Tag Archives: Challenges

What does Eating Out and the Word “EWWWWW!” Have in Common? (A to Z Challenge)

05 Saturday Apr 2014

Posted by in Activities, Advice, Blogging, Busy Dad, Challenge, Dad, Family, Kids, Parenting

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Tom's Restaurant, NYC. from www.wikipedia.org

 

They are words I hear multiple times a day everyday from my kids.  If I had a dollar for every time they say them I would be rich.  OK maybe not rich, but I’m not joking on how many times I hear them.

My boys are in the phase of eating my wife and I out of a house.  They try to find out almost at every meal if we are eating out since they both love pizza from Happy Joe’s or from Pizza.

My girls favorite word is “EWWW!” even if it is not a word correctly used.  They use it if they don’t like food that we give them.  They really used it if they don’t like something they see.  Example is every time they see a couple kissing on television, they will say “EWWW!”.  It is sometimes down right funny when they use it.

My kids will start using different words and phrases as they get older and I will always have this to remind them of which words and phrases they used.

I am also sorry for having this post out late, but my weekends are the busiest time of the week.

 

E

 

 

A Date Day or Night in Your Parenting Routine? (A to Z Challenge)

04 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by in Activities, Advice, Blogging, Busy Dad, Challenge, Dad, Family, Kids, Parenting

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Cinema 4 at HOYTS, Forest Hill Shopping Centre, Forest Hill, Victoria, Australia. from www.wikipedia.org

 

Yes, you read the title of this post correctly. Every married couple with kids or even without kids should have a Date Night or in my case a Date Day. There are several reasons you need should have one, but I’ll explain why my wife and I have one.

My wife and I have a date day once a month. Why once a month, because it fits our busy schedule that we have. I know a couple that have one every other week. I also heard of couple having one once a week as well. It is not how often you have one, its having one period.

You need to have one to spend quality time with each other and remember why you are spending your life with them. I know kids are part of the family, but you do need time away from them. In my opinion, this is true if you have multiple kids in your family.

I my case we have a date day. It is just easier for us to take time off from work and send the kids to school or to the sitters for us. This way we have a day to enjoy having each other’s company as well as go out for lunch and sometimes do some shopping without having to worry about what the kids are going to do. We even sometimes go out to a movie as well.

Another positive thing about having a date day or night is that you can re-energize yourself emotionally. At least that is what if fells like for me.

So now it is your turn. Do you take date nights or days in your relationships? What type of thing s do you do? (Yes I know that was a loaded question, but please remember this is a kind of kids friendly site with humor.) Leave your comments below.

 

D

 

 

It’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Day in My House (A To Z Challenge)

03 Thursday Apr 2014

Posted by in Activities, Blogging, Busy Dad, Challenge, Dad, Family, Kids, Parenting

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choc-chip-cookies

 

Today my oldest son (T) turns eleven years-old today. He is growing up so fast that in a few years he will be in high school and then college. So to honor his birthday today I baked chocolate chip cookies so he can take them to school and the cake part of a jello cake. My wife did the jello part of the jello cake.

 

I know you are thinking that I have 4 kids so that should be normal thing in my house. But it is not a normal think in my house. We try to keep healthier type of snacks in our house like peanut butter and cheese crackers.

 

So this is a big deal in my home and the kids are very excited about it and the chance to have pizza again this week. My family could eat pizza everyday of the week. But this is for another post at a later time.

 

I’m used to making cookies and cakes from a pre-mixed bag. The kind that only needs the liquids and an egg added to it. But last night I made them from scratch. I also realized how hard it is to make cookies from scratch compared to the pre-mixed bags. I also thought how many birthdays I could do this before he leaves my house for a place of his own.

 

So making them from scratch is well worth the hard work since he will only be eleven only once. Especially when I can control how much chocolate chips can go into them. Did I ever mention how much my family and I love chocolate.

 

I could go on with this topic in more detail, but I’m writing this for the A to Z Challenge and will stay close to their rules on how much words are in a single post. This is an awesome challenge by the way.

 

Have you ever done something hard that you found out the value is well worth it? This could be baking something, building something, or even doing something in your life. Please share your experiences in the comments below.

 

C

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bedtime Rituals (A To Z Challenge)

02 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by in Activities, Busy Dad, Challenge, Dad, Family, Kids, Parenting

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Today’s letter is B and so I’ll talk about Bedtime Rituals for my kids.

The bedtime ritual at my house is pretty straight forward and boring at some times. But seeing the smiles on my children’s faces is well worth the time and energy to do it. The only time we don’t follow the ritual is if we are traveling or staying the night other than our home.

So here is our normal bedtime ritual. Each night starts with a bedtime snack. This can be as simple as peanut butter and crackers to even ice cream sometimes. As long as they think it is special you can give them any type of food you want.

Then my kids will pick out certain books (One book per kid) they would want me to read to them. I’ll start with the boys books first and finish reading to the girls. The books don’t have to be long novels type, but short simple ones like “Why Are You So Grumpy About” by Tom Lichtenheld. Longer ones I tend to break down into chapters per night. Even sometimes my kids would want me to read a story out of their kids bibles. The fact you are reading to them is the main thing they remember.

Then I will tuck the younger ones in and let them read for a little bit longer by themselves or have them listen to a CD like Frozen. Which my girls almost know every song by word and sound now. The boys favorite right now is “Everything is Awesome” from the “Lego’s Movie”.

Then I’ll check back later to remove books and shut off the radios and lights in their rooms.

Since I told you what the bedtime ritual is like at my home, what are the ones you do in your home? Are you a parent that has a ritual you follow or one that fly by the seat of your pants? I would like to here other bedtime rituals from other parents. Just leave a brief comment explaining it or even a link if you have written about it on your own blog.

B