The Evening Shift

Ouch, I’m getting old

killahmullet — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 04:31:07 +0000

My back is killing me. I seem to have put it out playing hockey again. Last time I felt like this, I had to go to the massage therapist for an adjustment. It all worked out in the end, and my back was fine for a few months, but every time I played hockey, I worried that I was going to put it out again.

I guess this is what happens as you grow older. During the game last night, I was thinking about getting older a lot. I guess it was really feeling the pain, and the hockey wasn’t particularly fast – this is what goalies do during a slow game in case you were wondering.

One thing that freaks me out is injury. As a father of a toddler who is very squeezable, I want to make sure I’m in good enough shape to pick up the little fella for a good long time. And every time some guy runs into me, I cringe, thinking I’m going to mess my back, arm, hand or head up. Of course, this never happens, but as I grow older, I know it’s just a matter of time before my ability to recover from injuries slows down to the point I’ll have to consider a back up roll between the pipes.

Gone skiing

killahmullet — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 05:31:31 +0000

Whistler-Blackcomb opened today. Unlike last year, there’s not a ton of snow, but El Nina is supposed to make it a great year. My fingers are crossed, as we’re taking Baby G up to the mountain in January. We’ve booked a daycare for a weekend, so Momma J and I can finally get together to do some boarding again.

Kids and scraps, all a part of the daycare experience

killahmullet — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 06:35:26 +0000

After putting away Baby G’s food this morning, I walked out of the daycare kitchen to find the little guy in a full-blown scrap with his buddy. They were wrestling over who was going to be able to sit in one of two vibrating chairs that were sitting side-by-side.

As a father, I must admit I was a little proud the little guy was holding his own against a kid who can walk and is about two inches taller. However, I was wondering if I should step in a stop them. After looking over at the daycare worker who didn’t seem all that concerned, I walked away chuckling to myself, thinking the kids must do this all the time. As I was walking out the door, Baby G’s buddy came running across the daycare crying. I guess the little guy got the best of him.

I felt a little bad for not stopping them, and told Momma J about the incident. We’ve both heard Baby G takes stuff from one of the girls in his group, and we are getting a little concerned he is a bully.

When we returned later on, the daycare workers said not to worry, as the kids tend to work it all out themselves. Apparently they all come up on the short end of the stick from time to time, which results in some crying and a few minutes of being upset. In the end, it all evens out.

Sick as a dog, again

killahmullet — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 10:04:55 +0000

I’m beginning to wonder if all this riding transit is worth it. Ever since I became a regular transit rider, I’ve been sick two or three times a year.

For the most part, I’m a healthy guy who eats right, exercises and doesn’t overindulge in much of anything – I’m a nerd dad after all. This weekend I’ve managed to make Baby-G sick, which is a reverse of what he did to me a couple of months ago. Anyway, it’s not pretty. The poor little guy was coughing and wiping his runny nose all day. I’m sitting here at 2 a.m. awake and feeling bad as I listen to him hack and sniffle in bed.

The strange thing through all of this is that Momma J doesn’t seem to get sick at all – she rides transit as much as I do. She does have this obsession with eating vegetables, which I don’t share. Maybe this is her secret.

Ultimately, it is a good thing she’s healthy all the time. At least one of us is well enough to take care of the little guy. I’m just not enjoying being the one who has to take the hit for the family all year.

Parents and Internet photo concerns

killahmullet — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:42:43 +0000

When I first started posting photos of Baby G on Flickr, I had privacy concerns. I kept them private in order to keep them out of the hands of creeps and weirdos. So far, I think this has worked – or I hope it has worked.

This story about a mother who found her son’s photos were scalped freaks me out. I hope the photos weren’t locked off. I’ll be e-mailing Flickr to ensure this is not the case. If it is, I’ll be taking my photos down, which it too bad because it’s great to have a place where friends and family can come to view new photos of Baby G.

I don’t want to be in the same shoes as the mother in the news story. It would be awful to have to explain to Baby G that somebody has taken photos of him from a website and used them in this way.

The other thing about the story that weirds me out is the fact companies took and used photos. What were they thinking? Don’t they have lawyers? If you want to use a person in an ad, you need their permission. If it’s a kid, you need their parent’s permission. It doesn’t matter if its on a public website or not.

Daycare is a disease factory

killahmullet — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:44:39 +0000

Baby G had a tough weekend, and so did his dad.

At around 4:30 a.m. on Saturday, Momma J yelled from the bathroom that she needed some help. I walked in to find her holding Baby G over the bathtub, while he spewed out his dinner from the evening before. We spent the rest of the day feeding him and then watching him get sick to his stomach. On Sunday, he was little better – no puking, just a little slow. This morning it was diarrhea, which got him sent home early from daycare.

I was hit with a bought of stomach flu early last night. A not-so-pretty sight my hockey team had to witness on the ice – I won’t go into details. I had another visit with the porcelain god before returning home, went to bed at 8 p.m. and was up most of the night with a stomach ache.

Luckily Momma J seems fine.

When she picked Baby G up this afternoon, our case is not unique. A pair of parents had the same stomach flu I did, and a kid was hospitalized with dehydration.

From what we’ve heard, we should get ready for a lot of this, as kids are lightening rods for sickness. Also, other parents, through pressure to get to work, tend to leave sick kids at daycare that infect everyone.

Banned from daycare

killahmullet — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:46:49 +0000

On Monday, we dropped Baby G off for his first half day alone at daycare. When I returned to pick him up, I asked how he was doing and got the response every parent dreads: “Not very well.”

Apparently, he broke into a fever around 10 a.m. that was running over a 100 degrees Fahrenheit when I arrived. I was asked to take him home and not to return until he temperature dropped below 100 without the aide of medication. On my way to the doctor’s office that afternoon, I came to the realization our lives were going to be filled with these little episodes. For some reason, it had never really hit me before.

I’m off tending to the little guy today. Momma J was on Baby G watch yesterday. We had planned to get him back to daycare this morning because he temperature had dropped back normal, but he broke out in a rash yesterday afternoon – he’s not allowed to return to daycare until the rash is gone.

Thankfully both of our workplaces are great, and our bosses understand stuff happens when you have kids. Whenever these things happen, I find myself thinking about single parents or couples that don’t have the same luxuries that we do. It must be one heck of a struggle.

Sad days ahead

killahmullet — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 16:25:47 +0000

The last few days on the homestead have been a little rough. Momma J is coming to the end of her maternity leave (in Canada it’s a year), and I can tell she’s a little sad that she won’t be spending everyday with the little guy.

On the other hand, I think Baby G is going to love daycare. He’s always hated sitting around the house. On weekends we have to get out of the house by noon or he becomes an angry little fella. He also loves other kids. He’s got this thing about stealing their toys and food, which doesn’t reflect well on us as parents, even though we can’t stop him.

In the end, I’m sure it will all work out. I feel daycare is going to do wonders for him. I’ve read kids develop faster around their peers. We’ve actually seen this in action – he started pulling himself up a day after hanging around two of his buddies that have been doing it for a month or so. Soon he’ll be walking and talking, which I’m sure, will make Momma J and I yearn for days gone by.

Cursing kids

killahmullet — Fri, 18 May 2007 02:44:33 +0000

Baby G is a few months away from his first curse. After watching the entire first season of Deadwood, I’m sure it’s going to be cocksucker. Of course, I’m hoping he doesn’t have a potty mouth, and I find myself trying not to swear around him, but it’s tough to break old habits.

We’re certainly not going to encourage it like some parents do. I’m hoping it’s surprise like with these folks.

This one is kind of funny. Thanks Jen!

This is just bad parenting, and I’m afraid of my son going to school with kids that have been raised by people like this.

Online “chores” child’s play

killahmullet — Thu, 17 May 2007 05:33:47 +0000

Apparently parents are leaning on their kids to do a lot of the household “work” when it comes to the Internet, according to a new study by Stars for Kidz.

I found it surprising that 14 per cent of the kids in the survey helped their with income tax. I’m not so sure I would be giving personal income tax information to my child, especially when I’m tense about handing it off to my accountant. I know you want to trust your kids, but giving them that kind of information is a bit dangerous.

I do, however, think it’s a great idea to get the kids working on stuff like directions to the supermarket and sending e-mails to family you don’t want to speak to consistent basis.