We’re Now Mobile!

Posted by Toolbox Dad on January 27, 2008

Okay like that matters!  But hey you never know when you might need to refer back to a blog posting while out and about. To access this blog on your mobile phone, it’s pretty simple, just type in the same URL, the WordPress Mobile Edition plugin by Alex King takes care of everything. If you have some new fancy-schmancy phone it may not work 100% but for the masses this should work just perfectly (for a mobile page).

So give it a try and let me know what you think. If you’re also a blogger consider downloading Alex’s plugins and check out the rest! Download other Alex King WP Plugins 

Chocolate Pudding Pancakes

Posted by Toolbox Dad on January 26, 2008

Well we just received an email from Grandmom and Grandpop, my in-laws, and they were experimenting with pancakes this morning. Here’s what they had to share:

Wanted to tell you a recipe that Grandpop tried with his pancakes that actually tasted pretty good and thought the kids might like to try it. We had the Krusteaz pancake mix that you just add water and decided to dress it up. We took chocolate fat free pudding and put some batter in a frying pan, then put dollops of pudding on top and added more pancake mix over that.

Be careful with kids because pudding does get warm so they don’t burn their lip. It seems like something kids could go for.

This sounds pretty damn good and we’ll probably give it a try either Sunday morning or one day next week when the wife jet-sets to Orlando.  

Cough, Bark, Hack! The Croup is Back!

Posted by Toolbox Dad on January 22, 2008

12:20am and I’m just about ready to go to bed after wrapping up some work and blog posts on other sites. “COUGH COUGH, BARK BARK, HACK HACK!” I hear from down the hallway. I immediately think, “OH NO! The croup is BACK!” That’s right readers, with winter comes many fun things for our young ones, but none of them enjoy the frightening cough from the croup.

Boo is woken out of a sound sleep and before I could get to his door he is standing there barking like a seal. Of course I immediately think it’s the worse sounding cough I’ve heard from him, and even worse than the two bouts of croup last year! I head to the closet and pull out the dehumidifier and get that running while Mommy tries to sooth him. He’s SO tired but the look of terror on his face just makes it that much worse for me.

So what is croup?

Read the rest of this entry »

Diapers To Donuts: A Fathers New Years Resolution

Posted by Toolbox Dad on January 7, 2008

Ok well maybe I need to set a New Years Resolution just like this other Daddy did for his children and for him!  I was Stumbling (www.stumbleupon.com) the web tonight and up pops this site called Diapers to Donuts with the following blog post:

Diapers To Donuts: A Fathers New Years Resolution
This year, I am going to do things a little differently. Well, A LOT differently.

I fear I have become one of THEM – those tired, weary fathers I see making their way home on the train each day. You know who I’m talking about. The ones who like to make jokes about hiding in their basement to watch the football game. Yeah, them.

I don’t want to be one of THOSE guys. I don’t want my children to grow up like Britney Spears, raised by Bratz dolls on some kind of Godless culture where little girls are told to act like supermodels and boys are immersed in countless images of violence while Daddy is busy at work or hiding out watching the game on TV.

This year, when I come home completely exhausted and cranky from a nightmare client meeting to the point that all I want to do is focus on my own sad little problems, instead I’ll focus on you. read more

In reading the full post I looked at how I am, how I am as a Daddy and as a husband.  I’m grouchy, stressed out all the time and probably not a lot of fun to be around when at home.  Outside of my home (I can call it the Quiet Zone) I’m usually pretty relaxed, even the daily stresses at work don’t get me so upset. Maybe it’s our old dog that is always in the way and I’m practically tripping over her.  Maybe I’m grumpy because I don’t get enough sleep (yes, this is probably a major factor — hmmm, it’s 11:37pm right now, probably should be sleeping).  But in the end I just think it’s me. I let the small things stress me out.  Like this weekend, my three year son old crying and whining about not having the right kind of cheese on his crackers…why would that stress me out? It shouldn’t at all!  Or the fact that he and one year old  sister may not share or play nice together.  I guess like the other article, there are WORSE things that could happen to our kids.

I do enjoy the good, fun times with our kids. I really do. And seeing the smile on my son’s face is priceless. It makes me feel so good inside! Just this weekend he nodded off on his car ride back from the store with Mommy and I was going to drive him to fill up a 5 gallon water jug. Just as I got into the SUV (this always happens) he started to wake up. I thought since Mommy was no longer in the car that he would freak out, instead, this HUGE smile came over his face and he squeaked out “Daddy!”  I just smiled and said, “Hey there Buddy!”

It was a warmer than normal January day today and I wanted to get somethings cleaned in the garage and leaves raked up but also wanted to have Boo (my son) outside with me. I asked him if he wanted to ride his tricycle but he saw his scooter. I put his helmet on and watched him ride around the garage and driveway. He almost took a good spill one time but caught himself. I just go numb and paralyzed when I watch him almost fall off the scooter. It just freaks me out.  But he only rode that a few times around and then saw the bigger bike, the two wheeler. I said, “ahhh the big boy bike ok let me help you”. He didn’t refuse this time. At first Boo didn’t know exactly what to do so i was coaching him. I loved this moment and can’t wait until spring when he and I can be out there learning how to peddle. He didn’t want to stay out too long today as he hands were getting cold.

So anyway, I need to bring focus back to the kids and give them all the attention that they need and demand. And let me tell you that probably isn’t all that much. Boo is starting to do a lot more independent play, that’s good, but that also means (now that I think about it) that he’ll soon be wanting to do things with friends and nothing with me. Hmmm….I guess I better think that through and spend all the time now playing trucks, trains, with puzzles (but NOT the princess ones that my wife let him play with), his legos and whatever else.

What part of my resolution needs to be is not trying to push my daddy responsbilities onto someone else like my wife, my parents or tv/dvds for Boo to watch.  He needs to be able to play with me.

Ok, here’s the end of this lengthy post.  this is the type of blog entry I wanted this site to contain. I just never found the time to do this! thanks to the real author on Diapers to Donuts for making me realize what needs to be done!

PS: don’t misread the above, I have spent great quality time with my son. I tend to want to leave the house on the weekends and a few times in the past month I have taken him with me to Target or other errands. That is the special time, the fun time, the Daddy time.  We had an awesome father/son lunch at Red Robin the day after Christmas. It was a good day!!!  (Ok, another resolution better be to go to bed before midnight 4 nights a week! so this post is over at 11:59pm)