We went to the doctor the other day for my daughter Lucy’s nine-month checkup. It included a smorgasbord of shots. And I got to hold her down. I was pretty nervous on the ride there, and I wasn’t even the one getting the shots. As we were driving, I told Kim that I would rather receive the shots myself than have to see Lucy get them. “Spoken like a true Dad,” said my wife. I’m not sure what suddenly made me a glutton for punishment, but I didn’t say that to come across like some macho dude. I really meant it. Which surprises even me. You see, I’m not one of those manly men, with …
Jason's Random Musings
7 Must-Read Back-To-School Posts
With summer winding down, most kids are either back in school or soon will be. (I have to admit, not having to go to school is one of my favorite things about being an adult.) As school begins, stress levels mount -- for children and their parents -- leaving the door wide open for Adultitis. We collected a number of articles from our archives that will help you cope with the increase in busyness and give you some things to think about as the new school year kicks off. …
Bored is Good
I remember certain summer days during my childhood in which my brothers and I, all out of ideas of what to do next, would complain to my mother that we were officially bored. I don't remember getting much sympathy. It's been a long time since I was really bored. I love what I do, and there's always an impossibly long list of things that need to be done. And, frankly, it's kind of hard to be bored in our "always on" society awash in laptops and smart phones and iPods. Well, sometimes I’m bored when I'm with Lucy. …
Some Things I Learned Traveling with a 3-Month-Old
Kim and I recently returned home from another trip with our 3-month-old daughter, Lucy. So far, she has 12 flights under her tiny belt and has been in first class three times (although she slept through most of them.) Here is a list (by no means exhaustive) of some of the things I've learned in our travels. It's not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Lots of prior traveling experience and lots of research on traveling with kids probably helped with that first one. Leaving more time for everything is the key to staying sane. …
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Just Add Baby
Bright. Cheery. Helpful. These are words I'm not used to associating with people working in the airline industry. More commonly, I've noticed that security officials and airline employees tend to be among the most riddled with Adultitis. Little did I know that there is a simple solution to help raise them from their doldrums: Just add baby. …
iPhone: The Official Tool of Fatherhood
Sometimes technology can be a real pain in the keister. Like when my computer froze up right at the beginning of a speaking program I had last week. Not cool. But the good side of technology makes me grateful that I'm living in these modern times, as opposed to the days of cavemen or pilgrims or hippies. In the last few weeks, my beloved iPhone has already proven to be my favorite tool of parenthood. On the day Lucy was born, I had a lot of quality time with her because Mom was busy passing out due to low blood pressure. While Kim was getting taken care of and working on regaining her …
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The Official Drink of Halloween
Move over, blood! In a move that is sure to outrage vampires everywhere, chocolate milk has been declared the official drink of Halloween. This according to the Milk Processor Education Program. You know, the Got Milk? people. (On a related note, I can also tell you it is the official drink of pregnant women looking to reach their required daily intake of calcium but are sick and tired of regular milk. Well, at least pregnant women named Kim.) Of course, this is part of a marketing ploy designed to encourage moms to buy more milk for their kids. What I want to know is who made them …
An Expectant Dad’s Reflections on Registering (Part 2)
I had just a few more thoughts to share expounding on the recent post regarding our adventure registering for the essential baby gear needed to parent effectively in the 21st century. Contrary to the popular instant gratification trend of our society, Kim and I have decided to keep the baby's sex a secret. (In fact, I intend to keep sex a secret from baby for at least thirty-five years.) If I can use the word sex one more time in this post, maybe it will rank higher in the search engines. Sex. Sex. Sex. (That should do it.) Anyway, there are too few surprises left in the world, and …
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1,000 Posts and 5 Lessons in Dreaming
It's true: This is the 1,000th post. Maybe by the time we get to 2,000, they'll have developed the technology that will allow me to make confetti and streamers shoot out of your computer. Someday. I can't even begin to take credit for all 1,000 posts. Kim started up her own blog during the summer of 2005 and we combined forces and merged blogs last August. She doesn't give herself nearly enough credit, but the truth is that she has written stuff that I wish I could claim as my own. I started this thing on April 22, 2002 -- over six years ago! -- well before I had even heard of the term …
An Expectant Dad’s Reflections on Registering (Part 1)
Kim and I finally had a chance to officially "register" for this new little freeloader we'll be welcoming into the home in around four months. Thanks, dear readers, for all of the helpful tips and suggestions. Now I'm not sure if you know this or not, but there is kind of an entire industry that caters to providing stuff for babies. I've heard rumors about these giant, warehouse-type stores designed just for this purpose. I think there are even stores that I frequent often that supposedly have entire departments devoted to this sort of thing, but I've never noticed them before. They have …
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