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Daily Pixels: Round and Round

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Mrs. Dude:  “Where’s your lunch box?”

Princess:  “I have no idea.”

Mrs. Dude:  “Think.”

Without any thought.  The Princess:  “Oh yeah, it’s at school.”

Adding too much information.  The Princess:  “I only ate half.”

Mrs. Dude:  The stink-eye, without uttering a sound.

The Princess:  “Just kidding…I’ll eat the other half tomorrow…?”

Mrs.  Dude:  “Not now.  It’s old.”

The Princess:  “I know.”

Huh?

Kid logic is great.  Just talking in circles.

Let me see if I have this right.

So, you couldn’t remember where your lunch box was, but without any thought you remembered it was at school.  You then proceeded to say that you only ate half…which Mom didn’t ask.  But come to find out you’re joking.  Joking about not knowing where the lunch box was?  Joking about only eating half?  Never mind, you say you’ll eat it tomorrow….but you also know you won’t eat it tomorrow because it’s old.

I think I deciphered that correctly.

These conversations make the Dude’s head spin round and round.

PS – Please notice how the pony’s hair is carefully braided.  We can’t have an MLP leaving the house with messy hair.

Double PS – I was going to try to fit Ratt’s classic hit Round and Round into this post, but I got lazy trying to work it in.  However, for all of my loyal readers that love 80’s Hair Metal, I felt it was my duty to stuff it into a “Double PS.”  All the metal-heads, break out your rock horns, here’s a link to your daily dose of hair:  Ratt – Round and Round.

Round and Round

Farley

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Last Friday The Princess had an after-school play-date with her best friend from preschool.  Unfortunately, these two young ladies had to part ways for kindergarten.

As you may guess, the play-date was a joyous occasion.

Joyous until it was time to say good-bye.  The departure led to a teenage attitude in a five year old body.  To calm the troubled waters, Mrs. Dude had to promise the girls could talk on the phone to say goodnight.

And The Princess didn’t forget.  They were chatting away at 9PM.

I didn’t hear much of the conversation.  There was a lot of giggling and screeching.  A 5-year old and a phone is a strange combination.  I think the phone was held up to the TV for half the conversation.

The small piece I did make out reminded me of the comic genius of the late, great Chris Farley.

“Remember that play-date we had today?”  Pause.  “Yeah, me too.  It was fun.”

Blog worthy?  I don’t know, but it had me crackin’ up.

Daily Pixels: Consumption

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Consumption comes in many forms.

The list of consumable items is almost endless.    Liquids we swallow, foods we eat, time spent, energy used, etc.

Kids require parents to increase our rate of consumption to keep up with their needs.  We are now consuming for an additional being.  A being too defenseless to consume on their own.

While I thought I was prepared for this increase in consumption, I was not prepared for all aspects of consumption.  I grew accustom to the idea that Little Dude would require us to improve our support of this capitalist society through ridiculous purchases.  But it never really dawned on me that our space would be consumed quite like this.

Six baby “relaxing stations” in a 20 x 20 area!

Casa de Dude is pretty much a baby spa these days.

Baby Spa

Baby Spa

Santa Has Rules

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Rain on the weekend is usually a bummer.  But after a 12 hour shift of manual labor on Saturday, a rainy Sunday is somewhat of a blessing.

I intended to catch-up on some yard work and clean up the work area from Saturday’s project, but just as I started, the rain began to fall.  Being forced inside was a bit frustrating at first, but a relaxing day inside grew on me pretty quickly.

However, for kids, a day inside is the antithesis of relaxing.  I’m not sure if we get lazier as we age, but parents clearly don’t share the same level of energy as kids.  And when they are locked inside with limited options for entertainment the pent up energy begins to build.  By 3PM the built up energy is ready to explode.

Signs of nervous energy begin to grow.  The feet start tapping.  The body starts to move.  Spontaneous dancing.  Lots of spinning in circles.  Attempts are made to turn furniture into trampolines.  Eventually it leads to pestering the parents looking for something to do.

The Princess started her Sunday lock-down with all of the above, which eventually led to following the Dude around the house, primarily hanging off my clothes, but also telling the same jokes over and over.  And I use the word jokes loosely.  It was mainly the Princess hiding where I can see her and then jumping out to scare me.  Clearly we needed some activities.

After listening to “I want that,” following every commercial, it occurred to me to have The Princess create a letter/list for Santa.  Yes, I know it’s only October, and don’t get me started on the concept of  Santa, but from a practical perspective, I see the value in kids using their imagination, this will give her time to think through what she’s asking for, and most importantly, this will easily kill an hour in lock-down.

However, prior to starting this process, the Dude needed to lay down some ground rules.

Dude:  “Santa likes to bring you gifts that help make you a well rounded person.  Like art, music, books, or paints.

The Princess:  “No, he brings toys.”

Dude:  “OK.  He likes to bring toys too.  But he has rules.  1.  Santa needs specifics.  2.  He will not bring the same toys you already have. And 3.  He will not bring multiples of the same toy.”

The Princess:  “Whatever.”

The Dude is easily dismissed, but I’m also the funding behind Santa, so these were necessary rules.

The Princess likes to explain what she wants with vague descriptions like “It’s small, but gets big.  And it’s round.  And you can play with it.”  Any idea what that might be?  I have no clue.  She also likes to ask for the newer versions of toys she already has that are collecting dust in her room.  And lastly, she likes to ask for complete sets of toys.  Like every My Little Pony.  Do you know how many MLP’s there are?  I don’t either, but The Princess does, and she can name each of them.  She wants all of them…even though they all look the same, do the same thing (nothing), and an abundance are collecting dust in her room.

So, Santa needs some rules.

Dear Santa,

I’m The Princess, and I’m super rad!

Hearts & Stars 4-Eva.

Love,
The Princess

  1. Unicorn pillow pet
  2. Barbie & the Mermaid Tail movie
  3. I have plenty of lipstick.
  4. Squeekies

It’s a work in progress, but the process was fun, it gave The Princess a reason to concentrate and think, and it burned some time.  All around winner.

The thought process definitely burned a bit of energy, but not nearly enough.  So, after the Santa exercise, we resorted to the simplest form of rainy day entertainment.  Rain boots, raincoat, and some splashing in the rain.

Singing In the Rain

Singing In the Rain

It Takes More Than Rock n’ Roll

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I’m no carpenter, but I think Starship is full of it.

Saturday was the day of reckoning for the stairs.  They concussed Mrs. Dude, so Rex and I decided we needed a little retribution (that and the stairs were 26 years old).

Down with the stairs!

As a humorous side note, when the Dude was growing up, we moved into a new house, and this new house had a cheesy cowboy/ranch style fence surrounding the front yard.  Included in this fence was an obnoxious entryway that extended over the entrance to the walkway leading from the driveway to the front door.  I was in third grade at the time, so I don’t have a clear memory of how tall it was, but apparently the previous owner built it to fit his elfin size.  A short time after we moved in, my Dad arrived home from work, and began to walk to the house from the driveway.  In full stride, he stepped under the entryway and was knocked flat on his back when his head made direct contact with the low hanging wood.  Clearly not enough room for a 10 gallon hat.  He marched to the basement, pulled out the extension cord, grabbed the saw, and after two cuts the entryway was lying in the yard.

This mission has a similar feel to it.

As I started the demolition, while Rex was off on his first trip to Home Depot (It’s a given that projects always take more than one trip to the Depot.), I kicked on some tunes.  The Black Keys to be specific.  While I can assure you this was some serious rock n’ roll, these tunes did not help build the stairs one bit.  I have no idea how Starship built an entire city on it.  I’m calling BS.

We put in a 12 hour shift knocking down and replacing the stairs.  We finished up under the lights at 10:15PM.  But, we finished in one day, and the stairs are awesome.  I’m not sure if they are any less slippery when wet, but they are amazingly sturdy.  And it’s pretty cool to build something.

Week 15 – Time for a Trim

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Little Dude's 1st Trim

Little Dude's 1st Trim

Some babies don’t have hair by week 15.  Little Dude, time for the first haircut.

Little Dude popped out with a full head of hair.  Which is a bit startling considering the Dude’s dome is hairless.

I was begging Mrs. Dude on day one to let me shave a legit mohawk.  How outrageous would a one week old with a mohawak be?!  Grandmas would be fainting.  Hilarious.

Unfortunately, Mrs. Dude wasn’t having it. 

But, Mother Nature was on the Dude’s side.  Over the course of the first 15 weeks, Little Dude’s gorgeous coif was slowly reduced to old man hair.

Last night, Mrs. Dude said she was ready for the trim, and the rest is history…

Daily Pixels: Street Cred

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Mrs. Dude is coming around.  She hasn’t embraced the captain’s hat yet, but she’s starting to dig the minivan. 

However, she felt the yacht needed a bit more street cred.  So she made a small addition to the tailgate.  Naturally I’m referring to a small machine gun sticker.  (I have no idea where she finds things like this.) 

Now when minivan haters pull up behind us and see the captain’s hat in the rear view mirror and the machine gun, they’ll know they are dealing with some hardcore minivaners. 

Boom.  Instant street cred. 

Hardcore

Hardcore

Daily Pixels: Vantastic!

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It’s official.  We are a minivan family.  And I love it.

We took our first road trip in the family truckster last weekend.  12 hours in two days.  And they were the most comfortable 12 hours of driving we’ve had as a family.  Plenty of room for our luggage, and everyone had their own seat.  We even had the front seat empty, and we fit some hand-me-downs for Little Dude and a ladder on the way back.  Yes, a ladder.  With room to spare.

I got a captain’s hat for Mrs. Dude to wear when captaining the champagne yacht.  But she’s not a fan just yet.  I suspect it will grow on her.  For now, I’ll wear it when I’m at the helm.

Vantastic

Vantastic

Daily Pixels: The Belly Button Store

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A few days ago, The Princess and I were enjoying some time in the yard.  I forget what we were doing, but I suspect it was the usual “time in the yard” activities.  I was most likely inspecting the plants, and The Princess was probably swinging.

I decided to head in, and I mentioned “Let’s go in and see what Mommy and Little Dude are doing.”

The Princess replied with, “Nope.  I’m going to the belly button…the belly button store.  To get a new belly button.”

Awesome.

I wasn’t sure what to make of it.  I laughed and headed in.

Such a great comment.  Out of nowhere.

Does this mean she’s growing up, and her imagination and humor are taking shape?  Or is she’s holding on to the innocence of early childhood and talking nonsense?

She knew it was funny.  I think she was telling a joke.

She loves going to school now.  And she’s learning a lot in the first month.  All signs are pointing to The Princess doing a great job growing up.

And tonight was the next step towards adulthood; no more booster seat.  She made the request, so we made it happen.

We’ll see how it goes, but I think it’s in storage until Little Dude needs it.

Booster Seat

Booster Seat

No Booster

No Booster Seat

Ruffled Feathers

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Ruffled Feathers

Ruffled Feathers

The Dude can be a bit abrasive at times.  Not intentionally.

I think most dudes have a tendency to be a bit rough around the edges.  It’s sort of the nature of dudes.  We say how we feel without mixing too many words.

This abrasiveness can lead to a difference of opinions, and from a blogging perspective, it can lead to disgruntled readers.

It seems my post about Mrs. Dude’s spill the other day has ruffled a few feathers, including Mrs. Dude.  And for this I am very sorry.  My intention is never to offend.

I jumped into the world of blogging for a few reasons; I have an itch to write, it gives me a great opportunity for self-reflection, and the blog creates a chronicle of our lives for us to look back on for years to come.

I love the idea of capturing moments as they happen, when emotions and thoughts are still raw.  And Dude Knows Best gives me a chance to capture these raw moments.  We can’t recreate life, and as time marches on, moments are gone forever.  My goal is to grab moments as they happen and make sure they aren’t forgotten.  I want to remember what happened, what we looked like, where we were, who we were with, what we thought, how we felt.  Good and bad.

Yes, I can determine the subjects covered and what details to include, and I want to protect emotions and take other people into consideration.  But I also want a truthful look at our lives.  I’m not trying to over-share, but I’m also not trying to sugarcoat.  I want us to be able to look back at our lives in the raw form.  For better or worse.

Looking back, and readers looking in from the outside, we may not agree with all of the thoughts or feelings, but at that moment, when my fingers are stroking the keys, these are the raw thoughts and feelings.  I don’t check with Mrs. Dude prior to writing, so I’ll never claim to speak for her, but I can say with unequivocal certainty that we are a team and I respect her thoughts in the same way that she respects mine.  We may not always agree 100%, but we will never do anything to harm each other.

My blogging is a bit selfish.  Selfish from the perspective that I do it for myself and my family.  I love that people enjoy reading it, and I want my readers to be happy with what I write, but in the end, the blog is crafted to chronicle the Dudes in their raw form, and this raw form may not always agree with outside opinions.

As for the Concussed post, outside interpretation seems to view the post as a bit callous and focused on the wrong priorities during a time of need.  I can see this perspective.  I don’t agree, but I respect those opinions.

I love my family more than anything, and I’ll do anything necessary to protect and keep them safe.  The decision that Mrs. Dude and I made to wait out her concussion was not done lightly, and by no means was money the driving force behind the decision.  Mrs. Dude’s safety is always priority number one.

However, I don’t disagree with my statement that “a trip to the emergency room will cost a pretty penny,” and I can’t ignore the fact that money plays a role in healthcare decisions for 99% of the world population.  To quote the wise voices from Metallica, “It’s sad, but true.”  Healthcare costs money, and while it certainly isn’t the top priority, health and safety will always hold the top spot, I would be less than truthful if I ignored that it plays a role in decisions.  And, as I’ve mentioned, my goal is for a truthful, raw blog.  I’m interested in protecting, but not glossing over.

Western medicine has made the world a safer place, and it saves lives every day.  However, it’s not magic, and the people practicing medicine are just people, people making educated decisions with the information and experiences they have been exposed to.

While I believe Western medicine is great, I do not have 100% faith in it, nor do I think anyone should.  Mistakes are made, difference of opinions are rampant, misdiagnosis is probably more normal than correct diagnosis, and how many times have health professionals made steadfast claims only to turn around and say the opposite at a later time?  I believe wholeheartedly in guidance, but at the end of the day, we need to make the best decisions for us based on the advice we’ve received and our personal experiences.

The Dude and Mrs. Dude are unbelievably fortunate to have two amazing nurses in our family, my Mom and Mrs. Dude’s Mom.  Both Moms were exceptionally concerned about Mrs. Dude after she fell, and rightly so.  Head injuries are very serious, and subtle changes can have major impacts, possibly deadly.  The guidance that we received explained this to us with great emphasis.

Mrs. Dude and I understood the risks.  However, we also had the benefit of experiencing Mrs. Dude’s symptoms first-hand.  We saw that she was coherent and her symptoms were fading.  We also understood that 9 out of 10 times things are ok (that might not be the exact ratio with head injuries, but you get my point).  If Mrs. Dude expressed concern or seemed less than coherent at any time, the decision to seek medical attention would have been an easy Yes.

Is it wise to gamble like this?  There’s no good answer to that question, but what I can say is that life is a gamble.  Every day we wake up we gamble.  I don’t view the decisions we make with our health and wellbeing as any different than our everyday gambles.  I view it as an assessment based on the information available and our personal feelings and experiences.

Yes, we postponed going to the hospital, and in the end everything worked out.  Does this mean we got lucky?  Yeah, but we get lucky every day we make it to bed in one piece.  Does this mean we made the “right” decision?  I don’t think we can qualify health decisions as “right” or “wrong.”  They are personal choices based on our best, personal, judgment.  If we went to the hospital, I certainly would not qualify that as “wrong.”  But we didn’t, and things are good.   So, I guess I would qualify this as the right decision for us in this particular situation.

I don’t view this healthcare decision any differently than I view our choice for Little Dude’s natural birth or our decision to monitor Little Dude after the choking scare with no medical attention.  As a team, Mrs. Dude and I are making the best decisions we can with the input that we have available at the time.  We are more than happy to listen to and consider all opinions, but at the end of the day, we need to live with the consequences of the decisions we make…just like everyone else.

I’m sorry for any ruffled feathers.  I do not mean to offend, but I can pretty much guarantee that this won’t be the last time readers have a difference of opinions with thoughts expressed at Dude Knows Best.  That’s the risk I take writing in a public forum, and it’s the risk you take reading.  I hope we can respect each other’s opinions and continue to enjoy the Dude Knows Best experience.  I’m going to keep writing, and I hope you keep reading.

Thanks for the feedback.  I guess it’s a good post if it ruffles a few feathers.