Author: suburbandaddy

I Have So Much To Learn

After 8 years and 4 kids, I thought I had learned all the skills and tools I would need to be a parent. But, as it turns out, I still have so much to learn. Especially when it comes to girls.

Take my first attempt at pigtails. If that’s what you call it. It came out looking more like the mutant toys from Toy Story than pigtails. Luckily, Thing 4 is wise enough not to let me do this on her. But she did let me practice on her Dora doll. Poor Dora.

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I’ll be studying up by watching this How To Make Pigtails video.? If you have any more tips let me know.? Not to worry, Thing 4 is always ready to say “cheese” for the camera.

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Thinking And Knowing

She may be only one and a half years old, but Thing 4 is already turning heads. Check out her sweater and coordinated accessories. She insists on getting dressed to walk out to the bus stop with her brothers every morning. Maybe there is a cute Kindergartner she is trying to impress.

When I see her like this, I am reminded of the saying, Every parent thinks their kid is adorable. But I know mine is the most adorable in the world.

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Off To A Rough Start

Thing 3 began his soccer career this week in the Under 5 division of Loudoun Soccer known as Mini-Soccer. It’s his first experience playing organized sports although he has watched his brothers play soccer and baseball many times.

The 45 minute sessions consist of half drill time where everyone gets to practice with their own ball, and the second half there is a “game” with two sides all chasing the same ball. At the end the team gets snacks which is the highlight of their day. ?See if you can pick out Thing 3 in this photo.

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Here’s a clue: ?There is only one kid NOT wearing the team’s red shirt that was handed out at the start of the game. ?Yes, that would be Thing 3. ?Picking the shirt he wears each day is a painful process that only he can decide. ?Do you really think he’ll put on a different shirt just because all the other kids do it? ?Please. ?I suppose being a non-conformist is a good thing.

You’ll also notice all the other kids are chasing a single ball except Thing 3 who is carrying his own ball in his hands. ?Why would he do that? ?Well, he didn’t like the part about sharing and taking turns with the ball. ?And he got really, really mad when one of the defenders kicked his ball. ?So he decided to hold onto his ball just in case someone else tried to kick it.

After storming off the field and threatening to walk to the playground, he decided he would conform to these perceived arbitrary rules and join the game. ?Except in true Thing 3 fashion, he would rather?sabotage it for everyone else if he can’t do it his way. ?So?he set out to be the one who gets the ball. ?I have to say he was quite good when he set his mind to it. ?A result no doubt from having two older brothers. ?He would steamroll through the other kids and fight his way to the ball, and came out from the pack to break away with the ball on several occasions. ?Except his purpose was not to get the ball in the goal. ?Instead, he kicked the ball as far out of bounds as possible to stop the game so the other kids wouldn’t be able to play. ?All because he couldn’t play with his own ball.

I’m glad I have this blog so we can look back here in 10 years, when he is a star soccer player, to see how he got his start. ?I’m not getting discouraged by this first experience. ?I just found Thing 1’s first time playing organized sports which also did not go so well, but now he can’t get enough team sports.

It Could Not Have Gone Worse

Time for another trip to the dentist with Thing 3.? Based on the pleasant surprise last time, I was kind of expecting it would be fine.? But when I consider his history of dentist visits, shoe shopping, and haircuts, I realize it was just wishful thinking.

He was already anxious, I knew he needed to go potty even though he refused, and coupled with the extra long wait we had in the waiting room, it was getting to be too much for Thing 3 so he decided he would leave.? He left the dentist’s office and slammed the door.? Then opened it.? Then slammed it.? Then opened it.? The office staff thought it was entertaining.? I was not amused.

In the examining room, he refused to get into the chair.? The kid who loves to watch movies didn’t want to pick a movie that he could watch on the ceiling while lying back in the chair.?? He wouldn’t let her floss or brush his teeth.? He finally agreed to sit in my lap while the dentist “counted” his teeth, which is his effective ploy to get a look in his mouth.? All along Thing 3 was saying how “horrible” everything was, and that he wanted to “punch everyone in the face” and “put them in the toilet”.? Luckily those last two were for my ears only before we got there.

Even with little he was able to see of his teeth, the dentist spotted some decay on his front tooth.? Maybe that’s because he is such a willing participant every night when it’s time to brush his teeth.? The dentist wanted him to take an x-ray.? You can imagine how well that went over.? A new room he didn’t want to go into.? A new chair he wouldn’t sit in.

Twenty minutes and a lot of coercing later we had the x-ray results.? There was a spot that would need to be filled either now or as a cavity later.? Considering he never was able to have the cleaning, we may as well do the filling and the cleaning all at once in a future visit where he will need to be sedated for about an hour while they work on him.

Sedation ought to be fun, especially considering his addiction to milk and the fact that he can’t have anything to eat or drink for 6 hours prior.? We’ll likely need to use sedation for all his dentist visits in the future.? And do you know what’s really fun about that?? The not covered by insurance $650 it costs each time.

Feeling Helpless

As parents, we never want our children to suffer. We’ll do anything to help them. But there are times we just cannot help, no matter how much we want to. And it breaks our hearts to watch them struggle and suffer.

This weekend I was not able to help Thing 3 when he needed it, wanted it, and kept asking for my help. It pains me to relive it just by writing about it.

He was playing Super Mario Galaxy on Wii. He was at a new level that he couldn’t figure out how to get past. His usual sources of help in this area, Thing 1 and Thing 2, were not home. So it fell to me.

“Daddy, help me! Show me how to do this”

I tried, but couldn’t figure it out. He got upset. A four year old’s image of a father who knows and can fix everything, shattered, never to return.

A New Bed

Thing 3 got a new bed today.? It’s a full-size bed with a trundle underneath for future sleepovers.? He had been in a toddler bed for so long, although it’s not like he was actually sleeping in it.

We made mention of it a couple of times but didn’t make a big deal.? This is Thing 3 after all.? You give him casual notice of change, but do not dwell on it because he will resist the more you talk about it.? When I picked him up at preschool today I told him there was a surprise in his bedroom.? He was excited.

He didn’t get upset when he saw it.? I think he was actually liking it.? At bedtime, he was reluctant, but I lured him with the promise of a special bedtime story.? To my shock he got in the bed.? Under the covers.? And put his head on the pillow!? Those may sound like no big deal, but did you read this?

Here he is all tucked in.

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Adorable, right?? Except it lasted about 10 minutes.? Then he was out of bed as usual, complaining that his bed was “unsafe” and demanding that I “put it back the way it was!”? The last I saw he was lying horizontal across the bed, on top of the covers, with his feet on the wall.? We’ll see where he actually falls asleep tonight.