MyGeekDaddy » Jason.Verly

Left hand vs right hand…

Jason.Verly — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:38:19 +0000

Conversation with Evan this morning as I got back into my truck after dropping Sam off at school:

Evan: Dad, can you buckle me up again?
Me: Sure. Why did you get unbuckled?
Evan: I don’t know.
Me: Well you unbuckled yourself, don’t you know why?
Evan: No, my eyes didn’t know what my hands were doing. That’s why.
Me: (smile from ear to ear all the way to work)

Getting Your Kids To Go On Errands 101

Jason.Verly — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:53:20 +0000

At some point in a weekend, errands have to be completed. Normally it’s easier to do these errands all at once so you can go home and get other things done… like take a nap. So when it’s time to go on the errands and your kids whine and cry about going, what are you supposed to do? Research shows that if you ask the children if they want to go, and the children say yes, those children will always behave better in the stores. Children that still say no, and are dragged out of the house to run errands, normally end up being part of the family that you wonder to yourself, ‘what the hell is wrong with them’. Trust me, I have the statistics to back this up.

So in an effort to get children to be more accepting of going on errands, do the following steps:

1. Layout the expectation that anything could happen on an errand. This may incline some of the more trusting kids to go along right away.

2. On a random weekend, say we have to do an errand and then go someplace totally unexpected and fun. Remind the kids how fun ‘errands’ can be.

3. The next time you have run some errands, remind the kids of time you did step #2. If that doesn’t work, reinforce step #1.

4. In the event that doesn’t work, proceed on your errand alone and text back pictures like these to your spouse. Then have your spouse show them to our kids.

5. When you get home, remind them that anything can happen when you run errands.

6. Repeat.

BTW, step #4 drove Sam and Evan nuts today.

Oh the irony…

Jason.Verly — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 15:38:00 +0000

As part of my ground breaking mowing event (see previous post), I had several tasks to get the lawn mower ready. I changed the oil, got fresh gas, and of course I sharpened the blade. While sharpening the lawn mower blade with the bench grinder, both of the boys were dazzled by the sparks it generated. Sam wanted to touch the sparks and I warned him that would be dangerous. I then went on to explain the dangers of power tools and how they can hurt someone. And just at that moment I accidentally ground the skin off my knuckle.

Yes… I injured myself with a power tool as I was explaining to the boys the dangers of power tools. I think the fact that Holly said she wasn’t surprised I injured myself hurt just a little more than my knuckle did.

A first in my life…

Jason.Verly — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 01:25:00 +0000

It’s March.

It’s been warm.

And I mowed my yard…

Now I know that isn’t earth shattering news, but looking back at the past 25+ years of doing yard work, I have never mowed a yard in March. I didn’t even mow the yard in March the couple of years I lived in Cedar Rapids. So now I’m going to do the next best thing to assure a snow storm within the next 2 weeks – take the snow blower off the lawn tractor so I can thatch and fertilize.

At the rate spring is coming, I’ll be watering by mid-April. Nice.

Happy Birthday Mom

Jason.Verly — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:10:00 +0000

I got what I think you’d really like for your birthday… two new pictures of the boys. Hope you enjoy your day and the weather cooperates for you.

Go to the Flickr page to get better copies of the pics – Sam / Evan.

Holly is still gushing…

Jason.Verly — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 04:43:51 +0000

We, ok Holly, finally got one of her top projects knocked out. The fire place upstairs got refinished. This picture doesn’t do justice to how spectacular it really turned out. No matter how much Photoshopping you do to a picture, bad light is bad light. Look for some better pictures later this weekend.

A little bedtime story…

Jason.Verly — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 03:03:35 +0000

Sam decided to volunteer and read to Evan tonight for bedtime stories. Then they were supposed to sleep together in Evan’s new bed. Once the lights were out, they actually went down pretty easy.

As of 9:03pm… so far, so good.

Moving to a big boy bed…

Jason.Verly — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:44:00 +0000

While Holly and I had the weekend off from the boys, so we spent some time trying to find a new bed for Evan. Well the mattress was an easy find (there’s a whole other story with that). The bedding showed up next (see below). Evan was so excited to get to sleep in his "big boy bed". The big adjustment will be when we get the frame next week. Evan’s room is small, so he’s getting a bedframe with drawers underneath. This means the top of the bed sits quite a bit higher than his old bed, so he’ll have to use a stool to get in/out of bed for a while.

The first night he has to get up to go to the bathroom will be interesting.

I’m sure Holly is muttering the actual name of the style of bed Evan is getting as she reads this.

Sorry honey.

Reading with a vengeance…

Jason.Verly — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 03:36:41 +0000

Holly got Sam a new book today, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He got the book about 3:30pm this afternoon and basically read non-stop until a little after 8pm. In those 4-1/2 hours he tore through almost 200 pages. Instead of Holly or I reading to him tonight, he sat down with his book while I got some time to read mine. We both sat on his bed and read until Holly came in to say goodnight after reading to Evan. We had to tell him to put the book down with about 20 pages to go.

Guess who’s getting up early tomorrow?

Happy Birthday Holly!

Jason.Verly — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 09:15:00 +0000

Wishing my sweetie and the best Mom all around a great big happy birthday. From all of your boys who love you very much.