OC Family Back to Work Dad

My top four Disneyland "Secrets"

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:05:00 GMT

Not many people may know this about me about I spent 5 years working at Disneyland during high school and college, even helping to train new Cast Members in valuing the magic. I enjoyed every minute of it too, you'd think I would have been burned out by it, but nope, I'm now an annual pass-holder (AP for those of you hip to the disneyspeak), and I still love going, even more so now that I have a family to take with me.

One of my favorite things about Disneyland is the secrets behind the magic, not the the nuts and bolts secrets, but the one's that actually add to the magic. I love walking around Disneyland with people who have never been and sharing the things that make Disneyland, well Disneyland. So, come take a walk with me, and I'll show you my top four magical secrets of Disneyland.

The light above the firehouse:
Not necessarily the best kept secret but still one of my favorites. There is a light above the firehouse on main street USA that is always on, it changes at Christmas time into a lit tree but it is always on, even after hours. It is a dedicate to Walt Disney himself and it resides on a table in the front window of his apartment, yup, his apartment which is still intact exactly the way he left it when he passed away. I have had the pleasure of being in the small and quaint apartment, and when you're in it you really get to imagine what it was like in 1955 when Disneyland first opened.
The Smell of Main Street USA: When you get about half way down Main Street USA you all of a sudden get really hungry. You see you get hit with these great smells of candy and waffle cones, or another seasonal smell. But here's the trick take a look at the Candy Palace or the Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor and see if they are cooking up something tasty. Sometimes they will be and others the aren't, but you can always take in the smells. Disneyland actually pumps these great smells in the air via vents under the shops. Disney is all about creating a total experience for everyone, and they try to tickle all of your senses, and this is just another way that they do just that. (Special note: The popcorn wagons have fans on top of them too.)
The unfinished spire: I was so glad when they re-did the castle that they kept this feature, it's actually more noticeable now then it used to be. If you take a look at the gold spires on the top of the castle you will notice one that isn't painted and quite plain looking. (Sorry I couldn't find a picture) You might think to yourself "hmmm they missed one, that's weird." But like everything at Disneyland; they never miss a thing. The spire signifies Walt's quote that "Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world." And I love it.
A ghost story: This is probably my favorite Disneyland story, mostly because I was able to witness it with my own to eyes. It starts in the Haunted Mansion (which by the way is scarier to walk through at night then to actually ride,) and it ends under the Mickey at right. You see there was a little boy around 10 years old who's make-a-wish wish was to visit Disneyland, you see he had cancer and didn't have more than a few months to live. His favorite ride at Disneyland turned out to be the Haunted Mansion, and he rode it several times that day. As he was leaving he told one of the Cast Members happily that he would be back one day. The young boy passed away sadly 2 weeks later. Shortly after that a custodial Cast Member was doing some cleaning and picked up the center plate, and underneath was a postcard, signed "I told you I'd be back" with the boys names on it. True story, I was actually able to see the postcard.

I'll leave you on a note that show's why I like Disneyland, because you don't get to make memories like this one, just anywhere:

Travel tips, we need 'em

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 08:29:00 GMT

So we are a little freaked out around here. We are quickly approaching our first ever trip with our kids. Believe it or not, other then a night at a beach house with little dude (in which we packed our entire house) we have never traveled with our little guys. Now we are faced with air travel and more then one night away, with BOTH kiddos.

Having never done it before we need your help. What's the best travel advice you can give for us to travel with a 2 year old and a 5 month old? Leave your advice in the comments, we appreciate it!

Here is a cute picture to ply you with:

You know, I kinda miss it

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:46:00 GMT

Not all the time but sometimes, I miss my stay-at-home Dadness. It usually happens when I hear about the latest adventure my beautiful wife has taken our little dude on, or when when mini dude has learned something new. Things like this:

I mean as much as I know that Beautiful Wife is rocking the Mom thing, I'd love being home too. So if anyone has a spare winning lottery ticket to make that happen, I'd appreciate it. For now though, I have to be content with the fact that I get to provide for my family, and in this economy, in Orange County, the fact that Beautiful Wife gets to stay home is awesome. In order to help myself get through this, I have created a list of things that make me feel ever so slightly better about not being home too.

The Terrible Two's, need I say more
Poopy diapers, and to a lesser extent, diapers in general.
The temper tantrum (See #1)
Teething (not yet, but oh it's sure to come soon)
My complete lack of patience for whining. (See#1 and #3)
My wife is way better at looking after the boys AND getting dinner on the table, AND doing about a million other things at the same time (Seriously I think she has a clone hidden somewhere)
There are bills to pay, and mouths to feed.
See #1

In truth I miss it, the boys are getting bigger everyday and I feel like life is flying by. But Beautiful Wife is also a beautiful mother and she really is better at being at home than me, I mean I can hold my own, but she's just that good.

Here's a pic for the road:

I love this pictue

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 11:38:00 GMT

I love this picture, I know it's grainy and maybe even a bit blurry, and no amount of messing around on picnik will fix it. Nonetheless I love it.

It took me a while to figure out why, but then I realized that little dude and I were experiencing something for the first time, together. This picture was taken at the circus this past week. (Still time to get tickets, use code "MOM" for a discount.) I had never been to a circus (aside from my fraternity house) and neither had little dude. It was an awesome time for just me and him. Not just because the circus was fun to watch, but because it was some one on one time, something that unfortunately doesn't happen enough with our four month old at home. I need to make an effort to do it more, because we both enjoyed it.

What have you done to get one on one time with your little ones? What have you been able to experience with your kids for the first time? Let me know in the comments!

I have a problem

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:46:00 GMT

I have a problem, I'll admit it. I have O.D.D. Obsessive Dishwasher Disorder. It drives beautiful wife mad, but I truly believe it is leading to a better society. Okay, well maybe not a better society, but at least cleaner dishes. In an effort to make the world a cleaner place I shall share the seven commandments of dishwasher loading:

Thou shalt not put any cup, bowl, or otherwise small-ish item on the bottom rack until the top rack is completely full.
All cups, bowls, and anything else that holds water shall not be facing upwards.
All of thy plastic items shall be placed on thy top rack.
Thy plates shall all face the same direction, small plates in front, large plates in back.
Cutting boards and cookie sheets shall grace the outer edges of thy bottom rack.
Though shalt not put the good skillet in the dishwasher.
Utensils shall be placed any way you would like in the holder, except thy knives, they shall be placed sharp point down as to avoid flesh wounds.

Now if only someone would empty it for me...

Pic 'O the day:

Real men wear Bjorn's:

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:00:00 GMT

It feels like it's been a month since I last posted, so here's a quick recap to get you all caught up, so I can start doing more timely posts again. So here we go, deep breath, ready go!

Oh and I should note that real men wear Bjorn's:

Back in the beginning of June we went to the Huntington Beach Concours D'Elegance:

Yup, that's the real deal Kitt, and Deloreon, complete with swooshing light, and Mr. Fusion.

The boy's are as cute as ever:

Then we spent Father's day at Disneyland, an epic 13 hour day:

Which culminated in Little Dude's first ever Fireworks show:

And ended with some sleepy heads (including this Dad who may or may not have had to hoof it from halfway to the parking structure to the lockers on main street because he may or may not have forgotten the stuff in it):

Oh, and the boys are cute:

Annnnnnd Breath....

Pool side safety

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 16:31:00 GMT

I'd like to tell you a little story, this is a true story from my one long summer as a pool life guard. What prompted this? I was looking through one of the million kids catalog's that we get a month and saw probably the worst poolside invention since cement boots. take a look:

I'll paint you a picture of why this is the worst thing ever, walk with me down memory lane..
It was a hot August day in Southern California, as I sat there in my bright red shorts, and t-shirt with bold red cross across it. It was an easy day watching the community pool, lots of families having fun. There was a big group of parents with toddlers hanging out in the baby pool having quite an animated conversation. One little boy, wearing the above flotation device, feeling adventurous no doubt, got up and headed to the big pool, his parents paid no attention, but I was watching, because you know, it was my job to watch. As the little boy walked closer to the big pool, I took off my hat and sandals, put down my water, and waited. Now I like to give parents the chance to watch their own children, so I waited until the last second, and sure enough as the little guy reached down to touch the water he fell in, head first, and couldn't right himself. I reached down picked him up, and brought him sputtering water and crying to his clueless Mother.

This isn't a rant about the un-attentive Mother, although there is absolutely NO substitute for an attentive parent on the pool deck. Nor is this about me looking for some kind of praise for saving a little kids life. This is a rant against the inner-tube vest. You see, when I child falls into a pool head first wearing one of these things they can't right themselves, they just don't have the skill or strength to do it, so they get stuck with their feet in the air and head under water, which leads to well, you know, a much bigger issue.

So please people, don't put these on your kids this summer, if you must put something on them, make it an actual life vest, or better yet, get in the water and play with them, you can thank me later.

Making it all worth while

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:03:00 GMT

So I know I haven’t been posting much lately, and I have some great things to post about too, but I just haven’t had the time or energy. Until today. Last night something happened with little dude, that made everything worth it, every late night and early morning, every tantrum abated, and time out given. You see little man said his first full sentence beyond “C’mon guys!”, a full on sentence, in fact he said two different sentences. My world stopped, beautiful wife and my hearts filled, and I realized that love really knows no bounds, I had no idea I could love so much. The first sentence “I love Mommy!” The second, well I caught it on video, see for yourself (Sorry for the yelling, and poor quality it was shot on my iphone and we were excited.):

Use your Network (a long awaited job hunting tip)

Tue, 25 May 2010 10:54:00 GMT

So back when I changed the name of this blog to "Back to work Dad" my desire was to include occasional job hunting tips in with the Dad stuff, turns out it was a little more occasional then I'd hoped. But here is new post on the subject.

Use your Network!

You are 54 times more like to get hired through a referral. Think about that for a minute, I said times, not percent, TIMES. It’s a really astonishing number really, and that number is actually 3 years old, I would not be surprised in the least if it has gone up in today’s economy. So how do you make that number work to your advantage? Networking, it’s the key to your future. Whether you are recently graduated, or a seasoned veteran; networking is how you are going to get you next job.

Let me explain why this works. First off, now more then ever employers are getting 100's of resume’s for any given position (no matter what the level). The best and most effective way to get noticed in that stack is if someone walks over to the the hiring manager or HR person and says “Here, this person rocks, you need to talk to them.” People like working with known entities, when someone can speak on your behalf it takes a huge bit of guess work and worry off the hiring person’s mind. Second, you are going to hear of more opportunities through your network, and you can enlist your network to keep an eye out for you in their respective companies, thus increasing your chances of finding the perfect job for you.

So how does this work? Here are 5 easy steps to connect with your network:

Make a list of everyone you know, and where they work.
If you aren’t on LinkedIn, sign up. You can see my profile to get an idea of how it looks here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rogersadam, or you can sign up for ROCKharbors job hunting seminar on June 7^th for more details on how to use LinkedIn to it’s fullest.
Join user groups, you can find them on yahoo, google, and LinkedIn. Doing this will allow you to connect with people with similar skill sets and a lot of the time you will see jobs posted specifically for the skill set of the group.
Always check your network first before applying for a job. Not only will you find that you probably know someone who works there, but you may also find you know someone who knows someone who works at the company you are trying to get into.
Don’t be afraid to use your network and ask people for help. You’ve connected with these people for a reason, because you trust them. They want to help you out, trust me.

Those are the basics, if you do these 5 things, you’ll be off to great start. For more job hunting tips and support during your job search come and check out ROCKharbor’s upcoming seminar “In the hunt: finding work in today’s job market” on June 10^th , you can sign up on their website here.

Please forgive my absence

Fri, 21 May 2010 16:28:00 GMT

Okay, please forgive me, I know I haven't posted anything since Mother's Day, but really it's not my fault. I have told you that I have a had a teething 2 year old, and 5 week old, yeah, so I've been a little tired. I mean really, I've attempted to write even this like six times. The old brain is fried. I'll get back in a writing state of mind soon, I'm sure, or not, depends on mini-dude. In the meantime here's a little update.

Little Dude, yeah he turns two next week, what the heck is up with that.
Mini Dude, 5 weeks old, time flying, and he is healthy as can be.
Beautiful wife is doing fantastic, but that's to be expected.

And here's a parting note:

P.S. Little dude is sleepy too:

Happy Mother's Day

Sun, 09 May 2010 14:48:00 GMT

To all the mother's out there,

You are teachers, therapists, and role models. You help us all to do better, you pick us up when we are down, and kiss it better when we are hurt. You are chef's, designers, and tutors. You change diapers. You persevere for those you love. You sacrifice your time. The love you carry in your heart for those in your charge never seems to end. Quite literally, none if us would be here if it wasn't for you, and that works figuratively too.

Simply put, if it were not for Mother's we Fathers wouldn't have a chance to be Fathers, and for that I thank you. I thank you for the example you set, and the standard of parenting you have established. And most of all I thank you for being a Mom.

Happy Mother's Day.

P.S. did I mention you also hunt for bugs, even though you hate bugs!

Responding with Help, not hurt

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 10:10:00 GMT

In case you missed it, my post from last week regarding the pressures of breast feeding received a lot of response, from both sides of the table, check it out here. I just let the comments rage, and most of the things I would have said were said for me. But I thought it was time for my response (sorry it's a little late, I have this thing called a new born.)

I'm going to respond with help, not hurt. A good friend of ours has an awesome little organizational tool for those with infants, and I would like to share it with you. 1. Because they are my friends and they rock. and 2. This product is awesome.

You need to check out the Baby Dayzed Journal, see the website here.

The best part of this baby log is that it allows you to keep your head about when you haven't slept in two days, and you have that 2 week appointment in a half hour and you can't remember your own name. It tracks sleeping patterns, breast feeding times, number for formula ounces, #1's and #2's (if you know what I'm sayin'), and has a great spot for notes. What's awesome about it is that it turns into a day planner in that you can put when the next doc appointment is, or that you need to call your lactation consultant back in two days in the notes section. It helps you track patterns so you can schedule things around naps and feedings, and it makes it very easy to answer your pediatricians questions precisely. Like "how many times is your baby pooping?" or "how often are you feeding and how much?" It also has a great side effect of becoming an awesome keepsake in that it is a record of all the major events of the first 3 months of your child's life.

Now, just so you know, we were given one for free, but it was because we are friends with the creators. This review is completely unsolicited, because I like to give credit where credit is due. Trust me when I say this, the Baby Dayzed journal is the perfect tool for tracking your infants growth for the first three months.

Happy Earth day!

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:02:00 GMT

From my favorite tree hugger!
* this picture was taken with my iPhone, which was charged via solar power
** not really but it sounded green didn't it?
*** ok not so much, and now I am wasting energy typing so much...
**** ok, just shut up and post the picture Adam:

Down with the pressures of breast feeding

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:52:00 GMT

I have something that I need to get off my er, chest. There is an injustice that I have been seeing first hand as of late, and I need to address it. First, before anyone jumps down my throat let me clarify one thing, I believe that breast milk should be the first choice for your infant. That said, I think it's horrible the pressures that are put on Mothers these days that it should be the only choice, and I think it needs to stop.

When I looked over at my amazing, intelligent, beautiful wife who was on the verge of tears because she felt like she was a failure because breastfeeding wasn't going as well as it was supposed to; I was pissed. All you ever hear these days is that formula is bad, I even heard one breastfeeding advocate call it poison, and that is just ridiculous. Beautiful wife went to visit a lactation consultant today because she really wants this to work, and while there, she told me of a poor first time mother who was absolutely a wreck because her 4 day old wouldn't latch on. Come on people this is excessive.

Look, I'll tell you that mini-dude is doing waaaaay better than little dude was doing at this point. Little dude had to be supplemented pretty much from the hospital on. You know what? Little dude is as healthy as can be, healthier then a lot of breast fed babies I know, he is also developmentally on track (advanced I'd say, but I'm partial.) In other words, he's just fine. For the record we also made several trips to the lactation consultant for little dude, and the final verdict was that he was a stubborn baby and not to beat ourselves up over it. That the thing see, mothers should try the hardest to get their babies to breastfeed, but don't kill yourselves, and don't stress yourselves to the point of tears either. You baby will be fine, you can pump, or you can feed formula, trust me it's not poison.

On a happy note, here's a happy pic of the day:

An introduction

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:21:00 GMT

Hi folks, it is with great pleasure that I get to introduce you to the newest addition to our family. Meet: Mini Dude.

Mini Dude joined our family at 2:46pm on April 8th, 2 days past his due date, weighing in at 9 lbs 7 oz, and 21.5 in long. He is doing great so far, and so is beautiful wife, who by the way is a champ, because there was no C section here.

So now we have a beautiful family of four:

And my poor wife has to deal with the boy crew now (p.s. i'm stoked):

The stupidity hall of fame

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 20:39:00 GMT

Beautiful wife: Can we please get rid of all of these old bills.
Me: Sure
Beautiful wife: Ah now please? Go get the shredder.
Me: That will take forever!
Beautiful wife: if you can come up with a better way go for it.
Me: I know, let's have a bill burning party!

Great idea right, we'll go over to the beach, have a little bill burning bonfire. It's a great idea for a form pyro I mean teenager. (Did you know tortilla chips burn for a long time?) Sure, great, grand says beautiful wife. So what do I do, I pack up little dude, and 10 month pregnant beautiful wife and we head down to the beach. Oh it looks pretty enough:

But no, it was windy, I mean 50 mph gusts. Not exactly the most brilliant move on our part. Now I don't want to toot my horn or anything, but I did get a raging fire going. See here's proof:

You know what the formula is for lighting a fire in 50 mph winds. 5 pieces firewood + 1 book matches + 2 years of bills = Fire. Now, God bless my wife she tried, but it was bloody cold out there, sand was blowing everywhere, and she had to bail. (I don't blame her, I probably should have cut and run too.) For the record, I did get rid of all the old bills, in a white hot inferno, however, I know longer have any hair on my fingers, and most of my hands, and there are several extra holes in both my jacket, and the pants I was wearing.

So altogether not my most shining moment.

The proper care and feeding of a pregnant wife

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:39:00 GMT

As the husband of a pregnant wife it's important to know your role, and if your pregnant wife is anything like my pregnant wife, she spent a lot of time puking, and when she wasn't puking, she was nauseous, and if she wasn't nauseous, she was craving ice cream. So our job as the husband is to follow some very simple rules:

1. Do not bother your wife while she is puking, she just wants to get it over with.
2. If she asks for ice cream, you ask what kind.
3. You try and make her as comfortable as possible, because hey, she's carrying your offspring bud.

1 and 2 are easy enough, but 3, that can be a tough one. Luckily I have recently been introduced to a pretty cool company that can help us husbands with just this problem. Clubdebebe.com, check them out here. They were kind enough to bless us with the gift of there Relaxed Mommy Gift Set. It's a pretty cool deal, I don't want to write a complete novel here so you can check out their story here.

Here's the low down, and trust me, if you wife looks a beautiful as this, all of their gifts are worth it.

First off everyone likes a gift (Mother's day anyone?) and these come beautifully wrapped see:

It comes with some great stuff for relaxing mind a body. Beautiful wife is a huge fan of the fuzzy socks, and they will be coming with us to the hospital for sure:

And she thought the bath and body spritzer and foot salts that make up the Bcalm pampering set were pretty awesome too.

Also in the set was some tasty tea, and a soothing CD, that we both agreed would probably be great for pregnant mommy who is planning on using the Lamaze or Bradley methods for child birth.

Needless to say it was pretty cool, and on top of that I am able to pass on to all of you out there a pretty sweet deal, check out the coupon below, and make your pregnant wife's day.

It's not dinner it's a negotiation

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:56:00 GMT

Dinner in our house is not so much meal as an ongoing negotiation. They go like this:

Us: Eat your chicken nuggets please
Little dude: Cheese? (note: cheese is in our salads)
Us: Eat two chicken nuggets and you can have some cheese
Little dude: Grabs a nugget "MMMMMM" pushes away plate "Cheese"
Us: Eat another nugget and you can have more cheese.
Repeat until no more cheese
Little dude: Fruit?
Us: Eat your carrots and you can have fruit.
Little dude: grabs carrot "MMMMMM" pushes plate a way "Fruit?"
and it continues, and continues, and well you get the point.

It should also be noted that chicken nuggets can be replaced with any of the following: noodles, sandwich, quesadilla, or mac and cheese. Fruit can be replaced with, well, more fruit.

But hey, at least he's eating right?

Call me MacGyver

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:14:00 GMT

Just call me MacGyver folks, hand me a bomber jacket, and I'm growing a mullet. I've fixed an age old problem, with nothing but a shoelace, and pure grit.

The problem:

The Solution:

Problem...Solved
Feel free to call me Mac, oh, and you can pass this solution on to all your friends.

Bonus little dude pic:

Sleep, the ultimate oxymoron

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:11:00 GMT

I like sleep, sleep is my friend. However basic math has gotten in the way toddler + teething does not = sleep. I have long known that I needed sleep, and the less I get, the worse it is for beautiful wife. Case in point, when I am really tired, I have waking dreams; I once pushed her out of bed because I needed to save her from a set of skies that were about to fall on top of her, valiant yes, good idea, not so much. I mean who keeps skies over their bed.

I recently realized that even more so, it can effect my work, aside from the normal, taking 8 different attempts to spell "Hi", I couldn't get a simple sentence out either, and this is just with a little dude getting up at 5:15 because his two year molars are coming in. What the heck am I going to do when number 2 comes along? I'm going to need a freaking translator.

You know when I was in college I rocked sleep, I could sleep for hours, hours I tell you. I wish I had known that in a few years I would be begging for an extra 15 minutes. I might have cherished it a little more. There really isn't such a thing as a good sleep, in fact, "Good sleep" is the ultimate parenting oxymoron. There is okay sleep, there is crappy sleep, there is no sleep, or even a complete lack of sleep, but no such thing as a good sleep anymore. Oh well, it's worth it, and that's why God invented caffeine: