Parenting | Page 24 of 27

What Indiana Jones and television dogs taught this Dad about Parenting

I love the opening sequence in Raiders of the Lost Ark. When Indy finally gets to the large room where the golden idol is he pulls out a bag of sand, shifts some of it out and then switches it out for the treasure. It’s a clever trick and an accurate premise. The treasure is on a pressure sensitive platform that triggers a huge boulder if something heavier or lighter is on it.

Prior to being a stay at home dad I used to do PR for an animal shelter. As part of my job I would take cats or dogs to local television stations and tell the audience why they needed to adopt this pet. Dirty little secret: when I took cats, I always took kittens and when I took dogs I always had bacon in my pocket.

What could that sequence from Raiders and the experience with pets on live television possibly have taught me about parenting? Continue reading What Indiana Jones and television dogs taught this Dad about Parenting

A Dad muses on the joy of a Onesy

Every experienced dad I’ve spoken with has said that after every ‘phase’ of parenting has been their favorite. As a dad I can attest to that because Baby Mojo is leaving the onesy phase and I have loved this phase.

As previously mentioned, aspects of his infant phase, especially at night were great because it had an accompanying Elvis soundtrack in my mind. Part of that vision quest was the timely nature of his diaper calls, combined with the onesys that he was wearing. Continue reading A Dad muses on the joy of a Onesy

Daddy Mojo reviews: Beaba Formula & Snack Container

Babies, especially when they hit the toddler age need to snack and snack often. Forget the food and face the perilous onslaught of a multiple octave attack from your previously happy toddler. At one point in time moms and dads had to have plastic, re-sealable containers that were cheap, disposable and let’s face it, not cool at all. Continue reading Daddy Mojo reviews: Beaba Formula & Snack Container

New babies: a primer on communication

When Baby Mojo was first born my greatest fear was ‘how will I know what to do?’ Even though you have nine months to prepare for their arrival the pressure about what to do and when to do it is the underlying albatross for most parents. We were talking one day and Daddy Mojo said something along the lines of my greatest fear aloud. Continue reading New babies: a primer on communication

Tips from a dad on helping your baby sleep

Ask most doctors how much sleep a baby needs and it’ll vary between 15-12 hours total, depending on how old your child is. We’ve been very fortunate in that Baby Mojo has been a great sleeper ever since the second day out of the hospital.

The first night home for him was a disaster, but not because of anything he did. Continue reading Tips from a dad on helping your baby sleep

I’m keeping tabs on my neighbors

Even before I was a stay at home dad my ability to remember names in a timely manner left lots to be desired. At previous jobs and social gatherings there were people who I genuinely wanted to know, but couldn’t remember their names. I’ve tried mnemonic devices, like associating somebody with an action or thing that will trigger their name with something. They do work occasionally, but then I have to remember somebody else’s name and the whole process gets gummed up inside my head. Continue reading I’m keeping tabs on my neighbors

Lessons learned on baby proofing the outlets

I’m cheap by nature and when we were shopping for outlet covers there didn’t seem to be any difference. As with all things baby and parenting we’ve discovered better options than what we first tried.

As this is our first child we didn’t know how naturally attracted children are to electrical outlets. Granted ours have the classic 90s gold covering, so maybe our child is just going up closer to get a look at his baby mug. Never use gold appliances in plumbing or with your outlet covers. We ran into this problem when we had to switch out a shower head as there, thankfully aren’t many options for people with gold plumbing. Sometimes I feel like we live in the home of a pseudo successful suburban rapper, Continue reading Lessons learned on baby proofing the outlets

Death of a (kid) salesman

Recently a local junior high school kid from the neighborhood knocked on our door. He was selling something for glee club and asked if I would help support them. Sure thing kid, I watch Glee, I’m down with your creative vocal talents, let’s see this catalogue of nuts, food or chocolate.

Either this club had huge overhead or the school hadn’t shopped around for efficient fundraisers because the lowest price item was $13. Yup, the items peaked at $45 and started at a Stromboli that our budding vocalist assured me was very good. Continue reading Death of a (kid) salesman