Just like many other New Years Eve celebrations, the Dude house rang in 2011 with copious amounts of vomit. Unfortunately, we didn’t enjoy any of the benefits of overindulgence that usually accompany New Years revelry.
The Dude and The Princess rang in the New Year with our heads in the toilet thanks to a tummy bug that stowed away in our luggage from The Lady in a Shoe’s house. Mrs. Shoe’s house not only incubates chaos, but also germs. As a result, Casa de Dude resembled, and smelled like, a frat house as the ball dropped.
Thankfully, Mrs. Dude and Little Dude have escaped the bug so far. And a big thanks goes out to the Mrs. for working into the wee hours of the morning taking care of the sickies (and the infant).
Thanks again for a great visit Lady in a Shoe. However, in the future, please make sure your germs pass through customs before following us home.
The good news is that starting from the toilet, 2011 has no where to go but up. Here’s to a great 2011!
Seems like most aspects of life move in some sort of cyclical pattern. For example, we arrive in diapers, and most of us will exit in diapers.
Christmas is no exception. As a kid, Christmas is a pretty special time. I’m sure a lot of that has to do with getting “things” we want, but for the most part, the excitement is just the joy of the experience. Weeks on end of Christmas specials, holiday cookies, talk of Santa, time off from school, plans to be with family. It’s a time when the world seems to slow, and kids are at the center of the excitement.
At some point, life grinds you down, and eventually some of the Christmas magic wears off. Bachelor Dude often questioned the jolly holiday. A large dose of religious dogma mixed with an extreme helping of consumerism seems like a dangerous recipe. But kids make those questions seem irrelevant.
Nothing warms the heart of a parent like seeing their children filled with happiness, and Christmas makes that joy burst out of their little bodies. Parenting is the bridge that brings that Christmas joy back to adults…at least for the Dude it is.
I have to hand it to the Moms of the world though. I’m going to go out on a limb and stereotype a bit here. I’m sure there are a lot of Dads who can fill this roll as well, but from the Dude’s experience, Moms hold Christmas together…and they love every second of it.
Mrs. Dude has been planning and budgeting for months, and it still takes a last minute sprint to finish all of the odds and ends. Odds and ends, mind you, that no Dads the Dude knows could understand and/or execute.
The shopping alone would knock 90% of the Dads out, but then there’s wrapping…oh the wrapping! It never ends. But Moms are totally awesome wrappers…as if it’s in their gene’s…the wrapping gene. Bows, and ribbons, and wrapping paper that fits the person. Dudes buy one roll, try to wrap the first gift, give up half way through and put all the presents in bags with tissue paper piled on top…done.
But for Moms, it goes way beyond just shopping and wrapping…especially when it comes to the big fat guy in the red suit. Based on the stories the Lady in the shoe is sharing about my oldest nephew, we are realizing this could be the last year that the Princess whole-heartedly, unquestionably, without a doubt believes in Santa. The news spreads quickly with those kids at school, and kids aren’t dumb.
Creepy Elf
So Mrs. Dude went all out. We wrote a letter to Santa, The Princess saw Santa at least three times, we got an email video from Santa, we tracked Santa as he flew, we even allowed the creepy Elf on a Shelf to stare creepily at us from random spots in the living room for the last three weeks (I don’t care what anyone says, that Elf is super creepy.).
Jingle Bells
But the icing on the cake was the Santa display Mrs. Dude crafted on Christmas Eve. Stockings hung by the chimney with care, a plate of cookies and carrots that the Dude had to eat, and the coup de grace, the fireplace door cracked slightly with a “jingle bell” strategically placed as if Santa dropped it during a quick exit, and glitter on the hearth! Did you know Santa left a trail of glitter?! Me neither. But he does, and it’s awesome.
Santa's Trail O' Glitter
And The Princess ate up every bit of it. She was so happy, and the happiness is so genuine that she makes everyone around her happy. That’s the power of kids at Christmas, and I’ll trade that happiness for the pragmatic questions any day.
As a result, and despite brief occurrences of the Dude’s bah-humbugness, we had a great Christmas. We had quality time with our extended family (arguably the true meaning of Christmas), ate great food, relaxed, played with new toys, the Dude was able to get a Christmas Day surf session, and to close out the holiday season, we enjoyed one of the best Christmas traditions of all, an annual viewing of Christmas Vacation.
In the immortal words of Clark W. Griswold, from the Dude Family to your’s, we hope you had “the hap, happ, happiest Christmas…”
PS – I’m sure you will all be excited to know that Santa added a cheetah to Little Dude’s zoo!
Santa is a rad dude. He gives kids great reminders about the meaning of Christmas. Sure there’s some bribery involved, but the message is clear; be a good person and life will reward you. Santa also offers kids a great opportunity to enlist their imagination, a tool that improves with practice.
Overall, Santa gets a big Dude thumbs up, but Santa can also be pretty intimidating. A large dude with a deep voice, giant beard, and bright red outfit. That’s a lot to take in for little ones.
I can certainly understand some apprehensiveness, but judging by this picture, it’s safe say Little Dude feels pretty comfortable in the giant gift-giver’s paws.
You Don't Scare Me
* Dude’s Note: The Daily Pixels have been a bit less than daily, so we’ll switch to “Pixels” until we can live up to the “Daily” moniker.
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.
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.
We’ve been building up to this for a while; little black cleats with pink accents, black socks/shinguards to match the black cleats, and some Dude/Princess practice time.
Our practice time focused mainly on kicking, passing, and stopping the ball. Some good basics, but our practice wasn’t very consistent or intense. Lots of lolly-gagging and goofing around.
The Princess did get a hang of the basics. She can pass the ball and stop it pretty well. But after witnessing the first official practice, I realize some additional basics would be helpful.
Soccer was the Dude’s jam back in the day. I played from age 5 – 20, including a couple years in college. So, needless to say, my hopes may have been set a bit high.
I played a lot; rec, travel, club, college. But I’ve never coached. Playing and teaching are two different things. After doing something for years, the basics become some ingrained that it’s easy to overlook the learning process that led to the assimilation of the skills.
The Dude/Princess practice time didn’t focus much on the rules or physicality of soccer. We didn’t focus on the running, bumping, falling, positions, watching the ball, what to do when the ball is not near you, or even what the goal is for.
This was the Princess’ first go at a full scale team practice of any kind, and her first real experience with soccer. Not to mention it is a 5-6 year old league, and she’s 5, so most of the other kids are bigger and have experience.
It’s a lot to take in, so I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt, and I can honestly say that she did a great job just being there and not getting overwhelmed. However, “sporty” may not be the adjective we use to describe The Princess. I’m still holding out hope, but words like pretty, sweet, graceful, artistic, friendly, or great style may be more fitting.
My gut is saying that dance (starting next week), may be a bit more natural. But I’m still holding out hope, and we’ll have some additional Dude/Princess practice time today.
This picture is a bit deceiving. It looks like she’s actually running! My guess is it was just a fast walk. Most of her practice time was spent chatting it up with a girl in a pink shirt (she’s attracted to pink like a bee to a flower), spinning in circles, and avoiding the ball.
At one point, The Princess and another underachiever were actually sitting on the field talking (yes, sitting) while the rest of the team played a scrimmage and raced towards the idle chatters. Luckily she realized the group was hurdling towards them and was able to get out of the way at the last second. However, getting out of the way of the ball is generally frowned upon when you are the last line of defense.
Oh well, she survived her first soccer experience, and we’re looking forward to practice number two this week. But we’ll have a little extra Dude/Princess practice time.
And I’ve started subliminal messages to Little Dude to get him mentally prepared for his time on the pitch. After this experience, I figure it’s never too early to start.
Let this be fair warning for all future dudes; The Priness is one tough cookie.
Here’s the Dude’s take on an 80’s video montage (think Rocky training in the mountains of Russia) to celebrate The Princess’ first Tae Kwan Do experience, which cluminated with a broken piece of wood and a yellow stripe accenting her pretty white belt.
Congrats Princess. We are so proud of you.
PS – Bonus points if you can name the movie the song is from.
