Blogs I Meant To Write Pt

I am now back to work. I have in fact completed one full week of work. As I take some time to reflect over what has become a bit of a neglected blog I cannot help but think perhaps I lofted a little too high. Trying to write two blogs while on leave to help look after a toddler, a new born and a day care may have been unwise. Never the less I enjoyed writing what I did.

However I did not write all that I wanted too. Busyness, a lack of energy, dedication to my other blog and a slew of other reasons kept me from working here. But I truly wanted to do so. So in that vain I would now like to give to you; THE BLOGS I MEANT TO WRITE! (If you could try to read that in the same voice as from the Muppet's 'Pigs in Space that would be great!)

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Eyes For You

(Originally meant to air within the first two weeks of Ariella being born)

Right now I find myself aware, painfully aware, of how important my job as father has become. With a son my role was to show him what it meant to be a man. I am the role model. If I want my son to be wise, virtuous, and honourable I have to show him that.

However with a daughter the stakes are higher. It is my job to show her how men ought to treat her. To instill in her self worth, a sense of belonging, dignity and beauty. I am for better or worse the first man in her life, and it is my job to create the archetype of  'man' for her.

So far I feel as I am not doing so well. Here only a few weeks in I have passed on Red Eye to my daughter. 

So much for being the infallible protector.

You might think of this as silly. That I would equate the two things so closely together. And I will grant you that. It is a little silly. But than again I cannot help but see the parallels. Red eye is one of those funny illness' that is both easy to pass on (one touch will do) and eye to avoid passing on (frequent hand washing, no touching your eye or anyone else). I wanted to pass on to her comfort when she cried by wiping away her tears, instead I passed on an illness.

This seems like something that is too easy to do. I want to pass on the best of me to my little girl, but how easy will it be to pass on the worst as well? Too easy I imagine. 

I pray that this will be one of the few unintended gifts that I pass on to you my daughter. And I hope you will forgive me for the rest.

The Park

(Originally meant to air at the beginning of April)

Today, among other days, I find myself conflicted about the park. Here at the day care on sunny (or more or less nice) days we go to the park down the road. It has all the things a park should have. Slides, swings, monkey bars, things to climb on, things to spin on,and  things to zip down on. All good and fun things.

So what is my conflict you might ask? Is it safety? No I am of the opinion that a few bumps, scratches and bruises are a good thing. So if under my watchful eye one of the kids comes down the slide a little fast, lands on their bum instead of their feet, well that is just life. Such a bump to the bottom I assume will encourage them to more carefully put out their feet. 

So what is the conflict then? The work.

Now to be clear I like taking my son to the park. What I feel conflicted about is taking four kids to the park. The work, or more accurately the battle to get everyone dressed and ready is just tremendous. If it is not snowsuits, its splash pants and rain boots; if not either of those we're into sun screen and bug spray. This is on top of all the potty trips before we start to get dressed, and the incredible amount of work it takes to keep the kids in one spot while you work on one of the other ones. It seems as soon as I zip up the jacket of one child and move on to the next, the one I finished is running circles in the playroom with muddy shoes. 

I kid you not as the clock ticks towards the end of snack time and the beginning of park prep time I can feel my stress levels rise. 

So what is the point of this blog you might ask? Mostly awareness. If you take your child to the park and you see that one lone stay at home day care provider reading a book on the park bench while the kids play please try to understand them. Do not disdain her (or in the rare case as myself him) believe me they eared that right to have one eye on chapter 11 and one on the slide. They fought the battle, they won, the kids made it to the park.

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There you have it. Two (somewhat shortened) blogs that I had written somewhere in my mind with the intention to write. I have a few more to send out, so stay tuned I hope to bring this blog back to life.

Mr Dad At Work

Parental Leave Week 6 & 7 Wrap Up

I have been neglectful of this blog in the past few weeks. My Last updated was my 5th week wrap up, and here I am now in the middle of week 8 of my parental leave. As I read over my week 5 blog I think 'oh how little are you aware of what is about to happen week 5 Christopher'

Week 6 and 7 have been less enjoyable.

Parental Leave Week 5 Wrap Up

It is now Monday, which means another week of leave has come and gone. The week in many respects pasted by quietly. Which to some might signal that it was an uneventful week. And I suppose, aside form my celebrating my Mothers birthday that was true. However on the other hand I realized something so subtle it almost passed by unnoticed.

This week I began to feel normal.

Father And Son

There are a few significant moments in life between father and son. A time when the sage like wisdom of 'Dad' gets passed down to 'Son'. Simeon and I embarked on one such moment just recently. Simeon began his journey towards riding a bike.

Parental Leave Week 4 Wrap Up

I am now 1/3 of my way through my parental leave. It is almost crazy for me to think that I have now spent about a month at home. Week four all and all went smoother. I still felt an unpleasant disconnect from work, but less so. We had a few long nights, but not as many. And the daycare was in full swing but I have found that I have finally got into the rhythm of it.

Downtime

Yesterday I saw something that almost brought a tear to my eye. As I was getting our house cleaned up for a visit with some friends last night I noticed my Xbox 360 controller sitting on an end table tucked behind our wedding picture in our living room, covered in dust.

My favorite hobby has sat idol now for about a month, FF XIII sits half played wondering if I am coming back to finish saving the world.

|An Undeserved Honour

I am excited to be an 4L Dad. Don't know what that is? You can check it out on Brandon The Duncan's website.

http://brandontheduncan.com/2011/03/4l-dads-christopher-drew/

Parental Leave Week 3 Wrap Up

It is hard to believe that I have already finished up 3/12 of my weeks of leave. In some sense it would be correct to say the week flew by, but I am not sure if I would ever dare fly when I am this tired.

This week was admittedly harder than the previous. The kids seemed louder, the mornings seemed earlier, and the energy and patience needed to deal with everything a room full of toddlers can thrown at you was slower in coming. In short I found this week to be difficult.

MY Brest Friend

A lot has changed over the years when it comes to being a father. We have moved from the waiting room into the delivery room. Reclining in an easy chair, to wrestling on the floor. We have transitioned from father knows best to operating as a parental team. Yes a lot has changed.

Yet one thing that has remained the same is that fathers get short changed when it comes to cool parental equipment and accessories.

A New Level Of Gross

Had you asked me I wouldn't have told you this even yesterday; but it hit me just now, I am not as easily grossed out as I used to be.

Parental Leave Week 2 Wrap Up

Week two of parental leave has come to a close. It would be an understatement to say that the week has been long and tiring. Today was possibly the most tired I have been in a very long time. Had Meghan not sent me to have a nap after the kids had a snack I am not sure if I would have lasted the day.

As the week comes to a close and the weekend offers us sometime for rejuvenation I thought I would give a run down of what I enjoyed about the week, and what I missed about it not being a 'normal' week.

Dresses And Dinosaurs

One thing that I have noticed at the day care lately is just how lopsided the toy distribution is. We have cars, trucks,trains and planes. We have dinosaurs and bugs. We have tools and action figures, and a whole bunch of play equipment.

Power and Control

I have a two year old.

Now for everyone that has, had, or lives with, or lived with a two year old I've already said enough. Anything else will be just details. The words 'I have a two year old' will bring knowing nods from those who have been there and done that.

A Lesson From An Under The Weather Daddy

I'm a guy. Now that means a lot of things. I have to shave my face every morning. I get to pee standing up. My life expectancy is a little shorter than women's. And when I get sick I become a total wimp.

Chronicle's Of A Stay At Home Dad

On March 5, 2011 at 5:41am my daughter was born. That event has triggered a whole host of other things. A rather large one is now I am on parental leave for 12 weeks. Two weeks ago I was franticly trying to get a number of loose ends tied up at work. I thought I had. But this first week of leave has suggested otherwise.