during the 4 hours of dialysis.  This is a time I can’t get back, but I have a record of it.  Pictures and even video provide that same memory jog that is needed, because that moment is only here right then.

Like I started with, I was thinking of this post when I was watching my newborn son, right after he fell asleep in my arms.  I studied the patterns of his sparse hair, the cadence of his breathing, the set of all of the wrinkles and fold of his face.  I was totally into just that moment.  Another time in a very similar situation my wife asked if I wanted her to take him and I said no, this was a time to just be here, because he would never be that exact age again, doing those exact things.

These first two months of a new baby have really made me look at how my life was spinning.  That new baby forced me to slow down.  He forced me to sit in a chair and hold him without a mouse in the other hand or the soft glow of the monitor to illuminate the night.  I watched more movies during this time than I have in the past 2 years.

These are all times I would never change.  These are the times I am so thankful that I am a stay at home dad.  These are the times when I pray that I will be able to continue to stay home and watch my kids grow.  I have always been close to them but there were the times when they would do something fantastic and I was at work.  There were also the times when I was right there.

Like the time Leatha, my oldest (now 10!) showed up just outside of the kitchen when I walked out.  She was just barely standing a couple of days previous, and I looked for my wife to be right there, but she was on the couch across the room.  Leatha had walked all be herself across the room.  I turned her around and sent her back to Mom, and I saw her independence start.  I can’t forget that moment even should I want to.

This is part where I get preachy.  This is the time to look into your kids personality.  This is the time to be with them and memorize the freckles that come in when they play in the sun.  There will never be another time just like right now.  If you keep putting off the time investment, saying I will do it tomorrow, you will lose out.  There will not be those cute kids learning how to talk and walk.  There will not be the chance to look into new eyes and see the synapses fire as he realizes that I am his dad.

There is so much good in being a DAD.  I was playing with the baby yesterday and my wife said someting to the effect of is that a very manly way to act?  I said maybe not, but it is the Dad way to act.  That is more important with these kids, to be their dad.  They can learn to be Men later.

Sneak peak at next week: Puberty….

Thanks for reading, please comment below!

-Justin

SAHD Friday: Postponed and Halloween!

Halloween icon
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Hello all.  It seems like forever since I had a Friday post up.  That is terrible.  I really have to figure out how to structure Friday posts and get them written ahead of time.  That pre-writing challenge was great for that, I need to get back to it.

Anyhow, Today I want to talk a bit about my favorite holiday, Halloween!  I just love the fall festival of all things macabre and horrific.  It is my chance to watch all of the horror movies that I want to without anyone wondering if I have a screw loose.  My wife thinks I am just getting pointers but I really am not.

Because I didn’t get this post pout earlier, I am sitting here writing while keeping an eye on my 4 year old in the bath.  Our whole family just finished carving our Jack O’Lanterns for this year.  We have to keep the evil spirits away!

I don’t know if you all carve pumpkins or not but it is a very fun family activity.  Everyone, except the 4 month old got to participate.  We have started going to a local farmer to get our pumpkins so each of the kids gets to pick out their own and then we go home and carve the things.  I think the bulk of the fun for them is choosing and then cleaning the pumpkin.

I will get some pictures and post them in a while, probably monday with some others of the carnage that is left over from Halloween.  I hope you all are planning on doing something fun with your families this Halloween weekend.  There is plenty of time to go rent an old horror flick (we have Poltergeist ready in the DVD player with Transylvania 6-5000 right behind) and pop some corn!

Then there is Trick Or Treating tomorrow or Sunday depending where you are (here it is going to be saturday).  Get out and enjoy some good fun and scares with your family!

-Justin

PS if you don’t have kids and like gory horror movies, I went to Saw 3D last night and it was way cool.  The new 3D is incredible.

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