I’ve written about the Just Between Friends sales in the past, and what I wrote then, still holds true now–especially with the sale at the Oaks Expo Center about to get underway tomorrow. The pre-sale is Wednesday, April 23, while the sale is open to the public from April 24-26. These sales offer parents, grandparents, expecting parents, aunts, uncles, anyone who is looking for goods for children, or parents, an opportunity to find gently used goods at discount prices. Continue reading
parenting
The Incredible Costs of Daycare
Her laughs and personality are starting to shine through.
If you’re anything like my family, you have bills to pay, childcare to pay for, vehicle payments, housing costs, and more money flowing from your wallet every month. For a lot of people, that’s A LOT of money. The same goes for us. We have our fair share of bills and we understand that’s the way the world works. But, I’m going to be honest with you, before we had kids, I never realized just how expensive it was to put your children into daycare. And the costs keep rising. It truly amazed me to learn about the costs. It’s one of the reasons that I decided not to look for a new job when Sophia was born. I had been laid off a month before she was born. And, it made the most sense for me to stay home, rather than spend a big chunk of that income on daycare. Continue reading
Why? Why? Why? The Unanswerable Question
“Why? “is the question of the year ’round these parts.
Long before I became a dad, I had many run-ins with the phrase “because I said so.” I hated when I’d hear it. Despised it, even. I promised myself that I’d never be that dad that used that phrase. And then, the “Why?” stage hit. All bets were off.
Parenting’s More Fun With Friends
Some of my best friends, well before any of us were dads…
Has anyone ever told you that your life changes when you have kids? Oh, they have? Okay, I just needed to be sure that you were aware of this. It’s a funny thing, finding out you’re going to be a parent. Terrifying, even. You find out that in nine short months, you’re going to have this little life to care for, to nurture, to raise, to guide, to teach, to love.
You’ve never taken care of anything before in your life, save for a pet, most likely. So, what do you do? You read, you talk to other parents, and, really, you figure it out as you go. You realize that you and your spouse aren’t alone in this parenting game. For us, we’ve had the joys of having a good number of our best friends have kids in the same time that we’ve had Sophia and Maddie. Actually, almost all of my best buddies from college have kids now. Continue reading
Where Can I Find My Patience?
The song in the video above is one I vividly remember from my childhood. I recall a different voice singing it when I was a boy, but the lyrics remain. The chorus has stuck with me for what feels like forever:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Have patience, have patience
Don’t be in such a hurry
When you get impatient, you only start to worry
Remember, remember that God is patient, too
And think of all the times when others have to wait for you
In fact, when we’re in a hurry to go somewhere or Sarah gives me a hard time to get me moving to get out the house, I’ll often sing the chorus to her. I used to be patient. I used to not worry if I was running late, or if I was stuck in a crowd, or anything along those lines. Now? I’m quite the opposite. I don’t know when my patience deteriorated to the level it is at now. But, my lack of patience has really been shining through when it comes to being a parent. Continue reading
Dad-flections – Three Years and Two Kids Later
Hard to believe I’ve been a dad for three years!
WordPress did a funny thing the other day. It wished me a happy anniversary. I was confused. It’s not my anniversary until May! And then it hit me. They were wishing me a happy third anniversary for this blog. I’ve been doing this for three years?! I guess that shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering Sophia will be three tomorrow. WAIT, I’ve been a dad for three years?! THAT is the most shocking revelation I’ve had lately! In that spirit, I’m about to take you down the path of reminiscing and musing about the last three years of my life. Buckle up. Continue reading
Why Do I Do This?
My daily inspirations.
A lot of people have asked me why I write this blog. Usually, it’s with some sort of incredulous tone, like “why would you share all that personal information??” If you want to know my answer, all you have to do is take a look at my header or at the picture to the right. I do this blog for my daughters. Continue reading
When One Becomes Two and Sleep Becomes None
Sophia reading to Maddie while Maddie sleeps.
The time was 3:01 am this morning and if it weren’t for the extreme exhaustion of the moment, this post would have been written then. This is what was running through my head at the time: “It’s currently 3:01 am, I just finished feeding Maddie and putting her to bed and am now fighting with a half-asleep-I-need-to-sleep-in-your-bed-and-kick-you-over-and-over-in-the-process Sophia and can hear the faint sounds of a breast pump running through the baby monitor.”
My Journey Through Fatherhood 