Me, Blake, and Teddy

Yesterday, Blake and I played catch with his gray bear (Teddy).  We each had the same number of catches, but Blake had more laughs and smiles.  I 'worried' that Teddy would get hurt if nobody caught him.  Thank goodness he's only a teddy bear.

While we were playing with the bear in the living room, we rolled teddy, we flipped teddy, we threw teddy like a football, and most importantly, we enjoyed teddy together.

Blake has a great arm.  He can throw the bear up high near the ceiling fan and blow it past me over my head. 

Sometimes, I can execute the one-arm grab of the bear if I think he's getting away from me. 

Meet Blake and Teddy:

PHOTO:  My son Blake and his bear Teddy

Teddy and Blake

Teddy and Blake

I love that I can pass on my old teddy bears, my old stuffed animals, and my love for bears down to Blake.  I own teddy bears anymore. 

Someday I hope I can make Ben a teddy bear man.

Also, I'm still a bear man.

Ben and the ceiling fans

Ben loves ceiling fans.  He may not be a big fan of toys, video games, or Legos (like he used to be), but he sure loves his ceiling fans and his utilities.

If Ben earns five stars on any one thing or for every five stars he earns on everything he's supposed to do, I let him pull the chain to turn on and off the fan and the lights of our three ceiling fans.

I provide him a blue bucket to stand on and I help hold him up to where he can pull the chains safely in our three rooms that provide us light and cooler air.

I let him do his truck in the living room, our bedroom, and their bedroom.  I give him extra time and extra pulls for him to be happy.  I'll do anything in my power to keep him happy.

At the same time, I have to be the parent that sets reasonable limits for him.  After the third sets of pulls on each of the ceiling fans, I tell him that it's time to stop.  Once I tell him to stop, he gets mad.  I don't mean to make him mad, but I can't just let him pull chains all day. 

It's not good for the equipment, and it's especially not good for him either.  It takes about an hour to calm him down and keep him away from the buckets that could prop him up to reach the ceiling fan.

I even have to spend some extra time to get him to stop pulling the couch cushions to prop him up toward the ceiling fans.

Yesterday, I had to lock the door to our bedroom to prevent him from messing with our ceiling fan.  I even had to send him to his room because he wouldn't listen to us. 

One wish I have is that he will take some interest in our family activities and that he'll play with his toys with us.  I want to be able to play with Ben more.

At least Ben likes to color and practice writing his name over and over again.  He's getting better in writing B E N in the correct order.

Finally, my big wish is that Ben can harness is love and energy for ceiling fans, lights, fans, and light switches in a positive manner.

Video Gamer in Chief

BACK TO THE FUTURE THE GAME

My three-year-old son Blake is becoming an expert in video game play.  

Last Night, he saw me play Back to the Future on the XBOX360.  

Blake wanted to start playing the game immediately.  He's never seen me play this game before.  Never mind that he's never played a video game as complex as this one before.  He wanted to play and let me know it.

Being the good daddy that I am, I give him the XBOX controller and let him play.  I didn't tell him what buttons to push or what moves to make.  I let him watch the story in the game and he just hit whatever buttons and levers he could find. 

The only thing that could derail this plan is dinner time.  After the two minute alarm went off, we all sat down for dinner.

We will play that game again someday.



PAC-MAN CONNECT AND PLAY

Blake has become an expert on Dig Dug, Super Pac Man, Pac and Pal, and Mappy (Mouseky has he calls it) on this little device.

 
One day, I come home and Blake sees me right away.  Instead of him saying 'hi daddy, I love you (or i missed you)', he says "I want to play video games."

I take my shoes off and put my back pack away before I plug the games into the TV. 

He's most improved in Super Pac-Man has he has gotten to the bonus Donut level and as far as the Burger level.

Blake is going to get better at this before too long.  

I felt bad for Blake that I would let him play as I was on the best roll of my life on this game.  I got to near 180,000 into level 18.  Basically I was playing the banana level again at 160 points a Banana.

I'm doing way better as a parent by not playing as much as he does.  

Blake doesn't know it yet, but he's getting a special video game present on Christmas.

Being a daddy can be rewarding

Whenever I go through hard times with my two sons, I know that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I know that whenever they yell at me, talk back to me, ask me the same question over and over again, and don't listen to me, it does get better.

When they fight with each other, I know that they will give each other a hug afterward.  Sometimes, Blake will ask his older brother Ben to play with him. 

Even though Blake fights me on taking a nap and putting him in his car seat, I know that he will calm down shortly afterward.

I know that it does get better when Ben and Blake chase the cat, grab at him, and lay on him.  I see how loving Ben and Blake can be to Gandalf P. Cat when they want to be.  I see how Blake can pet the kitty and smile afterward.

When I read to Ben and Blake and they are fully captivated to what is in the book, that makes me happy.

When Ben and Blake are out playing on the playground or at a McDonald's indoor play place and they are smiling, it is better than taking then to the finest theme park in the world.  When I see them eating their chicken nuggets at the Chick Fil A and smiling afterward, it is better than me eating a gourmet meal at one of the finest restaurants in the world.

When Ben and Blake are watching their tablets or the TV, they're relaxed and things are better already.  They're quiet too.

No wait!  The best part of being a daddy:  When they say "I love you Daddy."

The power of bribes

Yesterday, I felt like I was in control of a few situations at home yesterday. 

I was able to convince Blake to be read to before I gave him the tablet.  Blake loves to watch PacMan videos on YouTube.  He also likes Peppa Big, Mario, Donkey Kong, and Team Umizoomi.  Blake has been good in sticking with the clean family fun videos.  I forgot to mention that Blake likes to watch funny kitty cat videos too.

Starting yesterday, I'm not just going to give away the tablet to Blake just because he asks for it.  Even if he says please, I'm going to make him earn it.  Part of it too is that I worry the tablet will rot Blake's brain from excessive watching.  I remember when people told me that watching TV all day will rot my brain.  For now, I think my brain is good.

A second instance where I said 'NO' and sort of bribed my older son Ben at the same time came yesterday afternoon.  My dear Ben; he saw a pink lollipop in the pantry.  He wanted and I said no.  He asked for it again and I said 'not right now.'  I also told him that he could have it after dinner.

Ben and Blake tried a breadless, crustless pizza for dinner last night.  I was concerned that they would like it or they wouldn't eat it.  They would probably like it if they gave it a chance.



Sure enough, we all liked it.  Ben (LEFT) loved it so much, he went on to have seconds for it.  Needless to day he earned his pink lollipop.  Blake (MIDDLE) ate some of it.  I told him that if he took two more bites, he would get a chocolate lollipop.  He did.  I (RIGHT) loved it and that it made me too full for dessert.

Blake's ability to try his dinner was my third attempt at bribery of the day, and it worked.  Bribes work.  Bribe can be a bad word; reward is a better word.  I want to give my boys 'rewards' for a job well done and when they do what I ask them to do.

I will continue to issue 'bribes' for good deeds by Ben and Blake.