Boys, of course, will be boys.....

The she-child, who we affectionately refer to as Darth Pumkin, was our first. She's now 4. When she was about 2 1/2, we decided it was time to try to "potty-train" her, we read everything. Talked to everyone. Made absolutely no progress what-so-ever. At 3 she entered a local pre-k. Still not really using the bathroom.

It took less than 5 minutes from another 3 year old little girl to get her to want to use the toilet. We have come to realize, these words of wisdom can only come from an equal. This is also the beginning of Mom and Dad don't know anything. The words so vital to me getting some of my sanity back:

"Only little babies wear diapers to school"

That was all it took. Almost. We still had to work with her on it; but, most importantly, she was wanting and willing to use the toilet.

Enter the boy.

He is now 2, and has shown some interest in using the bathroom. The biggest stumbling block is trying to get him to sit on the toilet. Then came "The Breakthrough".

When we sit down to dinner, the kids are not allowed to leave the table until everyone is finished eating. With the exception of using the bathroom. Well, one night, good 'ol Darth Pumkin had to go. So, she jumps up and at a few decibels below the top of her lungs states "POTTY!".

The boy looks at us and in his own way mumbles something that he thinks means "POTTY!" I get the look from the wife that say: Bring him now!, so I bring him upstairs to where the training seat is. This is where, what I like to call The Enlightenment occurs. I get the friggin' diaper off and him finally on the seat.

Then it settles in to me, moreso than him. The little things in life you may take for granted. Anatomy and toilet training. Darth was only concerned with keeping the parts clean - instilled by her mother, with fear no doubt! :O The boy is sitting there in all his glory, with the soldier at full friggin' attention. XD

• Dad: dude, you're gonna need to push your willie down


• Boy: willie? (or the two year old pronuciation of willie)


• Dad: no, don't say that, mommy will ...oh never mind....just push it down, like this..


• Boy: (taking the bull by the perverbial horns) push?


• Boy: (ear to ear grin) PUSSSHH


• Dad: yes, dude,..... you can touch it

At this point, it all just clicked for him, and went all dowhill for me. I can't go downstairs to answer the phone now without coming back upstairs to find him on the toilet ( or half naked, with his grand plan foiled by daddy) PUSSSHHHHHH! XD I truly have created a monster.....with a willie.

Scott

Edit:spelling

Comes A Time.......

Last fall, on my way home, I came across 25 or so old house windows on the side of the road - which around here means free for the taking. Free is good. My immediate thought was "hey, they'd be great to make a greenhouse out of", so they're sitting in my shed waiting to be a late summer project.

But this isn't about a greenhouse.

I'm out in the shed the other day trying to get some measurements on the windows and plan on how the greenhouse would best be put together. I also have to take into consideration the two sliding glass doors (also for free on the side of the road) that I plan on using for the roof. There off to the side, by the old tires to my wife's old car and behind a bunch of old gardening pots, was my motorcycle.

Calling it a motorcycle would be like calling BBQ Ribs a pig. It was a motorcycle at one point, when I first got it. Then I started to work on it. I had planned on stripping it down and rebuilding it to original. Original would be a 1969 BSA Lightening, crotch-rocket of the UK in the '60s, chrome gas tank and all!

The parts that I have are: the engine, gas tank, a chopped hard-tail frame, fenders, pipes, and miscellaneous small parts. The original frame I had for it was stolen, with the forks and tires still on it. It's always been one of those things that I really wanted to finish. The time was never there. If the time was, the money wasn't.

What I really wanted, I think, was the ideal that went with it. The freedom associated it with riding a bike, the wind in your face, blah, blah, blah, we all know the scenario. Mostly though, it was one of the last crazy dreams of my youth and I didn't want to give it up.

Well, I gave it up. For $500.....cash!

In exchange for that dream, I'm working on a great reality:

Dad: what does "F" stand for?
4yo She-child: flowers, and friends, and french fries
Dad: what does "R" stand for?
She-Child: roses, and raspberries, and red
Dad: what does "X" stand for?
She-Child: XUBUNTU!!!!!!

My baby's learnin' LINUX! In addition to how to make whole wheat pizza dough, and plant carrots, and count the different colors of butterflies, and on and on and on....... :D.

Did I mention she can also tell you whether it's Jerry or Bobby singing when the Grateful Dead come on the radio? ;) Yes, she owns tie-dye too!

Dad: who's the cool dude?
2yo Boy: daaaad
Dad: who's the cool little dude?
Boy: (with thumb firmly planted in chest) MEEEEEEEEEE!!!

:D

I can live without that crazy dream and the freedom (at one time) it represented any day.......

Scott

The Eternal Pursuit to Telecommute

When my wife and I decided one of us was going to stay home with the kids, I hadn't expected that I would be the one. Although, when the time came, I stepped up to the challenge.

My wife has a job where she is doing well and moving up the ranks, not to mention carrying our medical benefits. The time has come though, for me to start bringing home some of the bacon. I have worked since I became a stay at home dad - some bartending(fun, but not a boatload of money), midnights in a plastics plant(not a lot of fun, but decent money), some side construction jobs on the weekends, etc. Now, I'm looking at trying to do it from the comfort of my pajamas.

Well, I started with craigslist.org. Looked through pretty much every category and replied to the ones I may be remotely qualified for/interested in.

You can imagine my surprise when I opened an email to find out someone wanted lil' ole me to be a web-cam model! Who'd a thunk it? :O As tempting as the idea of wearing a ball-gag and leather mask while doing bizarre things might be, I decided that for about $2-4/minute is a little low for what I might be asked to do. Not to mention, the wife said no.

Next up, online reading. I really didn't dive too deep into this one, but it seems I'd be emailed advertisements and asked to look at/read them. I'd be paid $.02/ad. I could, of course, refer other people to this wonderful career and make an additional penny off of every ad they read. Makes the ball-gag look good, huh?

Then came processing emails. Didn't really give this one a chance - I had to pay them for some membership or something. Nope. I'm the one who's looking to get paid.

After I felt like I had exhausted craigslist, I moved on to getafreelancer.com. Talk about feeling under-qualified. XD. I know my way around various Linux distros and can make some things in Javascript, but some of the things they have on that site just make my poor old noodle hurt just reading them.

I'm at that point of realizing I have been putting off the inevitable - polishing up the resume, and trying to actually find something I can do and do it wearing my pajamas.

Scott

Woo-hoo!!!!! Day 1 blogging....

I'm happy to have finally set this up. I've been meaning to for a while now, just never had the chance/time/whatever. The wife's getting sick and tired of my rantin' and ravin' around the house to her, so this may be the better solution.

Currently, I'm a stay-at-home dad to two great little kidders - Emily(4) and Tommy(2), and two really big, not-too-bright dogs - Fido(11 - Rott) and Rufus(5 - Rott/Eng.Mastiff).

In addition to raising the kids and trying to keep the dogs safe from said kids, we are in the process of remodeling our 100 year old rural house. Stripping the woodwork trim back to original, sanding the floors, etc, etc. Downstairs is almost finished, next year will be upstairs.

Seeing how it's also Summer, we have been busy in the gardens.....lots of veggies to be grown!!! I'd much rather grow my own than buy veggies that may have been grown with chemicals. Plan on putting a greenhouse extension on the side of the shed too.

First post done....sweet!!!!!...........back with more later ....
Scott