Take turns

March 12, 2010

There are some fundamental rules that parents try to teach their kids. Chew with your mouth closed. Share your toys. Say ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ Treat others like you want to be treated. Don’t talk to strangers. Take turns.

As a Toastmaster, one of my favorite websites is TED. This afternoon, I watched an awesome four-and-a-half minute speech — by Gary Lauder – that was too good not to share (especially since most Toastmasters speeches are in the range of 4-8 minutes). It brings the childhood concept of taking turns into the adult world. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Tastes chippy

March 9, 2010

Sometimes a parent just has to work with what he’s got available at the moment. The other day, my little one approached me and said,

Daddy, my tummy is rumbling. I need a snack.

It was close to dinner time and I didn’t want to ruin her appetite, so I grabbed a box of Roasted Garlic & Herb Wheat Thins. Now, before you decide I’m an awful dad for giving garlic crackers to a 3-year-old, you have to understand that I thought these were regular Wheat Thins. And so did my daughter.

She popped one in her mouth, chewed for a few seconds, then stopped and looked up at me.

I asked, “Are they delicious?”

They taste … They taste very chippy.

I couldn’t help it. I just burst out laughing. “The crackers taste, chippy? What do you mean?”

“Uh huh. They taste very chippy, Daddy. I don’t love those crackers.”

At that point, I realized my mistake and felt bad. But I couldn’t stop laughing. She just frowned at mean ol’ Daddy until he got her a more appropriate snack for a pre-schooler.

Have you ever given your child something to eat and gotten a funny reaction? I would love to hear about it.

Yahoo article

February 24, 2010

An article on the front of Yahoo! caught my eye tonight. It was entitled, Parents Choosing More Unusual Baby Names Now.

It was interesting to see this make “front page” news in the online world. I wrote about this very topic in two earlier posts, both of which you can find here:

• Baby names (one of my first-ever posts on this blog — then known as Raleigh Daddy 2.0 — back in January 2009)
• Name advice (a very brief November 2009 post that closely relates to the Yahoo story)

What is YOUR advice on choosing a baby name?

There’s daddy

February 23, 2010

The other day as I was driving down the street I heard my 3-year-old daughter, Breanna, start yelling something from the back seat:

Look! Look! Look! There’s daddy!!!

I didn’t think much of it. I thought she was just saying ‘there I was’ in the front seat, driving the truck.

Yep, here I am cutie.

No, look outside! On that sign! There’s daddy on that sign!!!

At that point, I realized that she thinks all Pedestrian Crossing signs represent an image of her daddy.

Not much further down the road, she started yelling again:

Look! Look! Look! Look at THAT sign, Daddy! There’s Daddy AND Bre on that sign!!!  

The constructions

February 13, 2009

There are two type of people in this world. Which type are you? Which types are your kids?

The first type of person likes to be cautious. To make sure everything is in order before beginning the task, job, game or opportunity. To research first, then act. This is the person who, on game night, pulls out the rules and reads them to everyone before anyone is allowed to spin, roll the die, start the timer or flip the hourglass. This is me.

The second type of person likes to dive right in. To toss the instructions in the trash and “wing it,” figuring out how the parts fit together, how the game is won, what’s the best way to proceed as they go. This is the person who enjoys playing video games but has never looked at the instructions to see which buttons make the character on screen take certain actions — and usually wins. This is my wife.

Not long ago, I learned which type of person our 3-year-old daughter is.

She loves to play games like Elefun, Don’t Break the Ice and Gator Golf. I was watching TV when she bounced into the living room with an enormous smile on her face. In her hands was a  box containing one of her toddler games. I clicked off the TV, slid down off the couch and sat on the floor, “criss-cross-applesauce” (or Indian-style) per my daughter’s command, then watched as she dumped the contents of the box onto the floor.

I started to reach for the game pieces to help her get it ready but she stopped me in my tracks by looking at me sternly and exclaiming,

Wait Daddy! I need to read the constructions first.

The constructions. Kind of makes sense, doesn’t it? The instructions tell you how to construct, or assemble, the product. She just shortened 2 words into one term: constructions.

I couldn’t help but giggle when I noticed that she was holding her constructions upside-down as she “read” them to me. (Of course, she can’t read yet (although it won’t be long before she can), but “read” aloud to me and explained how the game is played just the same.)

This is one of my favorite toddler words that my daughter has invented so far. If you like this one, you might like to take a look at some of the previous blog posts I’ve written about Breanna’s toddler words:

Bloop bloops and helipopters

Chucky Larms

Mush Patch

Daddy, can you say “Falingo?”

Do you remember your children’s cute toddler words? If so, I would love to hear them. Simply click on the title of this blog post, then add your comment at the bottom. As always, thanks for reading Raleigh Daddy 3.0.