Brilliant Idea

*See below

I have a business idea, and I need your help. That help could simply be through your verbal support and encouragement or though your financial backing. Both levels of support would be most beneficial. I can ensure you a great return on your money. Let me give you some background.

This past week was a crappy sleeping week for my children and therefore it was crappy sleeping for my wife and I. You have all been there done that and probably posted about it at least once yourself. We all do it. So, there is no use complaining about it. Therefore, the question turns to what are you going to do about it? I don’t mean just drink coffee (I don’t EVEN like coffee, but that’s not the point) or try and find time to grab a quick nap. I am thinking a more long term solution. Real action!

Here it is – drum roll for my brilliant idea please – KIDDIE KENNEL. A kid kennel is for those times when you absolutely need to get rid of your kids. I don’t mean babysitting for an hour. No, I mean for a few days, weeks if you must, at a time. I am not judging. We don’t judge at Kiddie Kennel. Anyway, can you imagine the commercial?

You have a picture of a parent or parents who are looking stressed and disheveled. Kids crying, kids fighting, kids waking up in the middle of the night, etc. The parent(s) can’t take it anymore. Rather than snapping or having the kids watch hours upon hours of television, they just pack a bag and drive them off to the Kiddie Kennel. When they get to the kennel, they drop the child off with a suitcase and a friendly, responsible, and safe-looking individual takes the child off the parent’s hands. The parent turns around, sighs, and heads back to the car.

In the next clip, the parent(s) is at home. They parent(s) hears birds chirping, gets work accomplished, wakes up refreshed, and even engages in some nocturnal activities with their spouse. Later, the parent(s) returns to Kid Kennel. They again meet the friendly, responsible, and safe individual who shakes their hand and returns the kids, who are all smiles. Everyone is happy.

Tell me that is not a brilliant idea. Tell me you would not like a Kid Kennel in your neighborhood. Tell me you would not utilize the services of Kid Kennel. Of course you would! Wow, I have finally done it. This is my Apple. I’m going right to the top, baby. Oh yes, and I am offering you a chance to invest in this seminal shift in child rearing. No need for thanks.

So, tell me are you interested?

*Of course, this is tongue in cheek. I would never want this for my children. No, never. Really.

 

Together We Ride

We all want those big moments. The “aha” moment, the moment when we see the light, and the moment where everything makes sense. To quote Bruce Springsteen, “some people spend their whole life waiting for moment that just don’t come. Don’t waste your time waiting.”

Recently I wrote a post entitled “The Fearful Rider.”  The post focused on the challenges I have been facing as I try to teach my son, BR, how to ride a bike. It has not gone particularly well. He is struggling, and I am struggling with teaching him. I have not ridden a bike for years – just a couple of times since I was hit by a car as an 11-year-old boy.

BR had been bicycling around the block showing halting progress. He was mildly interested at best.  After a week of practice, he spent a week at his grandmother’s house. Upon his return home, he had no interest in practicing again, and I had no interest in fighting him.  Things were at a standstill.

Then, I came up with an idea.  And BR bought into it. I suggested we ride a tandem bike together when we were on vacation. I figured that when this ride went well, BR would feel comfortable and confident to ride on his own. It was my intention to get him to practice as part of this upcoming ride. That, unfortunately, did not happen.

When we got the Jersey shore, BR asked me about when we are going to go on a bike. His fear seemed to have completely evaporated and was replaced by excitement. I was thrilled. I had grand visions of BR and me gliding along the boardwalk.  We would be basking in the ocean breezes. We would engage in intermittent chatting about how great it was to be together on a bike.

On Wednesday morning, after we woke up, we had breakfast (we skipped the PED’s – save ‘em for the Tour De France). It was a beautiful morning –humidity free and cloudless. We got to the bike rental place at just after 8:30, paid for and received a bike, and strapped on our helmets.  By this point, I was nervous. Yes, I was nervous about BR. However, I was even more nervous about myself. After all, I had not been on a bike for years. Now, not only was I getting on a bike for the first time, but I was putting my own son’s safety at risk. Maybe I could not ride a bike anymore. Was the saying you never forget how to ride a bike true?

Well, BR and I were given the green light to ride away. It was not steady going. We decided to walk the bike up the slope to the boardwalk. We got to the side of the boardwalk and got back on the bike again. We wobbled. Each BR shake or jerk shook the bike. We almost fell. But we didn’t. We stayed upright and bumped along.  We struggled on the turns.

As BR and I rode, I realized that I felt comfortable. I enjoyed riding. I did not forget. What about BR? “We should do this again, this is easy,…”    Later on after two stops, BR was ready to hand the bike in early. “My legs hurt, I’m tired, sorry for jerking the bike.”

So, BR and I rode a bike together. It wasn’t perfect. The ride didn’t change everything and make BR  eager to ride a bike himself. However, he enjoyed it, and I enjoyed it. We both conquered some of our fears. That is a moment worth savoring.

Vacation Enthusiasm

Vacation is all I ever wanted. Vacation — have to get away.

The Go-Gos

We like to wait till the last week of summer for our vacation. It gives us something to enjoy before the return of the routine. Anyway, my family and I are on vacation at the Jersey Shore (no television cameras in sight).  Family vacations with young children are judged by different standards. Relaxation is out.  Get real. Go, go, go is in. That going has been lots of fun.

I have a confession. Please don’t go to the authorities. My children are destroying our environment. Not very The Lorax of them.

My children are responsible for beach erosion. BR, in particular, is a mobile sandstorm. He, along with his cousin, built a mountain by the ocean. By the time he left the beach he was covered in sand – so much in his ears I don’t know how he heard – and erosion was occurring.

The oceans are receding. And I know why. SJ loves the ocean. He dives into the waves. He ends up swallowing mouthfuls of water (despite my repeated objections).  It leads to him burping like a frat brother and the recession of the seas.

BR wallowed in the sand. He did not care that it got in every crevice of his body. He did not pay any mind to the itchy annoying feeling created when sand sticks to one’s body. When the water came up and knocked down his mountain of sand, BR neither complained nor yelled. He surveyed the situation and moved back further on to the beach. Shovel in hand, he got to work with a smile on his face.

SJ got knocked down and pushed around by the waves. Each time he got back up, turned around, and headed right back in to the water. The salt water swished into his eyes. He squinted his eyes and rubbed them against my shirt (which was also wet). He prepared for the next wave and smiled.

Isn’t youthful enthusiasm great? The children don’t accept no. Whether it’s their creations getting destroyed or their bodies knocked down, they get back up. They don’t allow anything to stop their fun.

Determination, resilience, and joy. Great, isn’t it! I could certainly learn a lesson from my boys’ youthful enthusiasm.

Couldn’t you?

Chuck E. Cheese Lessons

Chuck E. Cheese has a lot to offer. I didn’t always feel that way. Before I was a parent, I was an uncle. I went to the occasional Chuck E. Cheese birthday party. Kids running around, elevated noise level, and large rodent wandering the premises: no thanks.

Well, things change. My children love Chuck E. Cheese! Reasonably priced, seating and Wifi – Daddy doesn’t mind it either. So, off to Chucky we went to kill a couple of hours (it is an in between week you know – http://memyselfandkids.wordpress.com/2012/08/03/in-between-week/). I don’t like saying that. I believe that time is limited and should be savored. Anyway, I gained much more from the trip to Chucky Cheese than simply a pleasant diversion.

Prior to leaving BR, my 8 year-old, was scouring his closet. He was certain he had tokens and ticket vouchers from previous visits.

“Daddy, I found tokens, but I think I have more. Can you please help me look?”

“Okay.” I begin looking in the top shelf of his closet but do not see anything. “Nothing there.”

“Move the bear and the piggy bank.”

“Wait, here’s something,” I hand it to him.

“Daddy, it’s a token. Look, it’s a Chuck E. Cheese token.”

“I see that,” I grin slightly, trying to share in his enthusiasm.

He runs over to the plastic bag with other tokens. “I’ve got 19 tokens. Look, the coupon is for 83 tickets!”

When we get to Chuck E. Cheese, I purchase $10 worth of tokens and give BR some (the remainder go to SY – more on him later). He immediately runs off, cup of tokens in hand. Side note – one more thing I like about Chuck E. Cheese is that they stamp your hand as you walk in as a form of security to ensure groups exit together. So, the kids might get away, but they are not getting out.

BR returns to me later proud of his haul of newly won tickets. When I ask him how he got so many tickets, he tells me his M.O. He found the games that give the most tickets and plays them exclusively. He asks me to hold his tickets and stalks out more ticket-producing entertainment. When the tokens run out, he pleads for more, ready to forego ice cream (our usual method of persuading the boys to leave C.E.C.). I oblige.

Ultimately, BR ends up with over 300 tickets. He looks over his options for overpriced prizes (kind of like they used to do on Wheel of Fortune. I’ll have a deck of cards for $50, a one-year subscription to the fruit of the month club for $499…). He ultimately decides to retain his vouchers, determining that the available prizes are not worth his stash. I buy him ice cream anyway.

Back to SY. Ignoring his brother’s advice to check his closet for tokens and vouchers, SY runs out to the car and buckled himself in. When we arrived at Chuck E. Cheese, SY asks me to hold his tokens – not realizing that BR had more – and wanders off to the climbing area. He climbs up and down the structure a few times – looking out occasionally to ensure I was in the neighborhood. We exchange smiles, and he continues. From there, he makes his way to a game he has enjoyed in the past. It’s a simulated roller coaster that gives no tickets. We ride it together four times. After his usual stab at a driving game that he can’t control and provides no tickets, we find a few other games he likes. He plays and moves on. When BR comes by looking for a token, he gives him one (he has already given me two – I like the sports games).

SY cashes out his tickets, proud that his voucher reads 21. We go over to the prize area and SY picks out stickers. He instructs me to hold them and promptly forgets all about them. He enjoys his favorite ice cream – ices actually. By the time we are home he must go directly to the bathtub as he as worn as much as he has eaten.

With our visit over, Chuck E. Cheese has served it’s purpose. We have enjoyed a couple of hours. And I have learned more about my children.

BR – goal oriented, delays gratification, takes readily.

SY – fun oriented, easily gratified, shares readily.

Thanks, Chuck.