Daddy's Fish BowlA Clear View Of A Father's Family Experiences

It All Started With A Block Of Wood

This past Saturday, I sent out the following Tweet:

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@KRob5858

As promised, the time has come, the moment of truth is finally here.  Were we triumphant in our derby race debut? Or did we literally crash and burn? Did the newcomer tag team duo walk away empty handed and heavy hearted in a Tebowesque manner? Or perhaps we silenced the naysayers, crushed the competion and walked away with the gold!  Given my history of luckluster performances in the home improvemnet department, I’m guessing you’ve already placed your bets and are ready to cash in on  where this story is headed.

The Small Things That Make Kids Happy

I looked out my window last night & the Christmas lights were still blaring bright, therefore, the extremely late holiday recap will continue. Today, I’ll give you guys a quick rundown of Tre’s birthday, but more importantly, discuss the difficulties and pitfalls associated with having a birthday that falls in between Christmas and New Year’s.

A few days ago, a super enthusiastic Tre came running up to me to introduce me to his new friend, a lady friend at that.  He was so excited and happy that this lady was now in his life, he kind of caught me off guard as I had just got out the shower.  Believe me, meeting my son’s new friend, fresh out of the shower isn’t the way I want any relationship to begin.  When I turned around and laid eyes on his new lady friend, I was shocked, it baffled me that a lady of this caliper had befriended my son.  The shock quickly turned to concern, why is this lady a friend of my 4 year old son?  Why is she in our house? Most importantly, why was she starring at me in my towel fresh out of the shower?

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Well maybe sometimes it is.  But seeing as how my neighbors still have their Christmas lights on, I figured what the hell; let’s do the annual end of the year holiday recap right now, today.  Who cares that we’re a complete two weeks into the new year anyway?  These stories are timeless right? Better late than never right?  It’s better to finish the race last, than to not finish at all…right?  Okay, so have I completely talked myself out of being a lazy bum and slacking on the holiday post?  Yes you say, well great, let’s proceed with the recap of Christmas, Tre’s Bday, and New Year’s.

Happy New Year to all my DFB readers.  It’s that time again, another new year for cheer, another new year for excitement and unlimited possibilities (until Dec 21st that is, joking).  But most importantly, it’s another opportunity to recap the previous year hear at Daddy’s Fish Bowl.  2011 was a great year for us and what better way to get your new year pumping than revisiting some of the great posts that you loved during 2011.  Take a moment to relive the magic of DFB, or if you’re a delinquent reader, think of this opportunity as a second chance at the DFB reader hall of fame.  No matter your motivation, join us as we countdown the top 11 posts of 2011.  What will be number one?  Will it best the top post of 2010? You be the judge. Each entry will be listed with the title and a brief excerpt of the post, click the link to visit the post and memories, laughter, and sentimental moments that kept you coming back all year long.

If you missed part one of this troubled tale, head on over and read it so you’ll have some context for the funny part 2 of this post!

As if the shame of enacting the Santa ClausE wasn’t weighing heavily enough on my conscious, Tre decided to jump in and be my assistant authority figure.  My assistant seemed to take much more pleasure in the naughty list punishment than I did however.  Typically, I don’t let the kids get involved in repercussions of each others disciplinary actions, but when Tre decided to ensure that Ty knew exactly what was looming over his head, I let it go.

“He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice, he’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN”

To most, those words may sound like a harmless line from a children’s Christmas song, but to others, especially those who have not been on their best behavior, those words can haunt dreams and ruin lives.  Unfortunately, we have one of the “others” in our household this year.  Ty is currently feeling the wrath of Santa’s greatest ability: the ability to single handedly transform a child’s behavior with 3 magic words, “The Naughty List”.

December is here and boy did it come around quick this year. As most of you may know, December is my month of the year; although, that may change now that I’m back in a cold climate area. But Christmas is in December and it’s my favorite holiday, there for December wins “Month Of The Year Award” time and time again. We usually kick off our holiday rituals by going to pick out our Christmas tree together, this year we were able to do something a little different. Instead of going to just pick out our tree, we actually picked it out and cut it down ourselves. What an adventure that was; luckily we all survived and no one injured any vital organs and came back with all limbs intact.

Now that Black Friday is behind us, let’s take a look at some gift ideas that are sure to win over the hearts of your loved ones. Our 3rd annual Holiday Gift Guide Week will feature separate guides for preschoolers, elementary schoolers and gadgets (courtesy of  The Gallant).  The gift guides will feature some items that the boys already own, as well as items that we plan to purchase for them this Christmas.  The items are in no special order, they are all gifts that I find interesting and think the kids will enjoy playing with.  Please feel free to add items to the list in the comment section, or if you already own a particular item, share your experience with it.  I hope you enjoy, talk to you soon.

Growing up I didn’t really understand or value the true meaning of Thanksgiving. To me, it was all about the over abundance of good food & a few extra days off from school, that’s all that really mattered. Sure I had a ton of things to be grateful for: I live in a household with both of my parents, we lived in the better part of the bad side of town (if that makes any sense), and I had a Mom that dedicated every inch of her being to making sure that I had a better life than she did. You see back then, I know all of those things, I guess I just felt that I was entitled to them and didn’t count them as blessings.