Jun

30

Swingset Update

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We finally decided to bite the bullet and drop some serious cash on a swingset for the girls. We set out to go back to the store to put a deposit on the set I had gotten a quote on, when we noticed another swingset store off the side of the road and a big sign that read “Display Sale.” The quality of these sets was just about as good as the Woodplay ones, the set we liked included a rock climbing wall and one more swing than the Woodplay set, and they had a similar 20-year warranty. Since the set was already put together, the wait time to get it was only 1 week, as opposed to 3-4 weeks at the other store. Best of all, the price was $600 less than the set we were on our way to buy, and that includes delivery and set-up.

Needless to say, we bought the swingset and we’re all looking forward to some serious play time on it. I’ll be sure to post some pictures for you.

Jun

27

Last Day of School

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Today was Quinn’s last day of preschool. Hard to believe. It felt strange picking her up today knowing that it was the last time I would see the school and her teachers (Grace is going to a different school in the fall.) Had one of those awkward moments where you just kind of shrug your shoulders and say “good-bye” to everyone, knowing you’ll probably never see them again. Didn’t know what else to say.

Got a little upset too, when I started to think how next fall, I’m hardly ever going to see Quinn anymore – at least not as much as I’ve seen her for the past 4-and-a-half years. I’ve been there for almost all of her waking hours since birth, and suddenly she’s going to be on the same schedule as my wife: out the door at 8am and back at 3:30pm, at which point I leave for work. I’ll probably only see her for a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes when the wife and I do the handoff in the afternoon. She’ll be asleep by the time I get home. That really only gives us weekends to spend time together. I don’t think I’m going to like that at all.

Is this what it’s like for dads who have day jobs and busy careers? I can’t imagine seeing my children that infrequently! Despite all the hard days where I sometimes wished I had a “normal” 9-5 job so I could be out of the house and away from the kids, I wouldn’t trade the last 4 years for anything.

We’ve still got the summer ahead of us. My wife’s a teacher, so she’s home now too. If I keep my night hours, we’ll see each other all the time. Knowing what fall means, I’m going to try and enjoy as much of the next couple of months as possible.

Jun

24

Today Gets A Star

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Today was one of those days that – as my wife puts it – gets a star. A couple of exciting things happened. First, my sister-in-law got engaged. She’s very excited, as are her parents and sisters. She and her fianceé drove up from Pennsylvania to tell everyone the news. That’s pretty exciting, right?

Perhaps more exciting, however, was what happened at home today with my youngest daughter. Grace, as you may or may not know, has been tube fed since birth. First through an NG tube, and then through a g-tube, which is a plastic device that resembles the tube you blow a beach ball up with, inserted directly into her stomach. This is how it’s been for almost three years now. We see specialists to help with the feeding issues and she’s been making slow, but steady progress.

Now you have to understand that ALL of her nutrition goes through the tube – she didn’t even know how to drink from a sippy cup until recently. We’re not even up to a real cup yet. In any case, today was the first time ever that Grace drank all of the formula she needs at a feed on her own, and I was able to skip a tube feed! All four ounces went in through her mouth. We were all very excited! If we can keep the momentum going, we hoping she’ll be able to do that at least once a day. She needs to be fed four times a day and is still on a feeding pump at night, but hey…, it’s something, right?!

Jun

18

Happy Father’s Day!

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Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. There’s a nice article in today’s New Haven Register about stay-at-home dads. I’m sure the link will be dead soon – and you need to subscribe to the website to read the full article – I’ll see if I can somehow post the entire article without getting sued, but don’t hold your breath.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go yell at my daughter again. It’s well past her bedtime and she’s already managed to make this a less than happy father’s day. I wanted it to be a nice day, considering how I’m leaving town for business tomorrow morning (something I only do once a year) and I won’t see the girls for three days, but Quinn apparently had other plans.

Jun

14

Swing Set Sticker Shock

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I don’t know if any of you have looked into buying your kids a swing set for the backyard, but man…, those things are expensive! Our kids love going to the park – love playing outside – so my wife and I decided to look into getting something for home that they could use whenever they wanted. We had a budget in mind: less than $1000 (I was actually hoping to get one for closer to $750). Well the first place I looked – Rainbow Play Systems – their starting price for an assembled swing set was $2000! The set we really liked was $3500!!! The quality of the product, however, was fantastic. I would feel safe climbing around this thing. We have friends who paid less than $500 for thier swing set, but my youngest daughter – who weighs all of 27 lbs – can make this thing rock back and forth when she’s swinging.

Despite the minor heart attack the sticker price gave me, my kids LOVED the set. They loved ALL the sets. The have them all set up for the kids to try out, which is all part of their evil scheme to get you to buy one. After seeing how much fun my girls had, I was almost ready to cancel our driveway repair and buy the swing set.

I held back, however, and decided to check out a set from BJ’s that someone told me about and another that Wal*Mart sold. Both of these sets, although nice, seemed flimsy compared to the Rainbow playset. The wood was thin and felt like it would break easily. Splinters were another thing I worried about. The price, however, was more what we had in mind, but I guess here’s where the saying, “You get what you pay for” runs through your mind.

We checked out another brand today – Woodplay. It was a 30 minute ride to the showroom, but we spent more than an hour playing on the indoor set-ups. We were the only customers in the store (one of the benefits of being a stay-at-home dad – you can move freely among the earth while everyone else is at work), and again, the girls had a blast. “We never want to go home,” my daughter said. I even got to play this time, trying out the swings and climbing into the fort. The quality of the set was just as good as the Rainbow Play system – solid – and the price was a little less. They’re even offering free installation through August. Even though the price of this set was $500 less than the Rainbow set, I was thrilled despite the fact that it was still 3X what we originally set out to spend.

It’s going to be hard to say no at this point. If you saw how much fun my daughters had playing on these, you’d understand. Sorry driveway…, looks like you have to wait another year for that facelift.

Jun

11

Kindergarten, Here We Come!

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My girl’s growing up! Just wanted to share a few photos from her preschool graduation. Next stop…, Elementary School!

Jun

6

A Negative On ebay!!!

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I’ve been buying and selling stuff on eBay for years. I don’t do a whole lot of business there, but I’ve got 39 transactions under my belt and until yesterday, I had a 100% positive feedback score. Most of the stuff I sell are things my kids have outgrown or never used. Toys, mostly, but sometimes clothes, provided they still have the tags on them. I’m very honest when describing the items I’m selling and take pride in my reputation on ebay. So you can imagine my horror yesterday when I checked to see if the two people I had just dold items to had left feedback for me, only to find a big red “negative” symbol at the top of my feedback list!

We purchased a Fisher Price Brilliant Basics walker for my daughter Grace who – because of her developmental delays – didn’t walk until very late. At the time we thought it would help her, but she just wasn’t ready for it. The walker was in the “general population” for less than a month and was hardly used. I packed it back in it’s original box and put it in the basement where it’s been for over a year. I’ll periodically walk around the basement looking for stuff to sell, and when I saw this I figured why not give it a try. Well, the item sold, so I cleaned it with a Chlorox wipe, packed it up in the original box and shipped it off.

The person who received it said, “Listed as barely used; more like well-loved; wheels worn; some dirt; otherwise ok.” I was furious! Our home is entirely hardwood floors – no carpet. Any plastic toy is going to show some where even after a few days. Some dirt?! I would have eaten a meal off of that toy after the cleaning I gave it. And here’s the part that really killed me, even though this person was “ok” with it, they still decided to give me a negative rating. At least give me a “neutral” rating if you were “ok” with it.

I countered the feedback with a reply and wrote a personal letter to the buyer telling them I’m sorry they felt the way they did, but I didn’t think I deserved the negative feedback. I told them that I wished they had written me directly before ruining my perfect score.

I’m still waiting for a reply…