5 Boring Things Parents Love

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As I was waking up in the hospital after my recent colonoscopy, one of the first things I heard was a man in the recovery bay next to mine telling his wife how incredible he felt. “I haven’t felt this great in ten years,” he said. “Can I just stay here forever?” I didn’t ask, but I’m almost certain he was a dad because I could totally relate. Sure, maybe it was mostly the lingering haze of anesthesia talking, but the sentiment was real: never had a routine medical procedure felt so freeing. Of course, leave it to his wife to bring a heavy dose of buzz kill to the situation. “No,” she laughed. “You have to mow the lawn today.”

Still, it did get me thinking, what kinds of boring and routine things do parents love, perhaps more than they should? I’m not saying parents love these things more than their own children, but sometimes it might be up for debate.

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Link-apalooza #6

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OK, I’m back. I’m not entirely sure, but it feels like I missed a week. Yeah, I could look at literally the webpage I just clicked off of to check the date of my last post to see exactly how long it’s been, but where’s the fun in that? Don’t worry though: I double-checked and no one has written anything worth reading or broadcasted anything worth listening to since we were last together.

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Link-apalooza #5

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Welcome back, peeps! It’s time to do this thing again. This is the fifth edition already: Can you believe it? Yes, I am still maintaining this charade.

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Time of Your Life

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In case you haven’t been keeping up lately with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, just wanted to let you know that the punk rockers from Oakland known as Green Day were inducted in April. I’ll go ahead and say what we’re all thinking: Yes, they are the greatest band of all time. I mean, for anyone between the ages of say 30 and 45 listening to the Dookie andAmerican Idiot albums from front to back for the first time were life-changing experiences. That’s an incontrovertible fact. And that’s two life-changing experiences produced by a single band: Top that, The Beatles! 

I’ve been racking my brain for months trying to come up with a way to pay homage to Billie Joe and the gang here at Explorations without deviating too much from our very rigid content guidelines. I finally came up with something that is pretty stupid, but probably not the most stupid thing you’ve ever read on the internet. Hope I’m not overselling it. 

How Green Day song titles describe my experience as a parent (or something)! I declare I don’t care no more…let’s do this. 

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Link-apalooza #4

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What did we learn last week? To a 3-year old, adult birthdays are a huge disappointment. Jacob was quite depressed that there were no balloons or big presents or bounce houses or even piñatas. I can’t blame him, really. He pretty much caught a glimpse of his future and it made him say, “No thanks. I’ll keep my balloons.” In an attempt to cheer him up, we took him for putt-putt to celebrate because that’s what adults really do on their birthdays. Well, at least that’s what Explorations does (not the blog, the puppet master behind the curtain). 

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Link-apalooza #3

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Welcome back, folks! 

We are on time this week and chock full of great links. But first, a couple exciting updates on goings on in and around Explorations. 

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Link-apalooza #2

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Welcome to Link-apalooza #2! 

My apologies for being a bit late this week; however, in my defense, I did technically meet my somewhat nebulous publication schedule. If you missed out on Link-apalooza #1, check it out here and get up to speed on what this is all about. 

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Parenting Lessons From My All-Star Mom

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My favorite part about Mother’s Day in the social media era is learning that everyone’s mom is “The Best Mom in the World!” That moniker has become the equivalent of the ubiquitous participation award in youth sports. Everyone gets a trophy, hooray!

Sorry folks, I’m here to deliver a little slice of harsh reality this Mother’s Day: All your moms are scrambling for the runner-up trophy, because my mom has a strangle hold on the top prize.

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Link-apalooza #1

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Exciting times here at Explorations! We just launched a Facebook page; please feel free to like it for updates on new posts and random musings. And today we are rolling out a new feature: Link-apalooza!

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And We'll Never Be Royals...Or Will We?

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And We'll Never Be Royals...Or Will We?

First off, congratulations to Will and Kate on the birth of their second child: a girl with a yet to be revealed name (I’m rooting for Katniss or Pixie). 

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Money Store Man

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Money Store Man

Sometimes it seems like yesterday that I was a young(ish) lad, energized by idealism, prowling the cobble-stoned streets of Cambridge in my vegan loafers. Of course, it wasn’t yesterday; it was almost four years ago. And to be totally honest, most of the time it feels like if it was 100 years ago or that perhaps it never even happened at all. 

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Update and A Few Links

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Hello everyone, it's been awhile. I haven't posted much lately, and frankly, I don't really have much in the pipeline right now. I've been busy writing and submitting some pieces to outside outlets, so, fingers crossed I'll have some news to share soon. Worst-case scenario, I'll have a couple new pieces to post here that no one else wants. Try to contain your excitement.
 

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Hopeless Wanderers

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Hopeless Wanderers

But hold me fast, Hold me fast,
'Cause I'm a hopeless wanderer

The last several weekends, usually early on Sunday mornings after another harrowing night starring a restless just-turned-1-year-old, I roll out of bed, load the big guy into his car seat, and set out for a driving tour of central Florida to give Mommy an hour or two of rest. I once looked upon this as a bit of a chore, preferable to trying to keep the baby quiet in the house, but still nothing to look forward to. This past Sunday though, it felt different. 

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#BigBen Strikes One

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Few things in life are quite as ridiculous as birthday parties for 1-year-olds. Think about it. Besides weddings, where else is a central protagonist of a celebratory event more irrelevant or overlooked? Nowhere. Grooms and 1-year-olds, that’s the list.

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For Any Podcast Fans Out There...

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Podcasts are kind of my new thing. Actually, my not so new thing. My passion for them is starting to recede already (after discovering them maybe 6 months ago). Anyway, maybe I'll talk about that more later, but wanted to share one I listened to today in case anyone is interested. It's the most recent episode from The Longest Shortest Time by WNYC. The topic, of course, is gender roles, parenting, and traditional role reversals: My all-time favorite topic. Check it out; it is very well done and thoughtful.

Hitting the Snooze Button on #BigBen

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In honor of B’s birthday week, welcome to another installment of our new favorite series: Things B Does That Annoy Us. Just kidding! It’s definitely nothing personal; any parents out there who have had a difficult sleeper will understand the struggle. For those of you who don’t have or have never had a B, go back to watching The Bachelor on TV while eating bon-bons or whatever it is you do at night.

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#BigBenRising

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With our little guy’s first birthday fast approaching, I figured it was about time to shout him out on the old blog. Being the younger sibling can be hard; it’s definitely difficult to claim your fair share of the spotlight when yourolder brother often writes, directs, and stars in the screenplay that is our life.

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It's Comedy and Tragedy

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Every good story is built around a perfect mix of comedy and tragedy. Similarly, every day of parenting has an often not so perfect mix of the same two ingredients. The days the scale tips in favor of comedy are the great ones. And when it goes the other way, well, let’s just say that’s when you’ll find me pounding the pavement at 10 p.m.

Or pounding something at least.

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6 Pointless Things I Say to My 3-Year-Old

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Trying to reason with a 3-year-old is roughly the equivalent of simultaneously having a root canal while repeatedly banging one’s head against the wall.

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