Lessons Learned as a Parent

As noted in a previous blog, I like top 10 lists. SportCenter's "Not so Top 10" is one of my favorite. As I spend some of my days in the car, airport, plane or fishing with Aaron Schauer, ideas start to pop in my head. Lately I thought I could share my top lessons I have learned as a parent. Before parents out there with older children say the words, "Son you have no idea the lessons you are about to learn," it's okay...I know there is a long road ahead. Before we start, my children are four and a year and a half. I only know lessons learned up to this point:

1. A touch lamp is the perfect bedside lamp to have. It's hard enough waking up at 3am to go grab a drink from the fridge. Add darkness and your thigh or toe will pay the price. Bedside lamps are easy to turn on and require zero coordination. 
2. The Jeep stroller with rubber wheels is a must. We take our children to various locations with different landscapes. Having a stroller with big rubber tires makes walking along sand, snow or rough terrain very easy. It's worth the extra money.
3. It's not your fault. When Emmett, our four year old, was born we were convinced he possessed all of our negative personality traits. Even worse, we thought our parenting created his "less attractive" personality traits...then came Katelynn. She was the complete opposite. Order was restored...we are not bad parents. Every child has their own unique personality. Although both kids have short tempers...that Amanda. 
4. Speaking of short tempers...that last statement was a joke. I have a short temper and I see it in my kids. It's amazing how much kids absorb. When I see my negative personality come through my children it is absolutely heart breaking. I think this is most difficult part of parenting. Trying to act as the responsible, noble, and professional parent is practically impossible, but it should be the one we focus on the most. 
5. Because kids can absorb information so quickly and efficiently, teach them!! We read a lot to our kids. To see what they take away from story time is fun to see. I can't stress how important books are to children. It starts the day they are born.
6. Manners: There are times I am rough on my kids. Some parents may think I need to relax, but growing up  my parents didn't tolerate disrespect. We were told repeatedly to use our manners when speaking to people as well as listening. Please and thank yous go a very long way. 
7. Exposure: Amanda and I are believers in exposure. We want our children to take family vacations at an early age. We took Emmett on a 10 hour ski trip at six months.Want to test your marriage? Take your high strung six month old on a 10 hour road trip...good luck.
8. Just relax...break the rules. One thing we had to do on our our road trip is unbuckle Emmett to calm him down. This is only an example of the many "rules" we as parents will have to break. Just because its a policy doesn't mean it's right. They say now we have to have our children rear facing in the car until they turn 2...yeah right. Good luck with that.. Don't let your child sleep in your bed...sure, I would rather sleep 6 hours rather than 2. One day I would like to pop in on those who made these rules and catch them breaking the "rule." Justice will be served.
9. Build tolerance. This one is probably controversial. Growing up, we were "groomed" to get through sickness...be tough. Today, my siblings and I rarely get sick. Is there a connection? Probably not, but we are definitely not complainers. 
10. Kids are survivors. We don't give our kids enough credit. They are resilient and will persevere. I am horrible at this, but let them work through an issue with another child or sibling. They will figure it out.

Bonus!!!

1. Stages: Life is all about stages. Some day the finances will fall into place. Someday the kids will no longer sleep in your bed. Some day you will sleep through the entire night. Some day you will be able to go back to the gym and lose the extra 30 pounds you put on because you have zero discipline and "have no time" to exercise because you have zero ability to wake up at 5am. LOL....some day your kids will be all grown up and you will wonder where has the time gone. You will wish they were little kids again. You will wish life was as easy as it was when the kids were little. You will want to do it all over again.

Life is too short. This is the day that the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.

God Bless and thanks for reading.

Let's Hold Back the Praise

When it comes to those in the spot light, I don't understand why are they raised to saint hood when they decide to speak a positive message? Society is expected to hold onto their every word. They are all of sudden considered the "go to" person with knowledge and insight. When they do good, we praise them for their heroism and sacrifice. Maybe well deserved, but I believe it's gone too far.

We are forgetting there are many individuals breaking their backs making a difference in this world. I know I will forget some people, but let's not forget the teachers, pastors, police, fire fighters, nurses, doctors, businessmen and many many more. Just because someone has not been in an article in the local paper, on Sports Center, in the latest blockbuster movie or reports the local news, doesn't mean they are the only ones making a difference or have a positive message. We all can make a difference.

30 Years From Now Top 10

Life is full of top 10 lists. From top 10 pet peeves to top 10 reasons why we choose not to exercise. Regardless, top 10 lists are never ending. Lately I have been thinking about a top 10 list I could do. Most of my life I question things. It doesn't take much for me to be cynical. Usually my cynicism is followed by sarcasm. As I was watching morning cartoons with my kids, I started to question a few things. So here it. The Top 10 Questions About TV I am wondering 30 years from now.

1. Did Doc McStuffins ever become a doctor?

2. Did Social Services finally crack down on Captain Hook? He has to be in his mid-forties and he is harassing little kids. That can't be right.

3. Was there a lawsuit from a passenger on one of the Chuggington trains? Have you seen how much those trains move around? If there was a person inside one of those trains, it would be horrific.

4. Did Jake, Izzy and the Coconuts kid ever find their parents?

5.  Did Goofy turn on Mickey for never letting the show be about someone else?

6. Was there a name change for Brother Bear and Sister Bear? I mean, they were the only ones called that. Everyone else had a name.

7. Did Pete, from Mickey House Clubhouse, ever become a famous comedian...by far the funniest character.

8. How did Percy last from Thomas and Friends? The way he talked had to bring him trouble...and he was a wimp.

9. Did the conductors from Thomas and Friends ever grow a backbone and take over the train they were conducting? They just stand back there while the trains get into trouble.

10. Did Lucy, from Push and Pop book, even pass the 5th grade...ever? Really, you don't know the difference between a farmer and a guy in a balloon?

Well there is my cynicism at its best. All in good fun.

God bless and thanks for reading.

It's not as bad as you think...

I've been motivated. Ever since my brother-in-law took a month off from blogging, I kind of followed suit. August/September is a really busy time for me and I apologize for the lag in blogs. Work, moving, fantasy football, travel, moving, church, moving, school, cabin and kids take a lot of time in September...oh yeah, we moved. But thanks Brian for the kick in the toosh.

I have a list of topics that I have been storing up, so hopefully the entertainment will increase. So here is the latest:

Ever been to a big city? How about renting a car or driving your own car through a large city? For those of you residing in any town within 1000 miles of Fargo cannot say you have...with the exception of the Twin Cities. Think back of the time you had to drive through a big city. Feel a little awkward? Feel like everyone on the road automatically assumes you were dropped in the middle of their interstate or downtown? Feel like they know you just came from Fargo, ND where people complain about commuting more than 10 minutes? Don't feel bad. It's not as bad as you think.

Over the past few years,  I have traveled through a few large cities...i.e. Las Vegas, San Diego and the Twin Cities. Every time I do this, I always feel like every car around knows I have no clue what I am doing. I am waiting for a large semi to rear end me and send me to the side of the road with every other tourists. But I don't think its that bad. Yes I know I am driving like a 4'7" elderly women traveling 35 mph in a 65mph....I don't want to miss my exit!! If I miss my exit, then the wife gets mad. I'll take a rear end from a semi any day than trying to work through being lost in downtown Las Vegas.

Next time you are in a big city and not quite sure where you are going. Don't feel bad. Get there safe. 

God bless and thanks for reading.

How to Survive Watching TV With Your Significant Other

Every once in a while Amanda and I get to watch a few TV shows at night. The kids are in bed and we get to treasure an hour or two together. Although we appreciate the time together, we struggle finding the common show we both can agree to watch. I, being a sports/history guy and Amanda enjoys a good Friends or Grey's Anatomy. Being the comprising husband that I am, I will try to enjoy Amanda's shows with her...I say this tongue in cheek. I am horrible at watching Amanda's shows with her.

Recently during one of our relaxing nights together I had an epiphany...I rarely use the word "epiphany" in my everyday language, but I just finished a graduate course of very educated authors writing in a very complicated way and feel the need to pass the pain onto you. So back to the epiphany. We were watching Friends and a commercial came up. My Atlanta Braves were riding a 12 game winning streak and I wanted to check to see if they pulled off number 13. I changed the channel to ESPN and the bottom ticker brought me great joy when I saw the Braves won....then it hit me. Why not have a sport ticker at the bottom of Friends!!!! You heard me men. This is the best of both worlds. How do I get this idea to the corporate heads? More importantly, can I profit from this idea?

This is probably as far as I will go. Feel free to take this the next step. Moral of the story...men and women can work together, we just need to get creative.

God bless and thanks for reading

Why Me??

Have you ever had the moment in life when you ask yourself "why me?" This occurs about every 2-3 weeks for me. I don't mind when it does. It makes for perfect blog material. As long as no body gets hurt, why not...right?

Today I had a "why me?" moment. We had just arrived home from an overnight trip to Grand Forks with Aaron and Julie.  When we got home, we unpacked, ate lunch and went upstairs to wind down for naps. While we were upstairs, Brody, family dog, began barking. Didn't make anything of it, since Brody has the intelligence level of your average baseball sized rock. Eventually I had to go downstairs and soon discovered why Brody was barking. In front of the house were two young girls. Girl A was standing on the boulevard and girl B was driving a car. Normally not a big deal, but girl B was practicing her parallel parking. Again, not a big deal, BUT she was practicing with our car as the stationary car. Initially I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I asked Amanda if I was dreaming. I couldn't believe they thought this was a good idea.

There were three factors that put me in shock and also panic for the 1998 Honda Accord. First, why was the girl standing on the boulevard? It is a lot easier to teach someone how to parallel park when you are in the car with them. Second, they were girls and they were young. I feel confident saying this because my wife has admitted men have better spacial awareness. They can drive a car in reverse without turning their heads...women, not so much. Third, they were foreign. Okay, that sounds bad. Statistically foreign drivers struggle driving in America. I don't know how to explain this further, but a foreign driver can be scary. Add these elements up and the odds were not in my favor.

I decided to approach girl A and voice my concern. She was awesome and responded politely. She did state that they could to their parent's house and practice there...um YEAH!!!

God bless and thanks for reading.

True, Kind and Necessary

I have no clue where this came from, but I have it on my list of "future blogs" and I feel it's important to share. When it comes to talking about other people there are three questions we need to ask ourselves: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? I think this is important when talking about others when they are not present. Too often gossip floods our conversation and I for one am not exempt.

God bless and thanks for reading.