Boo...Halloween will be relevant again!

Wow, I'm pretty excited. The last time I wore a costume and traversed a neighborhood looking to score some chocolate goodness was 1997. I was a senior in high school and would relish any opportunity to secure free food related products. Yes, even if it meant dressing up and preforming for strangers. My costume that year? I was the invisible man.

This worked on a number of levels. First, it was a cheap costume, I just wrapped a 3 dollar ace bandage around my head and wore some gloves. Second, it spoke to my teen angst at the time...You know the under-appreciated teen invisible to the more popular crowd...Lastly, it was a little embarrassing begging for candy at 17 years old, so being completely unidentifiable made it easier to reach over the little kids for the full size candy bars.

That was probably the last year Halloween was relevant for me, but soon that will all change. I now have a daughter...This means:

1. Not only will I get to trick-or-treat again (which by itself is awesome), but I will be able to do it sans costume. I'll just be the tag along dad looking for scraps that don't make it into the candy bag.

2. Safety Taste Testing...Look it's a dangerous world out there and I'll be damned if I let my little girl eat something that may be unsafe. I have to do my part to protect her and if that means eating half of her candy then so be it!

I see this as a win, win...And even though our little girl is only 5 months old and her best trick-or-treating days are still in the future I am starting to look forward to it now. Hey she may not eat candy this year, but she'll be in her first costume this year, and that is a step in the right direction!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

If you want more Fatherhood Friday fun, check out all the other posts @ Dad-Blogs.com

Fatherhood Friday! - Read? Who has time to Read?

Two Fatherhood Friday's in a row, how about that? I bet you all thought my promise to return was an empty one. Have no fear, I still have much to say...I missed the theme of last week's Fatherhood Friday, but that's ok but this week's theme is one I can really get behind. Books.

I am a tech guy by profession, but an English major by degree so I can really enjoy a good book once in a while. In our house, books have been a big part of the days that lead up to the birth of our daughter, as well as, the days following.

Prior to the birth of our daughter, my wife and I read Paul Reiser's Babyhood. It was a pretty amusing take on becoming a parent. It made the whole process seem fun, and funny. Now that I have a little one at home, I've come to realize that in the moment these funny stories don't seem so funny, especially when you're running on 20 minutes of sleep for the day. Still, the book made us both laugh and helped ease our anxiety leading up to the due date.

During the few weeks after our daughter was born, you know those nights when you're up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours, we had a very set routine. I would change the baby and hand her off to momma to be fed. Then I'd grab the book off the nightstand and read aloud for the next 20 or so minutes. This book was Breaking Back by professional tennis player James Blake. I can't in good conscience say the book was terrific, but it got us through those early middle of the night feedings, and we did learn some things about professional tennis that we didn't already know. We're huge tennis fans, and never miss a televised tournament so it was interesting to get a peak at what happens before some of these players hits the courts for their matches.

In Thoreau's Walden, the author took some time to go into the woods and live deliberately. Now, like Thoreau, I will also do something deliberately. No, I won't be abandoning my family to live in the woods, I've decide to take this year and read deliberately. So, all of those books I didn't give a fair shake in college are coming back, the first is Moby Dick.

I realized that with parenting it is important to have something for you. You need to hold on to a little bit of yourself otherwise you'll get lost in all the poop and drool. Sure, I don't have as much time to read as I once did, and Moby Dick is taking a lot longer than I thought, but all that time I spend NOT reading I'm spending with my family and that is even more rewarding.

I'll never stop reading, I may slow down a bit, but I'll never stop.

The Last Beach Day...Thousand Words Thursday...

A weekend or so ago we took our little girl to the beach to say goodbye for the season. While I've never been a fan of the sand, I do like the breeze, the water, the warmth, and the company...There's always a slight pang when I know I won't be back for awhile, especially considering our favorite ice cream place and our favorite Italian takeout place on the island are closed for the season.



So long Ocean City, see you when it's warmer.

Sleep in Saturdays, the greatest idea ever!

I started this blog as a place to vent. It is a place where I can come and talk about what it's like to be a parent. But somewhere along the way I didn't really account for the time it would take to actually parent, go to work, spend time with my wife, sleep, eat, occasionally shower, and any number of other things that steal my time now that I am a new parent.

That said, I haven't had the time to really put effort into this blog. I had high hopes and have fallen short of my goals...That is a little disappointing, but when I take a step back and think of every time I've seen my daughter smile at me in the last couple of months I don't even care. No matter how bad or stressful my work day is, I know that when I get home to my wife and baby girl nothing else matters. So I am going to try to resurrect this blog, but I won't do it at the expense of my family time.

I'm sure at this point you're wondering what has been going on since my last post. I know you're constantly checking the site, waiting for what I have to say next or wondering if you'll ever hear from me again. Have no fear. There is finally something new to add.

My wife recently came up with the greatest idea ever. It's called 'Sleep in Saturdays,' (or Sundays depending on our plans). The idea is this: My wife and I will take turns sleeping in on Saturday. It's that simple, when it's my turn to sleep in, my wife will get up with the baby, feed her, dress her, and take her out for a couple of hours. When it's my turn I'll get up prepare a bottle, try to dress her, and take her out for a couple of hours.

It really is a sanity booster. By the end of the week, we're both pretty beat and the opportunity to sleep in recharges all of those exhausted internal batteries. Not only that, but when it's my turn to get up with the baby I get the added benefit of daddy-daughter time that i usually miss during the week.

If you don't have a rule like this in your house I strongly suggest you give it a shot. My wife is brilliant. It's ideas like these that deserve Nobel prizes not silly advances in atomic physics or penning an obscure book no one has ever heard of.