Looney Toon Dad’s Blog

Real scary that is. I don’t know what it is. A child can be happy and all smiles one minute talking about Santa Claus, but the minute they get on his lap, the waterworks start flowing. At least that’s how it went for us today, with Jack, at the mall, to get a picture with Santa.

We arrived early to avoid a long line. It was good because we ended up third in line. It was good because we got to see Santa arrive, and Jack was very excited to see him walk by, especially when Santa waved and said “hi”. It was bad because we had to wait an extra ten minutes after Santa arrived so they could finish fixing the camera.

The entire time in line, Jack was laughing and smiling. Then it was our turn. I took his hands and started leading him up the ramp. I could feel the hesitation in his legs. I picked him up and showed him Santa. So far so good, I thought. He seemed fine until I sat him on Santa’s leg. Then I was reminded of the scene in “A Christmas Story” where Ralphie is petrified and his little brother is crying, only this time it was my son and he was crying for Daddy (Mommy was there too, she was on the other side of Santa with the stroller and I was closest to him). The tears came down, the smile scrunched into a frightened frown, and I thought maybe we made a mistake (or I made a mistake as Mommy would probably say). But then I realized that this is a part of life, sort of a rite of passage, something that most children who celebrate Christmas go through. (If you don’t believe me, check out the article in the Baltimore Sun from today. The print version had pictures of screaming and terrified children on Santa’s lap (you can see some here or click on the Santa’s Lap photo gallery link next to the article).

So to make a long story short, we got Jack’s picture taken with Santa Claus. Is it the best picture in the world? No. Is Jack crying in the picture? Yes. Will it be a precious and treasured moment captured forever? To me (and Mommy) yes, to Jack, we’ll just have to wait and see. My final though is that I have to get him used to large, costumed characters now, because in 5-8 years when we decide to drop a load of money on a trip to Disney World, I want him to have a good time. So enjoy the photo.

Sunday, we went up to Strasburg Railroad Station in Strasburg, PA for their “Day out with Thomas the Tank Engine” event. We were a little worried that he may get freaked out by a giant Thomas engine (which would have been bad since most of his Christmas presents will probably be Thomas related), but in the long run he seemed to have a good time. 

We left about 9 in the morning and got there a little after 10 AM. Our ride with Thomas wasn’t until 12:45. Since we had time to kill, the first thing we did was get our picture taken with Thomas.

While we waited for the pictures to be ready for viewing we got a bite to eat at the deli there in the station (which is where most of our money went). After lunch, we walked around a bit and ventured into the activities tent.  Jack found a Thomas train table to play with, but he wasn’t happy when it was time to leave the train there. Then we waited in line to get his picture taken with Sir Topham Hat. I had to stand with him because Jack was a little unsure of the guy. We got into line for our Thomas ride about 15 minutes early and waited. By this time, Jack was a getting little tired but perked up when he saw Thomas rolling up to the platform.

Jack didn’t want to sit still once we boarded the coach, but after we got moving he enjoyed the ride and scenery.

After the ride, which lasted about 20 minutes, we walked around a bit more and decided to look for some souvenirs. The small shop was a little too crowded for our liking (and the checkout line basically wrapped around the whole store); so after Jack had a small tantrum about leaving the toy he was holding behind, we headed over to the big tent where they were selling toys, clothing, and everything else Thomas. (I said small tantrum since it only lasted about one minute and involved no tears, just a little fussing. It was nothing compared to some of the screaming tantrums we witnessed with other parents’ kids. It probably helps that we told him we were going to go get another toy.) We ended up buying a Thomas shaped whistle (mommy’s idea), a Thomas football, a Thomas placemat, and a commemorative Day out with Thomas coal car. Not bad for $27 (especially considering lunch cost $23). Since we were getting fed up with the crowds, and Jack was very tired we called it a day about 2PM.

On our way out to the car, we stopped to watch Thomas go by one more time.

All in all it was a good day. Including the tickets for the train ride the whole day only cost about $100. (Lunch and toys, $18 picture, $38 tickets with service fee) Not bad if you ask me, since part of it was a scenic drive up and back through Lancaster County (Amish country), and a smiling child when all was said and done.

I think next year he’ll be able to appreciate it more, if he’s still obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. ‘Til next time.

Keep your eye out for a new website called Dadcenter.com.  The overall theme of the site is “Parenting, with a Dad-Centric Bias”.  It is an online magazine, with articles of various topics, a majority of which are parenting related.  Why is there a dad-centric bias?  For the most part, the authors of the articles are Stay-at-home-Dads (there are also some work-at-home-dads and others).  The launch date is tentatively scheduled for December 1, 2006.  The site is being run the same person who brought us Dadstayshome.com.  I know that there are a bunch of articles written already, and the site will be continually updated.

While a lot of the articles are about parenting and childcare, there are also categories for DIY Dads, Tech Tips, Beer and beer making, as well as many others.  So if you’re a parent, please check it out. 

 For those using an RSS reader of some sort, you can get the feed here: Dadcenter.com RSS Feed.

Actually it was $72 something after tax. What is it? Our sanity came in the form of a new Christmas tree. Let me explain.

The day after Thanksgiving, we decided to start decorating. Before we could put up the tree, we had to figure out where to put it. I know what you’re thinking. “Put it where you always put it.” There’s a problem with that theory, and his name is Jack. Last year, Jack wasn’t very mobile, didn’t have a lot of toys, and did not read all the books currently on the bookshelf which is where the tree usually went, covering half of the bookshelf. We spent about 2-3 hours imagining other places to put the tree, moving furniture, moving furniture back, measuring, you get the point. The other problem with the tree is it is huge (at least for our house). It’s 7.5 feet high (no big deal), but it’s bottom is about 5 feet wide. I started putting it together (1st row of branches) so we could see how big it really is. We tried it in the spot we had picked out, and thought it would be in the way. We tried near it’s usual spot, and it definately would be in the way. I moved it back to the first spot, and after 15 minutes of deliberation, we agreed the tree just wouldn’t work this year. Don’t get me wrong, we love the tree. It is a hand-me down from my mother, and if the basement were finished, it would be up and lit down there. It’s a very big, pretty tree, especially when lit and decorated. Here it is from last year (in front of the bookcase).

So off we went to Lowe’s. That’s where we found our $69 sanity saver. It came in the form of a 7 foot tall, 3 foot wide artificial tree. It’s perfect. I didn’t like it in the store, but once we got it home and put it up and fanned out the branches and decorated it we loved it. It’s just the right size, and it fits perfectly in the spot we wanted it too. So for $69, our troubles were solved (until I tried to put the lights on it, but that’s a whole other story). Jack likes it, mommy likes it, I like it, the cats like it, and it’s up. What else do we need? So here’s what our new artificial tree looks like (and next year the other tree will be downstairs).

‘Til next time.

So on Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens were playing the Cincinatti Bengals. Before this game, the Ravens were 4-2. Every time they had one, Jack had worn his Ravens jersey that we bought at Target. It’s just a plain purple jersey with the teams logo on it, nothing special. Or is it? Why do I ask? Both times the Ravens lost, Jack was NOT wearing his jersey. One was the Monday night game, so he was asleep in his PJ’s. The second time was when cousin Alex spent the day with us, and Jack was wearing a Ravens one piece outfit since it was chilly that day (but not his jersey). Coincidence? I don’t know.

Move forward to this past Sunday. Mommy got Jack dressed in the morning before I could remind her to put a white long sleeve on so we could put his jersey over top of it. No big deal, I figured we would just change his shirt before the game started. The only problem was 1/2 an hour before the game, he didn’t want to change his shirt. Uh-oh, I was starting to worry. The Bengals were only one game behind us and doing pretty well this season. What would we do?

Luckily, Jack fell asleep right before the game. So of course, I told Mommy that I wanted to change his shirt. She laughed at me, then held his limp, sleeping body while I proceeded to remove his shirt and replace it with “The Lucky Jersey”. It wasn’t that easy, but we managed. Her words were “I’m going to laugh if we went through this and they end up losing”. My reply was “I can’t take that chance”. So jersey on, Jack asleep, me in my chair, the game starts, and low and behold we’re up 14-0 in the first 5 minutes (both on turnovers).

In the end the Ravens won the game. I believe in the jersey. Do you?

‘Til next time.