Baby Steps

My Daughter as just begun taking her first steps. After cheering her on, she gets so excited that she keeps trying to walk. It is amazing how just a little cheer and hand clap can help her accomplish so much.

It makes me that about how we see and treat others. It is easy to get upset or frustrated when people miss up on the little things, when we think they should know better. It is easy to say things in a negative tone or action. How much more would people be able to do if we encouraged them in even the small things?

There is a lot of potential in people that we often miss. We have the power to enable each other to do things far beyond what we could imagine. Our wife, children co-workers and even bosses could do a whole lot more if we looked at things more positively and encourage one another.

After weeks of thinking of what to write for my 100th post I have come to the conclusion that life with out my daughter would be quite boring. Along with that I would probably be blogless. It is not that I always right about them but I found that it is hard to sit all alone in the house and try to write a post.

That seems an odd thing to say because when they are around it seems harder to find time to just sit and write. Usally my little girl wants some attention, needs some food (and eats for an hour at a time) or is being put to bed. I also woundered about the fact that I am setting on my computer doing my thing and my wife is setting near by doing her thing. I have heard of people that broke up because they were to busy doing there own things. We make time to do things to gether however I have found that even if we are not doing the exact same thing, just being together makes a big difference.

No matter what we are doing we, we can interupt each other and talk about something or show each other what we are doing. There is only a few days left and they will be back. I can’t wait. It will be almost 3 weeks and even though video chats are fun it is not the same as being able to hug, squeeze and tickle your little girl.

Well that is post 100 for Dad’s Workbench. Thanks to all my readers for your comments, that is my favourite part of having a blog. I love to hear others thoughts, experences and being able to go to your blogs and find out a little about your life.

First Birthday

I still cannot believe she is one. Time goes by faster and faster the older I get. I am not even half way to retirement and already life feels like it is zooming past me like an Indy car. By the time I retire I will be wearing a crash helmet.

More and more I am realizing how little other things in life are important, other than people. Yes, I would still like a sports car, big house, a cabin out by the lake and a speed boat and in fact I will continue to work hard for these things. The point is though that working for these things is not my priority. Family always comes first.

I would rather spend time sitting on the floor playing with blocks with my little girl or going for a walk with my wife and daughter than I would riding a speed boat with no memories made of my daughter and wife.

Some people say that people with lots of money are unhappy. The problem is that I also know lots of people with no money that are unhappy. You can’t tell me that people in 3rd world nations are happy when they can’t afford to feed their own children.

Money is not the source of happyness, therefore money is also not the source of unhappyness. Being happy in life is more of a decission that we make. This next year of my daugters life and every other year I want to make the most memories with her as I can. I want her to know me as a happy dad and someone that when she leaves home she will always want to come back, visit and still have fun with.

1. Chase her

When my daughter is several feet away from me, I will make little chewing noises and slowly crawl on all fours toward her. I slowly get faster as she begins to try to crawl away as fast as she can. She tries so hard to get away that she ends up doing a billy flop on the floor and giggles face down in the carpet. Then I pretend to eat her up.

2. Squeeze her

I love to scoop my daughter up and squeeze her. She used to try and wiggle out of it but now she likes it. Sometimes more than other times. Tonight she didn’t want to be put down. She wasn’t fussy but she just wanted to be held.

3. Tickle her

I don’t even know if she is really that ticklish but my wife and I like to pretend she is. Our little girl makes a few squeals at first then just ignores it and tries to sneak away.

4. Share my food with her

Sometimes when I am eating some sort of snack when she will crawl up to me to check it out. I will break off a piece of bread or soft vegetable and hold it out to her. She will carefully and gently reach out and take it. Then wait for me to offer her more. For a 1 year she is so polite.

5. Talk with her

Well, she can’t really talk but we have baby conversations back and forth. Somethings we take turns back and forth making baby sounds. Other times I talk to her and watch how she responds.

We have lots of fun together but those are probably my five favourit things to do with my little girl. The older she gets the more interaction and fun we have. I am soaking up every oppertunity to enjoy my time with her and I look forward to the years ahead.

Fooooood

It has been a relaxing Christmas having 11 and 1/2 days off. All I have been doing is eating, sleeping, spending time with family and friends, eating more, programing an online computer game (half done), playing Mario cart on a N64 and eating more. It has been nice to have so much time with our little girl Joy because normally I have only 3 hours with her before her bed time.

In that time I did not touch my blog ONCE! It has been almost two weeks and my wife must think I have lost my mind (or maybe she thinks I finally got it back). I have been pestering her to check my posts every second or third day for the last six months.

So here I am typing away, my wife and baby girl Joy asleep, enjoying my sixth day off and thinking about new years resolutions. The last month I have been thinking about my time spent blogging. I have tried to do three posts a week. Not being a great writer, I have found it a challenge to do. I have felt that I have been spending too much time on this.

I have put a lot of time in to blogging, not only writing but also reading. This year I will limit more of my time down reading blogs and aim to post twice a week. Most importantly however is the focus of my blog. It started out to make money but I gave up on that the first day. Then it was to focus in on how to be a good dad but realized everyone has their own opinions any ways and hours of writing good advice just go in one ear and out the other. Finally it was to build online friendships with people.

Most online friendships are some what limited. Some people become really great friends but most of the time it is a “Hi, how are you today?” kind of relationship. I still want to have those relationships and learn more about all kinds of people around the world but I don’t want to forget the people around me.

This year I would like the focus of my blog to be more of a journal of the life of my family. A place where people who know me from far away can keep in touch. A blog that one day I could turn in to a history book of our life. I want it to be something my children can flip through and see what it was like in our day, remember all the fun times we had, and see all the events in their history. This history however cannot be made if I sit on my blog all day.

So this years resolution is: To make as many memories as I can with my family!

Joy and Grandpa (my dad)

Working in IT and living in a small city do not really go together well, especially when lumber and mining our the main industry. However, with both sets of Joy’s grandparents living here we decided to stay (at least for now).

To us family is more important that having a big house, new cars or holidays. Don’t get me wrong, I like those things very much. I also want to make lots of money. In fact, if you have lots of money you probably can afford to work less and spend more time with them. So I think there is a balance spending time to make money and spending money to make time.

Right now neither money nor time are in my favor but I am working hard to keep a balance. Having grandparents around has been great. She loves all the attention from grandparents, uncles and her favorite aunt

To live a wealthy life requires success in all areas of life. Finances, health, family, friends and a relationship with God are among the things that make our lives wealthy. A lack in one area usually means a lack in another area. Somethings hold more value and we all value somethings more than other things.

For us grandparents rank very high on the list of things that make our lifes wealthy.

Jokes don’t work, goofy games don’t work, T.V. cartoons don’t work but silly noises and snuggles produce the happy giggles and wiggles.

Everyday I give her a kiss before I leave to work, everyday a hello when I get home. I think hugs, kisses and snuggles are very important. Both verbal and physical signs of love help pave the way to effective discipline.

When she knows I love her, want to protect her, provide for her and give my life for her then when correction comes she will have the trust that it is for her good and not harm. She will know that I want only the best for her.

For now I will have fun and be silly to making her laugh:

Fall Colors

The leaves have changed color and the air is crisp. It is the end of the season. The only trees that will stay their color will be the evergreens. It is a reminder that very little in life lasts for much more than a moment.

I have heard it said that “people on their death bed don’t regret the things they didn’t have but only regret the time they didn’t spend with their family and friends.”

Everything in our life comes and goes just as the flowers bloom for the spring but quickly fade away as the summer goes. It would be depressing if your life was build on these things but if people are our treasure and wealth then there is no loss.

What have you planted in your garden?

Is it full of colorful toys that are here today but will fade into yesterday? Or have you planted a forest of evergreens that will grow strong and be your support through the winter?

Here are a few things to remember when joking around that are important. These are the things that help create a fun environment without letting the joking become personal and destructive.

1. Don’t laugh at your children or mistakes they made.
   1. You should not laugh at anything that will embarrass them.
   2. Only laugh at something they have done if they are the ones joking about it.
   3. Don’t laugh at things that will make them think your saying “That was stupid”
2. Joke about circumstances or past stories of your life.
   1. Laugh about situations you were in.
   2. Laugh about things that happened to you.
3. Laugh at silly things you have done.
   1. Laugh at your own mistakes.
   2. This will be a lesson for them with out you having to say so.
   3. The only thing that could get hurt is your own pride.
4. Tell jokes that are not aimed at anyone specific.
   1. Tell jokes that are not aimed at people or groups of people.
   2. Tell jokes that will not teach your children to put others down.
5. Play fun (or funny) games with your children.
   1. There are lots of games that will make your children laugh.
   2. play games where your children can laugh at you. (like try to play charades)
6. Take time to be silly with your children (at the appropriate time).
   1. When your around your family it is OK to be a little silly.
   2. In adult settings being silly will not teach them that there is a time and a place for things
   3. With the pressures of life sometimes it hard to remember to just have some fun.
7. Do something they will think is spontaneous and crazy.
   1. Children like to feel special, doing something they like out of the ordinary shows them you are thinking about what they like and that they are important to you
   2. If it is really crazy or breaks a household rule you should plan it with your spouse.
      (like going out extra late to go swimming)
   3. It can be planned for you but they can think it was a spare of the moment thought.

No matter what you do have fun, keep in mind what your child will think is fun (not like visiting a museum or art gallery unless they really like that). There is a time and a place for everything. Keep adult settings as a time to act mature and adult like and reward them for it. Keep fun times as a time to joke, be silly and have a good time.

4th Year Anniversary Dinner

It felt a little strange leaving her at my parents place. It made me feel kind of old. I was, however, able to put those feelings aside really quick and enjoy a nice evening with my wife. Our date was simple and only a couple of hours but it was good to have sometime to sit and talk about absolutely nothing. No talking about work, what needs to get done or being interrupted by our baby.

This was the first time we left our daughter to go on a date. Now that she is old enough to be with grandma and grandpa for a couple of hours, I think it is time to start dating again. With the busy life of having a new born I had forgotten how good it is to just spend some one on one time with each other. I heard someone once talk about the importance that children see your relationship with your wife and that they see you need time alone.

The sushi restaurants better stock up because here is a list of some of our favorites:

• Tuna Nigri
• Salmon Nigri
• Gyoza
• Red Snapper
• Miso soup
• Yam Tempura