A couple thoughts - Updated

1.  Just because you suggest certain clothes for James, does not mean he will take that suggestion to heart.

2. I never liked doing hand motions to songs, even when I was a kid.  James loves it, though... and so do some parents.  Not liking hand motions for songs made working at camp tough some times.

3. Thomas is still asleep.  He's been asleep for probably all but two hours or so since he got up this morning. He'll probably be bouncing off the walls later on.  Watch out, world.

4. Talked to another stay-at-home dad at the library today.  He's been doing it for four years.  He's a recovering lawyer, he says, who most recently worked publishing board games and worked for Wizards of the Coast (http://company.wizards.com/).  They published one of my favorite games, Betrayal at House on the Hill (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/prod/houseonthehill).  Needless to say, we had plenty to talk about.

5.  It's Friday.  I've nearly survived a whole (short) week with the boys.  I just might be able to do this the whole summer without going completely batty... but I'll probably have songs like this stuck in my head most of the time.

Update:
6.  The phrase "look out, world" that I wrote earlier sent my mind to the lyrics, "Watch out boys, she'll chew you up."  So I guess it won't be all children's songs stuck in my head.  It'll be children's songs and songs from the 80s.

A Picnic, The Yellow Park, and a Lesson for James

I took the boys out to Brooklyn Park to have a picnic with Sarah today.  She's only been back at work for three days, but she definitely misses them already.  Two weeks of all the family at home after being at home with Thomas since early April is a lot of family time, which I know she enjoys.  I'm sure she's ready to be back at work, but not being with Thomas and James isn't easy.  I think it is easier, however, with me being home with them rather than having Thomas go straight to day care after her maternity leave was over.  Things are pretty busy for her at work, so having a little time in the middle of the week is a nice little break.  So a picnic is a good opportunity to unwind a bit and have fun with the boys.  This will probably be something we will do on a weekly basis.  

Once we decided to have a picnic, we had to figure out where to go.  A playground was in order.  At three and a half, James is at times really big and at other times just a little boy.  It's always a good idea to check out a playground before we go there.  Instead of checking it out ahead of time, we looked more for a park that would likely have picnic tables a playground as well as some shade.  This was a good park.  None of the play structures were too big nor too advanced for him.

One of the bonuses of having little kids is getting to use playground equipment.  I remember riding a piece of equipment like this when I was little, and having the head of the metal horse spring back on me and bash me in the chin.  Good times.  At least I'm big enough that that won't happen any more.

James feels strongly about parks.  He's got names for different parks, usually based on the color of the equipment, but sometimes based on the equipment.  One of his favorite parks is the Yellow Park.

I'll give you three guesses why this is the Yellow Park, and the first two don't count.

Good things about this park:

• A separate area (not in the picture) with slides and a climbing structure appropriate for little kids.
• Baseball diamonds near by that James can run bases on (this is seriously a good thing, he'll do it over and over and over and over again)
• Really cool slides
• A bouncy bridge
• Plenty of benches and low walls for dad to sit on
• Sand (always soft)
• Diggers
• A ramp up to the tennis court (to repeatedly run up and down and up and down on)
• Proxcimity to the Highland Park library
• Library bathrooms!

Not so good things about the Yellow Park:

• There is a private school near by that uses it throughout the day so it can be busy with big kids sometimes
• A couple day cares that serve older kids also come by
• The diggers are in kind of rough shape.

I asked James today what his favorite part of the Yellow Park is and he told me it was the ramp to run up and down and the bouncy bridge.

The other good thing about this park is that it is right next to the public library in our neighborhood.  I'm sure James would say the best part of the library is the elevator, but it is a pretty decent little branch library and it is great that it is only about a quarter of a mile away.  We go to the library about once a week to check out five or six books.  Whether or not a library book is any good is always a crap shoot.  I tend to avoid checking out books that are in rhyme, but even that isn't always a guarantee.  Sometimes you just get stuck with a mediocre book... and James wants it read just as often as the good ones.

James had some apologizing to do today at the library.  He is much better with books than he used to be, but he ripped the dust cover of a book a couple days ago.  So I told him that he had to tell a librarian what he did and to say that he was sorry.  While we practiced saying what he would say in the foyer of the library, he thought it was kind of funny.  But once we got to the librarian, he covered his face and didn't want to say anything.  She was very friendly, and encouraged him.  He eventually told her that he ripped the dust cover and then started to go into some story about how he was in his room and mom did something and... we cut him off.  I'm sure he was explaining what really happened.  She thanked him for telling her and assured me that as long as the book was fine that it wasn't a problem.  James and I then thanked her and we made our way home.

He's still a little kid, but it is clear that he's really learning and growing.  He seemed to be ashamed of what he did (not because we shamed him, but because he felt bad), and I think he will be more careful with his books.  I am proud of him.

Goals for the Day - Updated: Two out of three ain't bad

Over the last couple days, I've discovered that I need to keep my daily goals/to-do list pretty modest.

My goals for the day are this:

• Write a letter - This is a letter that is a few months overdue.  Letter writing is something that I am always wanting to do more of, but never really end up doing.
• Make bread - Because bread
• Eat food - I've not done this enough.  Funny how I haven't gotten around to eating as regularly these last couple days due to James wrangling or Thomas holding.

If I get two out of these three done, I'll be thrilled.

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Two out of three goals (nearly) accomplished.I have eaten food today, but that was made easier by taking the boys for a picnic with Sarah.  Then bread dough is rising (too quickly in this heat), so it looks like I will accomplish two of my three goals for the day.  Go me!

Speaking of bread, here is a recipe that I've been making for quite a while.

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/oatmeal-toasting-and-sandwich-bread-recipe 

I generally use the recipe on the side of my King Arthur bread flour bag, though.

It makes a pretty decent loaf of sandwich bread.  About the only issue I still have with the recipe may have something to do with how I double the recipe.  If I am going to go through the work of making bread, I'd rather get two loaves instead of one.  The problem is that I seem to have to add a lot more flour for the dough to clear the sides of the bowl.  I also sometimes have an issue with a rise that goes too fast (I think), where the upper 1/3 of the bread is way too risen, and the bottom 1/3 is relatively dense.  Even if that happens though, it is still a pretty good loaf of bread and by the time I go to bed (I usually bake in the evening) I wind up with one and a half loaves of bread instead of two.  Oh well.

Keeping Busy

Last summer when I was home with James, I was not as productive as I could have been.  We had the TV on more than was probably good.  Let me be clear in saying though, that I don't have a problem with limited TV and that the cartoons on PBS are pretty decent (I imagine that I'll probably do some cartoon reviews later some time).  That said, two hours or more of TV is too much.  There were a few reasons that we had the TV on as much as we did.  Firstly, waking up is hard for dads.  In their natural habitat, dads need at least half a pot of coffee, consumed slowly, in order to be prepared for the day.  Secondly, last summer was HOT.  It wasn't just Minnesota hot, it was actually hot, and when dads get hot, they get lethargic and crabby.  Air conditioning is a good remedy for that.  Additionally, I didn't really have a schedule of community events to take advantage of with James.

There is so much to do here in the Cities, that it would be a shame if we didn't take advantage of them.  Certainly there are some things and places that just going to a couple times would be sufficient, but there are also plenty of weekly events that will help provide some structure to the daily schedule.  I know I am missing some things, but I put together a calendar of regular events that I hope to take the boys to this summer.

Weekly events include:
Monday

• Open rec center gym time for pre-schoolers at Edgcumbe Rec Center
• Pre-school story time at the Highland Park library (with a playground outside)
• Swimming lessons

Tuesday

• No-Group Tuesdays at the Children's Museum - that is, there are no summer camps, summer schools, day cares, etc.  That means a much calmer museum.
• Occasional Choo Choo Bob's story time.  Choo Choo Bob's is a local train store (http://choochoobobs.com/store/) that James loves.

Wednesday

• Open rec center gym time for pre-schoolers at Edgcumbe Rec Center

Thursday

• nothing!  Uh oh.  There must be something not too far away.  I'll look into it.
• Maybe weekly lunch with Sarah at work

Friday

• Pre-School story time at the Merriam Park library

There are some other regular story times as well at a couple different children's book stores in the area, but they overlap with the ones above and are farther away than these.  An outing to Wild Rumpus (http://www.wildrumpusbooks.com/) and then to the lakes or to Red Balloon (http://www.redballoonbookshop.com/) would make for a good change of pace.  

We also got a schedule of times that James's pre-school class will be going to different parks, so we can go play with his Reflection Room friends and have a picnic lunch out.  We will probably also go explore different parks, playgrounds, and lakes in the area.  The more we can get outside, the better.  The more we can be active and busy, the better.

On the docket today is Thomas napping more, finishing making yogurt, farmers' marketing, and then off to the rec center before lunch.  Wow, that sounds ambitious.  I might need a few more cups of coffee before we get moving.

Welcome to BPD

Hello and welcome to Boys Plus Dad.

Today is the first day this summer that my wife Sarah is back to work after her maternity leave and since I am an unemployed (hooray!?) teacher, I'll be home with our boys for the summer.  I did this last summer with James, our oldest boy who is three and a half, and we survived.  I went a little nuts by the time August rolled around, though.  That is something I hope to avoid this summer.  But now it is time to try this with two boys.  Introductions will come shortly.

But first, to introduce the blog a little bit.  I'm not exactly sure what shape this will take, what themes I'll explore, how frequently I will post updates, or anything.  For now suffice it to say that this will be more a record of what is going with us than anything else this summer.  You can probably expect to see me talking about outings and city exploration, toys, attempting to get James to eat things, food in general, made-up lyrics to songs we sing, one or two things I actually get done, and who knows what else.  I suppose I'll try to keep things more or less organized, but I am no professional writer so don't be too surprised at my overuse of commas and the occasional misuse of an apostrophe (at least to irk Sarah a bit).

So, introductions.  Here is our family:

We are Sarah (employed), James (3.5 years old), me, and Thomas (11+ weeks)

Sarah and I have been married for a number of years that is currently less than ten.  We got married a while ago.  I remember the date, but not the year.  The number of years isn't all that important to me.  The adventures and times that we have and have had are more important.  She is a chemist at a pharmaceutical company and we may see her here now and then.

James is three and a half and has two speeds, 1000 miles per hour and asleep.  He's a great kid, though he is very very active, he also is aware of others and seems to want to take care of people (his little brother especially).  He just finished his first year of Montessori pre-school, and thrived there.  Unless finances dictate that I am a stay-at-home dad year-round, we will definitely send him back there in the fall.
James's likes include trains, train tracks, dinosaurs, stomping, "reading", roaring, riding his bike, hugging and comforting his little brother, and helping cooking.
James's dislikes include unfamiliar food, slowing down, whispering, naps, not harassing the cat, going to the bathroom when told.

This is Thomas.  At just under three months old, he doesn't do much.  People say he looks like me.  If they say so, I suppose it's true.  Beats the heck out of me, though.  I think he looks like a baby.  His newest tricks include holding up his head when on his stomach, and the occasional laugh... oh and continuing to sleep through the night!  We like that.
Thomas's likes include watching his big brother, being played with, breasts, urping all over mom and everything in sight, and being held
Thomas's dislikes include daytime talk shows, traffic jams, doo-wop music, not being held when hungry or sleepy, and autocracies.

Me?  I am a social studies teacher that has never been able to get tenure due to budget cuts.  I'm an unabashed liberal who tends to vote for presidential candidates that only get three or four other votes in my precinct.  I love the outdoors, but also love the Twin Cities.  I wouldn't quite call myself a foodie, but cooking and eating good food is hard to beat.  I've been a wilderness canoe guide and competitive triathlete but have been dealing with back problems related to a couple herniated discs in my lower back.

I used to look like this:

But now I feel like this:

Well, the short one is waking from his way-too-short nap, so it is time to wrap this up.  Stay tuned for more.