Comments (8)

By Real Dad, June 27, 2010 8:39 pm

We are only 2 weeks away from the new arrival to our family and we have finally begun to act like a baby is on its way. The last few days have been busy and actually included some preparation for the baby. I washed a stroller that has basically been sitting in a garage for 6 years. This stroller was given to us when Nicky was born and was only used for him because we purchased a tandem stroller when Jordan was born. The tandem stroller came in handy again 1 year later when Corey was born (yeah yeah I know). I also washed 2 Pack-N-Plays, 1 is ours (one of the few things I didn’t throw away after Corey was born) and the other was given to us. We are keeping the 1 in better condition. Now we just have to start washing all of the baby clothes that were given to us. Not that we don’t trust that they were washed before they were given to us but you would wash them too, even if it were family that gave them to you (sorry everyone).

The wife has also been trying to get our kids to be a little more independent. You see, the wife has had a little issue with doing too much for the kids and with the kids. By this I mean she is the one that cleans the mess in their rooms or any room for that matter, after they are done playing. She will pick up the kids clothes after they throw them on the floor. She will cater to every whim and just spoil them rotten. She also spends almost every moment of the day

So proud the she made her bed

with them, occupying them rather than letting them occupy themselves. I am not saying that as parents we shouldn’t do anything other then this but I think that kids should be taught responsibility and a little independence and at an early age. I think she now sees that her life at home will be easier if she makes it easier rather than more difficult. If you want to find out how I would do it just ready my post entitled Introducing #4. I still am trying to figure a way to do everything I said! Anyway, I see the difference in the kids and they are actually starting to respect each other and their belongings. This has also been an issue but I will save that for a future post.

I actually had to stop writing several times as we made our 3^rd attempt at letting Jordan sleep in the boy’s room as a special treat. The first attempt didn’t go well

Just a goofball

so we broke up the party. Attempt #2 faired a little better and we didn’t separate them but tonight they just got out of hand so I just sent Jordan to her own room.

The wife is hoping not to go early or at least before July 4^th. She wants to make one last trip to visit her family before the

I didn't document the bed but I got this!

new one arrives. As of the last visit to the doctor, she isn’t dilated so he will check her again later this week. If she is dilated, he will recommend that we don’t make the small road trip. I mean after all, since this is #4, I expect labor to be short and for this baby to just pop out like a fart. Maybe that is just wishful thinking because I never heard the wife fart (in her sleep doesn’t count).

Ok I am off to eat the cherry pie I just baked. That is right….I made cherry pie since my friend couldn’t make it to a bar for a few beers with me. I also cooked dinner. Pretty big disparity there but I don’t give a shit. I was listening to Slipknot while I did both so it cancels out!

Comments (2)

By Real Dad, June 4, 2010 8:50 pm

If you are someone that reads my blog or follows me on Twitter, you know that there isn’t much that I don’t or wouldn’t talk about or make fun of. I have a sick sense of humor and I pretty much crack jokes on everything. I will make fun of religion, race, death, sex and whatever else it is that pops into my head.  However today while making a quick stop at the grocery store, I overheard a guy crack a joke about a kid maybe 1 year old or so and it just pissed me off.

There was a little boy sitting in a carriage being pushed by a woman I assumed was his mother. The boy was wearing a helmet on his head. The helmet only went around the sides of his head, leaving the crown on his head exposed.  I continued about my business and a few isles over, I saw this boy and his mom again. As I walked past them, I stopped in front of a young couple to reach for a bag of sugar. I heard the young guy say to the woman he was with “Wow that kid must be one hell of a retard that he has to wear a hockey helmet”.  At first I completely ignored the comment and started to walk down the isle but something told me to stop and say something.  I turned to the guy and nicely told him that the kid is wearing the helmet which is actually called a cranial orthotic because his skull is deformed.  I then told him that he shouldn’t be an asshole and call a little boy a retard and I walked away.

How did I know why this boy was wearing a helmet? You guessed it; one of my kids had Plagiocephaly, aka Flat Head Syndrome and had to wear a similar helmet. My son Nicky had a head that belonged on a Drac from the movie Enemy Mine (go look that up) because my wife was in labor for 20+ hours, pushed for 3 hours and the doctor used

Yeah...he was cute!

the suction device to pull him out. It really was awful. His head was long, shaped like an egg with a purple nub on top. My mother-in-law was in the delivery room with us and she immediately asked the nurses to put a hat on him, not because he may have been cold but to hide the shape of his head.  The doctor told us that if we rotated his head position when he slept that the head would correct itself. We positioned him on different sides for every sleep he had but he always rolled onto his back. We purchased every kind of prop, pillow, insert and lining we could find to keep him from rolling on his back and none of them worked. Before we knew it, his head was completely flat in the back and the sides of his head were overhanging his ears!

After seeing the Pediatrician and a specialist, we learned that he had to get fitted for the cranial orthotic (helmet). This helmet would lightly put pressure on certain parts of the skull while not putting any pressure on the flat parts. This would allow the skull to reshape itself over the course of a few months.  My son had to wear the helmet 23 hours per day for approximately 4 months. During this time my wife had to bring him for follow-up visits to measure the growth of the skull every week or two. The helmet didn’t cause him any pain at all but it did take him several days to get used to it. Once it came off, his head was shaped perfectly.

I wasn’t annoyed with this asshole in the supermarket because my son had the same condition. I was annoyed just because he was an asshole.  I cracked jokes about my son’s head and/or the helmet during the entire time he was being treated but I never made fun of someone else’s kid. Regardless of the situation, it is never the kid’s fault.  I will

It also acted as a built-in safety device

make fun of anything but kids with physical or mental disabilities/disorders is where I draw the line (except my own of course).

Please do a favor for me? Don’t be the asshole in the supermarket and watch what you say because someone like me may overhear you!

Comments (3)

By Real Dad, April 25, 2010 11:16 pm

Yesterday was a big day for Nicky because he played in his first “real” soccer game. He did great! He scored 2 goals and was running up and down the field faster than most of the other kids, if not all of them. So I broke out my Flip HD Ultra and started shooting video. It’s a little shaky but as you will see, my daughter was running in circles and cheering right next to me.

Comments (7)

By Real Dad, November 22, 2009 11:06 pm

This weekend Mommy went camping with Nicky and the Tiger Cubs. Yes…I said Mommy (my wife) went and not Daddy. A month or so ago at a Tiger Cub den meeting, the Pack Leaders were signing up participants for the camping

Real Moms Go Camping when Real Dads Cannot (she still wore her earrings)

adventure and I purposely did not sign-up. My reasoning was two-fold: first, I had to work and would not be able to switch with someone else and second, I have sleep apnea and would not have anywhere to plug-in the super sexy CPAP machine I wear to be each night. After the den meeting, the pack held a Halloween Trunk or Treat extravaganza in the parking lot. Needless to say, my wife over hears people talking about the camping trip and eagerly signs-up my son and me. A few minutes later she tells me how excited my son is to go camping and I break the news to her about working and reminded her that I have a sleep disorder and I wear a mask, not only for the sex appeal but also to protect myself from dying. What is a good mommy to do?…..go camping with her son!

For the last month my wife has dreaded this weekend. I was constantly reminded of how much of an ass I am and how wonderful she is for subjecting herself to such misery in the great outdoors of northwestern New Jersey. What am I to say because it is true? So Friday night she packs all of the stuff together and early Saturday morning they head out; Jordan was with my mother and Corey with her father and I worked.

Nicky had a great time. They went on a long hike, fishing (he didn’t like that so much because he said it was boring), sat by a camp fire, told ghost stories and just had lots of fun. Mommy called me late last night telling how she and the only other mother on the trip were trying to talk the boys into leaving last night but the kids weren’t buying it. Mommy was stuck to endure the night in a cabin with an outhouse to support her toilet needs…hahahaha.

She took the opportunity to leave at the first sign of day light. She couldn’t wait and I don’t blame her one bit. It took a lot for my wife to do this and I have to give her a ton of credit. She is not an outdoor kinda woman and hates the cold

Real Sons Try Fishing

but she did it for our son. This is more then I can say because even if I didn’t have to work or have sleep apnea, I would not have signed-up for this.

I would like to say that I just have it like that and send my wife on camping trips in my place but the truth is this:

I have a job that requires too much of my time, I am a fat shit and suffer from sleep apnea and she is not as selfish as I am.

Comments (7)

By Real Dad, October 27, 2009 10:27 pm

Last year Nicky was having a tough time with reading. Carrie and I struggled to help him learn his “sight words” and as a dad, I struggled with feeling that I didn’t do enough to help him. For the new parents, “sight words”  are words that kids should recognize visually without having to spell them out.  Some examples of these words are: who, what, the, at, to, there and so on. Carrie worked very hard over the summer to help get our son where he needed to be before beginning the 1st grade. She sat with him every day and went over his letters and words while I read to him as often as possible.

Nicky and his proud Dad at a game last summer

He wasn’t quite there when the school year began last month but he was certainly a lot closer to where the other kids were with their reading skills.

Nicky’s teacher is great and has a lot of patience with him. He is also pulled out of class two times per week for an extra 30 minutes of help strictly for reading by another teacher. In just 2 months, Nicky’s reading ability has improved so much that he continually reads books. He is always walking around with a book in his hand and goes to extraordinary lengths to hide these books from his sister and brother. He mostly reads children’s books that are age appropriate as well as various Star Wars books that are meant for adults but he tries his hardest with these.  This dad couldn’t be any prouder because I was not and still am not a big reader, so I encourage him all of the time.

The interest in reading is not only do to the fact that he can NOW read but also the types of books he is reading. Some of the books he is reading were given to him by a classmate and the others we purchased because a classmate brought them in to school and showed him “how cool” these new books were. I thought it might be worth mentioning these books because we also think these books are great from a parents perspective. I even found myself chuckling here and there when he read them to me. I have included the links to Amazon to make it easy in the event you want to purchase them or read their short description.

Ready Freddy! Tooth Trouble (Ready, Freddy!)
Ready, Freddy!: Stop That Hamster
Firehouse Fun (Ready, Freddy!)
Junie B., First Grader: Aloha-ha-ha! (Junie B. Jones, No. 26)
Junie B. Jones Is a Beauty Shop Guy (Junie B. Jones, No. 11)
Junie B. Jones Has a Monster Under Her Bed (Junie B. Jones, No.
Junie B., First Grader: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (P.S. So Does May) (Junie B. Jones, No. 25)

He absolutely loves these books and this was kid that just a few months ago would not look at a book’s cover, never-mind open it up. Maybe your kids will enjoy them as much as our son has. I cannot wait to share with him my coveted The Kiss Album Focus, Vol. 1: Kings of the Night Time World, 1972-82but I guess that will come in time!