Category Archives: Parenting

Parenting

5 Things To Do With Your Kids Today to Show Them Love

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The choice to spend less time blogging about life as a stay-at-home dad and more time being a stay-at-home dad is proving to be a wise decision. There are so many wonderful things to do with your kids, and most don’t require much effort at all.

Being present with your child when possible makes a world of difference.  I know many parents work and have to have someone watch their kids all day, but the little things matter and make a big impact on your relationship with your children.

things to do with kids

Here are five things to do with your kids starting today that are simple, but will leave a lasting impression which will strengthen the parent-child bond.

  1. Tell them you love them. No matter when, where, or the time of day, just blurt it out “[Insert child’s name], I love you.” They may not be old enough to truly understand or maybe they’re older and will roll their eyes, but those three words are more powerful than any of us know.
  2. Give them a hug. Combined with number one, this will beat buying them the coolest toy on the market (only to become obsolete in a few months) and help you connect with your child on a new level. Hugging increases oxytocin, known as the cuddle hormone, and works great with your partner too.
  3. Read to or with them. Find a book, magazine, or just something with pictures to look at with your kid. Read or explain the pictures to them and ask them to point out certain words, letters, or pictures. If they need help, try giving clues first and praising them once they find the right thing or let them know it’s okay if they don’t and the important thing is that they tried. Knowledge is power and books are full of it!
  4. Simply sit beside them. Have a chat, ask them how they are doing (even if they can’t respond), play with blocks, describe your surroundings, or just embrace them in silence. Your presence will mean the world to your little mini me. This can be your fallback plan if reading doesn’t go so well or combined after you’re done reading.
  5. Go on a walk. If they’re still too young, push them in a stroller, but just getting outside with your little one has lasting benefits for the both of you. As a fan of keeping active, going on walks creates a healthy habit at a young age and is a perfect activity to do as a family. Fresh air promotes a sense of freedom and just makes you feel good. Depending on where you walk, it can be fun to explore new places or see familiar faces to socialize with.

Whether with your partner or not, these will stand the test of time as effective things to do with your kids to let them know you’re there for them and love them. Hopefully these easy tips give you something to do with your kids today, tomorrow, and every day. Going Mom and I do one or all of these every day and our family is stronger as a result.

Life, Parenting

An Impromptu Trip to the Grapevine GrapeFest

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Grapevine is a city near our home here in Texas. It holds an annual GrapeFest which, as you might suspect, has to do with wine. Going Mom, G-Ma, and I attended years ago on a Saturday and all I remember is lots of crowds and hot weather. The heat I’m okay with, but as an introvert, I’m not big crowds.

I had a doctor’s appointment on Thursday, the opening day for GrapeFest, where the office was nearby. GrapeFest was nowhere on my radar of things to do that day, but with my trusty sidekick and lots of signs for the event, the extrovert in me tried to show himself. With a quick appointment and Avery behaving in the office, I decided to go off course and let her experience the event.

doctors-office-on-spin-stool

The fact that is was free to enter the first day helped in the decision making process too. After parking and making the half mile walk with Avery on my shoulders, I asked for a pic of us at the entrance before we entered.

entrance-to-grapevine-grape-fest

It’s hard to see us, but I thought it was a good shot. You might wonder why kids would have any place in a festival all about wine, but it really has something for everyone. Lots of vendors selling unique niche-type products that were cool but I would never buy, lots of typical carnival food I wouldn’t touch with a…..well, anything, and even a KidsWorld section. Oh, and a carnival area that I refused to enter since I know that day will come eventually so might as well save the money until then.

I did, however, let our little girl indulge in a snow cone….kinda. A snow cone vendor stopped us as we were walking and asked if they could test out their new hire by making a snow cone for us. I explained we have yet to give her sugar and definitely won’t be the chemical-laden syrup they use, but then said I’d accept just shaved ice. That’s all they wanted to do anyway, so we got to enjoy an unflavored cone of shaved ice.

having-unflavored-sno-cone-at-grapefest

Hey, ice is fun with or without extras, and she liked it. Plus it was free, win-win! We continued down the strip and ran into Tubby the clown who offered to make a balloon animal. A turtle was the obvious choice.

turtle-balloon-from-clown-at-grapefest

Tubby was even thoughtful enough to make it a bracelet so the turtle didn’t wind up on the street only to get washed down a drain into the sewer where it has nuclear waste flow over it turning it into a mutant. Then a ninja rat would come along and….oh…better stop myself now…..she liked the turtle balloon bracelet.

turtle-balloon-on-wrist-at-grapefest

We made a quick peak inside a local farmer’s market where we sampled fresh okra and admired the local produce. It was also nice to enjoy some air conditioning before stepping back into the humidity of the day. Next stop was KidsWorld with activities from the Grapevine SEA LIFE Aquarium and LEGOLAND® Discovery Center. Giant LEGO bricks are never a disappointment.

playing-with-giant-lego-blocks-at-grapefest

I’d love some of those blocks at home to make a giant wall and just crash into them. Or to make a cool fort. Oh, to be a kid again! There was even a petting zoo complete with goats, chickens, bunny rabbits, llamas, and one cow.

surrounded-by-goats-at-petting-zoo

Mostly goats. I even made friends with one of them.

goat-on-daddys-leg

Meanwhile, Avery was making friends with a bunny who seemed to not enjoy being in the heat that much. Or the fact that dozens of kids have been chasing it around already.

petting-bunny-at-grapefest-petting-zoo

She made her rounds petting the different animals with the llama being the last.

posing-with-llama-at-grapefest

That turtle made new animal friends too! There was a section with miniature horses that were meant to ride, but no one was around, so I just had her pose next to them. Hey, that’s free!

next-to-miniature-horses-at-grapevine-grapefest
Cool shirt, huh? You can get one and more here – http://skreened.com/goingdad

There were a couple stops to the very humid porta potties throughout our visit, but we survived. The entire trip only cost me one dollar which was to tip Tubby the Clown for the turtle balloon. Not bad for new experiences with the sweetest kid.

I feared I might regret making the impromptu trip to GrapeFest, but it turned out to be a great experience for us both. Showing Avery new things makes me happy and I hope it’s something she remembers forever.

Then again, when Going Mom asked her that night what her favorite part of GrapeFest was, she answered “Ummmm, the porta potties.”

Kids….

Life, Parenting

That Time I Realized She’s Growing Up…..Fast!

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When did you first realize your kid was growing up? As first time parents, Going Mom and I never knew what to expect when the realization that our little girl was truly growing up hit us. But now, as she approaches her third year of life, it’s hitting us like Joe Frazier’s left hook to Muhammad Ali in “The Fight of the Century”.

She went from a needy blob of cuteness, to fully functional tot in what seems like the blink of an eye. It felt like forever back then, but now here we are, trying to keep up with her full sentences (including plenty of back talk), constant questioning, and inability to sit still for even a second. No kidding, watching her eat at the dinner table has us stressed out and she falls off her chair several times each night.

This sudden “left hook” has made me rethink what I do each day. I always enjoyed blogging, but it was much easier when our little human couldn’t talk or move that much. Now she’s more mobile than most adults and full of requests to play with her.

Always choose play!
Always choose play!

Before, blogging time was easy to find, but now, between cooking every day, cleaning, working out, and playing with her, there’s not a lot of time left to blog.

When I do find time, I notice that I have lost much of the passion I used to have. I feel guilty knowing I could be doing something else for/with the family or simply reading a book. I miss reading books. Our daughter growing up has helped me to come to a simple conclusion, something’s gotta give. Another stay-at-home dad who blogs as the Sunshine Dad speaks a lot on the same thing in his post, I Was Wrong. Five Kids Is Tough. While I would like to correct “Is” to “Are”, sorry Mike :), and I only have one kid, I share his feelings.

Social media has always interested me, and I plan on sharing plenty of our life experiences on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but full on blog posts will be drastically reduced. I’m always up for sharing a healthy recipe or reviewing healthy food/products, but will not seek them out as much as before. Again, look for all of my favorites on my other social media pages.

Yes, I too feel as if I have some growing up to do, and this precious time with my beautiful wife and daughter means way more to me than blogging. I know I’ve spent too long trying to think of that next good topic to write about or how to spin a story, but for what? Nothing is as important as spending time with loved ones, so that’s what I’m doing.

#mysundayphoto, sunday, parenting, toddlers, cute, kids, dad, family

 

 

You might wonder why, then, I took the time to write this post to the few followers I have. Blogging has always helped me express my feelings, and letting it out there helps tremendously. I feel better after just writing the words above and will leave it at that. This is not the end, just a notice that I’m redirecting my focus on other things/people. Any posts will be short and geared more towards sharing things I’ve ready in the health and fitness world or just a funny pun.

As a side note, I’d like to spend more time designing fun shirts with puns and pictures in my store on Skreened; appropriately named Going Dad. And I’ll leave you with a picture of my little girl and her Daddy (that’s me) rocking my first creation I spent a while designing. If you like it, please feel free to order one for yourself and little ones too!

avery-and-daddy-with-see-you-later-excavator-shirts