Fatherhood

Tonight was the second night of our "indoor tears" issue. Last night, not long after I got home, Patrick started to cry ... these were tears of pain, rubbing his eyes pretty hard. Since it was a Papa night (all he wanted was me), I propped him over my shoulder and started bouncing him. He settled in, as if sleep was all he wanted. Mind you, he was still crying and rubbing the eyes. Then, he rolled horizontal, letting my hold him in my arms ... still rubbing eyes and crying. This went on for about thirty minutes. I tried having Jen take him, but we had the same symptoms, but now he wanted me again. I settled in for a long night and started walking him around the house. The pain was pretty obvious so we got medication into him ... Another thirty minutes went by when I walked near the back door when he jumped up and stopped crying ... a switch got thrown. We even had a smile. Jen came down since he had stopped crying so abruptly and I started walking toward her. About ...

One of the cool parts of being a father is when Mama and her son are having one of those incredible moments. I get to watch them ... seeing the look of pure joy in each of their faces. Last night, it was music ... of all things, from a soccer ball. It was one of those children's toys that sings various songs when it bounces. Patrick would whack the ball, smile from ear to ear, then start rocking from side to side with the music. I have watched him rock and dance to music before and this was the most animated (full body ... legs and arms going everywhere). This would have been really cool, but what made it truly exciting was that he was sitting in his mother's lap and she was rocking with him ... with the same look on her face. Oh, the advantages of being a father!

... and Connecting Learned Skills Well, I do not know if it is official, but his learning curve has definitely gone through the roof. Patrick has been off for a few days (not feeling well). I got home to a rather upset (in pain) son ... once we got things under control, I was playing with him around the computers (yes, watching that the glowing power switch did not catch his attention) ... when he decided to climb the step-ladder. He has done this many times, but this time he got up both steps with no assistance and was definitely proud of what he could do. Then, I upped the ante ... I took Patrick and the ladder in the kitchen and set it up in front of the microwave and watched him climb up ... then realize where he was. Skills so far (all separate skills): Climbing the step-ladder Opening and closing the microwave door Setting the time and clicking start on the microwave (OK, some assistance here) Getting food from the cupboard and taking it to the microwav...

A simple game of peek-a-boo, running around the loop of bedroom, bathroom, and hallway was interrupted with a quick game of "king of the hill," climbing the large pile of laundry that Jen and I have been working on since moving in (it is a challenge re-washing almost everything we own while keeping up with what we are currently wearing). Up the pile my son went, to roll of the top of the hill, into my lap ... over and over. It is amazing the fun we can have with laundry. Then, it was quickly back to running laps ... which got terminated when Patrick said "bye-bye" to his mother and promptly shut the bathroom door on his fingers. Amazingly, mother's kisses really do work as the tears stopped once she kissed the bruised fingers.

My understanding of developing self-confidence and self-esteem is that indiscriminate praise with actually undermine a parents attempts at moving the child forward. Having said that, it is near impossible to not praise every activity when everything is new and challenging for a new child. Praise that allows a child to see that they are developing skills appropriately actively works at helping them develop a mindset where they are willing to take on more challenges. What I am hoping to develop in Patrick is a "growth mindset." Where I see a true challenge as a parent is developing "self-control." It is one of the most important skills I can teach my son, more so than intelligence, when it comes to achievement: academic or otherwise. I tend to avoid looking at what researchers are doing ... one points left, while the other points right. Thus, I find myself thinking about things like development of delayed gratification (I know, this is me talking ... I am the wo...

Oh my ... It has been one of those days. Patrick fell down the steps outside; thankfully no major damage ... in fact, none that we can find. He dropped the mop handle on his toe ... it is now quite red. Next, he walked into the table ... took the corner on his forehead; it was quite a resounding thunk. Good goose-egg up there. He's still got he scrape on his knee from a few days ago ... definitely all boy. This is one of those days to get scraped, bonked, and generally dirty and beat up. I can't wait to see what will happen over the next few hours before we go to bed.

Well, there it is ... Patrick was introduced to the "Italian: Money, Money ..." with the hand gestures and all. It started a few days ago and has become a regular part of our play with him during the day. Not much of a blog, but IT IS HILARIOUS ... There is definitely Italian blood in my son, from both sides of the family ... and it gets us laughing!