The Law of Inverse Proportions

It's been two weeks since I moved from Florida to Iowa. Which means it has been two weeks since I have seen my wife and kid. One more week before I get to pick them up at the Minneapolis airport.

But the funny thing is, the closer it gets to time to pick them up, the harder it is to be without them. Shouldn't it be getting easier? Shouldn't I be getting used to this by now? I guess not.

Last Thursday in Gainesville



Forgive the very poor conversion; the computer is packed. Finn and I took a quick trip to the Florida Natural History Museum on a rainy day. He loved the "elephants" and the giant turtle sculptures.

How to Talk to Children

A recent Huffington Post article by Lisa Bloom has been floating around the interweb that discusses how the way we interact with little girls affects their self-image and personality. This article also reminded me of a chapter in Nurture Shock  on achievement and how the ways that adults can help or hinder a child's motivation simply with their words (and not in the ways you might think; this book is a must read for parents). 

The most interesting commonality I see in these two pieces is that children are very much trying to please adults in general, and their parents and teachers in particular. The end result is that children may be learning more about who they are, what they believe and what they think from how we interact with them than from intrinsic stimuli. In other words, our personal beliefs and acting-out of social norms is contagious to our children.

Does "The Perfect Famly Dog" Exist?

Having these last few months "off" from work has given me the opportunity to do some of the things I have wanted to do for years, but wasn't able to because of time or schedule constraints. One of these things was to help with Greyhound rescue. I won't get into the politics of dog racing - I will just say that I am really glad that Gainesville has a Greyhound rescue organization because these are the type of dogs I want in my community: friendly, reserved, calm and great with small children.

We ended up fostering two dogs over the course of about four months, Star (pictured here) and Minnie (who I really wanted to bring to Iowa with us). I have to say that fostering is a great way for a family to figure out if they really want a dog, to learn about the personality of a particular breed and to test drive a dog as fosters will usually get first dibs to adopt a dog. And after living with Greys for a few months I have come to truly love the breed, but to also wonder if there might be a breed that works a little better for my family at the moment.

Imagination

"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." 
~Mark Twain


One of my favorite memories of being a dad is when Finn first started playing make believe. It wasn't that long ago, just a few months back. He was playing with a plastic ladle and pointed it at my face. I bent down and loudly slurped a spoonful of faux soup from it. I'll never forget the look on his face: this little smirk, like I had just told him a secret and then said, don't tell Mommy!

A second later he put the ladle to his own mouth, rudely slurped and then uttered a satisfied mmmmm. I was so proud. And I was also really excited too. Being able to make believe is such a critical developmental step for a child. It symbolizes a child's ability for abstract thought, and more importantly, an ability to be creative.

"Picking" Up Bad Habits

A funny thing happened the other day. I was in the middle of changing Finn's diaper when I noticed a gooey boogie lodged along the rim of his nostril. Just for a little context, he's getting over a pretty nasty cold and having trouble breathing without the man-made nose plugs. So I did what any dad would do; I held down his arms, braced my forearm against his chest with one arm and tried to pick it with my other hand as he thrashed his head like that girl in The Exorcist. He's lucky I didn't poke out his eye.

A New Year

A lot has happened since my last post, which I suppose means it's been a while. Nap times have been busy over the last few months looking for employment, prepping for Christmas and doing a few side jobs. Finn's growth and development is accelerating. He goes non-stop, all day long and has acquired the wonderful habit of saying "no" to everything. Oh and he has an insatiable desire for chocolate, which is strange because he has only had a handful of M&Ms over the course of his entire life. But he will still feign that he is not hungry for dinner and then ask for "treats". When I give him a granola bar he promptly dissects out the tiny little chocolate shavings, leaving behind a granola carcass. It's more like an activity than a snack...