Getting Back to Business

It's been a long time since I last sat down to write a post. Between now and then a lot has happened to Burp Armor. Summer has come and gone. Burp Armor has moved. Or, I should say we have moved to a new house; thus moving Burp Armor's corporate offices to a new location. Burp Armor attended its first real trade show (the ABC show in Vegas) where we met a ton of super cool people and landed new accounts at some fabulous stores. Overall, we came away feeling pretty good about Burp Armor and all we have created and accomplished. And, last but not least, the inspiration for Burp Armor, my son, just turned three. Time flies when you are having fun.

In review, we had a great summer. Our move to a new house completely stunk, but it was worth it. However, our movers lost the most important box we own with all our Burp Armor business cards, labels, hang tags, etc. Everything we use to sell and send Burp Armor strangely disappeared in our move. Why can't anything ever be easy?

To make things interesting, after the loss of our important box we traveled to Vegas with hot of the press business cards we had to essential pay twice for since the movers lost the first ones. While some people go to Vegas in September to place bets on the NFL, others flock there for the largest baby and kid show in the country called the ABC Baby and Child Show. Think of all the kids stuff you have ever seen any where, times it times a million, put it all in a very, VERY large convention center and you are now at the ABC show. It was AWESOME!!! I felt like I was the minor leaguer being called up to the majors. Very cool stuff! Plus, Burp Armor totally kicked ass while we were there. All the right people (cool people) loved it!

Finally, my little guy just turned three! Two and half years ago he inspired me to create Burp Armor. Time has flown. He seems to be growing exponentially in every way. Time is going by too quickly. In one breath I am finding myself wanting time to fast forward and show me the ultimate fate of Burp Armor and in the next breath, I want time to slow down so I can enjoy three, be happy we survived his terrible two's and bask in the fact my son, for the moment, thinks I am the coolest guy on the planet. As much as I want him to grow up, I don't. And, as much as I want to know the fate of Burp Armor, I don't.

My goal for this writing season is to stay in the present, enjoy the moment, and bring my wife and kids along for the ride. The Burp Armor train has been more like an emotional roller coaster. In one moment I can't wait to get off and then in the next moment, I get sucked back into thrill of it at every twist and turn.

The ride only seems to get more interesting each day and harder to get off!

The Bachelorette and Burp Armor's brush with fame!

My wife and I are obsessed with ABC's reality series The Bachelorette. We, like the rest of the world, are elated that Jillian finally dropped deadbeat Wes like a bad habit. I'm sure Jillian saw in Wes what many women see and hope for in dishonest dirtbags across the universe, the hope that a woman's love will change even the most dishonest of dishonest dirtbags. Wes' exit on last night's episode only proved that dirtbags are dirtbags no matter whether they can sing bad country tunes or not. No matter how you slice it, Wes's lack of integrity juxtaposed with Jillian's kindness and true urge to find everlasting love makes The Bachelorette really AWESOME TV!

Anyone who has tuned into the Bachelor/Bachelorette series from the beginning, watches the show with the hope that the beautiful Princess will meet her Prince Charming creating a magical spark forming true love before our very eyes. Only one couple has done this in the history of the show, Trista and Ryan! Way back when the first Bachelorette season aired, Trista and Ryan met, magically and honestly fell in love before the viewing audiences eyes, and happily married. Years later they are still successfully married with two amazing kids! Their story is what brings viewers back to the Bachelorette show each season. We are all waiting patiently to see if another bachelorette can find her true love. Watching people fall hopelessly in love makes for great tv; plus, it makes you happy inside. Who doesn't want to be happy inside (especially when it has rained a million days straight this summer). Thus, the ratings for The Bachelorette continue to be amazing, and my wife and I are eagerly looking forward to next Monday's episode. Being a Pennsylvania guy by birth, my money is on Reid all the way!

Coming back to Trista and Ryan! Burp Armor had its first real brush with fame thanks to the amazing, original Bachelorette! Trista is a huge fan of Burp Armor and has been using it with her new daughter, Blakesley. In a recent interview on Access Hollywood, Trista can be seen wearing a pink candy stitch Burp Armor on her shoulder while being interviewed via video feed by Billy Bush. There you have it FOLKS!!!! Burp Armor's first brush with national fame! Pink Candy Stitch is FAMOUS!!! YEAH BABY!!! Sure, one could argue that no one saw the logo or really could see the entire Burp Armor on her shoulder, but we know it was there and Trista confirmed it with us! Trista ROCKS!!!! Simple as that. Sorry Jillian. You are super cute, but Trista has the cool mom thing down like a science!!! Anyway, hopefully more brushes with fame will be in our future just as more bachelorettes are waiting in the wings looking for love!

Just as single women want to find love and will continue to line up to be bachelorettes, Burp Armor will patiently be waiting for them to find love, happily marry, and make LOTS of babies along the way. Knowing all along, every bachelorette and bachelor will one day be a mom or dad needing to be shielded from their little ones' dribbles and drools with Burp Armor! Love and Burp Armor will always go hand and hand! Long live The Bachelorette and long live BURP ARMOR!!!!

I want to be Spider Man!

This morning on the way to school, my daughter asked,

"Daddy, who is Spider Man?"
"Peter Parker is Spider Man?
"Who is that?"
"Peter Parker?"
"He's Spider Man?"

This was the start of a very lengthy conversation about super heroes and who they are, what they do and where they come from. Granted, I had no amazing revelations and tried my best to recall the super hero history of my childhood. What this conversation did get me thinking about was, how cool it must be to be four years old and boy, I wished I was Spider Man!

The idea of starting a green company derived from the awesomeness of my kids! Their ability to think and dream big is a daily inspiration to my wife and me. Knowing that we (mom and dad) are their super heroes, in many ways, is inspiring. It makes me want to be a better person in every way possible.

Burp Armor was recently written up by an terrific website called http://izzitgreen.com/. Izzit is a cool site that reviews all things green. The Izzit write up made Burp Armor sound like the burp cloth of super heroes (which it is!). It was AWESOME!!! Thanks izzit! After my hero conversation with my daughter this morning, I started to ponder my own life and if I've done anything heroic lately, the answer is...probably not. However, what my wife and I have done is think big! Burp Armor is a big idea and is slowly getting legs as the best burp cloth in the baby world. Creating a company that sells green/sustainable burp cloths, is again, not heroic, but it is daring. It is daring in that we have tried something completely new and are making it successful. And, I would like to think that somewhere in that "sense of daring" there is a little bit of Spider Man too.

Until I am bitten by a radio active spider, I am going to just keep working on being the best dad and husband I can be. Hopefully, when my daughter is older she will still believe in Spider Man, but also see that heroes come in many shapes and sizes. My greater hope is that she will see that heroism comes from a sense of courage. Courage in oneself. I am looking forward to her developing her own Spider Sense and witnessing her acts of heroism, whatever shapes and sizes they come in.

Mind that Bird...Mind that Burp Armor!

This weekend, my wife had to do some work Saturday evening; so, I was on dinner duty. Knowing that my kids love horses and that the Kentucky Derby was on, I decided to make the race a family affair. First, you need to understand, I don't know the first thing about betting, don't understand odds, and always lose when I do make the occasional bet. With this said, the pre-race show was on in the background through dinner and bath.

Just before start time, the kids and I finally made it to the couch with milks in hand to watch the parade of horses. As the horses danced out, guided by their jockey, I said to my daughter, "Which horse are we going to pick to win the race?" Our son at this point was bouncing his new basketball off his head and had no interest in the pretty horses. Finally, after watching a number of horses dance on and off the television screen, she said,

"I like that one!"
"You mean number 8?"
"Yes!'
"Why?"
"You know why?"
"Is 8 your favorite number?"
"No!"
"Because it is wearing PINK!!!!!! Silly!"
"Oh yeah, how could I have missed that, let's pay attention so we can hear its name."
"Mind that Bird," says the announcer.
"There you go, My Love, we are cheering for Mind that Bird."

Well, you know where this story goes. A four year old who has a passion for pink picked the 50 to 1 odds winner of the Kentucky Derby. And, of course we had zero money riding on it!

After the first thirty seconds, when Mind that Bird was in dead last, I tried to encourage my daughter to cheer for a front runner. Such an adult thing to do -- boy was I wrong. Then, like lightening in a bottle, Mind that Bird was in first and we were screaming our heads off.

To say it was a cool experience is an understatement. It was also a great lesson taught to a dad by his 4 year old, horse-picking-wonder-child. Don't give up on the underdog or count them out. EVER!!!! Even at 50 t0 1 odds or when they start in dead last.

Mind that Bird and Burp Armor are a lot alike. Burp Armor is an underdog trying to make mark in a very big baby product world. Like Mind that Bird, we are looking for lightening in a bottle. Just as the owners of Mind that Bird had faith in their 9500 dollar investment, I too have faith that the quality of product that is Burp Armor will find its way on to every parent's shoulder and into every baby's crib. If you don't have faith, who will! Right?

Mind that Bird... Mind that Burp Armor!

Linus and his trusty Burp Armor

My son is Linus and his Burp Armor is his trusty blanket. I never imagined that Burp Armor would become the "trusty blanket." That in itself is the COOLEST thing EVER! Burp Armor was created to solve a problem -- the problem being, always getting wet on a nightly basis by larger than life baby spit-ups. The fact that it has become an integral part of our son's daily life and such a part of his personal history is icing on the cake.

Just like Linus, Burp Armor goes wherever our son goes. In good times, Burp Armor becomes his imaginary bull whip as he stands tall like Indiana Jones fending off the forces of evil (his sister) from his territory in the playroom. In bad times, it's his safe place. The friend that comforts him and says, "Find your THUMB! FIND YOUR THUMB! Ahhhh thumb!"

Lately, I have been thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice if we all still had our "trusty blankets?" The bad days at work wouldn't be so bad and the good days would be that much greater because your blankie was there to experience them with you. I know, I sound totally crazy! Next time you are in a meeting, try imagining your boss cuddling his lovey as his/she discusses profit and loss statements. Or, better yet, on a really bad day at work think how things would be different if you could just take one glorious sniff of your blankie's wonderful fibers. For my son, a sniff, a cuddle, a rub to the face...all work a mysterious, soothing magic on him. The powers of his Burp Armor are remarkable.

On many levels, we are all searching for our adult "trusty blanket" after the real one fades away. Who wouldn't want that soothing magic in their daily lives. I know I would. On the most literal level, the trusty blanket may have morphed into a favorite pair of jeans, hat, or the old chair you just can't part with. On a greater level, it's the unconditional love found in your son's embrace, your daughter's whisper of "I love you!" and the touch of your partner's hand on yours during the still of the night... these moments are the "trusty blankets" of our adulthood.

I hope everyone can find their "trusty blankets" on some level! And, maybe if you are lucky, your first blankie might be in a closest somewhere looking and waiting for some love. If you can't find the first blankie, look at your kid's smile, let your wife's kiss linger longer on your lips, or breath in your baby's scent just a little bit deeper.... the unconditional love of your "trusty blanket" is all around you.

Hair!

So, my 2.5 year old son has never really had his official first haircut. Sure, mom has trimmed it around his eyes so he can see, but beyond that...he often is referred to as she rather than he. Which, by the way, I am totally okay with. Actually, I am more than okay with it...I LOVE IT! The reasons I love it and reasons why his hair has grown to the cool rock star length are threefold.

First, it just looks cool! Think David Beckham meets Bam Bam, and you now know what my son looks like -- unlike his dear old dad who the hair of a chia pet. I admit it, I totally have hair envy of the little dude! There is something about his uncontrollable lettuce that speaks to his zest for life, his personality. The way he sky dives off the fifth step, landing on the hardwood floor in the living room, hair flying forward -- then, through his locks as he raises his head, you see the beaming ear-to-ear smile! AWESOME!!!! "Do it again, Dad?" is what he quickly asks. And, off he goes to sky dive some more. Gotta love it!

Second reason -- my dad never let me have long hair growing up. Rebellion comes in strange ways, right? My dad is a product of the 50's. Graduated in 1955, loves his oldies on the radio, and was and still is a believer boys should look like boys and girls should look like girls. Every summer, the ritual was to haul me off to Killer Kane, the local barber/real estate mogul, where I would get my classic crew cut. The one summer I was old enough to be left alone at Killer's, I said, "Mr. Kane, will you please not take as much off and leave a little more on the top?"
"Sure thing!" he said with a smile as he clicked in the number 2 vs. number 1 clipper head.
My mom picked me up that day. When my dad got home and saw the haircut, it was in back in the car and off to Killer's for the real deal crew cut, not my hybrid version. If you can't tell, the scars run deep on that childhood incident. Now, I am the dad. Not to say my dad's methods were wrong, I just prefer the beat of a different drum with my son. Plus, I know it bugs my dad beyond words. How do I know this? Every time I see him and he sees my kid, "When are you going to get that kid a haircut?" I just smile and hand him his Coors Light as he enters the door. Sorry dad! Love ya!

The last reason and most important, my wife and I don't want our son to grow-up! Holding onto the long hair means he is still our little guy, our baby! Call me crazy, but I want my kids to stay little as long as possible. This past weekend we had potty training boot camp. My wife nearly cried when he put on the Bob the Builder underpants. No more diapers means no more cute little bubble butt running around. Just like that, he went from diapers to big boy pants, next thing it will be nature pees standing up, sinking cheerios in the toilet, and driving! Stop the madness, stay two forever, son!

Back to the hair. This weekend, we are toying with getting the first real haircut. It won't really be real -- what I mean is that we are keeping it long and taking him to my wife's stylist who is going to make sure the Shaggy locks stay shaggy and fun. We don'[t want anything to serious. After all, my son is two. He has his whole life to have the serious short cut of his dad. Right now, he is Tarzan and king of his own jungle! Who wouldn't want to be king!

For now, I say... "Long live the rock star locks of my fantastically cool kid!" Stay king of your jungle forever!

The best vacuum cleaner....EVER! Better than a DYSON!

Before our kids, our first baby was our soon to be six and half year-old yellow Labrador Retriever named Rally. Rally, like any good first child, tested us on every level from patience, to torn upholstery, to potty training in the early AM hours in the back alley of our then San Francisco apartment. If it weren't for Rally, our son wouldn't have discovered that his Burp Armor makes an even better lovey after being partial eaten by the family dog. If it weren't for Rally feasting on his snowcone stitch Burp Armor -- he never would have discovered the comfort of the multi-layered inside. Because of Rally's work on his favorite Burp Armor -- now, every Burp Armor lovey in the house has to be torn down the center. CRAZY, right? Not in our son's eyes. Rally is a genius! She unlocked a hidden secret to our son; a secret of comfort and joy that comes alive every time he needs to chill out on the couch watching Thomas, sneak out to practice pooping in the corner, or when he needs to wipe a tear in a moment of crisis.

Rally's work led our son to find the comfort found in the super soft, rich textures of Burp Armor. Now, while one hand finds a soothing, plush mixture of textures from the interior Burp Armor layers, the other hand busily caresses the pillowy exterior fleece to his cheek while simultaneously putting his thumb in his mouth. It's an amazing feet to watch. What's even more amazing is how the entire ritual instantly calms him down from the roughest of days. Thanks, Rally! We (mom and dad) OWE you big time! We owe you for getting us ready to be parents when we knew nothing other than caring for ourselves. We owe you for the constant licks on the face (especially on bad days). We owe you for unlocking the mysteries of the Burp Armor to your blond haired little brother. And, we owe you for always...ALWAYS cleaning up after the kids! Man, do I/we owe you for this last one!

Dogs, especially Labrador Retrievers, are the world's greatest vacuum cleaners for young families that deal with kid produced food messes on a daily basis. Period, end of story! Forget Hoover. Oreck... who? DYSON, what? Labrador retrievers are dishwashers and the best clean-up crew a mom or dad can have on a daily basis. There hasn't been a food related mess in our house, particularly since the arrival of our kids that Rally hasn't either completely and/or happily cleaned up on the spot! Parents, you can say goodbye to your Swiffer, toss out your Dust Busters -- all it takes is a lot of love, family trips to the beach to swim after a tennis ball and tummy rubs. You will never have to clean-up another dinnertime mess again.

Long live the dog... that is -- Rally dog! Every family needs a pet!

Sounds GOOD to Me!

So, my wife travels for work. Approximately, 5 to 6 times a year (some times more), she will fly to San Francisco for a week at a time leaving me on SOLO dad duty. First, let me give a huge SHOUT OUT to all the single parents out there who are always on solo duty. After one week with our kids alone -- simply put... I'm toast, the kids are toast, the dog is toast...AND, we can't wait for mom to be home. Single parents everywhere, you are amazing! End of story.

Up until recently, my approach had been to maintain normalcy during my wife's week away. Normal everything! Every ritual we would do with mom here, we would do without mom here. Well, needless to say, this really didn't work well (as shown by the large number of tears that were being shed on a nightly basis for one reason or another). In my mind, the normal routine would keep the kids feeling normal, regardless of mom being in San Francisco or not.

Then it happened! I had a Burp Armor moment. A revelation! A novel idea! An, "AHHH HAAA!!!!" moment where the lighting bolt descends from Zeus, strikes you smack in the center of the head and your instantly awakened a better self. Why was I trying to maintain normalcy when everything was completely abnormal! Who was I kidding, and what was I thinking??? Mom not being around for a week, was and is completely abnormal. So, what did I do...I embraced the abnormalcy with, "Sounds GOOD to me!"

"Daddy, can I sleep in your bed all week since Mama's not here?"
"Sounds good to me!"
"Dada, more dessert?"
"Sounds good to me!"
"Dad, can we go to Johnny Rocket's?"
"Sounds GREAT to me!"

While mama's gone, the mice will play. Now, the rule was quickly established that we resume normalcy as soon as mom steps back in the house. And, the kids have been great sticking to the rule. When I shared this idea with my wife -- she loved it. Her response like any great wife was, "Whatever works!" Perfect answer!

So, here it is -- halfway through the week and we are all looking forward to mom coming home. Burp Armor orders are being filled, the kids are sound a sleep, and I am missing my wife. Do you know what the greatest thing about when my wife travels? It's AWESOME when she comes home and the abnormalcy returns to our wonderful, everyday normal!

Travel safely, My Love!

Dads think PINK!

Dads with daughters can't help, but to think... PINK! My daughter is obsessed with pink. From her daily outfits, to the color of her walls, to her favorite story, Pinkalicious by Victoria and Elizabeth Kahn. She thinks in the color pink. It's truly awesome, wonderful, and absolutely beautiful. However, last night at the dinner table, we had an interesting dialogue,
"Dada, boys don't wear pink!"
"Sure they do."
"No THEY don't."
"Who told you boys don't wear pink?"
"One of the boys at school."
Now, mind you, she's only in nursery school and the boy who told her this is only four years old; but, this got me thinking about boys and why we are taught at an early age that pink is not cool.

Maybe little boys inherently don't like pink because it's not blue. And, maybe if the sky were pink, little boys would like pink. Who knows, that's a little too existential, but the fact is... ladies like a guy who knows how to wear pink and wear it with confidence and style. For example, LeBron James, arguably the best baller ever (and this coming from a guy who grew up worshiping Jordan), rocked a pink button down with a sweet gray suit on the February cover of GQ. If you don't believe me, check out the cover. In the photo spread, LeBron in all his pinkness, smiles with the confindence of a King and a guy saying, "Damn straight, I'm wearing pink! You got a problem with it! Right, I didn't think so! Now I'm going to dunk on your sorry soul!"

I know what you are saying, "Plenty of dudes have been wearing pink for years!' But, you have to be careful, you don't want to look like James Spader in Pretty in Pink. Spader played the ultimate prepster tool who gave pink a bad name. The 80's are gone (and unfortunately John Hughes movies too). Now, the 21st century is upon us, and I urge dads of boys and girls alike to consider, pink is COOL -- no matter the gender or age. So dads, next time you are in the store, go for the slim pink button down vs. the standard old blue one with the the flying squirrel arms. Your wife will think your hot and your kids will see you as a style icon!

Tomorrow, I am sending a couple of Burp Armors to a good buddy of mine who just became the proud dad of a baby girl. He is getting a our very cool pink Candy Stripe and pink Candy Stitch styles. My buddy, Tim, is a guy's guy from Massachusetts. If there is anything he loves more than his wife and kids, it may be the Red Sox. Tim's world was rocked when he had his son, but now...now, he has a daughter. He doesn't know it yet, but his world just was turned upside down. His world became the glorious, magnificent, and magical color -- PINK!

Congrats, Tim! Your Burp Armor is in the mail!

Getting Stiffed

Today, on my way home from my real job, I found myself dealing with an ongoing Burp Armor drama. Getting Stiffed! Calling the Better Business Bureau in LA isn't an easy task. They are only open between 9 and 3 and customer service goes on lunch break for about an hour. When I finally found someone on the other end around 5:00 est., the conversation was very sobering.

When Kristin and I sat down and created our dream list of what stores we wanted our product in, BabyStyle (the LA based, super COOL store circa 2003) was tops on our list! Well... BabyStyle finally came calling this past October! AMAZING on every level. They called us, I didn't have to do the Burp Armor cold call. The buyer was totally into the product and subsequently purchased a large order. Again, amazing....right? WRONG! Here it is February 23rd, and BabyStyle is no longer! Today, the Better Business Bureau confirmed what we already thought. The nice BBB lady simply said, "Sorry sir, all their phone lines have been disconnected since January." And, the story doesn't stop here, Babystyle was bought by the baby giant The Right Start, who has given me no love in returning calls and/or has laid off their entire work force. What does this mean for Burp Armor, we are out some significant product, plus the money BabyStyle owes us! Nice work to the executives of BabyStyle for running what was a cool store INTO THE GROUND!

BabyStyle, do you hear that knocking! It's the collection agent coming for you!

Advice to my son...Marry UP!

Dear Son,

Marry UP! This is my first and best advice to you. Let me explain.

Your mother says I am to sit and blog about Burp Armor. If it wasn't for you being a particularly gifted baby burping machine in your early days and your mother's inspiration, there would be no Burp Armor. No patent. No cool first celebrity (Kyle MacLachlan) buying it from the killer write up from Best Life Magazine. No smack down fights over why we decided to throw caution to the wind and invest in a funky shaped burp cloth for babys to spit-up on. No watching you walking around the house saying, "I need my Buuurp Armoor! Burp ARMOOOR!" And, the smile its comfort brings you when it finally touches your hands and it is loved beyond words.

There is no way two years ago when we started the Burp Armor adventure I would have ever imagined being inspired to blog about it. But, I wasn't inspired to blog about it, your mother inspired me to blog about it. Just like your mother inspired me to come up with a solution to my complaints of being soaked by you on a nightly basis by your larger than life burps. Bottom line, your mom inspires me. She is cooler than I am, smarter than I am, and pushes me to be a better person each day. If she didn't, no Burp Armor and no Burp Armor blog. This brings me back to where we started and my advice..."Marry UP!" And, maybe....just maybe -- you will find your Burp Armor adventure one day too.

Love, Dad

My Wife Signed Me Up to Blog

Yep, she did. I'm pretty sure, no.... I'm VERY sure it is a product of our latest installment of bickering about Burp Armor. As you can see in the about me section of this blog, Burp Armor was my "lighting in a bottle." It was my "ah-ha" moment back when we were up constantly with my son as a newborn.... yes, I know.... you're thinking you've heard this story before. But I was convinced that no one had heard *my* story.

Anyway, somehow, someway, I was successful in convincing my Virgo wife (planning, cautious, detail-orientated anyone?) that this was a good idea. That was over 2 years ago... and the good news is that we actually made it happen. The jury is still out on if this is sustainable. For the health of my sanity (and my marriage!) I am hoping so, because I absolutely think this is a friggin' awesome product. Stay tuned to hear about the journey.