Going Bald?... Starring Legos

I think every man has a strong attachment to his hair. Obviously as you get older your kids cause you to prematurely gray.  So what do you do, you start to color it.  Only sometimes by doing that you end up looking ridiculous.  It always amazes me how some people cover up the fact that they are getting older. Now I am only 38 and really don't have that many gray hairs yet so I haven't had to worry about dying it. But I will tell that sometimes when you have kids, they can make you lose your hair altogether.

I really hope he gives it back to me.  I'm too young to be bald.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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The Important Lessons

I might be one of the only people in the world that actually enjoys bringing their kids to the grocery store.  It's not the easiest place to corral them but it is a great place to teach them a few life lessons.  They do learn a lot in school, which is great, but there is only so much that you can learn from behind the desk and I feel some of the best lessons can be learned while shopping for life's essentials.

The first thing that you learn is that life can be really confusing.  There are a lot of choices to make and choosing the right one is key.  Take toilet paper for example; it's not all about the simple math that you might learn in school, there are some pretty complex equations that you are going to come across.  Do you go with 24 double rolls or 12 mega rolls?  Either way it adds up to 48 regular rolls, which I have NEVER seen in my life so I can't really compare it to that.  When both cost the same, how do you know that you are choosing the right one?  One is ultra strong and the other is ultra soft so that is no help.  I spend about 10 minutes every time I go to the store going back and forth between the two before I ultimately choose the 24 pack.  

The next thing that you learn is that life just doesn't make sense sometimes.  Look at how celery is packaged; are we ever going to use THAT much celery?  I have never needed more than one or two stalks yet for some reason celery packagers continue to put entire celery plants inside of a plastic bag.  Every other vegetable you can buy by the pound or individually, but for some reason celery, a vegetable that NEVER gets used, you are forced to buy a dozen or more of.  It has to be some sort of conspiracy by farmers forcing celery on us.  I really have no explanation as to why this is the case, it will just go on to be one of life's biggest mysteries.

The third lesson that you learn is that most of the time when you are in a rush, you will end up waiting. It never ceases to amaze me that the slowest checkout people work in the express lane.  I don't know if they put people in that lane that can only count to seven, twelve, or fifteen, but every time I use the express lane it seems that I stand watching all of the other lanes zip through while I am stuck with the cashier that doesn't know the UPC Code for broccoli.  You want to get out of a store quickly? Always find the longest line because that line will have the store manager step in and they know every code like they know their own phone number.  So while Greta in the express lane is putting her glasses on to read the code for the grapes that you bought, your lanes scanner is beeping like a heart monitor.

The last lesson is that you will notice that there are some very lazy people in this world. They are the ones that constantly fail to put their carts away and leave them scattered all over the parking lot.  Why is this such an issue?  Every dent that you have on your car is because some lazy person at the grocery store did not put their cart in the little cart corral.  These carts have wheels and when they are not attended to they have a tendency to roll right into the door panel of your vehicle.  Why people cannot walk their carts 15 feet and put them away is something I will never understand. Society has become very lazy and I will not let my kids continue this trend.  The following Public Service Announcement is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING my kids can learn at the grocery store:

Please, I beg all parents to teach their kids this very important message.  Who knows, one day our world might be a dent free place for all of us to enjoy.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Birthday Shopping... Starring Legos

My little guy Carter is turning five in a couple of weeks.  My oldest son does seem like he is seven and a half, in fact he seems like he has been alive longer than that.  But the thought of Carter turning five is just mind boggling.  Like any five year old he has a birthday list that is a mile long.  Some of the stuff he has on there HE ALREADY OWNS.  But don't tell him that, he just wants a lot of stuff.  Who can blame him, he's turning five.  At the top of his list is, you guessed it, Legos.  I don't know how there are Legos that we don't have, but somehow he seems to find them.  Most of the stuff he wants I am fine with, but there are some things I just can't let him have.

Maybe it's time to go back to the Duplo sized blocks?!

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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21st Century Dad

I have "met" a lot of awesome people in the past year over the internet.  Moms, dads, grandparents; sometimes I am amazed at just how many cool people live in this world. Some are awesome writers, others amazing photographers and then there is this guy, who just so happens to be one of the most talented people that I have come across online.  James is a school teacher who lives somewhere in the remote wilderness of Canada, isn't Canada all a remote wilderness?  Not only is he a fabulous writer and a great dad, but then he goes and does something like this:

I am going to use this as my anthem from now on, don't we all have an anthem?  I think this song epitomizes a lot of us nowadays, slowly we are losing our stereotypes as the bumbling fool when it comes to parenting.  Songs like this and more importantly dads like James are helping people realize that dads are parents too. No longer are we sitting idle and letting mom do all the work, we are making parenting a shared job.  

For more from James you should check out his blog Edudad where he discusses everything from parenting to teaching and throws in a lot of humorous stories from his kids.  He is THE 21st Century Dad.

You can also follow James on Twitter @saskadad

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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It's What's for Breakfast

I by no means am a gourmet chef.  I find cooking for kids to be one of the worst things about parenting.  You want to make sure that they are eating a healthy well cooked meal, but half the time the food that you spend thirty minutes slaving over a hot stove with, goes uneaten.  I can see why kids only eat things like chicken nuggets and fish sticks.  Who wants to put effort into a meal the kids could care less about.

Breakfast is one meal that I have mastered.  There is no prep time or massive cleanup and the boys usually eat what's in front of them.  If only they could eat cereal, eggs, and bagels for every meal, our cook (me) would be much happier.

Here is one meal that I have come to love over the years, it's quick, simple, and easy to do.  That is of course if you have the right tools.  Without them you should probably just stick to cereal, I mean everyone has a bowl right?

Toasted Waffles

The trick is to find a waffle that your kids will eat.  Through trial and error, I have found that my kids will eat pretty much any waffle put in front of them, so that makes shopping a little easier, you can just buy what's on sale.  For todays purpose we will use the Nutri-Grain Eggo waffle. They really enjoy the blueberry variety and we all know that blueberries are full of antioxidants, so that's a bonus.

Place your frozen waffle in the toaster.  My wife insists on microwaving them.  Why she would go through all that effort is beyond me.

We have a fancy toaster that takes a lot of the guess work out of toasting the waffle. See the two buttons pushed; FROZEN and WAFFLE.  Pretty simple stuff.

The next step is the most important; you need to push down the lever or the waffle will remain frozen.  Studies have found that the waffle tastes better when it is cooked.  Crazy I know.

When the waffle is done, this is where I go against the grain.  I use a pizza cutter to cut through the waffle, but feel free to use any sharp object that you may have on hand.  You could of course just feed them the waffle whole, but our kids are not animals and should not be treated as such.

Now that the breakfast is served, you might want to try pairing it with a cup of low fat milk and sit back and be amazed that your kids actually do know how to eat.  After breakfast you just might want to consider having waffles for every meal.  Why on earth would I make something extravagant again?  That's what we go to restaurants for.

Happy eating.

For more awesome culinary delights check out Solitary Mama and link up your favorite.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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New Friends... Starring Legos

It always seems that whenever we go on vacation we come home with more Legos.  We even bought some in France of all places.  Well our latest trip was to San Diego where my wife's company is located, and as you know Legoland is just up the highway in Carlsbad.  You would think at this point in our lives we've had our fill of Lego, but that is most certainly not the case.  Whenever my kids get the chance to bring new playmates home they do, sometimes much to my chagrin.

I really have to stop feeding this beast, or at least go on vacation where I know that NO Legos will be found.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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I DON'T Want a Pony

I must seriously be the worst parent in the world.

Nothing else could explain why I didn't get MY sons entire preschool class a gift for HIS half birthday.

Thanks SO MUCH Anthony M.

Is this what it has come to?  As to not upset any kids in school nowadays we have to celebrate half birthdays, AND we have to get EVERYONE a half birthday party favor?  I don't get it. Maybe it's because I suck as a parent, or as a dad I just don't think about or care about those sort of things.

Would my son really be that upset if he didn't have a celebration of his half birthday?  Probably not, but I know his feelings WOULDN'T be hurt if he did not receive the requisite pencil or box of crayons as a parting gift.  Do these people know how many pencils we have?  Why must we continue to do this?

I fear that we are falling into a vicious cycle where we as parents have to keep up with everyone else.

You know one parent gets the kids something in September, and then everyone else has to follow in line and get each subsequent kid something exponentially better, until finally some kid who has his birthday in May, has a parent who is giving out motorcycles and gold bars.

It really needs to stop.

It starts with crayons and ends with ?

I know that no parent wants to be the first to put an end to this sort of thing because that would make them look BAD; but someone has to take the fall.  I am willing to be that guy.  If I don't stand up now and say that your child will not be getting a sticker book on my son's half birthday, I fear that it will just continue to spiral out of control, until eventually one of my boys comes home with a pony.

Please join me, make it stop. 

I don't have the room in my house for a pony.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Hey Look at the Wombat!

I realize this is a Panda

I think we are over zoos. Sad I know, but it's just too much work anymore trying to get the kids attention. How many times can you fake excitement over some animal that you have never heard of, and get the same blank stare. Or even worse the, "can we go now?"

I don't get it.

These animals all cramped up in their pens are so exciting. I mean how many times are you really ever going to so an Oryx or a Yak, and live to tell about it? I'm beginning to think that none of these animals actually exist outside of a zoo.

It always seems to me that going to zoo is just a very expensive excuse to buy popcorn. It seems to be the only thing nowadays that get my kids attention. Scratch that, there is ONE animal that will get their attention, Swedish fish. Yeah, if the animal doesn't come in the form of sugar, it's probably not going to get my kids attention. I think my kids got a bigger kick out of the elephant in the bag of animal crackers that they did seeing the ACTUAL elephant.




If my kids want to see a polar bear they can just YouTube it. It's basically the same as seeing it in its fake arctic scene. I mean you are not fooling anyone with the fake logs and the shipwreck. Seeing them in their pens will never be as amazing as actually seeing them in their natural habitat. But I don't foresee myself ever going to the great white north and doing that.

Have you ever caught yourself showing way too much excitement over a wombat? It's not natural. I do the same thing with trains and planes, the kids don't care anymore about those things. They used to, but I can't tell if my overblown excitement is because I am grasping for those days or just doing it out of habit. I am sure there will be other things they get excited about in the future, but right now the wombat is not one of them.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Superman

I had no idea that my son was a Superhero.

I knew that Tyler was super cool, I mean he is my son after all, a chip off the old block. But a Superhero?

Tuesday nights are swim class nights for us. We don't live in a warmer climate where it is easy to access a pool year round, so we head to the local YMCA once a week.  I feel that swim classes are most important in the winter months when kids aren't swimming everyday.  I would hate to get to summer time and have them just sink to the bottom of the pool because they hadn't worked on their skills for over six months.  The boys seem to really enjoy it, which is the most important thing.

So swim classes are important, but that is not what this post is about.  It's about something that happens AFTER swim class, something in the locker room.  It's where a transformation takes place turning Tyler from a mere mortal child into that of a SUPER child:

Why Tyler decides to do this every time we go is beyond me.  But why do kids do half the stuff they do, because they can.  At least he is getting himself dressed right?  Just getting your clothes on would be quite boring.

If you noticed at the end of that video my other son Carter walked into the locker; he always has to copy his older brother. The only difference though is that two minutes after he walked, in he came out with NO clothes on.  It leads me to the question, is Carter a superhero all of the time, or is his super suit his birthday suit?  

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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My Little Ninjas

We don't normally get these sort of things done, but when you are as big a fan of Legos as our family is, we thought why not. How often do you get to Legoland and how often can you get your kids turned into Lego Ninjas?

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Star Wars Review... Starring Legos

Here we are outside the theater

It seems like every few years George Lucas comes up with some way to rerelease his Star Wars movies. I can't tell you how many times we have watched the saga.  Anyone who has boys will tell you that there gets to be a point where your world revolves around it. My boys are no different, although in recent months they have started to grow apart from Star Wars, which is fine by me; it can get to be a little much at times. Well now that the movie was being introduced in 3D, we thought that this would be a great opportunity to see it again, on the big screen.  I mean George Lucas is a genius when it comes to special effects, so there is no way that he could screw this up... or could he?

When George Lucas decides to make an original movie and stops pawning this Star Wars saga off as something new, someone let me know.  Until then he gets no more of my money.  He already has enough of it.  

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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23 minutes

I hung up.

I couldn't take it anymore.

The anticipation of someone on the other end of the phone actually picking it up and saying hello to me, started to drive me crazy.  I had no idea what to do anymore, do you hang up or just sit there knowing full well that the moment you do hang up is the exact moment where someone on the other end of the line finally picks up your call.  It's too much to take.

Did they forget about me?  They must see the little red light flashing knowing that I am taking up one of their precious phone lines.  Or are they sitting there knowing that my life is sitting in the balance just waiting, hoping that they will pick up my call.  They have the power, and I am most certainly at their mercy.  They know that, it's why I am on hold.

After a certain period of time it gets embarrassing.  You just know they keep records for the longest anyone has been placed on hold.  Do I want to be that guy?  The guy that is at the top of the chart?  The guy that sat there for over an hour?  I don't know because it's not funny on my end. I JUST WANT SOMEONE TO PICK UP THE PHONE!!!

If I hang up up I am just going to have to go through this again.  Who knows, maybe next time they will answer my call right away?  Or I could be placed on hold again, and just have to sit there AGAIN.  What the hell is going on on there other end of the phone I will never know, but sometimes it's just too much to take, and you are forced to make that decision.

23 minutes and I hung up.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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The Dentist... Starring Legos

I never know what to expect on our twice yearly visit to see the dentist.  The kids never seem to put up much of a fuss, but you never know when something is going to happen.  Carter normally does well at places like the dentist or the doctors office, but just last week I took him to get a shot he needed for school.  He was fine when getting the shot, but after he was not a happy camper.  He started screaming at me and punching me and telling me that he didn't want to do that.  Who could blame him; getting shots is no easy thing to do.  So when I had to take Carter to get a cavity filled, I feared that it wouldn't go well.

In the future I will make sure to bush his teeth a little better, I would hate having to go through this every six months.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Stripping Labels

I've decided to unclassify myself as a stay home dad. I've grown tired of the label, in fact I've grown tired of all labels all together. I've been at the job for a little over a year and a half an I can honestly say that the term Stay at Home Dad just bugs me.

Why do I have to be labeled as such when someone asks what I do for a living? I am first and foremost a dad, and everything else is none of your business.  If you see me with my kids anywhere at any time of day, don't assume that I have taken the day off to spend time with them.  Look at me as a father who is enjoying being with two of the people he cares about the most.  Why we are at the park or grocery store together should be of no concern to you. I am a dad and that's it.

Why does a mom that works have to be labled a working mom?  You don't see dads who are announced as working dads.  Can we all just please get over this?  My wife works; works her ass off really, probably one of the hardest working people that I have ever seen.  She is not a working mom, she is a mom who happens to work.  Just like there are dads that work, but for some reason we look at my wife and label her a working mom, as if that is some sort of bad thing.

Why do we label people?

Are we any less of a parent with these labels attached to us?  I would think not. Regardless of what you do, you only want what is best for your kids.  What role each of you plays in your family shouldn't matter to anyone else but yours.

So from now on, if you see me at the store or my wife getting on the bus to go into the city, instead of labeling us as a stay at home dad and working mom, just look at us as PARENTS doing what they know is right for their kids.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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The Nose Knows

Sometimes I feel really bad for my older son Tyler.  His younger brother Carter has these amazing abilities that he just can't seem to master.  Whether it's crossing his eyes, or wiggling his eyebrows, Tyler has not been able to match the incredible talents of his younger brother.  What can I say, Carter has been blessed with superhero type skills that will certainly take him far in life.

Take for example his ability to wiggle his nose.

I am certainly not surprised by this, as it seems that Carter can do pretty much anything that I can do.  He may look like his mother but when it comes to this simple life skills, this boy is all mine.  What this will mean for him later in life who knows, I can't say that I landed my wife due to my ability to wiggle my nose and ears.  Or maybe I did. 

Tyler on the other hand has the same abilities, or the lack there of, as his mother; he looks like me but he acts like my wife. 

Clearly this is something that we are going to have to work on.  I would hate for him to be put in a situation later in life where he was asked to perform this simple task.  

I've said this before but it really amazes sometimes that these two kids can have the same parents, yet not be have the ability to do the same things.  They really do pick up the best traits from both us.  Like wiggling your nose, some are more important than others. 

What do you notice about your kids?    

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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The Bully... Starring Legos

It's every father fear that their kid is going to come home crying because they were picked on by a bully. My son is only seven years old and he is the sweetest nicest kid with many great friends.  When he got off the bus the other day crying I knew that it could only mean one thing, he had been hit by a bully.  I already knew who the kid was before my son told me and I wasn't happy about it.  As a parent, many things raced through my mind.  Should I go down the block and take the kid out myself, should I talk to the parents who I know don't give a damn anyway, or should I hire someone to hurt him? Before I go any further I just want to say that I would never hurt a child, but seeing my son crying, the emotions you get as a parent can lead you to do crazy things.  Someone has to teach this bully a lesson.

I hope that teaches this little punk a lesson to not mess with my son.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Failing as a Dad?

I am not always proud of the parent that I am.

Sometimes I just wish I could erase huge blocks of time from my life.  I don't want to remember the half hour screaming matches or the times I wish my kids were not around.  They can be tough to deal with sometimes.  Being a parent isn't always peaches and rose petals, but it seems too much of the time is spent in arguments over clothes or what shoes to wear.  It seems lately that I am remembering too many of those moments and if I am, what are the kids thinking.

I don't want them to think that I am some monster.

They really are the best kids

The frustration boils over sometimes and when it comes out, it comes out.  Normally if you get mad or frustrated with something you have an avenue to calm yourself down, but when it's just you and one of your kids, what are you supposed to do?

I yell, and I yell way too much.

I just can't think of anything else to do and I know that this is not the best course of action because it's only going to make the situation worse.  Picture a four year old who can't make up his mind over what shirt to wear, he's frustrated and angry already, and then throw in a parent screaming at the top of his lungs.  If I was a four year old I surely wouldn't like it and I would probably scream and cry a little louder.  That in turn makes me scream a little louder, which makes everything that much worse.

I would never do anything to harm these kids, but it frustrates me to no end when situations just spiral out of control.  How DO you control yourself when you have a kid crying hysterically and the only thing you want him to do is to stop?

They are great kids 99% of the time, but too often I'm remembering that other 1%.

I am constantly learning how to be a better parent, but sometimes it seems like I am failing the class.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Cavity Creeps

My son got his first cavity.

He has no idea what's about to happen

Now I am not going to get on here and start preaching about how important it is to brush and floss, we all know now that by now.  Most I should say, I am a terrible flosser who gets told every time I go to the dentist that my teeth are going to fall out if I continue my nonflossing ways. It's just one of those habits that I never got into, and what do they say about teaching an old dog new tricks? Woof woof, it's probably not going to happen.

So I know I should be instilling this in my kids but it's hard.  When you don't do something yourself, how can you rightfully tell your kids to do it?

So when I logged into Facebook the other day I saw an article from the Circle of Moms about cavities in pre kindergartners.  They took a five year old study from the USA Today and proclaimed it as new and said that 30% of all kids get cavities before kindergarten.  It's not really shocking considering the amount of juice and candy that kids consume.  What did shock me though was some of the arrogance in the people that commented on the article and just how many people came across as perfect parents with perfect kids.  These are who I consider the cavity creeps.

"My little Suzie brushes twice a day and flosses three times a day at Head Start." 

"My girl has been to the dentist three times with no cavities and the dentist even said she was the best patient ever."

"My Bobby has the best teeth this side of the Mississippi."

I get it, we all want to be perfect parents and EVERYONE thinks their child is perfect, but you know what, there are many reasons that kids get cavities and it's not just from lack of brushing their teeth.  Maybe I didn't brush my sons teeth well enough and I feel really bad that he did get a cavity, but I don't need people to make me feel worse like I am some lesser parent because of it.  When you think you are leading the perfect life, it's best to keep it to yourself as to not make the rest of us feel inferior.  We are not worthy of the title parent around you.

Get over yourselves people. YOU ARE NOT PERFECT.

The perfect parent makes mistakes and grows because of them.  Life is a learning experience, not just for your child, but for you.  I might have made a mistake by not brushing my sons teeth as well as I could have, then again it could be that he has my genes, who knows?  I do have over 10 cavities. I am by no means a model parent.

There was one little guy that was perfect today though.  For ten minutes I was almost glad that my son did get a cavity.  It showed me what a big kid he is getting to be and how much he's growing up. Maybe we'll learn from this who knows.

There's my big kid, what a perfect boy.

Take that you cavity creeps!

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Lost Toys... Starring Legos

My kids lose their toys all the time.  It's maddening really.  When they lose something they come to me, and half the time I have no idea what I am even looking for.  It's usually some small Lego piece that I would consider not that important, but for them, it seems like it's life or death.  I can't tell you how many times I have told them that they need to do a better job of cleaning up their legos.  We have piles upon piles of lego pieces and it seems that they just keep getting bigger and bigger everyday and that makes my job more difficult.

Maybe we just have too many legos?

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Wednesday's Window... Shooting Headache

Like any other stay at home parent I bought my phone to stay connected better to the outside world.  It's been great, too great as there will be times when I have ignored my kids for hours waiting on someone to play a word in words with friends.  Another problem, the phone is no longer MY PHONE.  It seems as though whenever my boys want it they either pickpocket me or scream until they turned a bright shade of red.  It's not a phone so much as a gaming device with a bunch of colorful little squares on it that can also make phone calls, but who does that.

I always find myself amazed and what my boys leave behind on my phone, most of the time its pictures of the games that played or a picture of someones butt.  I know, how juvenile, but they are only seven and four and the fact that they can even operate the phone amazes me sometimes.  I don't always find pictures on there though, sometimes I find things that are quite disturbing.  I hope you enjoy this weeks Wednesday's Window.

Well, this is my phone and two can play at this game.  Tyler it's payback time.

Sometimes I wonder how they figure out how to do these things.  As long as they aren't plotting my actual death they can play with my phone as much as they want.  Pretty sure there isn't an app for that.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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My Boys Will be Boob Men

Every now and then I get sucked into these online arguments over a woman's right to breastfeed in public.  It really amazes me that in this day and age this sort of thing is an issue.  I just don't understand how people could be so closed minded about this, it's a woman feeding her child, that's it.  If it is seen as anything else, that's YOUR problem.

My friend Scott down in Georgia has been championing women's rights for some time.  I first came in contact with him when the whole Forest Park, Georgia breastfeeding ban was being proposed.  He was adamant that day and he has not let up since on his stance that women should be allowed to breastfeed their children pretty much anywhere that they need to.

Well it hasn't stopped since, it seems not a day goes by that I don't see a tweet from him slamming someone that has said something stupid about a woman breastfeeding.  I'll give you an example of the idiocy that goes on in this world; these are actual tweets from real people:

Yeah really!

It seems that her child was hungry, how dare he want to eat something.  If you were to follow this particular idiots twitter stream she went on to say that public bathrooms are there for a reason, and that the mom should use it to feed her child.

My response?

I think that if this moron is so offended, she should get up and go eat her popcorn in the comfort of the theater's bathroom.  I mean how stupid could she be?  Why on Earth should ANYONE be forced to sit on a toilet and feed their child.  I will say it again, that mother is feeding her child, just like anyone else that feeds their children chicken nuggets or pizza.  If you have such a problem with it, MOVE.  I am sure that mother would be more than happy to not have your stupid ass sitting next to her anyway.

Now it doesn't stop with movie theaters, you can find people everywhere that have an issue with breastfeeding.  I am sure in this case the mother didn't want to be feeding her child in church but when they're hungry they're hungry.  It's not unlike my boys who constantly ask for snacks and won't stop begging me until I give in.  I would ask this person if they would have an issue with me offering my child a cheese stick in church. There really is no difference.  I am satisfying my child's need to feed.  How dare I do such a thing? Another issue I have with this is, what the hell are you doing tweeting in church?  Shut your phone off and get to the business at hand.  I am sure there are more people upset with you interrupting Gods work by tweeting on your phone, than are upset about the bond between a mother and child.

Seriously people, GROW UP!

Shocking that a mother would feed her kids at the Grocery Store, I know.  After all that is where you buy food and all.  I would ask this semi famous NASCAR driver if it was OK for a mom to pull a candy bar off the shelf and give it to their child, it's no different, except that feeding the child breast milk is WAY more nutritious.  What I can't believe is that he would buy himself a six pack of Budweiser?  Has he no shame? I just lost my appetite.

Why do moms do it?  Why don't they just let their kids starve?  Why won't a mother just let her kid scream uncontrollably when she knows that her child is hungry?  It makes no sense to me.  How dare THAT mom want to offer her child the food that they need?  I would ask Justin if has ever eaten a sandwich or chomped on a granola bar in the park. It's no different.  Except that I am sure that he would look like  the pig that he is doing it.

What is this world coming too that people would question a mother's right to feed her child?  The fact that there are so many stupid people out there that can't handle this nonissue just baffles me. I will say it again, if you have a problem with what you see , that's YOUR problem. If you see it as anything other than lunch or dinner, you have to get your head examined.

I am sure that most breastfeeding mothers are as discreet as possible when they feed their children, I know my wife was.  Do you really think that mothers want to walk around with their boobs hanging out all over the place?  I would have to think that they don't.  It can't be comfortable for them knowing that there are such stupid people in this world that would question what they are doing.  I would say instead of being disgusted by what a breastfeeding mother is doing, tell her how awesome she is for feeding her child. 

My boys will grow up in a world where women feed their babies however they want to. If that means a bottle in the comfort of their living room or a breast on a crowded subway, it shouldn't matter.  

I want my boys to be boob men, just like their old man*

*I also like nice eyes too 

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Working Out... Starring Legos

So it's that time of year that we all make resolutions to get in better shape.  If you haven't already read I have started up a blog with a bunch of other dads called #DadFit.  The idea is obviously to make ourselves more accountable which will hopefully push us more towards our goals. So I am all in here.  The benefits of working are already being felt, and I can see a difference already.  I don't like working out so I like to change things up from day to day, I get bored easily.  But I do like the benefits that come from getting in shape.

The Movie

I hope everyone starts to get in better shape.  The hidden benefits are great!

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Lego Friends

Oh no, my favorite toys are under attack.

Every now and then companies come out with some stupid marketing campaign, and parents get outraged.  Walking through Target today I got my first glimpse of the Lego Friends sets, and I have to say, they didn't really faze me.  I can see that some would get upset about a previously gender neutral toy now trying to target young girls.  Blah, blah, blah.  Who cares?  Here is an idea for all the parents that are upset; DON'T BUY THE STUPID TOY!  See it for what it is, a cute little building set, and move on.  If you and your legion of upset moms ALL do that Lego will take them off the shelves.

If something doesn't sell, they are gone.  If not, expect to see these building sets on toy store shelves for years to come. Like the countless other sets that are now discontinued, Lego will have no choice but to replace the Lego Friends series with something else, perhaps Prince of Persia 2.  The first series sucked and they are now off the shelves.  See how that works?  The only one we ever bought, my son insisted he needed to have a lego ostrich, who was I to deny his wish.

As far as the new sets are concerned, I won't buy them.  My kids are obsessed with Ninjago right now and I certainly don't expect them to want a Butterfly Beauty shop or Mia's Puppy House.  I will say that the City Park Cafe is pretty cool and I would have a field day making movies with that.  See my lego character can play with girl toys.

If you have an issue with Lego there are two things to argue.  First they are ridiculously expensive; I have spent thousands of dollars on these  toys and could probably spend thousands more.  Second, this new Ninjago show is nothing more than a glorified Lego commercial.  Lego knows this, they can dream up a new show, package it off as a weekly series and make countless lego sets to support the show.  I think we already own every Ninjago set, AND THE SERIES HASN'T EVEN STARTED YET. I can't fathom what might happen when the kids get more into it.

There is something here with the Ninjago show though that I hope Lego is not overlooking.  They keep advertising that there will be this GREEN NINJA, that is more powerful than all the others.  I won't get into the premise of the show here as I will just assume everyone knows what it's about.  I hear all this talk that the Green Ninja will be Lloyd Garmedon.  I won't be convinced until I actually see how the show plays out.  I know that it won't be Kai, Jay, Cole or Zane.  They just seem like they are too bumbling to ever take the leap and become the most powerful ninja.  I don't think they have the ability to use their powers to their full potential.

There is someone though who I think has that ability, Kai's sister Nya.  She seems to be tough minded and willing to learn.  She wants to be a ninja, why not the Green one?

Now how awesome would that be if the most powerful ninja, WAS A GIRL.  Would there be outrage at this?  Rioting in the streets by thousands of little boys?  I know my boys would embrace her as they have Hermione, Princess Leia, Elizabeth Swann and the countless other female legos that have been marketed to ALL kids.

Why does it really matter how companies market their toys?  Last I knew, kids couldn't drive themselves to the store to buy things.  It took a parent to actually pay for it.  If your kid wants to have the new sets, are you going to deny them that?  If a kid wants ANY lego set what is the problem, let your kid decide what they like.  If you don't like how it's marketed, please don't buy it.  I know that there will be those that say I am missing the point on this, maybe I am.  I just don't see what the point is you are trying to make.

It's Lego Friends, not a Lego Devil series.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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New Clothes... Starring Legos

I'm so 2011

You would think for the past year we never changed our clothes.  Well, every week you would see us wearing the same outfits, it was almost like a uniform. I started to feel like Jack Bauer sometimes in the TV show 24. Every week he wore the same thing.  Our clothes were seriously going out of style.  Tyler was getting strange looks from the kids at school and Carter was just getting bored of his outfit.  It definitely is as good a time as any time get a fresher more updated look.  Our old clothes were so 2011.  Now we are ready for the new year.

So what do you think?  We clean up nice huh?

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Burp

People ask me everyday how I spend time with my kids.  Normally we play with Legos or video games like anyone else would, but I also have to try and teach them things about being a man.  Part of being a man is learning how to relieve yourself of gases inside your body.  I can't tell you how many times that my boys come to me crying that their belly hurts.  My first instinct is to get them on the potty and try to get whatever is causing this issue out of their system.  I know it's probably the eight pounds of candy that they ingest daily, but as much as I tell them that eating all that candy is going to give them a belly ache, they don't listen.

Sitting down on the toilet doesn't always work though and this is where training to be a smelly gaseous man comes into play.  I know that when my stomach hurts, not from Carter punching me but from something I ate, it's usually a gas bubble that has built up inside of me.  Kids need to know how to get this bubble out.

Let's first take a look at Tyler.  He is the older of my two boys and the one that complains the most about tummy troubles:

Clearly he needs to work on reaching a little deeper into his abdomen and getting that bubble out.  He could probably communicate with a whale, but that won't do anything the relieve himself of any man gases.

Carter is a little bit younger and he doesn't seem to complain as much as his older brother about his belly, but when he does the complaining is twice as loud:

Now judging between the two, I think Carter is much closer to accomplishing this challenging task.  As you can see he digs deeper into his belly and what comes out, while not a full fledged burp is much closer to what it should be.  It's not surprising that he would be more advanced than his brother based on some of his other abilities.

Obviously we need a lot of work on this and schooling will continue.  One day my house with be filled with a bunch of burping men and my wife will certainly be happy that I was such a positive influence in my boys lives.

I look at this, as bonding time between me and the kids, and THAT is how I like to spend my day.

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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#DadFit

You may have noticed a little badge on the right side of this webpage.  #DadFit is is a new blog that I am involved in where our main purpose is to keep dads in shape.  I should say that it doesn't have to keep just dads in shape, anyone can join us as long as you are willing to make the commitment to your overall health.  This is not supposed to be just a fad diet or a fly by night sort of experiment, it's about a lifestyle change, a change a bunch of us dads feel is necessary to improve our lives.

All of us have gained a little weight over the years, including myself who has put on about 40 pounds in the past ten years alone.  I realize that I am not alone in this as it seems that every man my age has put on some weight.  I look at my friends and most of them are carrying around that extra spare tire that with a little work and change in habit can easily be taken off.  

We are in this together.  

I realized that it's easy to take the weight off, it's a matter of what to do when you reach your goals.  In the past I have been able to lose 20 pounds without much of a problem, but like anyone that that goes on a diet, I put it right back on.  I wasn't willing to make the commitment to change my lifestyle, something I know is necessary this time around.

I've got two kids and I don't want to be the dad that's stuck on the sideline with bad knees and ankles as my kids are running around.  I can already see my body failing on me as my feet have started to really bother me in the past couple of months.  It hasn't been officially diagnosed, but I know that I have developed Plantar Fasciitis, and it sucks.  I know that this is mainly caused by lack of physical activity, and the weight that I am carrying around.  So something has to change.

Any good change in lifestyle needs a good support system and that's where #Dadfit comes in.  The way we figure, the more people involved the better.  The more accountable we are, the more likely we are to stick with the changes we wish to make.  

Anyone can be a part of it.

All you have to do is follow the #DadFit hashtag on Twitter or Find us of Facebook.  You can also check out the blog at Dadfit.blogspot.com.  We are only trying make our lives better and with everyones help, I think we can do that.  Feel free to offer us advice or encouragement.  We could certainly use your support.  

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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I'm Sexy and I Know it

Being a four year old can be tough, especially three hours after bedtime. All night we waited for his favorite song, but alas he didn't make it. He's still sexy and he knows it... No matter what.


Poor Carter.  Little did he know what song was next

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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The New Year... Starring Legos

What a year it was.  2011 will go down as the greatest year in the history of Legos.  Well, any year that there are Legos to play with, is a GREAT year by me.  I introduced my Lego character back in April, and now 28 videos later, he has become a worldwide sensation.  OK, thats stretching it a little bit, but folks seem to enjoy him and I enjoy making the movies, so win win.  With the new year we can take a look back at where we have been as well as where we are headed.  We've had many great moments like the time my arm was bitten off by a shark, or when I melted on the hottest day of the year.  Thankfully I have replacement parts at my disposal.  So long 2011, 2012 is calling my name.

Here's wishing you all the best in the new years!

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Wednesday's Window... Hippo Poop

We love the Aquarium.  We love it so much we would actually venture into the second most dangerous city in the country.  Camden, New Jersey is home to some of the worst violence in the United Staes.  Driving through that city, you make sure that you lock your doors tight.  I remember one night after a concert on the waterfront, taking a wrong turn and the street I ended up on looked like it could have been plucked out of South Central or anywhere in East New York.  It was pretty terrifying, but I made it out alive.

Once you get yourself through the city and to the banks of the Delaware River though it's a different story.  The Adventure Aquarium is one of the nicest aquariums that we have been to.  It's a shame that it's tucked into such a crappy town.*  My boys love going there and were so excited for two reasons:  first, they have a giant alligator which is one of the largest in captivity, and second, the hippos.

Carter became fascinated with the hippos after his first visit.  When he learned that the hippos make poop in the water and that the fish then go and eat it, he thought it was the funniest thing, and he was hooked.  For some strange reason doody is something that amazes him.  On a trip to France he didn't care about the knights and the castles, all he was concerned about was where the king sat on the throne, if you get my drift.  So after a quick walk through the rest of the aquarium the boys came to their favorite destination, the hippo pool.  The water is filthy (fully of hippo poop) and it stinks.  But the boys love it!  I hope you enjoy this weeks Wednesday's Window.

They do have other amazing things there, like tanks full of sharks and sting rays.  Their collection of penguins is one of the finest I have ever seen.  My boys though just can't get enough of those hippos.  If we have to put up with a little poop to get them to learn about marine life, oh well.  Their could be worse things in life, like living in Camden.*

*This is not to slight the fine people of Camden, it's a nice place to visit (at least the aquarium) but I wouldn't want to live there

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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Me I Want a Hula Hoop

I've done a few comparisons of the kids in the last month or so, and most of the time it's Carter who has some amazing ability that Tyler has not been able to master.  Whether it's raising his eyebrows or crossing his eyes, Carter has shown incredible talents that his brother just has not developed, at least not yet anyway.

My wife was fortunate to have gotten a hula hoop from Santa for Christmas.  If you need to know one thing about my wife, it's that she loves the hula hoop.  Santa obviously knew that.  She once competed in an international competition at Disney World where she won a board game.  She was 34 at the time, and the eight and nine year olds that she competed against never had a chance.

She is that good.

Well it turns out that Tyler possesses my wife's hula hooping skills, which isn't surprising as he seems to be able to do, or not do, a lot of what my wife can or cannot do.  While he looks like me, he definitely has the skills of his mother.

This ability will certainly help him later in life with the ladies, trust me. If I could hula hoop like this, I would not have spent so many Friday nights parked in front of my TV waiting for the phone to ring. Carter on the other hand, seems to be destined for a life like his father, a poor, miserable, lonely one where the hula hoop gets the better of him.

Let's just say he's a work in progress. I pray that this is something that doesn't hold him back in life.

I would hope in the future BOTH of my boys will possess this amazing ability and start to fight over the hula hoop.  Isn't that every fathers dream?

John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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