A Toddler's view of Daddy

Sometimes I wake up looking like this.

I was told today that the Mu picked up his Incredible Hulk action figure, held it high in the air, and exclaimed "Oh look! It's Daddy!"

I assume, for my own sake, that it's because Hulk is big and strong, and not because he's bi-polar with an anger management problem.  

Now I'm no Lou Ferrigno... heck, I'm certainly no Ed Norton and I'm hardly even a Bill Bixby, but when I hear that, it reminds me that we ARE the heroes we attempt to be for our kids when we try.  No matter what our size or stature is, we can always give them the security of having a big, strong man around by just... being around; reading to them, wrestling with them, talking with them.  Loving them.

The greatest joy of my day is when I come home and get to grab both of the kids from Lady Rad and play with them.  That should be the greatest joy of any father's, and for those who can't get home from work early enough to experience that joy, I feel sorry for you.  Bringing home a paycheck or getting a promotion doesn't make you a Hero in their eyes - being present and engaged does.

I know the day will come when my kids don't see me as the powerful protector anymore -  we all begin to realize our parent's shortcomings as we get older - but I hope that for as long as possible, I can be the Hero they think I am.

My Disney Legacy & Fatherhood

That's ONLY Aladdin & Genie

I was raised on Disney.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was born one neighborhood over from the Magic Kingdom in Anaheim and had been to Disneyland more times in my first two years than my parents can even recount.

In fact my earliest memory, back in the cobwebby recesses of my mind, is of Sleeping Beauty's castle and a "closed for refurbishment" sign - I have no idea why.  Apparently, I was very interested in the "behind the scenes" even as a toddler.

Once my folks moved us back to their home state, Disney still played a pretty heavy influence in my life - we had virtually every animated film on VHS and watched them until the tapes warbled, I wore out my recording of Disneyland's 25th Anniversary (complete with a strutting David Hasslehoff, circa Knight Rider, singing in front of Tomorrowland), I would regularly ride my bike up to the local AAA office just to grab the Disney pamphlets and travel planners - though we only went to Walt Disney World twice.

I suppose it was no surprise to anyone when I decided to go work for Disney right out of college while figuring out whether I actually wanted to go to Law School or not.

So long, Cable!

I did an unthinkable thing the other day.  I called up our cable TV provider, Surewest, and canceled our service.  When the Customer Retention Specialist asked which competitor we would be switching to, I said "None."  When he asked what our plans were for TV, I said "We don't really know right now, we're more concerned with getting bills paid off."

And then it was gone - all of my 700,000 channels in glorious High Definition precious shows tenderly secured on my DVR - gone.

And you know, at 3 days cableless, it doesn't feel so bad.

Want to say 'I love you?' Leave.

Make it a Quietccino

Here's a thought:

Lady Rad takes care of a 5 month old and a 2.5 year old every day, day in and day out.  She doesn't stop caretaking, doing laundry, making meals, cleaning, etc. until about 8:30p.m. most nights, even when I pitch in to help.  She is up at 5:30a.m. at the latest each morning so she can get 30 minutes of quiet time and exercise before she's on the clock for the next 14.5 hours.

So why would any compassionate husband of a woman who works this hard think that breakfast-in-bed, prepared by himself and the two kids would be what she REALLY wants for Valentine's Day?

You Spin Me Round

My home dentistry set.

Several Christmases ago, my dad got me a non-specific Rotary Hand tool.  When I opened the gift, I thought "why did he get this for me, and when will I ever use it?" Seeing the look on my face, my dad said, "you're probably thinking, 'why did he get this for me?' Just put it away, there will be a time when it comes in handy."

Next to my cordless screwdriver, this tool has probably been used more frequently since homeownership/parenthood than any other.  Just the other day I was trying to fit some outlet covers that allow items to be plugged in, but prevent tiny hands from accessing the sockets.  For whatever reason, the company didn't see fit to make the exit spaces for the cords large enough to accommodate a surge protector.  Figuring I'd have to find another solution, I remembered my little rotary tool sitting in my garage.  10 minutes later, I ground a larger opening and buffed out the work to make sure all the edges were smooth.

So now I'm on a "Dremeling" kick, where everything I see, I want to break out my multipurpose tool and see what I can do.  If only I could find a great "here's what you do with one of these" lists, I'd be set!

Dad, I'm sorry I ever doubted your handy wisdom!

Catch of the Day

The SuperRad Fam went up to Lady Rad's parents for Thanksgiving this weekend. In addition to a snow-covered forest and coma-inducing levels of food, Team SuperRad got to experience another holiday cliche - sharing a bed with a toddler.

Because we had only one pack-n-play available, we decided that the Mu was old enough to be able to sleep on an inflatable mattress next to our bed while Q took the pack-n-play. This idea was short-lived when Mu informed us that his new digs were "spooky." He crawled into bed with us and the next thing I knew, he and Lady Rad somehow managed to take up about 90% of the bed.

Pump it Up

This IS what she was talking about, right?

I relish my role as the provider for the SuperRad family.  Most of the time when I think about my role, I think of the normal things - going to work to support Lady Rad as a S@HM to our kids, making enough money to pay our mortgage, mowing the lawn, covering a leaky roof with a tarp in a torrential downpour, etc.

But here was one I never really imagined: Lady Rad's breast-pump finally called it quits this morning; sleep-training Q and addressing Mu's tantrums left her no time to pack the kids up to get another one.  I had our car this evening and so, in the continuing deluge, drove out to Target at closing time and am now the proud owner of a new Lansinoh double-barreled shotgun.