A Weekend of Ups and Downs

This weekend certainly was one that left me emotionally drained. It also left me knowing that there are things that I need to do as well as some priorities that need shifting. Some things are just too important and changes need to be made. I have every intention of doing what needs to be done. That is all I really want to say about that.

Monday

The weather was perfect to be outside. I decided that I was going to take the kids to the zoo. We are members, so it was a free day for us. I packed a lunch and we got there when it opened at 10am. Both Sam and I thought it would be quiet for a Monday, but there were a few childcare places doing field trips there.

We didn’t let that spoil our fun. I think I sometimes go a bit crazy with picture taking, but I love to look back at them. I was so happy that both Ella and AJ sat still at the opening photo op of t he zoo.

We saw the penguins, the otter (who was extra busy that day), the monkeys, kangaroos, and a huge emu. We also saw a wolf, chickens, an owl, alpacas, and a bunch of crazy prairie dogs. One of the first things Ella wants to do is ride the train. We’re members, so we can ride as many times as we want. I think we rode the train five times Monday! During on of those ride, I was able to grab my favorite picture of the day:

Look at the joy on their faces! What a wonderful picture!!

I realize that at 52 years of age, when people see me with my kids, they may assume that I am grandpa. So I chose to go to the zoo with my Bandit from Bluey “Dad” shirt on. I’m sure when I left the house, my wife probably thought I looked ridiculous, but that’s ok. When we got off of one of the train rides, a mom came over and said she loved my shirt.

About 11:30, we found some tables by the carousel, which we were going to ride next. Mom packed a PBJ sandwich for Ella, a PB sandwich for AJ, some goldfish crackers, bananas, apple sauce pouches, and something to drink. It was fun to just sit and eat with the kids. AJ was in my lap and I think I wound up wearing more of his lunch than he actually ate! There were also plenty of crackers on the ground for the birds to eat after he was done.

A couple rides on the carousel, another train ride, back to the carousel and we were getting close to nap time. I told Ella we had to pack up to get ready to go. She wanted to go to the store. Sam and I had already said that we were not going to buy anything day, as we really hadn’t budgeted for it.

As we are walking through the gift shop, Ella picks up a small stuff wolf and says, “My wolf! Look Daddy, it’s my wolfie!” I told her that we’d have to get it next time and the melt down began. Urgh! I hate making her cry. I told her she could carry it for a bit and then it would have to be put back.

When we set it down, she started to cry again. As we walked to the door, a nice older lady stopped us and handed Ella the wolf, saying that she couldn’t stand to see her cry. I told her that we couldn’t take it, but she insisted. It was a nice way to end our trip to the zoo.

Weigh In Day

Before I go on, let me say that since I started posting about my weight loss journey, I have been followed by just about every keto diet page, healthy living page, eat better workout more page and such. This urks me for some reason. I post my stuff here to keep myself accountable. On the weeks I gain weight I will post that, too. This is my journey – if you are here to cheer my on, fine. If you are just here to sell your products, you may unfollow me at any time. I don’t plan on following you back.

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I am happy to say that the scale showed a 3 pound loss this week. After 8 weeks, I am down 27 pound thanks to Weight Watchers. I am very happy about that. It is nice to be under 300 pounds! I can’t wait to keep reaching milestones.

Eating right and getting a walk in every day has been helping. The heat made it a bit rough this week, and so did the rain. Getting in a mile or two every day is something I have come to enjoy a lot. I love being out with the kids in the stroller.

The last time I saw my doctor, I was supposed to have lost 10 pounds. I hadn’t and she kind of gave me a lecture about that. I was supposed to have joined Weight Watchers and because money was tight, I chose to wait. When I left that appointment, she told me to see her again and the 10 pounds had better be gone – or she’d yell at me again! I see her this week and can’t wait to show her the progress.

Maybe next week – I can hit the 30 pound mark?! We’ll see ….

My Father’s Day Weekend

Father’s Day began for me on Saturday morning. We celebrated Saturday because Sam had to work on Sunday.

When I returned home from work, my kids were already up and waiting. Sam had texted me that Ella was anxious for me to come home to get my present. Ella was excited because she had seen something in the store and wanted to get it for me weeks ago. Same ordered it online so it would be here for Father’s Day.

Ella and Andrew got to play with markers (which only happens on special occasions) and decorate the gift bag my gifts would be in. She was so happy to hand me the bag.

She waited for me to reach into the bag and could hardly contain herself. When I pulled out her gift to me, she shrieked with excitement! It was really the perfect gift.

We watch Bluey together all the time. It is probably my favorite cartoon that she watches. Bandit, the dad on the show, is what ALL dad’s should be! He’s awesome. This book is just wonderful. We read it before bed last night. I don’t know who was happier about this book – Ella or me!

Andrew got some help from mommy with his gift. As I have mentioned, I’m an older dad. One of the reasons I started this blog was to write my memories and such so that in the event something happens, the memories are here. Sam took it a step further for Andrews’s gift to me.

I’m not sure who came up with the idea for books like this, but they are great. I had originally gotten one of these for my mom to fill out before she passed. She was just too sick and too tired to ever really do it. I wish she’d been able to do that.

At any rate, there are a lot of thought provoking questions in this book and Sam thought I could take it with me to work and fill it in when I was on breaks and such. I love the idea!

After nap time, the family drove up the road to look for some new pajamas for Ella. She’s starting to not fit in her current ones. We went to the Carter’s store and looked around. She was forever handing Sam and I things for Andrew or herself that she found on a rack somewhere. The funniest thing of the trip was a foreshadowing of Ella in her teen and adult years. She kept asking for shoes and even began to make a pile of ones she wanted!

After our shopping trip we came home and made dinner. I didn’t want Sam to have to take me out anywhere, so we made chicken on the grill. We also made corn on the cob and other sides. It was the perfect way to wrap up the day.

I was out grilling the chicken and I was using a brush to put BBQ sauce on a few of the pieces of chicken.

As I am doing this, Ella is standing there watching me. She see’s me dipping the brush into the BBQ sauce and putting it on the chicken. She then says, “Daddy! You’re painting!” Priceless!

Sam kept telling Ella to say, “Happy Father’s Day” to me and it kept coming out “Happy Mother’s Day” which just made me laugh even more.

On Sunday, or “Father’s Day in real life,” as Bluey might say, we had a wonderful breakfast. I made everyone eggs, sausage, and fruit. Ella stated that it was “Deeee-lish-ous!”

We called my dad to wish him Happy Father’s Day. My oldest son called me to wish me the same. Sadly, I never heard from my second oldest son. That’s a whole blog in itself and I will spare you those details for now.

After Andrew’s nap, I decided to take the kids to the Barnes and Noble. I wasn’t sure that there was anything I wanted for myself, but I though we could pick up some new books for them.

While we were walking Ella and I were just talking. Andrew was in the stroller and Ella was walking next to me. I don’t remember what we were saying, but a woman stopped me and said that she wished she had videoed the exchange we were having. She said she was very impressed with how we were interacting. She reminded me of a teacher or something. Ella then said hello, grabbed a puzzle with dogs on the box and showed the lady.

The lady, without skipping a beat, got down on the ground and they counted dogs together, asked about the colors of the dogs, and talked about what “doggies say.” It was so cool to see. She thanked Ella for showing her and Ella put the puzzle back. The lady was so impressed with how polite Ella was. Proud parent moment.

After we got home, we had lunch. Sam took Andrew into our room when it was his nap time. Sam suggested that since one of the local ice cream places had free cones for dads on Father’s day, we should go. We wound up going somewhere a bit closer, but it still worked out because dads got a free scoop of ice cream there, too!

Ice cream is not exactly on Weight Watchers, but I had some anyway and ate carefully the rest of the day. Ella asked for “white ice cream with sprinkles” and that is what she got!

Dad may or may not have had to help her on occasion because it was melting faster than she could eat it!

She talked to everyone who came to the ice cream place! She recommended getting banana ice cream to many, even though she was eating vanilla. She was a real hoot. The owner came out and asked how her ice cream was and she said it was the “best ice cream ever!”

After the ice cream, dad decided to walk the neighborhood. Sunday, she didn’t want to ride in the stroller. So we walked together. The workout was a bit less intense than I had hoped.

About half way through the walk she tripped and skinned her knee pretty bad. So I wound up picking her up and finishing the walk with her on my shoulders. That brought the heart rate up a bit and I probably burned off about half of the ice cream calories!

When Sam left for work, it was just me and the kids. We were playing on the “nugget” and having a blast. Andrew was climbing up like nobody’s business. Once he was on the top, he would start to walk off it. Most of the time, I was there to catch him. There were a couple times where he’d do this little stuntman fall. He is fearless!

Thank you to my wife and my kids for making the weekend such a special one for me!

A Mood Changer

Pardon me while I become “toddler dad” for a minute…

When you become a parent, you lose the option to watch TV … at least when your kids are awake. Most days I watch all the PBS shows (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Wild Kratts, Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum) or the various stuff from Nick Jr. or Disney Jr. (Paw Patrol, Bubble Guppies, Peppa Pig). My favorite is Bluey.

I blogged about the show (and primarily the dad – Bandit) here:

I Wanna Be Like Bandit!

One of my favorite episodes is entitled Bad Mood. In the show, Bluey’s sister (Bingo) is in a “bad mood.” Bandit, Bluey and Bingo’s dad, IS the bad mood. It is signified by him wearing a Viking Helmet and walking with Bingo standing on his feet. He grunts and stomps through the house destroying block towers, ruining drawings, and throwing things.

Now there have been “a few” times when I have been at work and I’ve been in a “not so good mood.” I have joked with my co-workers that I need to get myself a Viking hat. No one really knew what I was talking about, so I showed them clips from this episode. Whenever a computer would crash or something didn’t work, I’d say something like, “This is when I need my ‘bad mood’ hat!”

One of our crew is transferring to another department and tomorrow is her last night here. Tonight, she said she was going to run out to her car for something. She came back in and was holding this Viking hat, which had two blonde braids hanging down from it. She told me that she wanted to get something to thank me for all the laughs we’ve shared working together.

It made me laugh out loud when I saw it. It also made me sad. I really have come to enjoy the nights that we work together. She loves music and we’ve shared a great many stories about songs and artists. She is also very funny and there are times I am laughing so hard my sides hurt. I am certainly going to miss having her in the building.

I told her when she gave me the helmet that it really won’t be a “bad mood” hat. Mainly because when I go to put it on, I will think about her – I’ll laugh – and that will put me in a good mood.

Thanks for your friendship, your conversation, and the many laughs, Laura! You will be missed, especially by me!!

They Call Me “Dad”

At some point, when I get an extra few bucks, I wanna order this shirt.

I am kind of over everything right now. Perhaps it is a lack of sleep, the need for a break/vacation, dealing with stupidity in many facets of life, an overwhelming amount of stress or a combination of all of these things. I am not really sure what the issue is. The past couple weeks, I feel like even the smallest things get under my skin. I feel like there is so much going in in my life right now. I feel like I lack the mental capacity to sort through it.

I can kind of fool most people. I usually can so this by just staying to myself – reading a book, listening to music or an old time radio show with headphones, or playing a dumb trivia game. The one person I cannot fool is my wife. She knows I am struggling, maybe she hasn’t said anything, but she knows. She can sense it. Even with an Oscar worthy performance, she knows.

She’s dealing with her own stresses right now. She’s doing SO much running around with the kids. Some days she has two different doctor appointments – one for each kid – each one in different cities. While doing that, she has to be sure she has bottles and diapers, and so on and so forth. It’s hell. It is days like this, that I wish I worked a normal schedule.

That’s a lot of crap to vent, and for that I am sorry. I hadn’t really wanted to write that much, but I was told by my therapist that sometimes you gotta just get it all out.

Despite having so much on my mind, I was not going to write a blog today. I just had nothing to write about. Then, while scrolling through Facebook memories, I found a post that probably hit me harder today than it did when I first posted it! It was a powerful reminder of how no matter what is going on in my life, I have an important role that I simply have to live up to every single day.

The Facebook Memory:

An amazing thought for the day: Parenting “is greater than any milestone you will ever hit in your career. It dwarfs any fame you may receive for your ideas or inventions. You’ve been handed a piece of history in advance – a gracious gift you send to a time you will not see – and you play the biggest role in how that history will ultimately be recorded” – T. Kimmel

This quote blows me away. Wow! This really shows how important a role I play in my children’s life. I’m not always going to be here for them, and when I am gone, I can only hope that they have learned something from me that they will take with them in the future. I hope that there is something that they learn from me that helps them in the future.

Another quote that is similar to the one above is :

I do not want to fail my children. I love them with all of my heart and soul. My role as their father is more important than any of the BS that is going on in my life. I have to make it a priority. I will love them, care for them, teach them, and guide them the best that I can, so that when they get out on their own, they will be ready to take their place in history.

There are days that I look through Facebook memories and I cringe as I delete things from the past. There are days that remind me of fun things the kids did, fun trips, or wonderful memories. Then there are days when one simple quote will knock me back a few steps to realize my focus is on the wrong things … and to adjust that focus to the right things!

The Omelette

Confession: I’m 51 and I love cartoons.

I have blogged about the cartoon Bluey before, and yes, I am blogging about it again. The third season of Bluey is still unavailable for viewing in the United States. There are some ways around that by changing your VPN or some other “tech” stuff I don’t understand.

I happen to belong to a Facebook group that will occasionally post some of the videos. As I held AJ this afternoon, I saw that they posted a cartoon from season 3, so I watched it. I literally laughed out loud throughout the episode, and at one point almost cried. That’s just one of the reasons I love this cartoon.

The episode is called “Omelette.” The cartoon starts with Dad (Bandit) opening his eyes to see his wife and two daughters looking at him. It’s his birthday, and they tell him they are going to make him breakfast in bed. He states he is hungry and mom suggests getting a move on, because when dad is hungry – he gets cranky. I can totally relate to this! Maybe it’s a guy thing?

Anyway, in the kitchen mom starts to make a “fast omelette” and tells Bluey to set up the table (the tray) and Bingo to make a birthday card for dad. As mom turns around, there is 4 year old Bingo. She tells mom that she made a card for dad at school and shows her. She then asks to help make the omelette.

First, she grabs the eggs, and as she walks to the counter, she drops about half of them on the floor. After cleaning it up, they attempt to crack eggs. She is not hitting the bowl hard enough, so mom tells her to try harder – which leads to another mess. After that mess is cleaned up, something happens where Bluey spills juice and that needs to be cleaned up.

Mom’s phone rings and it is dad asking how much longer breakfast will be – because, you know, he’s hungry! This totally cracked me up. I can see myself doing that. She tells him it won’t be long decides that Bingo should let mom just make the omelette. Cut to dad in bed ….. obviously getting more and more hungry (and cranky).

Mom whips up the omelette and is ready to take it to dad. She notices Bingo is pretending to play with two nutcracker salt and pepper shakers. Mom is watching as she basically tells the one salt shaker she’s “not good enough to help” with things. Mom now realizes that Bingo is playing out exactly how she felt when mom told her that she couldn’t help.

Dad now enters the kitchen and is begging for food. Mom tells Bluey to get dad back in bed and keep him there. He sees the omelette and begs to eat it. Mom tells him its not his and Bluey and dad are off to the bedroom. It’s pretty funny to hear Bluey tell dad to “Stay!” – they are dogs after all.

Mom then asks Bingo to help make the omelette, which makes her very happy. There is a montage of messes being made, borrowing more eggs from neighbors, phone calls from dad, more messes, more egg borrowing, and eventually – a pretty nasty looking omelette. They take the omelette to dad who wolfs it down in seconds!

He announces it was the best omelette he has ever had.

I’m not sure why I related so much to this particular episode, but I did. For some reason, I connect with this family and these characters. I also learn from them. Dad (Bandit) is the dad I want to be. He plays with his kids, often times more than any dad I know. I strive to be like him with my kids.

This episode was kind of a slap in the face to me (amidst the times I laughed at Bandit). Let me explain. My wife is all about letting the kids make messes. I’m not sure why, but when she does that, my anxiety levels go through the roof. One time, she gave Ella Jello or pudding and just let her play on her high chair. Jello and pudding was everywhere! What a mess that had to be cleaned up.

Last week, she bought one of those blow up pools. We don’t have a bath tub, so she filled this thing in the middle of our kitchen. There was water everywhere. Ella had a blast, but I could feel myself going crazy with anxiety! “The water is going to go through the floor to the basement!” I thought. “We’re going to ruin the floor!” My mind never stopped racing about those things.

When mom realized that all Bingo wants to do is help, she lets her – no matter how many messes had to be made. I need to step back and read the kids. I need to let them make messes. I need to let them help. The look on Bingo’s face and the excitement she shows when mom asks for her help – that is what it is all about.

Without it being an official New Year’s Resolution (because I don’t believe in them), I think this year, I’ll let the kids break a few eggs …..

Spaghetti? I Was Just Dreaming About That …

Today is National Spaghetti Day here in the United States. I didn’t know that until a friend of mine posted it on Facebook earlier today. I also didn’t know it was National Trivia Day in the United States. The same friend posted that, too. So before I tell my story … how about a tidbit of spaghetti trivia?

Did you know that the word spaghetti is plural for the Italian word spaghetto, which is a diminutive of spago, meaning “thin string” or “twine?” You do now!

It is probably a total coincidence that I had a dream about spaghetti last night. Usually when I have a dream that I am trying to figure out, I wake up and email myself what I remember. Nine times out of ten, it is a bunch of misspelled words that I have to wonder just what I was trying to type.

So my dream, I admit, doesn’t make much sense at all. Although it was almost like there should have been a message in it or something. So, here is (to my best recollection) the dream:

There is a mixture of humans and cartoon characters in it. I don’t really understand it, but that is like most dreams I suppose. The family from Bluey is in it (probably because my daughter and I were watching it before bed).

At first I think I am at some sort of spaghetti dinner, like a fund raiser or something. Then I realize that this event is some sort of celebration or ceremony. It has something to do with the children – and the number of meatballs on the child’s plate. It was sort of like a karate/kung fu belt ceremony.

Each child walks through the line with a plate of spaghetti and when the reach the appropriate server, he plops a certain number of meatballs on the plate and explains what it means. No meatballs meant they were newcomers, one meatball was a novice, two meatballs meant they were intermediate, three meatballs signified above average, and four meatballs was a pro/master.

Anyone who got four meatballs got a huge round of applause from the crowd. It was almost like some sort of Jewish Bar Mitzvah or something, “Congratulations! Four meatballs! You are now a man!” I stood there puzzled by the whole thing and then I realized that I am in line, holding a plate of spaghetti. The server drops three meatballs on my plate and tells me to move on.

I am stumped. I am confused. Why do I not have four? What exactly are you a pro at if you DO get four meatballs? I don’t even know!

I walk away staring at these three meatballs and Bluey’s dad, Bandit, comes up to me and says, “Only three, huh? That’s they way it goes sometimes, Mate.”

Then I wake up.

Weird. Weird. Weird.

Oh, and the guy dishing out the meatballs? Frank Sinatra!

2021 – What a Year!

At midnight tonight, we’ll start a brand new year – 2022. Some have compared a new year to a book. The book with 365 blank pages – one for each day – and said that the book is ours to write. There is truth to that.

As I looked back over my “book” entitled “2021,” I see that (despite the pandemic and all the crap that came with it) I really did have a good year. Bear with me, he’s the recap:

January

January started with some snow. It actually looks like we should be getting snow again this week. Ella absolutely loved being outside in the snow. It was fun to watch her try to figure out just what all the white stuff was. Today, when she sees it, she get’s excited and yells, “Snow! Snow!”

In mid-January, we scratched our heads and wondered just how Ella was 11 months old! I mean, it seemed like she was just born!

The pressure was on as we closed in on her first birthday. With Covid, we weren’t quite sure if we’d even be able to have a party for her.

February

As we got closer to Ella’s birthday, Sam was just not feeling right. 3 days before Ella’s birthday, we found out that baby #2 was on the way!

This took us both completely by surprise! There was great excitement all over again. The hardest part was keeping it a secret…

Ella’s first birthday was a fun and busy day. We ditched the pink blocks and marked the birthday with a HUGE number “1” balloon. This was followed by a trip to the Sea Life Aquarium, the Build a Bear place, and cake at Nana’s house.

We were glad to be able to get some professional “1st Birthday” pictures, too!

March

In March we got our first look at the baby we now know as Andrew/AJ and announced Ella’s promotion to big sister.

Ella also got her first haircut

March also consisted of many walks around the neighborhood and stops at the park.

April

Big brother, Dante’ turned 19 this month! Before that, Easter fell on my mom’s birthday. We got Ella all dressed up in her Easter dress, stopped at the cemetery to visit grandma on her birthday and then went to Nana’s for an Easter Egg hunt!

Ella is so very blessed to have wonderful people in her life. Aunt Margaret is one of them! (She will kill me for posting this picture, but I just love this!!) She and cousin Marissa came to visit and the highlight was watching them read books together.

We also found out the baby’s gender, but that wouldn’t be revealed until May.

May

Birthday’s have never really bothered me, mostly because I opt for the Jack Benny attitude and say that I am stuck at 39. However, in reality I turned 51. 30 was big. 40 was tough. 50 a bit hard to swallow. Over 50? Well…..I examine my own mortality every day.

The month started warm enough that Ella got to spend lots of time in her sandbox and pool.

We revealed that Ella was having a baby brother and got another look at him on an ultrasound.

Ella and I worked on a special project for Sam for Mother’s Day and we got to visit the Detroit Zoo.

May also brought Ella her first taste of corn on the cob!

June

My second oldest boy celebrated his 14th birthday in June. We got to spend Father’s Day together by visiting Crossroads Village. They had a Classic Car Show there and we walked the village and rode the train. It was such a great day with my kids!

It was SO hot that day!!! By the end of it all, Ella was physically exhausted. June was a hot month and we did get to get out and enjoy walks in the park and a day at the splash pad.

July

By July, Sam was 5 months pregnant and was so sick. The pregnancy was a rough one on her. The heat didn’t help things. Despite that, the middle of summer was packed full of amazing things and our family had loads of fun.

We celebrated America’s Birthday, Ella had her first visit to the public library and bowled for the first time, and we all visited the Saginaw Children’s Zoo.

August

As Summer drew to a close, we continued to squeeze as much into it as we could. I got to spend a perfect day doing a daddy daughter picnic, my name was finally on the board at the Corner Cone for a free ice cream, Ella spent lots of time drawing with crayons, and our stress levels were through the roof as we took Ella in for her ear tube surgery. We also got another peak at AJ and had a visit from my brother.

September

Fall! My favorite season of all. I was glad to be able to get together with Margaret, Walt and my buddy Chris at Margaret’s house. Since she’s already mad at the one picture I posted, I’ll just share the one she told me I could share. Hopefully, that makes things a little better….

We always love going to get pumpkins and decorating the front of the house for fall. Ella seemed to like it, too.

Ella and I also got to take one last trip to the Saginaw Zoo before it closed for the season. It was a great day for us, and Sam actually got to relax a bit.

October

We had been told more than once that there was a possibility that the baby would come before his due date. He held out almost until the date! Just two days before he was born, Ella and I got to go outside and enjoy the fall colors.

On October 11th, AJ entered the world. I watched in awe as my son was born and all the pride of being a daddy again filled my soul. We weren’t sure how Ella would handle it, but she welcomed him with open arms.

They still did not have a photographer at the hospital, so we went to JC Penney to have some newborn pictures taken. AJ looks spiffy in his outfit!

While this wasn’t Ella’s first Halloween, it was the first real Trick or Treating adventure for her. She was happy that big brother was there to walk with her. AJ was obviously way too young to attempt to go out this year.

November

Fall walks are among my favorites. I love looking at the colors. Ella and I took many fall walks and there were many instances where she’d just play in a pile of leaves! AJ kept us all busy and so it was just Ella and I making the trip to Bronner’s to get his ornament for the Christmas tree. We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving at home and got the house ready for Christmas.

December

The final month of the year brought many happy memories. Professional Christmas pictures, my annual reading of Dickens, AJ turned 2 months old, a visit from Papa and Grandma, Christmas Eve with my boys, Holiday lights at Crossroads, our first Christmas as a family of four, and the anticipation of a brand new year.

Blog highlights included my entries to the 2021 Song Draft, salutes to Soupy Sales, my grandpa, and Ernie Harwell, a guest blog from my pal Max, silly blogs about hats and Bernie Sanders’ mittens, fishing memories, my favorite Twilight Zone episodes, and a blog about an amazing cartoon Dog Dad.

There were many sad moments in 2021. I lost classmates and friends to cancer, heart disease, and of course, Covid. If the past two years have taught me anything, it is that life is precious and another day is not promised. You never know when it will be the “last picture,” the “last phone call,” or the “last visit.” It takes me make to that quote that my band director wrote on the grease board my senior year. I have quoted it many times. “Live every day as if it were your last. Someday, you’ll be right.”

Life is too short. Live. Laugh. Love.

As we welcome 2022, I pray that it is a good year for all of us. May we find it full of happiness and good health. May God bless you and yours in the upcoming year.

Get ready. The Book of 2022 awaits. Grab your pen and turn to page (January) 1.

Alternative Cuss Words

I have mentioned the cartoon Bluey on here in the past. On the Bluey Facebook page a while back, they had a video of the dad (Bandit) using alternate expressions where swear words might be used. Exclamations like “Cheese and jam,” “Beans on toast,” and “Biscuits” are used in place of swear words.

“Biscuits!” is a favorite of mine right now, especially since Ella is starting to copy and say things we do. As much as I want to scream a dirty word when I step on a Lego, “Biscuits” works just as well.

There is a Christian comedian named Tim Hawkins who has some very funny parody songs and such that they play on Sirius XM’s Laugh USA from time to time. His standup act is funny and clean. I have seen this before, but didn’t realize that it was actually from him.

For your every day use – here is a list of “approved” alternate cuss word! Enjoy!

I Wanna Be Like Bandit!

I realize that the title of this blog (and the picture above) may be misleading, because it is not about Burt Reynolds. In my defense, they say that having a good blog title will make people want to read it – and here you are! So just what is this blog about? A cartoon role model.

Never Heard of It

The age difference between my oldest boy and my daughter is 18 years. The difference between my youngest son and my daughter is 13 years. Kids shows are constantly changing. Sure, some of the same shows my oldest watched were still on when my youngest was born. However, it seems that outside of Sesame Street, there are always new shows on. PBS is barely recognizable now outside of Sesame Street and Curious George (to me anyway).

Let me say before I go on that the TV is usually background noise. I do not plant my daughter in front of it and use it as a babysitter. In fact, the things she likes most are the theme songs. Once they are over, she’s off playing with her toys or bringing me books to read. The only show that she really watches is Bubble Guppies. I think she likes it because of the bright colors and the fact that there is a lot of music in the show.

When Ella gets up in the morning, I usually give her a sippy cup of milk and turn on the TV. Most mornings I turn on Disney Channel. There is a show on there about a family of Australian dogs. It’s called Bluey. I had never heard of this show until recently. If I had to compare it to another show, I would say it is kind of like Peppa Pig, but better. So why I am writing about this silly little cartoon? And who could possibly be a role model on the show??

The Show

The show revolves around the Heeler Family – Dad (Bandit), Mum (Chilli) and the kids (Bingo and Bluey). The show was created by Joe Blumm, who based much of the show on raising his two daughters. He said that many of the story ideas were directly based on watching his daughters play. The program’s scripts show how children can use gameplay to learn lessons and integrate the world of adults into their own; Brumm noticed how his children would recreate interactions such as visits to the doctor, through roleplay. On the show, he wanted to portray the importance of imaginative play. His creative aims were to make children laugh, and show parents what children can learn while engaged in play.

The Role Model

Bluey’s Dad, Bandit, is a true role model for fathers. He is “all-in” as a dad. The reason I chose to write about him was that I noticed just what a fantastic dad he is! He doesn’t have his head in the newspaper, or his phone in his face while his kids are playing – he gets right in there with them. When the kids tell him what character he is – he becomes that character. Maybe he is a baby in the supermarket, or getting a shot at the doctor. Maybe he is a crazy robot or a garden gnome, whatever the role, he embraces it and plays the part like he is working toward an Academy Award!

Through it all, there are lessons to be learned as well. In one episode, Bluey finds a bird that is injured. She tells her dad who, rather than blowing it off or telling her to go talk with mommy, takes the bird to the vet. They wait for news at the vet, and find out that the bird died. He is there for her as she processes the new concept of death. There’s nothing funny about this, and there is no punch line (as you might see in a sitcom with your stereotypical sitcom dad). Bandit is a truly wonderful dad.

One thing parents tend to forget is that your time becomes your kid’s time. What do I mean by that? Simply this – if I want to sit down and watch a Detroit Tigers game on TV and Ella wants to play “Tea Party,” then I need to play with Ella! That’s that! Bandit is that way! If he is in the middle of mowing the grass and Bluey wants to play, the grass can wait! The kids are the priority! They get his full attention!

Looking back, I feel bad. I know there were many times that my boys asked me to do something and I was in the middle of something else. I found myself putting them on “hold.” The problem with that is – they keep growing and growing fast! By putting them on hold, you miss out on bonding and moments you will never get again. That being said, I turn to Bandit as my role model!! Maybe I need to ask myself in those instances “What Would Bandit Do?”

Do yourself a favor, especially if you are a parent – watch the episode of Bluey called “Take Away”. After watching it, you will see how wonderfully this cartoon shows the joys of parenthood and the occasional chaos that goes with it. If you don’t learn something from how Bandit handles the frustrations of the situation from this short cartoon, you missed something!

Almost every TV show today shows the dad as a goofball. Oh sure, they have their “moments” where they have the heart to heart talk with their kids and the lesson is taught, but most of the time TV dad’s are comic relief. Bandit is the dad that most of us dad’s should strive to be like.