DadTalk

Vatch Out, She Bites

Our school held its carnival-like fund raiser last weekend. Lael won scary teeth and Seth went for the inflatable guitar.

A Small, Cool Birthday

I can’t believe a month has passed since Lael’s birthday. Time goes by so quickly.

Like Seth’s party, we had a small affair at the park near our house. Lots of tree cover kept the parents cool while the water fountains let the kids have a blast despite temperatures exceeding 110 degrees.

The kids also went wild over the stomp rockets.

Kids Make a K’nextion

A couple years back, a relative gave us a gigantic tub of K’Nex mixed in with a handful of Lego’s and other toy parts. Without instructions, my kids were not really sure what to do with the K’nex.

In some ways, I see this as a plus. Lego Creator kits come with all the parts and instructions to build planes and helicopters, but they do not encourage creative invention. Without instructions, creative invention was the only possibility with the leftover K’nex.

With a little help, Seth built and airplane. Lael, built, well, we don’t know what it is, but she did it herself.

And I put together some gears to show the kids how the large-to-small ratio effects power and speed.

My Kids Are a Sorry Bunch

Presents evolve as your kids age. For us, 7 seemed to be the magic birthday where Seth was more than ready for board games.

Seth was already into Battleship, Backgammon and Monopoly, but we were decidedly lacking other traditional games at home. So one of Seth’s birthday presents was Sorry!

While we knew Seth would love the game, we were surprised at how much Lael got into it. She’d set up the board, calling out, “Daddy! Seth! I’m ready to play Sorry!” Oh, and she decided which colors we’d each get.

Keep in mind, Lael is not quite 4 and doesn’t fully understand the game. Lael can actually count to 20, but there is some funky wrist motion going on when she moves her piece: a 3 card might result in 15 spaces and a 12 card might result in 2 spaces.

Of course, the real reason Lael loves the game is to force us to spend more time with her. Smart girl.

Space Birthday Party

My son, who is now 7, is pretty big on birthday themes. This year was all about space, as you can see by the birthday cake.

We held the party at our community park, which comes complete with water sprinklers, pool, open field, gym toys and park benches.

For the first time since we started throwing birthday parties, little parenting was needed. The kids ran from the sprinklers to the playground equipment to the field, where they launched Stomp Rockets.

After grilled hot dogs and chips, the kids did some arts and crafts arranged by my wife. The entire birthday was a pleasure from start to finish.

Winning Is Not Everything

When Seth plays a sport he’s never tried before, the boy quickly breaks down into “I’m a loser, everyone is better” mode.

Do I handle these situations correctly? Sort of. While I try to emphasize with Seth, I oftentimes slide into the tough love mode. “Get over it already!”

This was especially true as Seth practiced his golf on the driving range this Saturday. The self-recriminations were quickly boiling to the top:

“Everyone hits the ball farther than me.”

“The ball won’t pop up!”

“I stink at this.”

Purple Hair

Last Saturday, my kids attended Springfest, which is a fund-raiser for Seth’s school. We skipped the fund-raiser at Lael’s school on Sunday. Too much stuff in one weekend.

Anyway, the kids had a blast and fortunately the purple stuff came out nice and easy.

(See the Jump for more photos.)

Green Tongues

Ah birthday parties. In this case, green-frosted cupcakes taint some tongues.

Toy Recalls New Safety Rules Sort of Kick In

As new rules banning lead-and phthalate-contaminated products kick into gear today, retailers, thrift stores and even librarians are confused over what can and can’t stay on the shelves, reports a variety of news services.

That’s because court decisions and rule revisions have been occurring, reports The Associated Press. The biggest problems revolve around children-focused thrift stores whose entire product lines are in question.

Explains The AP:

The standards were set to go into effect on Tuesday, but on Jan. 30 the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a one-year stay of enforcement for some testing and certification requirements for manufacturers and importers of regulated products. The decision gives the CPSC more time to finalize four proposed rules that could exclude some materials and products from testing and issue more guidance on how testing is to be conducted.

However, retailers are still not allowed to sell the products, causing some uncertainty.

The key word here is: Confusion. I’m still unclear myself over what’s in effect and what’s not. So the best I can do is provide a quick rundown of what the rules entail (page may have been pulled), according the CPSC website:

Cardinals' Loss Hits Home, Though I Don’t Know Why

I’m not a big football fan. If my son wasn’t in elementary school, I probably would not have realized the Cardinals were in the Super Bowl.

But, my son is 6, and I suppose he should at least know how one of the most followed sports in America is played. So we watched the nail-biter of a game.

Of course, we only moved out here a few months ago. Of course, Seth doesn’t even understand much about how the game is played. (For the record, basketball is easier to explain.) And of course, it’s illogical that Seth would have any emotional attachment to any team considering sports are barely discussed at home.

Still, Seth broke out into tears after the Cardinals lost to the Steelers. He clearly got caught up in the excitement and emotion of it all. I guess it could have been worse: what if Seth really cared about the team?