Dad's House » family

A Dad, His Daughter, Her Friend

dadshouse — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:35:49 +0000

A friend of my teen daughter was recently going through a stack of old photographs when she came across a picture of me. I was in a swimming pool, holding her (the friend) so that her head was above water. We were both smiling, mugging for the camera. The girl was three at the time.

Here’s the weird part: this teen girl and my daughter only became friends in high school. The photo was taken fifteen years before.

To which I say: WTF!?

Before this blog post goes all Twilight Zone on you, know that there’s a simple explanation.

By sheer coincidence, our families had both vacationed at Club Med at the same time. Our daughters met and hit it off in the Kids Club. The parents hit off it at the bar, conversation-wise. And I had spent a boat-load of time in the pool with both girls, so much so that the other girl’s mom took photos of us splashing around.

There were pictures of the two girls, as well. But their looks had changed so much over the years, the friend didn’t recognize my then-three-year-old daughter from that trip.

Somehow, I looked the same. (Fifteen years later!)

I guess all those margaritas, mai tais, and martinis have kept me well preserved.

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Super Bowl, Super Time – Plus $10,000 Sweepstakes

dadshouse — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:33:48 +0000

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of 2000 Flushes. All opinions are 100% mine.

My kids and I had a super time watching this year’s SuperBowl, and not just because the game was exciting. You see, my blogging self got sponsored by a super toilet bowl cleaner, 2000 Flushes, to have a Super Bowl party. And my toilet got cleaned in the process.

Here’s the rundown, plus info on a $10,000 sweepstakes you can enter every day until March 5, 2010.

First the toilet cleaner – 2000 Flushes let me try out their toilet bowl cleaner tablets. They were totally easy to install. You simply drop them in your tank, and the tablet bleaches, cleans, and deodorizes every time you flush. We tried two products, one with a blue tint, the other without. Frankly, I prefered the crystal clear version, but my 13-year-old liked seeing the blue water. He knew the cleaner was working.

By SuperBowl Sunday, we’d used the product for a month. In that time, we barely had to do anything to keep our toilets clean. And I must say, the toilets smell quite nice, and not bleachy.

As a single dad raising two kids half time, I totally appreciated the fact that my bathroom cleaning duties were made easier with the 2000 Flush tablets.

Here’s where to buy 2000 Flushes products.

On to the party!

2000 Flushes was kind enough to send us a party pack with all sorts of fun stuff. Sadly, my satellite box died on Friday night (doh!) – but we brought the party to our neighbor’s house and still had a great time!

One highlight of the party pack was a talking toilet paper dispenser (I kid you not). You can record your own saying, and re-record as often as you like. My son and I had a field day bugging his sister.

As for the party itself – we set up a killer pool with a 10×10 grid. You know the type. Use the last digit of the score at the end of each quarter to locate a square on the grid, and whoever’s name is in that square wins a prize.

Our prizes were food – microwave popcorn, a big chocolate bar, a 2-litre soda, and a chocolate cream pie. (If my son won that, he would have eaten the whole thing himself!)

The pool made every play exciting. “Hey Travis, you are the proud owner of the 2 liter bottle of coke. BUT, if the Saints score a touchdown, Tonya gets it. BUT, if they score and miss the extra point, Ginger gets it.” etc. This alone made our game way more fun to watch. Every play was crucial! (No offense to the Saints and Colts, but we definitely had our own great time beyond the game.)

Finally, 2000 Flushes Bathroom Makeover sweepstakes has a $10,000 grand prize, with smaller weekly prizes until March 5, 2010.

Enter the $10,000 Grand Prize sweepstakes once a day right here!

btw – The Who totally rocked half time.

Super Bowl, Super Time – what more could you want?

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Broken TV on SuperBowl Weekend

dadshouse — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:33:40 +0000

Friday evening while I was watching an Italian Serie A soccer match on my DVR, my satellite box bit the dust. The TV screen went black. All attempts to revive the box failed.

In short – my TV was broken for SuperBowl weekend.

Yikes!

What’s a dad to do when his TV breaks? I called my dish company, pronto.

“Let’s take it through some tests to see if it’s really dead,” the service guy on the phone said.
“Trust me, it’s dead,” I said.

He had me plug the box into another outlet. Still broken.
He had me push and hold the reset button. Still broken.
He had me push and hold the power switch. Still broken.

“Looks like we’ll have to send you a new box,” the satellite service guy said.
Ya think?
“It’s SuperBowl weekend,” I reminded him.
“No worries, a replacement box will be there in 24 hours.”

Friday night with no TV – what’s a teen boy to do? My teen son called a buddy and they went to the YMCA to pump some iron. Turns out a bunch of their friends had the same idea. They lifted weights and had a pick-up basketball game. (And to think I initially gave him a hard time for wanting to join the YMCA. My bad! The YMCA is awesome for teens!!!!!)

Friday night with no TV – what’s a teen girl to do? My teen daughter had plans with friends, whether the TV worked or not. I swear, I barely see her anymore.

As for me, I caught up on work (I was out sick last week), had a vodka martini with a twist, and read some of Lori Gottlieb’s new book: Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough (Hey, I want to know what women are thinking when they’re out there sizing my good enough self up on the dating scene.)

Saturday morning with no TV – my kids helped cook breakfast! (How great it would be if the TV broke more often.) Then they helped me clean the house (WTF? I love ‘em!) Then my kids hung out with their friends, and I got more work done (finally caught up).

Saturday night with no TV – we watched a DVD (Schindler’s List. I’m giving my kids an education in great films.)

As for that 24 hour delivery? Didn’t happen.

Which brings me full circle to the dilemma in this post – what’s a dad to do when his TV box breaks on SuperBowl weekend?

We got ourselves invited to a party at a friend’s house!

And now I know – man’s best friend is not a dog. It’s a buddy with a working TV on SuperBowl weekend.

Congrats to the Saints!

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A Band for All Ages

dadshouse — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:33:02 +0000

Last week, the director of my thirteen-year-old son’s middle school band had them play with the local high school band. Fun stuff, and a chance for the younger kids to hear what it’s like to play with better musicians. But why stop there?

Last night, they played with a local adult community band.

We’re talking the whole symphonic wind ensemble – flutes, clarinets, trumpets, trombones, of course. But also oboes, piccolos, bassoons, saxophones, tubas, French horns, and a full rhythm section – snare, base, timpani, cymbals, xylophone, bells. All that was missing was a flaming gong (Van Halen owns the patent on that!)

These adult musicians were good! I played trumpet in college, and the first chair last night would have played circles around our section.

And the kids got to sit right in the mix. Every middle school musician was paired with an adult playing the same instrument and same part. My son got to play with the lead trumpets. What a thrill.

The adult band played a Spanish piece, with soaring flutes and cadenza-ing trumpets and trilling clarinets. Sort of in the style of Man of La Mancha. (Cue the video, this a Hawaiian youth band with strings included…)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Then adults and kids played a Bach style toccata that the students had been working on all year. Wow, they sounded good with everyone playing at once.

The adult band conductor led them through a clinic, working on different passages. Less staccato, more legato. Crescendos should start from the bass sounding voices. Good stuff.

The combined groups played another tune, this time with a trumpet solo. The adults let the kids play the solo. And wouldn’t you know, that soloist was my son! (He did great.)

The adults closed out the night with one last song of their own.

My son was pumped! And frankly, so was I. I’ve been to so many grade school concerts in recent years, it was a wonderful reminder what a full-fledged band with expert musicians sounded like.

Bravo! Not only for the music we got to hear, but for giving our kids a chance to play with the adults.

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It’s Fun to Stay at the YMCA

dadshouse — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:33:52 +0000

I caught flack for my post about my teen son wanting to join the YMCA, and me not being supportive. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not against him working out. I don’t insist his interests are in line with mine. I don’t fear he’ll get man boobs as an old man if he stops pumping iron.

I simply didn’t want to foot the bill for a family membership if he was the only family member interested in joining. Especially since his interests are sometimes fleeting.

Fast forward to today – my son’s mom enjoys lifting, and she joined the gym with him. He’s now a card-carrying member of the YMCA.

How are things going for him? Great!

Our local YMCA has an awesome program for teens. They measure your height and weight, and type it all into their highly-networked system. Then when my son goes to use the weight machines, he simply types his number on a keypad and the machine tells him what height to set the bar or bench, and how much to lift!

Apparently, Big Brother’s a macho man.

(I wonder if the weight machine screen also gives him motivational pics of micro-bikini clad girls. Kidding!)

My son works out with a teen buddy of his, and it’s a great chance for them to bond. The YMCA has enough rules and regulations that he won’t over-exert himself, the lifting won’t stunt his growth, and he can’t do free weights that might seriously injure him.

After a week, his biceps are already getting bigger. Okay, maybe not that much bigger. He already had some guns from wrestling. But he’s definitely pumped to be working out.

And when he wants to get really big? He’ll just type in the member ID code for Arnold Schwarzenegger, and get a workout to make the Governator proud.

When my son leaves the YMCA after a workout, he already tells them: “I’ll be back.”

The best part? He can enjoy the YMCA without dressing like the Village people!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Village People, YMCA, youtube video

Photo by keenduck, some rights reserved.

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Every Ornament Has a Story

dadshouse — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:29:40 +0000

My kids already decorated a Christmas tree at their mom’s house this year, so I was delighted that they wanted to put ornaments on a tree at my house, too. I wasn’t surprised – they love the holiday season, and enjoy celebrating with both single parents. I don’t demand their participation or take it for granted. So I’m happy and grateful when they choose to take part.

All the ornaments are special, even the cheap colored balls we bought for our first Christmas after the divorce. (Got to start somewhere!) But one in particular got us going this year.

Santa Claus in board shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, holding a surfboard.

Yeah, we got it in Maui. In fact, I remember exactly the circumstance (much to my daughter’s distress.)

My daughter was ten or eleven at the time. It was our first tropical trip as a post-divorce Dad’s House family. At some point, my daughter’s bikini top got some loose threads. So much so – she refused to wear it. And while she had other swimsuits to wear, that one was her favorite. Which means – she refused to go to the beach until the bikini was mended.

I’m not exactly a pro with a needle and thread, so we hit Lahaina Town looking for a seamstress. We found some store with handmade junk – crafts and sweaters and who knows what else. To my untrained eye, the women running the place were totally capable of stitching anything.

“There’s nothing wrong with that bikini top,” they said.
“Some threads are loose,” I said.
“It’s not worth our time to fix.”

I looked at my daughter. I looked at the women. I thought of all the beach time we’d be missing if her swimsuit wasn’t fixed.

“I’ll pay anything,” I said.

I must have looked desperate enough – the women took ten minutes and fixed it.

Of course, while they were stitching away, my son was shopping around. “Hey Dad, check out this cool Maui Santa ornament. Can we buy it?”

Absolutely.

The ornament went on the tree the other night. Neither of my kids remembered the situation.

But they both delighted in hearing me tell the story.

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It’s Snowing!

dadshouse — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:33:05 +0000

The other morning I went into my teen daughter’s room at 6am, a human alarm clock waking her up for school. Only this day was different, special.

“It’s snowing,” I said.

What a magical thing for a parent to say to their kid! A snow day meant sledding and snow angels, snowball fights and snow men. And first snow of the season was special. White and fluffy, not yet gray from car exhaust.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at me. She’s no dummy. We live in Silicon Valley, and I’m pretty sure the last time it snowed here was the Ice Age.

“No, it’s not,” she said.
“It is on the Hi Mom Cam.”

Her face lit up. The Hi Mom Cam is a webcam at Cornell University, connected to the internet. Anyone can look through it, even control it, to view parts of the campus. She’s applying to several colleges back east, but the cam at Cornell is one we know about. It’s become our way to gauge the weather, wherever she might attend. (My California daughter has no idea what Nor-East winters are like!)

She went to the kitchen and my computer, and looked at the webcam live streaming video. Pure white snow covered the Ithaca landscape. It was picture postcard beautiful.

I started making lunches. “Can you go grab the paper?” I asked. I meant the newspaper out on the driveway. I’m old school – I still find value in reading news stories and features chosen by editors local to me. And I don’t like eating oatmeal over a keyboard.

My daughter looked outside. While we didn’t have snow, there was definitely frost, and the temperature was pretty dang low.

She shook her head. “It’s too cold!”

California is too cold? Ha.

Forget the Hi Mom Cam – seems I need a Deep Freeze Cam. Something to lower the temperature in our house to sub-arctic levels, and let my daughter know what east coast weather’s really like.

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