One of the big lessons we’ve worked on with the kids is saying “I’m sorry” when they do something that hurts someone else. It seems like a good idea, but now I’m starting to wonder if we’ve gone a little too far. The other day N jumped off the ottoman on to the couch. His […]
Read MoreAs I may have mentioned before, we have two big lab mutts. By “big”, I mean that that each dog is a bit over 70 lbs. These are not the “lie down and loll around labs” that you may have encountered. These are the “look, we can stand on our back feet and hop straight […]
Read MoreThe boys were roughhousing again. Since they seem to love it so much, our rule is that as long nobody cries, they’re okay. If one makes the other cry, however, there’s trouble. This seems to be working out, at least somewhat. By “seems to be working,” I mean that now they try not to make […]
Read MoreThere seems to be a dizzying array of activities out there for toddlers to choose from: gymnastics, t-ball, swimming, karate, music… the list goes on and on. Fortunately, many of these have trial days, where you can take your little guy in and see if he likes it. We did this with the boys with […]
Read MoreThere’s a town called Oviedo not too far from where I live. The strange thing about Oviedo is that there are chickens wandering around for no apparent reason. I’m not sure if they raise them and release them, or if there is just a large feral chicken population. At any rate, after eating breakfast at […]
Read MoreTaking toddlers out to a restaurant is an exercise in creative distraction. That’s not something I’ve had too much of a problem with in the past. Now, however, the banging and the singing are starting to lose some of their appeal and I’m having to stretch a little bit more to keep the kiddos engaged […]
Read MoreWe’ve been doing our best to teach the little guys good manners. Among other things, they are learning that they are not allowed to shout down whoever else is speaking. Instead, they are supposed to wait for a pause, and then say “excuse me”. Despite C’s insistence, they are not allowed to shout “excuse me”, […]
Read MoreWe do a lot of singing in our household. This is not because we’re especially talented at it, but more because it’s fun. We’re always drumming, singing, or humming. The songs that I know (mostly classic rock with a heavy does of 80’s movie and TV themes) are significantly different than the songs that they know, so […]
Read MoreFriday night, we took the kids and the dogs for a walk on a trail near our house. It’s a nice paved trail that is frequented by cyclists, roller bladers, and walkers. In the evening, however, traffic dies down a bit and it’s perfect for families. We go about a mile up and then turn […]
Read MoreThe other night, I was witness to a very gratifying battle of wills. This time, it was N who didn’t want to eat his carrots. You may remember my troubles with C. Well, it’s always nice to see someone else go through the same sort of thing. The end of the battle was the best […]
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