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!