Jan 12, 2018 | Uncategorized
I cannot remember the day that I had my first sleepover at a friend’s house. I probably was a little older but Mia’s classmate, Payton, invited her and a girlfriend over for the night. I just took the girls to the Discovery Center in Rockford for an outing and her friend’s mom suggested that they do a sleepover. I thought to myself, “This might not be such a great idea”. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised.
My concern was that Allie, her other classmate, got a little upset at their last attempt of a sleepover at about 11pm in the evening. She called her mom and dad and they ended up picking her up. While some might think it would be worthwhile to tell the child to stick it out/suck it up, I think it might be better to make sure they feel comfortable in that environment instead of causing them undue stress. I do not want the girls to think that I would not be there for them in the event they did not feel comfortable on the sleepover. I did not want Mia to have a bad first experience which might effect her desire to do it again.
The other girls were jealous and immediately insisted on being allowed to have a sleepover as well. Knowing that Cathy had her hands full, I promised the other two that we would have a sleepover at our house and invite their friends over. The mob of two thought carefully about my suggestion. They looked at each other, nodded and let me know that was acceptable. Crisis averted for now with future post to come.
The sleepover started at 1630 and Mia was excited the whole morning. She had packed up her “security” items in a bag the night before. She chose to bring a sleeping bag, a pillow, three of her most treasured “stuffies” and her Lalaloopsy [sic]. The bag sat by the man door waiting for our depature and a reminder to all that Mia was going on her first sleepover.
I dropped her off at 1630 and Cathy was very welcoming. Mia immediately detached herself from me and went to her friends. I could tell that this was going to be good for her. I smiled at Cathy and wished her luck and to let me know if there was any problems. She seemed comfortable with the five girls. I received several text pictures and updates on Mia which to me made it special. I felt like a proud Fire Dad because my little girl was all grown up now!
The next day, I woke up and found that my phone did not have any text messages on it. Two possible scenarios: Either Cathy and Dan were perfectly fine and the kids had a great time or they were now being held hostage and I would have to pay a king’s ransom for their safe return. I was hoping for the former! I texted Cathy before departing for the gym but her phone was off so I did not get a response for a spell. I suggested 1030 for a pickup and she said that would be fine. I finished up my workout and picked up Mia.
Thankfully, Cathy and Dan looked in good health with no rope marks on their wrists:). Mia looked a little tired and they were doing some sort of dance game on the television. The beds were out in the living room by the TV. Cathy said that Mia was up til almost midnight – the latest. I guess I could be proud of such a trooper but I knew this would mean her attitude would be not so good for the rest of the day (and it wasn’t). She already had breakfast which Cathy and Dan prepared. It rivaled many restaurants in that they had bacon, eggs, muffins, milk, orange juice – just to name a few). I was JEALOUS! The girls did art and she brought her projects home. They took numerous pictures with a modern day Polaroid. I thanked both of them for being so kind.
Cathy let me know that Mia could come back again for another sleepover. That made me proud of her that she had behaved good while at the sleepover and encourages me to allow her to do it again in the future. For now, I am working on setting up Milana and Bella’s first sleepover. Please make sure you check up on me to see if I make it out alive!
Jan 10, 2018 | Uncategorized
Being a firefighter and a father is truly a unique experience. The schedule allows you to become an integral part of your children’s lives; if you choose to do it! Our schedule is a typical 24/48 schedule where we are on for a 24 hour period and then off for 48. While I dislike the loss of those 24 hours, I do try to take advantage of the 48 while I am at home.
One of the ways that I try to give back to my daughters is trying to participate in different school functions. School functions that I have participated with include different field trips, family nights out and school centers. Each one of these activities provides me the attachment to the girls that I adore.
Today was centers in Mia’s class. Not only do I get to interact with Mia but also with all of her classmates. I think that this is important as I get to see her with kids her age and how she interacts with them. When I show up, I sit at table awaiting for one of the three groups to join me. While the table is made for someone a lot smaller than 6′ 3″, it is still enjoyable. Because I have built a small rapport with all of the kids, I usually get smiles and a lot of waves from the kids.
I have to give it to the teacher’s as they come up with some fun educational games. Today was a game called Syllable Snowmen. There are about 40 flashcards which each contained a word. There were equal amounts of 1, 2 and 3 syllable words. The goal is to have the Head (one syllable word), Body (two syllable word) and legs (three syllable word). All the kids did great with the game as I made it a competition between them with an interesting twist. I wanted them to work as a team; similar to what I am familiar with as a firefighter.
I told the kids that they were going to be timed to find and put together their snowman. The team building came in that they turned the card over and worked together to figure out the word and the number of syllables. Some of the kids are good with words and some not so good but to my surprise, they worked together to get the job done. I told the kids that you might be the “best” individually but the team would always be stronger and faster as a group than even the best individual. For the most part, the kids seemed to embrace the idea and made me proud of the group.
At the tail end of the center, the kids were starting to say they were hungry and started to lose a little interest in the game. The hour and 15 minutes ended too quickly as it was 11am. The kids all lined up for lunch carrying their lunchboxes. I got numerous high fives from some of the kids. More importantly, I got a big hug from Mia. I told her that I loved her and would see her in a few hours when she arrived home. I hope that some of the ideas that I provided the kids have at least a little impact on their lives. I look forward to my next center day with the kids.
Jan 8, 2018 | Uncategorized
I’ll be the first to admit that some of the movies that are produced can have more of an effect on children than I ever imagined. I have watched my fair share of children’s movies because the girls will watch them not just once….but like 1000 times (or more). The newer movies seem to have some underlying messages that I believed were more for the parents benefit and chuckles and would pass over such young developing minds.
Interestingly, I found that children actually can and do grasp some of the ideas that are brought up in these movies. Concepts that I would think they would not be aware of in the first place. The ability for young children to pick up on these ideas can be pretty impressive as I saw with Milana just the other day.
I was kind of bummed that Milana’s birthday is two weeks beyond the date set by the school board of Sept 1. This means that she will be held back a year from where I believe where she belongs. She turned 5 in 2017 but was held in preschool. If she was born August 31, she would have been in kindergarten. To get her prepped for next year, me and Mary have been working with her on reading. The books that I use are from Mia’s kindergarten class. She is doing a great job on them and more impressive is that she is able to comprehend what is being talked about in the book based upon questions at the end of each one.
How does this relate back to Zootopia you might ask? It’s all about her ability to perceive what is occurring in the story. More importantly, she understands one of the underlying messages about bias to the different animals within the Zootopia universe. Interestingly, her understanding and questioning of bias occurred prior to the movie. She saw the firefighting profession as one dominated by men. I told her that she could do anything that she wanted to do. I encourage all my girls to do this. I think it is important for them to pave their own ways and what makes them happy.
In Zootopia, the main character a bunny named Judy Hopps, is in the law enforcement field. She is treated differently due to her sex. The other animals talk to her differently almost as if she is inferior and cannot handle the job as a law enforcement officer. The girls watch this over and over because they enjoy the different animals. What’s more important is that we have lightly discussed the issue with the girls to see their level of understanding. They see Mary and are proud that she is in Judy Hopps spot but Mary has provided a strong foundation for the girls to understand that the girls can be whatever they want to be. What it takes is practice and hard work. Those two things will be repeated to them regularly so that they make the choice to best suit them.
On a lighter note, as of right now, Mia wants to be a “hair cutter”, a brain doctor, a police officer and a firefighter. Milana wants to be a brain doctor. Bella has decided that she wants to be a priest. Each of these makes me proud as i know that whatever occupation they choose, it will be the perfect fit for them.
