The Sleep Dilemma

We all know that new babies will keep you up at night, and you won’t get much sleep at the beginning.  For those of us with more than one child, we also know that EVENTUALLY things will get better.  However, when you’re back at the beginning again, and in the middle of those sleepless nights, it’s sometimes hard to remember that sleep IS coming back…Eventually.

And one thing that we’ve definitely found out, is that with twins, sleep is even MORE rare…At least with our twins.  Their sleep schedule is apparently they sleep only when the sun is out, so that’s fun.  But with having another, older child in the mix, the sleep schedule is even smaller, because when the older sibling wakes up in the morning, there’s no going back to sleep once the little ones are down.

Luckily there’s this magical time sometime during the day called “nap time”….Now, the biggest dilemma a parent has comes during this time….What do YOU, as the PARENT do with this small chunk of time, where everyone under the age of 5 are all FINALLY unconscious together….Do you do chores? Do you take a nap yourself, and get rested; become human again?…Or are you part child as well, and choose to entertain yourself???? 

Laundry, Laundry, Laundry...And More Laundry

Going off to college was the first time that I really did laundry on my own.  At the time, being of the age where you know all the answers to the world's problems (18), it felt as if laundry was one of those giant pains in the neck...You know....The whole ONE TIME a week that I did it....Man, one time a week was just so much.

But, you know, then you grow up past that age where you know all the answers, and you find out that you really don't know everything...For instance...One time a week for laundry?  NOT that much.

Add a spouse....And then add a child....And then another child....And then another child.....And when that happens....Laundry....IS NOW YOUR LIFE.

Family Bonding.. MMO Style

For the uninitiated, the acronym “MMO” or “MMORPG” stands for “Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game”.   That particular genre of game happens to be my favorite; and my favorite game of the moment, the aging, but yet still fun for me – World of Warcraft. 

The problems with games of this nature is that to really get any sort of accomplishment in these games, it takes a certain amount of time each time you log into the game.  These games are literally a virtual world/universe that behaves almost like the real world.  There is no “winning” an MMO; but you can win Missions and Quests, and rewards, and equipment for your digital avatars.  Certain quests in these games require more than one player at a time to complete as the difficulty has been raised.  I consider myself both a gamer, and a parent (amongst lots of other things).  A “Garent” as it were.  No, that’s just lame, we’ll leave it a Gamer and a Parent.   My fellow gamers out there can understand how difficult it is to not be able to finish certain quests in a timely manner, and of course, my fellow parents are well aware, having children is a full time job, with lots of overtime hours, with no overtime pay.  

However, the flip side to this coin, if one were to play their cards right, and their offspring can be taught a certain amount of computer skill….An online gamer need never have to PUG (Pick Up Group – ask a random stranger who is also in the game to help with Quests or Missions In Game) again!  The only real obstacle is to get the other parent to see such an exercise as quality bonding time!

When I Grow Up, I'm Gonna Be... Oh, waitaminute...

Part of growing up, is of course, getting a job.  We gotta pay those bills, and let’s face it: once we’re “done” with schooling, we’ve accrued quite a large amount of them.   

When we’re young, we all do that “When I Grow Up (heheh), I’m gonna be”…I believe when I was young, the things that I thought I would like to have been were a Zoo Keeper, or as I’m trying out at the moment:  A cartoonist.  I’m not really sure how that’s panning out, but I’ve had a semi – positive reaction to my little experiment here.

But a flip side to actually growing up, is that often we end up “being”, or more accurately “doing” things that we didn’t really think we’d be doing, or plan on doing.  It often times feels like we’re the only ones in that camp, when really just about everybody is doing something they didn’t really plan on.  Things just kinda….Happen.

New Strips To Return Tomorrow

Dad. Paw-Paw. Del. Delbert.  These were the names that my father was called from various members of our family.  Tomorrow will mark two weeks since he passed away.

He requested no funeral service, but tonight we will be holding a memorial in his name at the Edgewood Senior Center at 550 Freedom Park Drive from 5pm - 8pm.

As such, I am delaying today's cartoon until tomorrow.

"Real" Pregnancy

Like most males of my generation, the majority of our knowledge on the subject of pregnancy, we learned through watching cheesy '80s sitcoms.  Or really just sitcoms in general.

When our oldest was finally on her way, I obviously experienced first hand what "Real" pregnancy was like.  And being around "Real" pregnancy, shattered my poor delusional world.

To avoid really digging myself a hole so deep, that the woman who was pregnant with my twins will only be able to pull me out, I'm going to stop today's introduction early.

The biggest lesson that I've learned being around "Real" Pregnancy?  Well, that's my own personal lesson to have learned, and I learned it well enough to not go spouting off at the mouth.

Expensive Toys

We've all been there; it's one of the main staples of having children.  You find the neatest, most expensive and impressive toy in the store for your child, and 9 times out of 10....They want to play with the box.

And that's not necessarily a bad thing.  I remember being young, and doing the box thing; there were just so many possibilities with a box.  It could be (and would) be anything and everything from a secret base of operations, to a space exploration ship.

Things get kind of flip flopped as adults; it's as if our imaginations get beat out of us as we grow up.  And let's be honest....That super neat, impressive and expensive toy that you get for your child.  We really get those for ourselves.  Because....Well, darn it....We want a super neat, expensive toy.

Expectations VS Reality: Professional Sports

Growing up, I was never a really big sports fan.  I played Little League, and I played soccer, but I was never really that good at either of them.  When the other kids were collecting and trading baseball cards, I was collecting X-Men and Wolverine comics.  Sports just seemed kind of boring to me.  To be honest, if whatever form of entertainment was in front of me, if it didn't have some sort of monster, or super hero in it, I didn't really care for it.

As an adult, sports have a little bit more appeal and I find them a bit more interesting. I even enjoy outings to a professional sports game now and then. But is it just me, or does it seem that what you're expecting and what you get when you go to certain outings aren't always the same?

Sometimes We Forget

One of my favorite books is Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, which in and of itself is something of a miracle.  I didn't want to read the Harry Potter books at all, and I started reading them kicking and screaming in protest.  Anyway, from that book, one of my favorite quotes I've ever heard comes from that book:

"Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young..." - Albus Dumbledore

That quote hits me almost daily since I've become a father, as my children think and do the very same things that I did when I was their age.   The biggest one I can think of; when I was young, I was ABSOLUTELY terrified of the dark.  I could not bare to be alone in the dark; I was convinced there were things lurking in the shadows that I could not see that were just waiting to do unthinkable things to me if I let my guard down.

When we deemed our oldest finally old enough to be taken out of the crib, not only did we change her bed, but we also changed her room down the hall.  We hadn't remembered that she already had a history of night terrors.  A month or so went by, and nobody was getting any sleep, and we just could NOT understand why she just wouldn't lay down and GO TO SLEEP.  After all, we were only down the hall, and it was still just our house...But then we as older adults had absolutely forgotten what it was like to be that young, and have that much change thrown at you at once... Hopefully future therapy bills won't be that much.

Toddler Speak

When was the last time you ever held a "conversation" with a toddler?  Did it seem as though they were talking about something COMPLETELY different than you were; or maybe even speaking a different language altogether?  Our oldest could do more than "jibber jabber" by the time she was one.  We lost count of how many words were in her vocabulary by the time she was one and a half.  And now that she's almost three, she's constantly mistaken for being a four or five year old.

HOWEVER, when she gets really excited, or frustrated, or just doesn't understand how to put what's going on in her head into actual words, it's as if she becomes possessed by some sort of child spirit, and starts speaking in tongues that perhaps only children on another planet can understand....