MyGeekDaddy

Drivers test…

admin — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:33:54 +0000

Sam has asked to ride his bike to school before the year ends. Last night we rode the route as a first ‘drivers test’. The ride went well, except for slowing down to look for traffic on a few roads. No idea where he picked that up.

Well tonight was finals test night. He was going to lead me all the way to school so we knew his pace to time so we knew how early he had to leave the house. The rule was if he didn’t slow down to look for cars when the sidewalk crossed a street, he didn’t get to go.

He didn’t make it out of the neighborhood. Blew right though the first cross street. On his second mistake he realized what he did. He was devastated. You know what he was mostly upset about? Disappointing us.

That deserved an extra 10 min on the playground and a gentle talk on the way home.

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)

It’s summer, err… movie time!

admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:10:27 +0000

While even I get a little sad seeing how fast the boys are growing (yes dear, I really do). But now we’re entering an exciting new phase with the boys – movie buddies. Now when all these action block busters come out I’m pretty much guaranteed at least one of the boys will want to go. Sam and I are going to the new Avengers movie on Saturday and we’re so excited to go.

But probably not as excited as Holly because now she doesn’t have to.

How I know she loves me…

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:23:50 +0000

There are some days that I just know my wife loves me. Today is one of those days. Why? Because she let the Pop Fairy in house yesterday. The Pop Fairy is a magical creature who unselfishishly fills the garage refrigerator with pop that only I drink.

Thanks sweetie. I love you.

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.

It finally happened!!!

admin — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:14:47 +0000

It happened, it finally happened. The boys let Holly and I sleep past 8am. Oh what a glorious feeling to roll over on a Saturday and realized you weren’t pounced or prodded at the crack of dawn. Of course as I write this, Holly is making lunch and the boys are still in their PJ’s.

Guess no one wanted to run errands with me and have lunch at McDonald’s. Oh well.

It’s not the Death Star…

admin — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 03:00:22 +0000

Holly pulled the best trick on all of us for my birthday. Last night she acted like she was so excited to tell the boys what they got me for my birthday that she said she’s tell them, but only if they could keep a secret. The secret lasted about 3 min and was revealed to be the Lego Death Star set. I was kind of impressed and confused at the same time. Impressed that she had the guts to give me the Lego set the boys have drooled over for the last year. Confused for basically the same reason.

Holly went so far as too ask me about again later that to make sure I really wanted it. She even acted it up about how hard I am to buy for. Well played sweetie. She had ALL of going on this one.

I think we hit the turning point…

admin — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:44:03 +0000

For the third time, Sam has come away from a skirmish with Evan on the losing end of the stick. We’ve warned Sam about this day, but he still doesn’t believe us.

Guess how old I am…

admin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 23:51:49 +0000

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.