DadTalk

Swim School Success

While it’s not been quite a month since DadTalk opened his Swim School for 2, I’m happy to report that we had a major, major breakthrough over the last two evenings.

Sunday
For the past few weeks now, I take turns holding each child’s hand as we submerge into the warm water to retrieve torpedoes from the pool bottom. Both kids keep their eyes clamped shut.

Lael quickly retrieves her orange torpedo from the lowest step on the stairs. Seth holds his nose with one hand as I guide his other to the blue torpedo that’s about 3 feet below.

Both then exit the pool and run 50 feet to dry their faces off on towels that I purposely keep far away. Every day I encourage them to try goggles, but they refuse.

For some reason, I decide that today I want to push Seth and Lael to the next level. My idea: I want them to swim a couple feet from the steps to me.

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.

A Day Out on Goldwater Lake

On Father’s Day, I took the family up to Goldwater Lake for some hiking, kayaking and grilled burgers. The lake, which is near Prescott, Arizona, is perfect for young children and only costs a couple bucks to park.

Like last year, Lael didn’t want to stay out on the lake for more than a few minutes. Unlike last year, my wife, Anne there to take our daughter off my hands. At least Anne was able to shoot a few cute photos.

Seth and I enjoyed time together in the kayak, exploring coves and watching dragonflies skirt the water’s surface. We even saw ponies on the trail.

After eating, we walked to the far side of the small lake where Seth and Lael played in the water. After a while, we started collecting rocks for grandma, who has a penchant for such things.

The trip made for a great Father’s Day that was more about family than just dad.

Growing Up Without Dad

My dad died when I was 9. For most of my life, I would have denied that his death had any real impact on my development.

After all, I was a fiercely self-sufficient young boy with a strong sense of awareness at a very young age. On the day my dad died, I mentally took on the role of “oldest male” in the house and never really saw his death as a negative. I suppose that’s strange, but I’ve always been the type who rises to meet adversity.

Of course, there was a touch of silliness to it. I didn’t get a job as my grandfather did when his dad died. I didn’t take over the role of raising my brother. And in actuality, I didn’t know squat.

But, I did grow up a lot on the day my dad died from an embolism caused by a metal plate used to mend a broken leg. My sense of responsibility was immediate and immutable. In many ways, I acted as adult-like as my immature mind could muster.

It wasn’t until my kids were born that I started to realize something had been lost. Consider:

Dad Talks on Iowa Public Radio

I’ve never been on the radio before, but when I got the email from Iowa Public Radio to be a guest, I jumped at the chance.

I’m not entirely sure why the news producer thought I’m one of the funny dad bloggers – I tend to be a bit sober as far as writers go – but I recently had done a post about my daughter cutting her own hair. Certainly, I’m not as funny as massively popular Danny Evans of Dad Gone Mad, who was the other guest.

I’m glad the audience couldn’t see me while I was on air. I couldn’t stop smiling! Is that a normal reaction to being on radio?

At one point I was incoherent, and at another I was dropped from the show, but neither incident put a damper on my mood.

If you want to listen, go here. Danny and I are on during the last half hour of the show.

The Amazing San Diego Zoo

One of the pleasures of visiting the San Diego Zoo is that an amateur can take amazing shots of wildlife (and of course of your own kids.)

DadTalk Opens Swim School for 2

A few months after Seth was born, my wife insisted that I be the one to give him baths. Anne simply couldn’t cope with our son’s abject fear of water. I don’t mean your normal, garden variety fear, but top-of-his-lungs screaming. (Water fear runs strong in both parents’ families.)

The worst reaction usually came about when even the slightest drop of water slid down the side of his face, usually when washing his hair. My boy equally freaked out if a single H2O molecule entered an ear.

Within a few days of my taking over bathing duties, Seth calmed down enough to tolerate baths. A few weeks later, Seth kind of enjoyed baths. Within a few more weeks, Seth loved baths to the point I couldn’t get him out of the water. My boy was fine as long as the water stayed away from his face.

We Love San Diego

Despite Seth’s burns, we decided to go ahead with our San Diego/La Jolla vacation, even though the doctor said Seth was not allowed to get ocean water or sun on his injuries. Plus, I had to change his dressings each night.

Because the air was pleasantly cool and the water relatively cold, Seth’s injuries did not pose much of a distraction. Even Lael didn’t get her upper body all that wet because the sea was too bracing.

While there, we did the usual touristy things: eating out at overly expensive restaurants, frolicking at the beach, spending a day at the fabulous San Diego Zoo (more on that in another post) and touring the Air & Flight Museum.

The day after the trip, the doctor told us Seth’s burns, which were a pleasant pink color, no longer needed to be dressed. (We still need to apply lotion several times a day.)

In the top photo, Seth and Lael play at different beaches. Below, Seth and Lael at the Air and Space Museum. Below this text, a crab guards its little crevice. In the bottom photo, a happily exhausted Lael fell asleep after her sturdy little body finally gave out.

What Our Garden Is Producing

Perhaps more than any vegetable, cucumbers represent what’s wrong with fresh produce today.

When we lived in California, we could get all types of (expensive) cucumbers at the farmer’s markets – pickling, Armenian, Japanese, lemon, English and Mediterranean – nearly year round. More importantly, the cucumbers were fresh, with firm rather than rubbery skins.

Then we moved to Chicago, where the farmers market had great, yet even more expensive cucumbers for only a few months a year. And then we moved to Arizona, where finding a decent farmer’s market, much less a cucumber, became still more problematic.

Enter my community garden plot, which I began this spring. As you can see from the picture, cucumbers are no longer a problem. This year, I decided to grow two varieties: Japanese and lemon, the latter which are in the white bowl.