Disqus - Latest Comments for theteachertom

Re: Happy second birthday little man

theteachertom — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:02:06 -0000

I teach a lot of kids who become big brothers/sisters. They really love their siblings . . . until they start to crawl. That's when they start getting into their stuff!

Re: Adventure Country gator wrangling

theteachertom — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 11:48:51 -0000

Ugh, selling a house is brutal. We're in the midst of it as well.

You might need to take the new baby back there and get another gator shot with both kids for your Xmas card!

Re: Magna Doodle with magical powers

theteachertom — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:48:19 -0000

We loved the Magna Doodle as well, although unfortunately we had (this is embarrassing to admit) come of refer to "number 2" as "doodle," so there was something of a hurdle to overcome there. When we received it for Christmas my brother kept warning us, "Be careful, don't step in the Magna Doodle," which got big laughs from the 2-3 year old crowd.

Re: Separation Anxiety

theteachertom — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:47:35 -0000

Having dealt with a lot of separation anxiety over the years, PJ, I've come to the conclusion that it's as much about the parents as it is the child. In fact, most of my focus tends to be on the parent!

Re: Where we’re going we don’t need roads

theteachertom — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:14:07 -0000

Is that really a Hardwear car seat?

Re: Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner

theteachertom — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:03:24 -0000

This looks incredible PJ! You really do have skills, just don't think about opening a restaurant. I've known a lot of restauranteurs and if you think being a parent is hard work, you ain't seen nothing until you see someone scrapping 7 days a week to make a restaurant work.

I like the cook book/cooking show route much better for you!

Re: I don’t think that word means what he thinks it means

theteachertom — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:13:45 -0000

No means No, except, of course, when it means Yes.

Re: Tunnel fun

theteachertom — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:23:35 -0000

Hey! We have that exact tunnel at our school!

Great photo.

Re: The one with real estate agents and Roadhouse

theteachertom — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:40:37 -0000

You'll be so happy when you get the "Captain" in preschool, PJ. Destruction is a phase best gone through on someone else's turf!

Re: Things to consider when naming a child

theteachertom — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:07:45 -0000

Hee hee, I tormented my wife with "Honus," until we knew we were having a girl.

For awhile I had her sold on naming our daughter Tiger (this was before Tiger Woods was a household name) and now I'm very glad I lost on this one.

My wife's favorite literary character from her youth was Josephine March from Little Women. I liked the name Josephine because it had so many cool nicknames (Jo, JoJo, Fifi, Phine, Josie, etc.) I figured it could easily be adapted to suit just about any personality.

One of my rules of naming her, and this goes for naming dogs as well, is that it couldn't be a name that I'd be embarrassed to yell out in public. This is why our dogs are NOT named things like, "Sweetums" or "Poopie." =)

Re: I’m huge in the Netherlands

theteachertom — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:47:36 -0000

I'm late to this thread PJ, but my big driving peeve are people who don't understand that you're supposed to enter the intersection when waiting to turn left. Almost every day someone sits at the red light with their indicator on, waiting to turn, effectively preventing people who want to go straight from passing them on the right. Then the light will turn yellow and they'll keep sitting there through the next light cycle. Arg!

(I realize it might have been helpful to have an illustration to explain this. =)

Re: Making food fun for my kid

theteachertom — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:10:51 -0000

I agree with you that kids tend to fall into either the grazer or eater category although it might only be true for American kids.

My European friends refuse to make special/fun meals for their kids and they're appalled that every restaurant in American (including Mexican restaurants) have kids menus with chicken fingers. Apparently, the European kids menu is to order a half portion. I'm not saying it's better, but they don't seem to have these meal battles that we have.

Re: Wet Willy!

theteachertom — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:20:03 -0000

Ha!

Re: I refuse to use my powers for evil

theteachertom — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:24:58 -0000

There should be cooperatives out there set up specifically for parents to drop of their no longer needed baby gear/toys in exchange for "new" stuff.

My daughter is 13 and I still a damn stroller in our garage that I paid $400 for.

Re: A year in the life

theteachertom — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:51:37 -0000

The thing I deplore most about myself is that I NEVER take photos of anything. If it wasn't for grandparents, my child's life would be entirely undocumented. I admire you for many things, PJ, and taking pictures is one of them!

Happy New Year!

Re: I’m going to be a dad, again

theteachertom — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:26:58 -0000

Congratulations PJ. This is great news!

Re: Inside the mind of a stay-at-home-dad

theteachertom — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:57:25 -0000

I've never read a parenting book in my life -- I live within 15 minutes of both my mother and mother-in-law who pretty much taught me everything I know -- but you've persuaded me this would be a worthwhile read.

I never felt the male ego money thing. I married my boss. =)

Re: Not my grandmother’s ravioli

theteachertom — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:18:02 -0000

This post reminds me that you left one important thing out of your piece on being a "good man": cooking!

When my daughter was younger, one of her favorite things to do when she had a friend stay for a sleepover was to make ravioli, starting with their own dough. It was a huge mess and a ton of fun, especially once they realized they could put almost ANYTHING into one of those pillows!

Re: Et tu Tiger?: What men (and dads) can learn from Tiger Woods

theteachertom — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:50:15 -0000

Remember when Hugh Grant, who was married to Elizabeth Hurley (one of the hottest women on earth), got busted with the woman who is the very definition of a skank? It seems to me that the greatest test of one's manhood is remaining true to one's values in spite of fame and fortune. Not many guys seem to be able to do it. It seems like they all wind up horndogging around.

Paul Newman was one of my idols because by all accounts he remained true to Joanne through it all, although even he needed a second marriage to get it right.

I'm not wealthy and famous. I don't have gorgeous young women throwing themselves at me. That probably makes it a lot easier to stick to my morals, but still . . .

Great post PJ.

Re: What does it mean to be a good man?

theteachertom — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:50:54 -0000

I tried to mentally argue with each of your 5 traits of a good man and lost every time.

Several years ago I read a book by Thomas Mann in which he contended that eternal life was only possible through the stories other people tell about us once we're gone. Our focus, he asserted, shouldn't be on what people say about us today, but rather on what people will be saying about us 1000 years from now. We should regularly ask ourselves, "What do I want my part to be in the story of the human beings?" When I look into the abyss, this is what I think about. The story is full of guys who throw themselves in, or get frightened, or who resort to anger, revenge or hatred. I want my part to be as a man who loves his family and follows his heart.

I love how you describe your relationship with your wife. The respect is obvious and I'm blown away at your ability to set aside your temper. Four-letter words are not my thing, but that's f---ing awesome! Seriously.

Re: Got a turkey leftover hangover?

theteachertom — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 21:18:43 -0000

Man are we sick of Thanksgiving. This morning we ate the last of the gravy (this is the strength of my Thanksgiving cooking) with some biscuits one of our guests brought. There is some turkey left -- enough for this stew -- but almost nothing else. I feel good about my resource management. =)

Re: The best laid plans

theteachertom — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:55:51 -0000

Nice save, PJ! Ten years ago, I had my oven crap out on Thanksgiving, but got lucky in that the turkey was almost done and the residual heat finished the job. Phew!

We host a potluck style Thanksgiving each year and we're now up to 31 people. All I do is the turkey and stuffing, while everyone else brings a specialty. I own a chef's hat and jacket which I'm always wearing when people arrive. This is all part of my secret plan. Even though everyone else does at least as much work as I do, by virtue of the turkey and that costume, I wind up with most of the credit.

Re: More turkey talk

theteachertom — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:32:05 -0000

I wish I could change things up, but I've been doing the same turkey, same stuffing for more than a decade now. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but my own family as well as most of the other 30 people coming over for dinner insist on it. I don't mind, however, given that repetition takes most of the stress out of things. I've never told anyone that it's a Martha Stewart recipe.

Next year we're making a change, so I'll be back then for tips and ideas.

Re: Defining modern manhood

theteachertom — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:28:23 -0000

Nice review PJ. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Shortly after we decided that I was going to be the stay-at-home parent, my dad told me that he regretted that he missed his sons growing. He said he thought I was the "luckiest man alive." That was 13 years ago, but I think of it almost every day.

Re: A post of thanks

theteachertom — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:51:44 -0000

Congrats on the anniversary. That's a lot of blogging.