I’m Not a Slacker

Thanks to the guys from athomedad.org for finding this!

I was so proud of Gavin this morning. I was reading on the computer while he was playing in his room. I hear him grunt and plan on going in to change his diaper, before I could move Gavin comes storming in yelling, “Daddy, I have to go poop, let’s go in the bathroom!!” I check his diaper and it’s still clean so we rush in and set him on the toilet, just a few minutes later I hear more grunting and then, “Daddy, I’m done! Come in and look at the big pooper!” We did about 40 high fives and tried to call mom to tell her but I guess she was in a meeting. Oh well, I’m sure Gavin will tell her all about it when she gets home.

This is the second time this week he has managed this so maybe he’s back on track. Any ideas how to get him to start telling us when he has to pee? I don’t even know if he notices that until it’s done with.

I guess I should write something since I’ve been getting a lot of new traffic from the At Home Dad Convention, people are probably wondering if I made it home OK and I wish I knew that RebelDad.com was going to put my RSS feeds at the top of his website, maybe then I would have wrote something more interesting! lol!

It’s amazing how having the Sun break through the clouds for just an hour can make a person feel so much better after a week of rain.

Today’s story about Gavin.
I put Blue’s Clues on and go take a shower. Whenever I’m in the shower I usually shout out to him to make him answer back so I can keep track of what he’s doing. I get out of the shower and start singing the Blue’s Clues song wrong so he will say “NOOOOO” and correct me. I didn’t hear anything so I look out and he’s sitting there watching TV but his mouth looks weird. I don’t have my glasses on so I ask him what’s in his mouth. He doesn’t answer so I go closer and he opens up to show me A DOODLEPAD MAGNET! ALL THE WAY IN HIS MOUTH!
I take it out, tell him AGAIN why that’s wrong, swat him on his butt a few times and send him to his room to sit down and think about it.

Why would a two and a half year old still be fascinated with cramming toys in his mouth? It seems to be getting worse too.

The Stay at Home Dad Convention has ended and I was really impressed. A big tip of the hat to the guys who put this together. There was a wide selection of discussions to choose from and just being in a room with people like me who won’t say “You sound like a housewife” when complaining about something or other made the trip worthwhile.

My selections were, Dad Resources, Basics of Digital Photography, Open discussion with fathers based on child’s age (one of the best), Open Discussion on issues we face as a home dad and finally, depression and isolation, which I don’t really suffer from but it was another open discussion which is usually interesting.

The other dads are all great too. I got to meet a few guys whose websites I read and some others who I’m sure I’ll keep in touch with. Overall I am very glad Aubrey convinced me to go.

Now off to eat some BBQ!

The first discussion just ended and it was very informative. It was about stay at home dad resources (books, websites and other such things) I’ll put up links later after I have time to check them out. Right now I’m waiting for the next session to start which is about digital photography. I really don’t need to attend this but it sounds more interesting than the other choices. (getting the most out of your credit cards, teenager safety, and going back to work-preparing for the job market)

I made it in about 3 1/2 hours and the hotel is really nice! I’ll have to post pictures later. The drive here was one of the worst I’ve ever had. Traffic was so congested leaving town that it took me over an hour to get to Wentzville. Then after Columbia the fog kicked in and then the second worst rainstorm I’ve ever driven through, the sky at noon looked like 10pm!

I’ll post more later, right now I’m going to relax for a bit before I head downstairs to meet everyone and go to Boulevard Brewery.

One more thing, if anyone back home reads this soon go home and close your windows. It’s about 40 degrees colder here and I think its coming your way.

I’m just about ready to leave for KC for the weekend! I have all the dishes cleaned, Gavin’s clothes are all washed and put away and there is tons of food in the fridge waiting to be heated in the microwave. Now for the next three days the wife will know what its like to run a house! …er, wait, maybe not.

I’ll try to post about what goes on if it seems interesting enough to write about.

Yesterday I actually got some work done! I changed the oil and spark plugs in the wife’s Jeep and should have got the stuff for mine but I didn’t feel like doing both cars on the same day. I actually needed to do mine first since I’ll be driving across the state for the At Home Dad’s Convention in KC. One reason, besides that I’m lazy, that didn’t get mine finished yesterday is that my Subaru has an aluminum block so the engine has to be stone cold before I replace the plugs. (learned that the hard way with my old Subaru, luckily I have a mechanic friend that has a tap & die and knows how to use it!)

So today I stop by the parts store and tell the man at the counter I have a 97 Impreza outback sport. He says, “Here are some plugs for $8.95″ I ask if that is for one or all four. He says, “each”. I then ask them about some of the other ones on his screen that only cost $2.85 and if they would work. He informs me that yes, they would work but the expensive ones will make my car run lots better. In case anyone skimmed the preceding information, I just have a 1997 Impreza sport! It’s a 10 year old car with over 100,000 miles on it. I’m pretty sure I don’t need whatever “performance boost” the $40 set of plugs will give me. I bought the cheap plugs but since its raining all day I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if I’ve crippled my car. lol

After buying the parts, Gavin and I went to donate blood (me, not him) and as I’m on the chair Gavin starts asking the nurse questions. “What’s that scissors for? Where is the needle? What are you going to do with Daddy’s Blood?” She would answer him and then he would ask another question related to the discussion. The Nurse then asked me how old he was and I replied 2 1/2. She said “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a child that young talk with such a vocabulary, he must be really smart!” I turn to look at my genius son, my super-intelligent pride and joy, just as he takes the lid off his sippy cup and immediately pours water all over himself!

I guess you can’t be good at everything.