Author: suburbandaddy

Sesame Street Giveaway

I have 3 pre-release copies of the new Sesame Street Movie, ?Follow That Bird , to give away.? The contest will run until April 10, and Thing 1, Thing 2, and Thing 3 will announce the winners right here on video,?Academy Award style.? You don’t want to miss it.

To enter the contest, leave a comment on this post.? Don’t forget to include your email so I can reach you if you win.

Sesame Street MovieFollow that bird ? Big Bird, of course ? for an imaginative, magical treat starring the cast of TV?s Sesame Street in their first movie. Jim Henson?s beloved characters Kermit, Oscar, Bert, Ernie and Cookie Monster ? plus other Sesame Street regulars ? join Big Bird in a big-hearted, cross-country adventure. A meddling social worker sends poor Big Bird off to live with a feathered foster family in Illinois. But try as he might, he doesn?t fit in and runs away to return to Sesame Street. Can his old friends find him before he runs ?afowl? of trouble en route? Be on the lookout ? and be there for big entertainment from guest stars Chevy Chase, John Candy, Sandra Bernhard, Waylon Jennings and more.

Presidents and Superheros

Kids will do anything to avoid going to bed.? Last night, we let them stay up while we were watching the president’s press conference.? It led us on a strange path of questions and topics.? Here are some of the highlights.? I wish I was video taping.

Thing 1: What does the President do all day?

Me: [Long pause]? Um.? He helps people that live in our country.? Like when there is a big storm he makes sure they get help.? And he protects our country from bad guys trying to get in.

Thing 1:? How does he stop the bad guys??? How can one person stop all the bad guys?? Is he as strong as Superman?

Me: Kind of.? And he has lots of people helping him.

Thing 2: Is there a door to get into America to keep the bad guys out, and he locks it?? How can he keep the bad guys out if there is no door?

Thing 1: How many elevators are there in the White House?

Me:? [with certainty] There are 2 elevators

I have found sometimes it’s better to give easy to understand, absolute answers so there aren’t lots and lots of followup questions.

Thing 2: How many kitchens are in the White House?

Me: [with certainty] Three kitchens

Thing 1: How do they know which one to eat in?

As you can see, this could – and often does – go on for a very, very long time.? Usually, when I’m in the mood, I play along and add fuel to their fire.? The majority of what I say is true.? So maybe I pass off some guesses as fact.? I’m the daddy and they expect me to have all the answers, right?? Tell me, how would you have handled this one I got last night?

Thing 1: What time does the President go to bed?

I immediately answered with absolute certainty “1:00 in the morning.”? He bought it.

Incident Week

Two incident reports in one week.? Last time it was Thing 3’s biting.? Thanks for all of your concern on that, by the way.? I had no idea biting was such a hotbed issue.

This latest one involved Thing 2.? He received a report for kicking sand into the eyes of two of his friends.

I don’t want to give the wrong idea.? From these recent posts, you are probably thinking my kids are a band of hoodlums, out of control and terrorizing the preschool, on the verge of being expelled.? Far from it.? They may be high energy, but behavior has never been a big problem.? Except this week.

There is, of course, a back story on the sand kicking incident.? Thing 2 often plays superhero games with his friends.? He has a vivid imagination, even for a preschooler, constantly talking to his toys and acting out battles of good vs evil.? It turns out that he kicked sand because he was a “good guy”, and he was trying to “get the bad guys”.

The Dreaded Incident Report

Those of you with kids in daycare will know what I’m talking about.? Each day, we get a report of Thing 3’s activites:? what he ate, when he slept, when he pooped, the new words he learned, and his general mood.

Usually, the daily report is pretty standard and I just skim through.? On some days, there is a second report called an Incident Report that I must sign to acknowledge receipt.? There are generally three situations that can result in an incident report for Thing 3:

1. He had a self inflicted accident. These are pretty common as toddlers are always climbing, falling, and bumping into things.

2. He had an accident that was caused by another kid.? Someone pushed him on the playground and he got a bloody nose, for example.

3. He was the cause of someone else’s accident.

When I see the Incident Report, I anxiously hope for #1 or #2.? Thing 3 gets so many bumps, scrapes, and?bruises, either on his own or with the “help” of his brothers, they don’t worry me anymore.? And I know if the accident was more serious, they would have called us during the day instead of waiting until we came to pick him up.? The last thing I want is for my kid to be the cause of someone else’s incident report.

Unfortunately, this was the case yesterday.? One of his friends took a toy from Thing 3 without asking.? Not that it would have mattered if he had asked, the answer would have been no.? At 20 months sharing is not his strongest suit.

So Thing 3 bit him.

In my mind, I can rationalize this type of incident report.? At least my kid wasn’t the instigator.? Sure, he shouldn’t have bit him.? But the other kid shouldn’t have taken the toy, right?

Milk and Bankruptcy

We go through a lot of milk.? What’s a lot?? Try four gallons a week.? This week I went to the store to buy a gallon of milk.? Since it was the only item I bought, it stood out how much a gallon of milk actually costs.? $3.50.?? Usually, I get more stuff and don’t notice what the milk costs.

It’s not like my milk buying habits would change if I knew the price.? When Thing 3 wakes up in the morning, he is like a crack addict jonesing for his sippy cup of milk.? It usually takes two full cups to settle him down, then he’s good for a few hours until his next fix.

So I started doing the math.? Four gallons a week.? $3.50 a gallon.? That’s $14 a week.? 52 weeks a year.? Comes to $728 a year just for milk!

And they are in daycare all day during the week, where the milk is included.? What happens when they start elementary school and they’re home a few hours earlier…drinking milk?? I don’t want to even think about all the food they’ll be eating when they are teenagers.?? I hope there are some provisions for milk in the trillion dollar economic stimulus package.

Single Parenting

I am a single parent again this weekend. SuburbanMommy is off on a girls Oscar weekend until Monday. I hope to learn from my experience last weekend, when I was a virtual single parent while SuburbanMommy was working Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (holiday).

The first lesson I learned is to get help!

Lesson #1: Reduce the number of kid
So this weekend I have lined up a sleepover Friday night for Thing 1 with his cousins at SuburbanAunt’s house. At this point, dealing with just two kids, even though it is the younger ones, seems like a walk in the park. I wouldn’t have said that a couple years ago when I only had two kids. But when you are used to three, two is easy.

Lesson #2: Bring in outside help
SuburbanUncle is coming to visit Saturday after nap time (Thing 3’s, not mine). He is younger than me with more energy, and the kids will have someone else to climb on for a few hours, giving my back a much needed rest.

Lesson #3: Bring in more outside help
On Sunday, I have a babysitter coming in the afternoon to give them dinner and put them to bed, so I can eat a meal in peace.

Lesson #4: Plan recovery time
I’m taking a vacation day on Monday to catch up on some stuff (like blogging) and get some much needed R&R.

Lesson #5: Being a single parent is hard
I always knew single parents had it tough. But until the last two months, when I got a taste of what it’s like, I couldn’t appreciate just how tough. To the single parents out there: I salute you. How do you do it day in and day out?