/dev/null/kevin

This story comes out about once a year, just to make those of us who don't send our kids to every possible activity feel better about themselves.  The report, as always, says that it's a good idea to let your kids just play and not to over-schedule their little, tiny calendars.  "Spontaneous free play" and "playing with toys" are good for kids and reduces stress in both the kids and parents.  Wow, thank you, science for that helpful and never-before-discovered fact. 

In all seriousness, there is a lot of pressure for "educated" parents to do as much as they can for their kids.  However, I have found (and science now backs me up) that smart people can out-smart themselves and that it is possible to have too much of a good thing.  It's a good thing that I'm lazy and never bothered to sign my daughter up for more than one activity at a time.

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October 09, 2006 01:57 PM PDT Permalink | Comments [2] |

My RSS news reader had, not one, but two stories about celebrity dads who have never changed a diaper. Both Donald Trump and Adam Sandler admit to never having performed the task, and I'm sure that there are many others. Yeah, they're rich and all, but if you're not willing to take the good with the bad then you're not being the best parent you can be.

As a man, I find it really lame when other men won't do something because "it's girly" or "it's women's work." To me, that is just a lame excuse not to do something that you're afraid of doing. A real man does what has to be done, even if the task is daunting. All the bravado and macho attitute mean nothing if you wuss out on a task that women and 14 year old baby sitters have been doing for centuries.
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June 05, 2006 05:05 PM PDT Permalink | Comments [1] |

As a Star Wars fan, I couldn't help but notice that a recent photo of my daughter looked like she should be flying a Y-Wing starfighter and trying to shoot down the Death Star.

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February 07, 2006 01:46 PM PST Permalink | |

We went to Disneyland in June and I pulled this video clip of my daughter, Hayley, dancing to surf music while we were at Disney's California Adventure. I may need to go buy some 60s surf CDs now.

Much has been made recently of the new healthier cookie monster, both in the news and in satire. However, I just need to make these two points:

1. Why is everyone talking about this now? This story broke in the Aug 29, 2004 issue of TV Guide. That's six whole months ago! If you're going to get all up in arms about this, you should have done so back then.
2. Have any of these people seen the new shows? I have a 22 month old and we watch everyday. Cookie Monster is still eating lots of cookies. He's still fat, and the actor behind the puppet still is the funniest ad lib guy on the show.

Now, if the show does change for the worse, I will get on the bandwagon bashing this change, but I will do so as an informed individual, not just part of a mob.
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April 10, 2005 12:37 PM PDT Permalink | Comments [2] |

Things I just learned in the last five minutes:

• My 22 month old daughter really likes this online Elmo game.
• When your 22 month old child starts scolding herself ("No, NO! NO! No draw draw Elmo!"), look up to see what she's doing.
• Don't leave permanent marker pens within grabbing distance of a 22 month old.
• Office Depot's Multi-Purpose Anti-Static Cleaner works really well cleaning off permanent marker drawings from a 21" flat panel computer monitor.

So, I sent her off to play with her mother's makeup...

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March 30, 2005 09:22 AM PST Permalink | Comments [4] |

My wife is going away for week, leaving me with my 21 month old daughter. I'm actually going to take the week off from work, so don't expect much blogging. It's going to be a challenge because my wife had been an integral part of the sleeping and napping routines.

On the plus side, whenever she lets me, I'm going to be playing Knights of the Old Republic II.
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February 11, 2005 04:11 PM PST Permalink | |

Here is the first anti-Sun posting on blogs.sun.com!

<tongue-in-cheek>
If you've been reading all along (and who hasn't!) then you know I have a Sun Blade 2000 at home. I also have a 20 month old daughter, Hayley.

The two don't mix well.

Like most paranoid parents, we spent lots of money on over-priced safety products that include foam pads and double sided tape. We had every sharp corner in the house covered in padding, or so we thought. To date, Hayley has never touched any of these pads, except to bite them or to remove them, but she has never fallen on one.

Enter the Sun Blade 2000, with its dangerous, baby-slicing edges (Sun BLADE, indeed). Tucked next to my desk, three of its razor sharp corners are inaccessible, but the fourth was left negligently exposed at toddler chin level.

Now enter Hayley, bright-eyed and eager to show Daddy her latest trick. Innocently running, she slips and hits the one unpadded corner in the entire house, the Sun Blade 2000. Tears and crying follow, some of it from Hayley. There is blood. There is pain. There is anger and guilt. Murphy and his law is cursed once again. On a side note, Band-Aids on kids don't work. Band-Aid == Food

The Sun Blade 2000, before and after the incident, is shown below.

Apparently, it's never too early to start worrying about bullies. This article on toddler bullies talks about how bullying starts young. Really young. As a parent, now I've got to figure out how to deal with this. This is hard for me because I never dealt with it much in my childhood. I was either lucky, or stupid, but I don't know how to pass on that lesson!

As a parent, I'm supposed to teach that violence is bad, no matter what. It takes a special person to be able to do this correctly. If someone really wants to bully you, you don't have too many choices. You can walk away, but that only works if the bully isn't targeting you directly. You can be Ghandi and be willing to take the punishment with no reaction with hopes that the bully tires of you. You can be Jim Carrey and try to use humor to diffuse the situation. You can be Dr. Phil and try to get into the bully's head and either change them or just make friends with them. All of these options require some real skills that can't be taught.

So, back to the "non violence" solution. I took lots of martial arts growing up, starting fairly young. As a result, I thought I was some badass dude who could take anything. I wasn't, but I thought I was. The result was an attitude that didn't project weakness, and I think that's what bullies look for in a target: weakness. Like dogs, they smell fear. As a result, I was mostly left alone. The problem is, how to you teach that to a kid? Should you teach that to a kid? I don't know.

Both my dad and I have been in only one fight (not with each other!). In his story he just ended up grabbing the guy's throat and that scared his opponent off. In mine, the guy punched me in the shoulder, but I didn't budge. I just looked at his hand and slowly pushed it aside. For whatever reason, he left me alone after that. I'm not sure what lesson can be learned from that ("be a big lummux!").

So, back to my 20 month old daughter. Again, I'm at a loss since she's a girl. Maybe I'm being chauvinistic, but it has to be different between girls. They seem to bully each other with words over fists. Do I teach her to fight back when attacked and to stand her ground? The schools seem to frown on that, but that does seem to be the way of things. The natual order of things suggests that if you don't defend yourself, you open yourself up to more attacks. On the other hand, violence begets violence, so it's a very thin line to walk if you choose this option.
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January 18, 2005 12:02 PM PST Permalink | Comments [1] |

If you can't be silly with your kids, you can't be silly.

As far as I know, *I* said that. If you'd ever met me, you'd know I'm a pretty stoic person who basically only moves when I have to. You'll rarely find me on the dance floor or anywhere else where I have demonstrate my lack of grace. Thus, it was with great surprise that I found myself dancing around like an idiot in front of my 16 month old daughter, just because it made her laugh. Whereas I'm usually painfully aware of what's around me, I had no idea who was watching, nor did I care. That was kind of nice.
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September 23, 2004 02:12 PM PDT Permalink | |

I was chastised for not have a recent picture of Hayley. Apparently 4 months != 15 months. So, here are two (count 'em, two!) new and recent pictures.

Hayley in Daddy's Shoes	Bubbles in the Bath

Here's the picure of Hayley, as promised. She's actually only four months old in this shot, but she looks the same! Well, her hair is longer, if you can believe that. We've had to give her four haircuts already.

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August 09, 2004 10:25 PM PDT Permalink | |

My daughter was born May 15, 2003, so I'm a little behind recording her every movement. As of today, she already talking (a lot) and walking (a little). If you believe the "percentile" graphs, she's light and short for her age, but has a big head. I call it "smart" and "petite," which is a good combo, IMHO. If I can figure out how to upload an image, I will.
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August 05, 2004 08:06 PM PDT Permalink | Comments [1] |