Search Results for: blog the importance of daddy time

Spending Time With My Sister Part II

On day two of our visit we awoke fairly early (probably due to the time difference) and I, of course, was starving. I had brought a cooler full of food with us, particularly breakfast food items for my daily three egg omelet. It was not apparent yet that my sister and her husband were awake yet so I prepared breakfast for my son and I during which our hosts awoke with their baby daughter! While my son and I ate our breakfast, the baby also had her breakfast and my sister’s husband made breakfast for the two of them. The … Continue reading →

The Importance of “Daddy Time”

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For the first few months of my son’s life, my husband had a hard time taking care of him. My son would cry a lot whenever my husband would hold him. More than likely it was because I was the one who took care of him 20 hours out of the day. Being the sole caregiver began to take it’s tole on me and our household. I didn’t have time to do anything until after my son’s bedtime. You can only cut into your sleep so much before things start to fall apart. We finally made a decision that my … Continue reading →

Lessons from My Father

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I’ve always been a bit of a daddy’s girl. As a little girl, I chose repeatedly to attend the “cow sales” (livestock auctions) with Dad over shopping with Mom. Maybe it was because I felt so special being the only little girl in the midst of all those men, but whatever the reason, I loved spending time with my dad. I loved the way he took care of me and, although my memory may be somewhat skewed by age and time, the way he seemed to take pride in my being there. I grew up wanting to be around Dad … Continue reading →

ABCs and 123s

As a toddler parent, should I be singing the ABCs and 123s more than I do? I am always singing and talking to Jessie, but I forget these basic songs. We have a number of toys that stress the alphabet and Jessie enjoys playing with them. I still feel I should do more. Today in Gymboree we had a substitute teacher. Kyle is really energetic and a lot of fun. He’s been training at our location for a few weeks now. Jessie hasn’t been too keen on Kyle because she’s generally not OK with men other than daddy. She did … Continue reading →

Big Day On Campus

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The day after my dual-presentation nightmare signaling the end of my semester as a student (though grades still needed to be entered for my students as an instructor) my wife was tasked with taking her students to an event on my campus for the entire day. This meant I’d have to go back and spend the day in the place where just yesterday I had been anxiously preparing to pass or fail evaluations of my intelligence. I would have rather sat at home. That last day was exhausting. This was not going to be possible, though, because baby needed to … Continue reading →

Preserving Memories

Along with the names, dates and facts on paper that come with creating our family tree and researching our ancestors are the memories that were made along the way. It is important to preserve memories as well. As a gift for each member of my family, my grandmother did something very special to preserve the memory of my grandfather, who passed away several years ago. She took his clothes and used the pieces to quilt blocks of Overall Bill. Instead of quilting the blocks together in a quilt, she put each Overall Bill on a canvas. She then had my … Continue reading →

Top Ten Things I’ve Learned about Being a Dad During (Month One)

Cillian isn’t even a month old yet but I’ve already learned a great deal of things about being a dad during this first month. 1.Your babies name is important (geneology, uniqueness, etc…) People start getting ideas about you and your child because of their name. There was a reason my wife and I didn’t choose certain names for our children, often because people with bad personal qualities carried those names. After the first announcement of our son’s birth a flood of questions came in regarding the name. What is the name? Why did you choose the name? Did you know … Continue reading →

For Dads: Bonding with Your Child

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Growing up I always heard countless stories about how enthusiastic my dad was about having us two girls. There are tons of pictures in our family albums that show him holding us with a huge smile on his face. I can’t remember the things we did together during those first few years, but there are a whole lot of photos to prove we had a really good time. I saw these photos growing up and they made a lasting impact on me. To this day, I can look at one of those pictures and I am reminded of how much … Continue reading →

Elmo Lends A Hand To Help Military Families

At first glance it looks like your typical Sesame Street episode. Elmo, Rosita, Zoe… the gang’s all there, but the topic covered on Sesame Workshop’s latest DVD strays from ones that are covered on traditional shows. The characters are not learning their ABCs and 123s, rather the furry friends are learning how to get in touch with their feelings. It sounds great, but don’t look for the new DVD at your local toy store. Sesame Workshop is not mass marketing this production; rather it will be distributed exclusively to military families. That’s because the episode featuring Elmo and Rosita is … Continue reading →

More Freebies!

I’m not the type to get something just because it’s free, but I’m constantly amazed at the things companies give away that are actually useful! Here are a few worth getting: Spider Identification Chart – I don’t really mind most spiders. They’re pretty useful at keeping the bug population down. We have “house spiders” that are big, ugly, and hairy. We named them “house spiders” so the kids wouldn’t be afraid of them. Didn’t work perfectly, although it seemed to calm the adults! We leave the Daddy Long-Legs where they are (aka “Fred Spiders”; I don’t know why); the rest … Continue reading →