24 Jul

Dad and Buried Posted in Learning 1,415 comments

Parenting Milestones

According to my son’s birth certificate, I became a father in 2010. But becoming an actual parent took longer. In fact, I think it took until last week.

When we imagine having kids, most of us have similar daydreams. Most of them focus on big moments: choosing a name, putting together a crib, going through labor, changing diapers, playing catch, taking off the training wheels, the first day of school, etc.

When I finally, actually became a dad, many of those milestones remained significant, but dozens – hundreds! – more piled up around small, everyday stuff. Every single first is a capital-F First: first burp, first smile, first poop, first solid poop, first roll-over, first sit-up, first crawl, first fall, first steps, first words…

But after a while, and folders full of pictures, you realize that those aren’t your milestones. They’re your kid’s. Here are some actual parenting milestones.

Read more about Parenting Milestones …

15 Jul

Dad and Buried Posted in Learning 6 comments

Bad Impressions

On Friday, I wrote about how children absorb and reflect their parents’ behavior, often shining a light on Mommy and Daddy’s worst tendencies.

Some of those tendencies are more problematic than others, especially when my son starts doing unconscious impressions of his parents in public. Sometimes it’s cute, sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s just plain embarrassing.

Because Detective Munch does bad impressions of me, and I don’t mean bad in a “he can’t pull it off” kind of way. He’s a gifted mimic. It’s my behavior that’s the problem.

Be All That You Can Be (Except Any of the Following)

I’ve been writing a lot about the dreams my son may have as he grows up and the way life may dash them. But the fact is, despite how hard it is to become a rock star, or how unlikely it may be that he will be a professional athlete, if there’s one country in the world where such outlandish dreams are possible, it’s Canada.

But America ain’t bad either.

Freedom can be a dangerous thing. There are so many ways it can go wrong. In honor of Independence Day, I’ve put together a little list of things my son can be when he grows up, because of our freedom, but that I hope he doesn’t become.

27 Jun

Dad and Buried Posted in discipline 2 comments

Scared Tactics

When you’re a kid, you just don’t understand.

You’re just doing your thing, trying something new, exploring something new, eyes on the prize, when all of a sudden Daddy appears out of nowhere, grabs you, and starts yelling in your face.

You’re scared. But what your puny, inexperienced brain doesn’t realize is, that despite all appearances, Daddy is even more scared than you.

Without 2

You may have noticed that the blog has been a tad quiet of late, and that’s because the family has been doing a little traveling.

We drove up north. We drove because we wanted to stay flexible, schedule-wise, and because airlines inexplicably charge full-price once your kid turns two-years-old so he can have a seat. But I’d gladly let him sit on my lap for two hours. Deal with occasionally getting kicked, fatso next to me!

The driving made the travel longer, made the use of the computer impossible (hence reduced blog posts), and made me question why I didn’t put my son in a kennel because he’s the one child on earth who doesn’t sleep in the car and man does he get annoying!

But a funny thing happened near the end of the trip.

Dad and Buried

Tag: humor

Parenting Milestones

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Bad Impressions

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Be All That You Can Be (Except Any of the Following)

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Scared Tactics

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Without 2

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