Daddy Day

I like family traditions and there are a number that R and I have started and tried to keep over the years. One is Back-to-School Breakfast. On or near the last day of summer break, the kids and I will go for one of our traditional excursions into true culture - Breakfast at Waffle House.

Being a huge fan of the purveyor of "scattered and smothered" stuff - and at one time the number one seller of T-bone steaks, the event is a semi-annual, self-centered, self-indulgent act on my part - thinly disguised under the veil of "spending time with the kids". Once we have recuperated -gastronomically speaking - we usually go back the day after Thanksgiving. Our day is set for tomorrow. Wednesday it all starts over again - gloriously and thankfully! School and hopefully order will return to our lives.

So I am taking a couple days off this week.

These days off used to be called "Daddy-Days" when the kids were younger. That meant that Mom was working and Dad would be home. It also usually meant that Dad would be doing more playing than anything else. As the kids have gotten older - and as I have gotten older - and my "to-do" list longer, Daddy-Days are not always met with the same excitement as they once were. (It could be because lately I spend some of my time doing what I am doing right now while the kids are chattering outside).

I thought for this post, I would do something similar to the Mom's whose blogs I often read: I will talk about my day with the kids - occasionally dropping in some helpful hints here and there for you stay-at-home Moms (and stay-at-home Dads).

Hint: Always invent catchy names for the food you cook. This makes meal time an event. The exotic titles on your menu can often take their mind off the fact that lunch is two hours later than usual or that things look or taste funny.

We began this morning with "Chicken in a basket" (okay, I borrowed this from "Cracker Barrel"); for lunch (which is incidentally about an hour and one-half late even as we speak) we may have "Dad's World Famous Secret School Lunchroom Style Peanut Butter-and-Jelly Sandwiches". Don't ask me to reveal the secret ingredient, honey.

Hint: Always include them in the work you're attempting to complete. Okay this one is a little selfish also - but it is important that we instill a good work ethic in our children. So I try to include them or sometimes they get to do the chore completely without my assistance (alright already! I know it sounds as if I am pushing the work off onto my innocent and vulnerable children. Absolutely!).

AA and Ab are really pretty good helpers. AA has a little trouble staying focused and needs to be given one duty at a time:

"please pick up both of your flip-flops out of the kitchen floor -very good." ...

"now, please turn around and face in the direction of your bedroom... your bedroom!... YOUR bedroom! ... the place where you sleep!".

"Yes, now -NO, PICK UP YOUR Flip-Flops again - both of them!"

"Yes and take them.... take them to -DO NOT PUT THAT FLIP-FLOP IN YOUR MOUTH!"

...and so it goes.

Ab, on the other hand, if she gets on your team - you can accomplish anything! She is nine and dealing with the urges of independence so sometimes it is not easy to get her to go along.

We put up an above-ground pool every year... it's large enough to accommodate the kids (and Mom & Dad on occasions) but not so large as to attract numerous friends or require a lot of maintenance. Today's project has involved dismantling said pool.

There are some annual events that always seem to demand pictures... putting up the Christmas tree is one for us, as well as putting up the swimming pool. We hardly ever record the taking down of those items... I guess it's kind of a downer. But I decided to include some pics today.

Hint: Always encourage working together and using the imagination.

Well, I'm serious on this one. In the South, where the waning days of summer are sweltering and fatigue-inducing, it is easier to spend the last few days of summer in front of the television, computer or other electronic entertainment device. Over the past couple of days, we have been blessed with unusually low humidity which means it doesn't feel as hot as usual, so I have encouraged getting outside. And if it is absolutely necessary to be inside - I at least hope to help them avoid getting sucked into spending vapid hours watching something.

This morning Ab discovered that the lid to the juice bottle was not unlike an air hockey puck. Soon we had moved the game into the dining room, improvised some hockey sticks, and goals (using some of Ab's ever present Scotch Tape) and had countless minutes of enjoyment before the game devolved into bickering.

I'll add another post on Mission to Mars which was the other imagination project they took on.

Final Hint: Always keep an 'Ace in the hole" - something you can use as leverage. It's a good idea to have some sort of "end of the rainbow" promise out there to act as the carrot on a stick, luring your children through the required chores. Or you can hold the threat of removing the "promise" over their heads in order to keep them in line.

"Suzy, remember if you hit your brother again we may not get to go to the STORE later - you want to go to the STORE don't you?" (If you keep their expectations low - going to the Circle K can be a big deal)

"Billy if you'll wash, dry and put away all these dishes, fold and put away the laundry and wash Daddy's car - I might be able to round up a shiny new QUARTER! .... and maybe the next time Daddy has a day off, we can go to the STORE!"

As you can see, I am - by no means - an expert.

I do love my kids and their Mom as well. In fact, there are no other people on this earth I had rather spend a day off with!