Although it doesn’t exactly feel like summer in Seattle, Kim bought peaches and the kids gobbled them up within minutes. I look forward to more fresh fruit, green grass and small bouts of hayfever this summer.
One advantage of being the dad is being able to enforce the Dad Tax which states that a small portion of any food item goes to dad. For example, after the kids return from trick or treating, they each take turns dumping their bags of loot on the kitchen table. Once all the candy is organized into proper piles, Dad gets first choice of 5 items.
The Dad Tax relies on deflection, quick thinking and the kid’s questionable math skills. Whenever I order a few Happy Meals the kids start to complain when I sneak a few of their french fries until I remind them I only took one fry instead of what looked like five or six to them. 
But I was reminded that all this school has upped the ante when attempting to enact the Dad Tax on Luca. The other day she took a few rolls of Smarties candy and placed them on the kitchen table. I watched as she moved them around making different shapes until she got up to grab a glass of water. This was the perfect opportunity to collect the Dad Tax as I quietly snatched four Smarties. She looked over and saw me laughing and said, “Hey! I hope all my Smarties are still there. I counted 30 of them!’”
Collecting the Dad Tax had never been met with such resistance. Luca returned to her seat and began to count her Smarties one by one. “Twenty three, twenty four, twenty five, twenty six…..HEY! Someone took FOUR SMARTIES!
I was busted. The weak link in the Dad Tax is that it relies too heavily on my kids possessing poor math skills. Looks like this tax has met its match in a 1st grader who’s a Little Miss Smartie Pants.
Back in 1980, just one week before the general election at a debate against President Jimmy Carter, challenger Ronald Reagan ended the night with one of the most brilliantly executed parting shots at the incumbent when he looked into the camera and asked Americans this question:
“Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
I was only 13 years at the time but I remember how things changed at the moment Reagan asked that question. A week later Carter was defeated.
I keep going back to this question as I watch Obama and McCain fight for the right to lead our country. Am I better off today than I was 4 years ago when Bush began his 2nd term? How about 8 years ago? In same respects I’m better off and others I’m worse off. Eight years ago I didn’t think much about health care or retirement, but after 4 children in 7 years, I’ve given a lot more thought to both. Health care scares me as the costs continue to climb at a pace much faster than my salary.
I listen and both Obama and McCain, and I hear them toss out buzzword after buzzword that works the crowds into a frenzy. But I don’t have a clue what they mean or how it will help my family. I don’t know what they mean when they speak of “change” tossed into every other sentence. I don’t like where President Bush has taken this country, but I’d like to hear specifics instead of tossing out meaningless buzzwords.
I look forward to watching the debates between these two candidates. It’s difficult to watch Obama and not be impressed with his speaking skills and charisma. I have no idea how either would factor into making him a better leader of this country anymore than it would for me to vote for McCain based on his heroism as a former POW.
But there’s something about Obama that gives me hope. Hope for a better next four years compared to the last four. Maybe I’ll have the same feelings for McCain when I hear him speak more than I have. But right now I’m having a difficult time casting a vote for another Republican given where we stand after 8 years of Bush. Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago?
When I played soccer as a kid we were lucky if a parent remembered to bring along a bag of oranges cut into fourths for our halftime and after game snack.
Times have sure changed.
If I were to cut up some oranges for my son’s game, he’d be kicked off the team. Good old fashioned, healthy oranges no longer make the grade. At the end of my son’s game last week, another parent brought bags full of snacks so large I thought he was going away to summer camp because it was enough food to last him for a week. 
Who SUPERSIZED the soccer snack?
The typical soccer snack today includes a full size Gatorade, bag of chips, bag of cookies, and a granola bar. My wife brought hot chocolate on an unseasonably cold morning in addition to the snack. She didn’t think anything of it because the bar had been set earlier in the season.
The problem stems from the overzealous parents who bring the snack to the first game. They set the tone for the rest of the season because each subsequent game becomes an exercise in trying to one-up the previous week’s snack.
The season starts out with bottled water and celery sticks but ends with enough junk food to make my kids pull their shirts over their heads and do the “ Great Cornholio” for the next seven hours.
I worked later than normal this evening to finish up some paperwork and wait for traffic to die down which it didn’t. Traffic seldom cooperates. By the time I arrived home, Kim had fed and bathed the kids which immediately takes the two big tasks off the table.
Kim has been under the weather a bit so I felt bad I wasn’t around to help out earlier. About the only way I could think to help was to put the salt and pepper shakers back in the cupboard and clean the kids ears. Two jobs I can handle.
I took the kids downstairs and sat them on the couch next to me. Lincoln sat to the left me of and Luca sat to the right. Anna Lynn jumped on my lap as usual. I tried to find the Lakers. vs Celtics game on ABC but DirecTV said the channel was experiencing “technical difficulties” so I switched over to SportsCenter to wait for the score ticker. Celts up by 5 in the 4th quarter so no way was I switching over to Nickelodeon.
That’s when Lincoln and Anna Lynn realized there would be no Backyardigans and bolted upstairs looking for trouble. But Luca was tired. She put her head on my shoulder and placed an arm on my chest.
She fell fast asleep. I sat there watching SportsCenter with my oldest daughter asleep on my shoulder and wondering how much longer she’ll be willing to do this. I turned the sound off so I could hear her gentle breathing. Her hair was still wet from the bath she took earlier, and I could feel the cool dampness on my ribs. I could sit like this for hours with Luca.
At what age does it no longer become cool to hang out with your dad? I hope she’ll always want to have me around, but I understand that as she gets more involved in school and makes more friends, the time she has for me will decrease.
That means I need to take advantage of the times like I had tonight with my daughter. I decided I’d let her sleep on my shoulder as long as she wanted.
OK, so there were no bribes exchanged but I’m certain my half dozen regular readers will be shocked to hear that Sampa listed Nordquist Blog as one of the 10 Daddy Blogs You Should Read.
Yep, you read that correctly. 
No, really.
I came in at #3 on ahead of the juggernaut of all Daddy Blogs, MetroDad.
This could be the tipping point I’ve been waiting for. An interview with Oprah can’t be far behind.
But seriously, check out the list and you’ll find hours of good reading. I’m honored to be mentioned among this group of bloggers who are a lot more polished than I am.
Each blog on the list is worth a read but Creative-Type Dad and A Family Runs Through It are the two I can relate to the best.
And thank you Sampa for making my day.
Whenever I tell Kim I have a few errands to run her immediate response is, “Which kids are you taking along?” Now that we have four children ages 7 and under you’d assume splitting them up fairly would be routine by now.
But it’s anything but routine because of the Anna Lynn rule which states that if you assume responsibility for her, the other parent must take the other three children including any pets. It’s only fair and totally reasonable if you’ve met our four-year old daughter.
But today I convinced Kim that, since Luca was at a friend’s house, I should be able to take only Lincoln along for a few errands. He was so well behaved the whole time that I decided stop by Baskin Robbins on the way home.
Taking my oldest daughter to Baskin Robbins is an exercise in patience because she can’t make up her mind. She’ll ask to sample a few flavors, changing her mind with each tiny scoop. After the employee has become visibly agitated wondering if we’re going to order anything, she’ll give up and say, “Just choose a flavor for me”.
One scoop of vanilla, please.
But taking my son is an entirely different experience. He’s already selected his flavor well before we pull into the parking lot. This gives him plenty of time to:
I don’t even have to ask what flavor he wants because he always wants Cookies and Cream in a wafer cone and “not a cup because that’s what mom makes us have and it’s not as fun”.
But my favorite part of the whole errand and ice cream excursion is sitting down at the table where he can pepper me with question after question. Today he asked me if I knew why he always wants Cookies and Cream and I told him, no, I don’t know why. He said, “Because it has COOKIES IN IT!”
Now I know.
I’ve come across a number of articles lately that discuss the costs/benefits associated with having children. Several of these articles compare children to other financial investments like 401k and various retirement plans.
This doesn’t feel right to me and here’s why: How do you put a price on the joy children bring into your home?
Conversely, how do you put a price on showing up late to work because you got an hour of sleep due to the baby crying all night?
I was well into my 30’s before Kim and I decided to have children. We never once ran a cost/benefit analysis to determine whether a child would meet certain a yield threshold. We certainly weren’t 100% out of debt nor did we feel particularly prepared to raise a child. We probably prayed more during the 9 months Kim was pregnant than at any time in our lives, and I’m certain this played a large part in our attitudes towards starting a family.
But we did know that we wanted children, and that we were willing to sacrifice having a larger home, fancier cars, and a lot less flexibility in our life. Kim was also willing to sacrifice her career to stay home and be the primary care giver. It was never a question of if but when we’d have children. We were both raised with four siblings and enjoyed having brothers and sisters around.
The decision to have children is personal, and I respect those who decide it’s not for them. I work with several such people and they are just like the parents I know: some are great around children and some not so much. If they ask about my decision to have kids I try to give them a balanced viewpoint although they probably already see both sides of the coin. They see me walking like a zombie through the halls when our last child was born and I wasn’t getting much sleep. But they also see the joy my kids bring when they come visit.
If I viewed life as a time to collect as many things money can buy I’d followed Ken Rockwell’s advice (near bottom of page) and not have children.
But many joys in life cannot be purchased.
I was reminded of this when I picked up Luca from piano practice today which I only get to do if I leave work early. As I pulled up to her teacher’s home she bounded down the stairs and ran straight to my side of the car. She beamed ear to ear as she told me how her teacher gave her a sucker because she played so well. Although I’d dropped her off only 30 minutes earlier she gave me a big hug and a kiss and said, “Dad, I like when you surprise me”.
The small experience didn’t add to my 401k, but it made me feel like Kim and I are doing some things right with our children. Sharing in your children’s joy replenishes the soul.
And you can’t put a price on that.
I have no problem when Kim calls for me to kill a spider in the kitchen or when I’m asked to catch a child who’s escaped from the bathtub and running naked around the house. I’ve also been known to make Macaroni and Cheese (from a box) if Kim’s not around and I can’t track down a frozen pizza.
But there’s one task that sends a chill up my spine because I know, no matter how hard I try, the results will border on hideous.
I’m talking about GETTING OUR GIRLS DRESSED.
Dressing my sons is straightforward. I pick jeans and a shirt of any color because anyone who reads GQ knows that jeans go with anything, although that’s not the best example because GQ models don’t wear shirts. It’s hard to go wrong here as long as you play the wildcard: blue jeans.
But my daughters are an entirely different challenge. And the problem starts when I open their dresser drawers and can’t make heads or tails of anything in there. I’m accustomed to wearing two layers: underwear and public facing clothing (jeans and shirts). But girls wear what seems like four layers of clothing and I don’t understand the first three.
I have a rule that goes like this: If it stretches, it belongs on the head. Like my ski hat or my Fletch-style headband. But that rule fails miserably when I dress my daughters because nearly every piece of clothing stretches. The shirts, the pants and the superstretchythingy that goes on under the pants all stretch. Each item of clothing feels like a big rubberband covered in a layer of ultra-thin fabric and I have no idea if it goes on the arm, leg, waist or head. Would it kill the company to put a symbol of the body part on which it resides right next to the washing instructions?
But I do my best to dress my daughters when called upon although I wonder if Kim asks me to do this only when she’s in need of a good laugh. I consider my job as wardrobe consultant a success if two or less items need to be changed at mom inspection time. And by change I mean swapped out for something that matches or relocated to a different part of the body.
What I need is a company like Benetton to create a unisex clothing line for kids that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg that clearly describes whether the clothing item should be worn….on the arm or the leg.
Steve Hodson over at WinExtra put together an excellent review of the latest version of Windows Live Writer which was recently made available for download. I’m writing this post using the updated version and it doesn’t look or feel much different other than the new tabbed look.
It’s my favorite Microsoft product and one of the few things that is keeping me tied to Windows. Last week I rebuilt my PC by installing a fresh copy of Windows Vista, and then I sat down to determine exactly what software I wanted to install on my machine. The fewer programs installed the better chance I have of fighting Windows Rot.
As I look over the list today, Windows Live Writer stands out as the only one that I’d miss if I were to switch to Mac as my desktop OS of choice. I believe that many people would say Microsoft Office is the deal breaker when it comes to moving off Windows. For me, the transition to Google Docs from Office took about two hours. I collaborate a lot at work and the notion of sending around document versions via email was cumbersome. Google Docs makes easy work of this scenario and everything else I’ve thrown at it. Leaving Outlook for Gmail was even easier. If you’re still using Outlook to manage your email, you’re living in the past.
So what applications keep you tied to Windows?
I found that many of the products I install are used to KEEP WINDOWS RUNNING SMOOTHLY and wouldn’t be needed if I moved to Apple. But cost is still an issue and the fact than I can upgrade my PC on the cheap keeps me from breaking the bank to move to Apple.
At least not yet.
Nordquist Blog 