A Whole Lot of Random Life Bits

Where does the time go? Seems like most of my life these days is recorded more on Instagram (@TonyCTD) or the hundreds of drawings/paintings my kids put up on the refrigerator, which by the way, can get a little overwhelming since something always seems to fall off if you just look at it.

Siblings: They’re Born to Annoy Each Other

A few things have changed now that my son is now 2 and a half. He’s mastered the art of annoying his sister. Two of the biggest problems going on right now:

•    When my daughter doesn’t “share” all of her food or dessert, he’ll cry and say “She HIT me!”
•    A few times she’ll come running to me practically crying saying, “He won’t stop pointing at me!” and then he’ll calmly walk into the room, while pointing at her.

Santa: Just Send Money?

There’s a part in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” where Sally has Charlie write a letter to Santa that I remember vividly. What I didn’t know is that I would experience that conversation nearly first-hand with my daughter’s recent visit with Santa:

Santa: So what do you want for Christmas?
Daughter: An iTunes gift card.
Santa: An iTunes gift card?
Daughter: Yes, for at least $25.

Grandpas: Their Dramatic Love Lives…

This has been a bit of a tough year with my daughter, as she doesn’t have a living grandmother like all of her friends.  My wife’s mother passed nearly 10 years ago and my grandmother, the one that raised me, passed away soon after my wife and I were married 13 years ago. It’s something that’s really been upsetting her the past few months, but we are fortunate with one amazing godmother that she sees multiple times a week and who has gladly been an amazing grandmother-type to both kids.
She does have a grandfather on each side of the family and both are under some weird circumstances where they’re both now living with their “lady-friends.” 

My daughter had asked me the other day, “So when grandma’s die, grandpa’s get lady-friends to live with them?”
I never, in a million years, thought I would have that kind of conversation with my 7-year old.

Dad Moment: Learning to Ride a Bike

There are certain moments with my kids that I know I going to remember forever. One of them happened recently when we finally took the training wheels off my daughter’s bike.
I ran up and down the street behind her, which by the way was exhausting! Obviously, I haven’t done any marathon training in awhile. Anyway, all was worth it as she was balancing on her own.
Then came the realization that my little girl is growing up way too fast.

Preschool Parent Teacher Conferences Are Full of Surprises

Apparently I have another child that I didn't know about.

My wife and I had our very first parent-teacher conference at my daughter's preschool. I must admit when her teacher first mentioned it, I did get a little nervous. The first thing that came to mind was "Uh-oh", followed by "parent-teacher conference for... preschool?"

I sat in a little chair, trying to balance uncomfortably on one cheek, not knowing what exactly to expect. Then it dawned on me: how does my daughter behave when we're not around? Is she repeating stuff? What exactly?
My mind kept wandering expecting to hear something from her teacher like, "your daughter keeps kicking the other kids out of the plastic playhouse saying it's foreclosed...", "She's been teaching everybody how to sing Tom Jones song 'What's New Pussycat'", "You know, Pirates of the Caribbean isn't a movie for preschoolers" (for the record, it was only the first 20 minutes), "Blackjack isn't a good way to teach counting", or worse "we think you eat too much KFC" (for the record - impossible.)

After her teacher looked at a paper for what seemed like 10, maybe 40 minutes, she began:

Miss Teacher: I didn't know you had another child?

Me/Wife: (simultaneously) What?

MT: Your daughter talks about him all the time...
(I look at my wife in as if saying,"is there something you're not telling me woman!")

MT: (continued) ...she says how cute and funny he is. And how he's not a big kid like she is and... how you throw him in the closet at dinnertime...

(why do they always look at the dad?)

Me: What? She knows we throw him in the basement.



My daughter's friends, classmates, and cousins all have younger siblings that have been born recently and she hears the stories, feels the pressure and wants one too. Her "baby brother" usually has the same name of her friends' or cousins' siblings. At school she's created some art of her, us, and a baby brother. I must admit we've seen one before and didn't think much of it, but seeing more of it really got to me.
Afterwards, we talked about school, family's, siblings, and bugs she saw at the playground. I had mentioned that she'll have a baby brother or sister one day, she'll just have to wait. And then I added, "Maybe when you get better at Blackjack."