NOTEBOOK
Commentary, experiments, failures (more often than not) and experiences in the field.
Shaving without Scaring the Kids
A major change to your hair, head or facial, is one of the fastest, most dramatic alterations to the way you look. Especially when you’ve had it a certain way for a long time and then toss a high-yield grenade of change at it. It can be very startling for others, especially your kids. So, […]
Manners that Don’t Suck
I’m going to sound like a pissed off old man. And I’m good with that. Bad manners are rampant. The way I see things going, manners these days are like harsh meanness and disinterested oblivion had a baby, and then that baby was handed a case of Red Bull and a shotgun. Hey, look! Our […]
The Chemistry of Combining Kids
When your kid or baby is getting introduced to another’s for the first time it can be a nervous thrill. Suspense! What’s going to happen? Are we going to get fun fizzy bubbles? Or an explosion? Perhaps a new virus? Sometimes 1 + 1 = WW3 If it’s the kid of friends or family meeting […]
Potty FAILing (A True Story)
We’re in the process of sorta, kinda, not really potty training Lucas right now (2 years old). We got him a potty seat a few months back, but he started standing inside the thing. We put it away when we thought of him learning to poop and pee in it while still in the habit […]
What Would I Do Without Her?
I’m home alone. I have been for days. Lizzie and the kids are off visiting relatives. Don’t close window! I’m not going to put on after-shave, spank my face with both hands and squawk into a mirror. ♫ Love is in the air! ♫ It’s cool. I’m good. No matter where I go in the […]
Giving Yourself the Death Penalty
Kids are easy to hurt. Plain and simple. They’re little and tend to be uncoordinated, and compared to them we’re BIG and… tend to be uncoordinated. Look, we don’t even spank the boys in our house, so this isn’t some child abuser’s psychotic attempt at an excuse for going postal on one’s offspring. I’m talking […]
The Steps to Manhood
Various cultures have different marks of “becoming a man.” Sprouting chest hair, tearing a bottle cap off with your teeth, “knowing” a woman, wrestling a croc, to name a few. However, I noticed that there didn’t seem to be a lot of broad attention from most men on the more subtle steps that lead up […]
Childbirth Terms Can Make You Want to Puke
You can turn the most vulgar, scary or embarassing concept into a phrase that you might expect Thumper to say to Bambie. It’s called a euphemism (yoo-fuh-miz-uhm). “The stork” are just two simple words and look how handy they are for some shyer parents as a quick dodge for answering a little child’s question about […]
She. Is. MINE!!!
It all started out so subtly that it was probably already happening and we didn’t even notice. A sad face from Lucas. A pissed off frown and a pouty lip. Maybe we just wrote it off to some intense toddler farting in the beginning. Soon though, a pretty recognizable pattern started forming. I’d give Lizzie […]
Chocolate-Chipless Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Cooking with your kids is fun. Baking is funner. Why? Because it’s all the fun of cooking without the stress of hot pans, flame and sharp blades near or in the hands of your children. FYI, burns and open wounds can seriously blunt the enjoyment of good family times and the satisfaction of a teaching […]
