Wedding Speech Quotes - con't.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I will post every so often some of the better quotes from my kids.  And as I mentioned, these quotes will all be used in my speeches at all of my daughter's weddings.

1. Kelly has been getting into trying to spell everything.  She spells words off of things she is familiar with and she then says she knows how to spell.  Her latest attempt occurred while she was in the bathroom.  She yelled out to Amy and I that she knew how to spell potty. She says, "T, O, T, O."  Amy and I look at each other and are stumped for a second.  We then realize the manufacturer of the toilet is Toto.
2. With the cold weather starting and colds and runny noses around the corner here is an older one from Kelly, but still a good one.  About a year ago I saw that Kelly had a pretty bad runny nose one day.  I went to get a tissue and said Kelly let me wipe your nose.  She said, "No, Dad. I will just bring it back up in my nose."  She then proceeded to sniffle as hard as she could. 
3. I was sending an email to one of Annie's friends' mom and I was unsure of how to spell the girls name.  I asked Annie and she said, "It starts with an E but I am not sure how else it goes.  Dad just sound it out and do your best.” 
4. A while back Annie was having a tough night and was sent to bed without brushing teeth or anything.  She kept trying to slam her door, but our doors do not really slam. And then she just decided to come out and yell “Well when we go to the dentist and I have a cavity, it'll be your fault!” 
5. Annie and Kelly were playing upstairs one evening.  I went up to give them a five minute warning for dinner.  As I was walking up the stairs I said “Twinkle Toe and Twinkle Tee you have five minutes left before dinner.”  Before I could finish the sentence I hear Kelly from the bathroom say “Twinkle Toe is going Potty."

As usual, I hope my girls will enjoy hearing these on their wedding days as much as I enjoy sharing them with everyone. In fact, please share any of the funny things your kids have said in the past.  Just post a comment at the end of this blog.  I am sure anyone reading would enjoy.  Thanks.

Acorns in the Mouth: Changes in Parenting with Multiple Kids

After having three kids and "fondly" looking back on all of the parenting memories so far, it is amazing to see how things have changed from one child to the next.  Now my observations in this area are not strictly related to three girls, but I think to anyone who has multiple kids, whatever the genders may be.  Here are some examples to illustrate how rules, behaviors and attitudes of the parents change with the third child.

1. Clothes - First child was always dressed perfectly in clothes that were absolutely clean.  If they got a stain on it, they were probably changed very quickly.  Also, if a piece of clothing came back from the laundry and the stain was not completely removed, that piece of clothing would only be worn again in an emergency clothes shortage.   Also, whenever the first child wore that piece of clothing the parent would feel obligated to explain why their child was wearing a stained piece of clothing. Second child was dressed nicely, but if clothes got dirty they were never changed.  If a piece of clothing had a stain on it after being washed, it was still worn as long as it was not too bad.  Explanation to friends and family would be some witty comment about the second child having to wear the hand me downs of the older sibling.  Third child is lucky if they get dressed some mornings.  They may just stay in their PJ's until lunch because it is easier.  If they do get dressed, the clothes most definitely have a stain or mark on them somewhere from one of the previous siblings.  Also, they may go more then one day in the same onesie, if it does not "smell too bad" or if the parents are in a rush and just need to get somewhere.
2. Eating - First born was held for all bottles and talked to soothingly throughout.  A great bonding experience.  They peacefully ate all of their meals in their high chair or booster seat and never were allowed to walk around with food.  The second child had all of their bottles while being held, but probably were interrupted by the attention seeking first child.  All meals for the second child were still in the high chair or booster seat, but were much more rushed and quite possibly would have had to happen in different settings on occasion depending on needs and schedule of the firstborn.  Still not allowed to eat food while walking around.  If the third child did not walk around while eating they may never get fed at all.  They also never get to sit alone with their bottle and enjoy quiet time with a parent.  They are lucky when they get to sit in a booster or high chair for their entire meal.  And more times than not it will be a quick meal because the older siblings have somewhere to be.  But they learn to drink bottles on the move, and grub food from any and all adults.  They become very self sufficient early on.
3. Out and About - When you go out with the first child to a new environment the parents are more than likely going to try and sanitize the entire playing area.  They will not let their child roam on a common area type floor (i.e. a gym, restaurant floor, or school cafeteria).  The parent will be within arm's length of the child at all times.  And of course nothing will be allowed in the firstborn's mouth.  When venturing out with the second child the sanitizing of the area may be brief, if at all, and the exploration range will be broadened, but still within a 10 foot radius.  The parent will try to steer the second child to play in the same area as the older sibling to keep it simple.  Still nothing will be allowed in the second child's mouth.  With the third child, the parent is more than happy when arriving at a location to be able to but the child down and let them "explore" all they want.  As long as there is some sort of gate or door that keeps them in the enclosed environment and they can be seen within 50 feet. Not uncommon for a parent of multiple kids to be heard saying "Have you seen 'insert name of third child here' running around?"  Dirty floors? No big deal.  The parents are happy the third child is entertaining themselves and they have a few moments of peace.  Hermit crabs in the mouth? Give them a second to see that they do not taste good and then stop them from eating anymore.  Sucking on acorns?  As long as they are too big to cause a choking hazard, let them suck on them and spit out and then continue the process for as long as it keeps them happy and preoccupied.
4. Special Circumstance - If the first child had a foreign object, say a bead from a child's necklace, end up in their poopie diaper there would be absolute panic in the house.  The parents would be calling poison control, their pediatrician, and rushing the child to the emergency room.  They would probably sleep in the same room with the child through the night and possibly take off from work the next day to keep an eye on them.  If same object was found in the second child's diaper, the parents would probably call the pediatrician to make sure there was nothing special they should do and just keep a close eye on the child for the day.  When the third child has a bead end up in their poopie diaper, there is no real concern for the child, but the parents decide to use it as a teaching lesson.  They bring the offending diaper to the kitchen table and make the two older kids look at it and explain to them that they need to clean up all of their toys or this is what will happen!

If you have more than one kid you can probably relate in one way or another.  Maybe not exactly, but you probably will have plenty of your own examples.  And despite the changing approach to parenting as the number of kids increase, it is amazing how they all survive just the same.

The Jersey Shore Situation

Am I out of line to think that a 6-year-old girl dancing in front of a rock band in a bar in Point Pleasant, NJ should be cause for alarm for what the future holds?  Or should I be more concerned that the 4-year-old and the 11 month old were also dancing?

Now, I know your first comment will be, "why were they dancing in a bar?"  Well, let me explain.  During the summer, my family was on vacation in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ with my cousin and his family. We went to dinner at this place called The Tiki Bar. As we were walking out after dinner, we noticed that there was a band warming up. We decided to hang around for a minute so the girls could listen to some music.

Well, a minute turned into 45 minutes of my three girls dancing (along with my cousin's two daughters) in front of the band like they were their number one groupies. And, you may think that they were just running around and being silly. Nope. I couldn't believe my eyes as they were actually doing dance moves and trying to get the attention of the band members. Annie was shaking her hips and her arms were in the air, all as part of her own choreographed routine. Kelly was trying to keep up with her big sister as best as she could.  And Brigid sat in the middle of the dance floor, bouncing up and down, pointing at the lead singer.  If the scene was not crazy enough, a "The Situation" wanna be, trying to impress his "Snooki," grabbed Annie and was spinning her around the dance floor.  I was trying to sit there and smile, but believe me, crazy thoughts about my daughters' futures were running through my mind.

I bring this up now because there have been two more recent instances of my daughters taking over dance floors. First was at the Irish Festival in Newport at the end of the summer. An American-Irish band played onstage as families sat around tables, enjoying the food and  peacefully listening to the music. Soon the small dance floor was over run by my daughters and some of their friends.  Most of the girls were just running around, being silly. Not mine. Now, even though she has only had eight-45 minute classes of Irish Step Dancing from two young girls through the South Kingstown Department of Rec., Annie performed as if she were part of RiverDance! Kelly, once again not to be outdone by her sister, was Irish Step Dancing, even though she has never had a lesson. They did not come off the dance floor the entire time the band was on stage. 

The most recent instance occurred at a political fund raising event at the infamous Hibernian Hall.  There was an older group of musicians just playing some nice music for the crowd as they enjoyed mingling and the buffet.  The thought of my girls dancing did not even enter my mind since there was not even a dance floor.  But true to their nature they somehow manufactured their own space by pushing chairs around and got themselves enough space to show off their moves once again.  And of course Annie is out there dancing like she is in a Lady Gaga video. Kelly was more silly this time and not really doing specific dance moves and Brigid would venture in and out, but there was a lot more to explore now that she is a more confident walker.

I guess on the one hand I could be happy.  My girls are definitely not shy and they enjoy dancing, which is great fun and wonderful exercise.  It should also help with self confidence and I know they will be able to have fun at any event as long as there is music.  But on the other hand, what am I to think about for the future if this is how my daughters are dancing now?  Are they going to be the girl dancing provocatively at the bar or the frat party?  Are they going to be a member of their college's dance team, dressed in next-to-nothing, dancing at center court during basketball games?  Or will they use this talent just for fun when hanging out with their family or friends?  These are the thoughts that keep me up at night with three girls.

Finally, if the thoughts I already have in my head are not distressing enough, let me give you one last image to ponder. As we were dragging the girls out of the Tiki Bar, some creepy old man gave each of them a dollar bill!

Needless to say I have had many restless nights of sleep, pondering my daughters' futures.  Only now, besides my own pre-conceived thoughts, I also have a new one. Now I will have to go to bed each night wondering if my girls are going to end up dancing professionally for money. Thanks, Creepy Old Guy at The Tiki Bar!

Wedding Speech Quotes

From time to time I will put things up here that the kids say.  Because they really come out with some good ones.  As all kids do.  Also, I like to keep a record of everything they say for the future.  I have already told Annie and Kelly that my speech at their weddings will just be me reading all of the silly things they either said or did while growing up.  Also, it will include all of the insightful things they say too.  Here are a couple examples from the past few weeks.  Sorry if some of these are repeats from my wife's Facebook posts.

1. Kelly and I were talking about when she gets older and moves out of the house.  She said she never wants to leave the house.  I said that is fine, but just know that while you are living at my house you follow my rules.  One of the rules I told her were no boys.  Without blinking an eye, she says "Dad I will just sneak out of the house at midnight and go meet my boyfriend."
2. Kelly, Brigid, and I were hanging around the house and Kelly was asking a bunch of questions.  Not sure if I had a look on my face or what, but Kelly felt a need to explain something.  She says, "You know Dad, I ask a lot of questions because Brigid and I do not know that much about the world." 
3. Nana and Pampa were watching Kelly and Brigid one day.  Kelly was singing for Pampa and Nana and Brigid wanted to be a part of the show.  Brigid was in front of Kelly and Kelly said to her “Brigid you’re the back-up singer not the front-up singer!”    
4. Amy was taking Annie and Kelly shopping for clothes.  Amy also decided to look for herself and this is what Annie said to her.  "Mom, I think you're in the wrong section. These clothes are all for young women."  
5.  Amy has an Aunt Tina that is a nun.  Aunt Tina has a friend Maria, who is also a nun.  They live together and go everywhere together.  They were at our house for Brigid’s Christening party.  At the end of the party Aunt Tina asked Annie to get her coat from upstairs and she told Annie the color.  Annie asked her “what color coat does your wife have?”  She meant Maria’s coat.

Ah kids you have to love the innocence and the pure honesty.  I hope they enjoy these quotes on their wedding day as much as I enjoy them now. 

Payback is fun!  Is it bad that I am already planning the payback?  Not sure, but I guess it will be one small way for me to win a battle in this war of a house full of women. 

More to come....

Daddy, Tiger Woods scored a goal!

Let's start off with how great of a sports weekend this was.  Ryder Cup, college and pro football, and a couple of MLB races that came down to the wire.  Great weekend to be able to watch some big time sporting events on the big HD flat screen.

That is unless you have three little girls!

Normally on the weekends the wife and I take turns waking up early with Brigid. However, this weekend I did not mind waking up because I would be able to have some quiet time and watch the Ryder Cup while Brigid played. This would be possible because the matches were being played in Wales (5 hours ahead of us).  I would even get to watch the matches on Friday morning too!  And, as a bonus, Amy was able to either go to spin class or sleep in, which is great for everyone.

However, as is standard with any little kid, not just girls, Annie and Kelly decide to wake up earlier than normal on Friday. Thus, my first day of quiet time watching golf turned into non-stop questions about golf.  Now, you have to love curiosity from kids, because that is how they learn. And all kids do it, not just girls.  But it is the type of question that I believe makes up the difference between boys and girls.  Here are a few I heard Friday:

1. Why are they wearing those colors?
2. Does he have any kids?
3. Why is his hair so long and shaggy?
4. Are there cheerleaders at golf?
5. Do they like each other?
6. How did they get there?
7. Did they all come together?
8. Where do they live?

There were even more and I do mean more, but these were some of the better ones.  Also, since I was still half asleep, I have forgotten many of them.

Now, they also did ask many questions about the golf, which I happily tried to answer. But it was just the sheer volume of questions at 6:45 a.m. along with the questions themselves that just made watching not as enjoyable as I had first envisioned.  This is not new, or even just special, for when I watch golf.  It is when I am watching any sport. I know they are just interested in what Daddy likes and want to know more, but couldn't we just enjoy it in peaceful silence with a few simple sports related questions filtered in?

Once I got accustomed to a new question every 30 seconds, their curiosity started to turn to passion.  Although they did not always know what they were cheering for, they cheered loudly and enthusiastically.  Annie was even "booing" at the TV if the European crowd was cheering too loudly. They knew to cheer or boo also depending on my reactions which helped them.  They also tried to keep me updated if I had to leave the room for a minute.  Thus came Annie running in to me telling me that "Tiger Woods made a goal!"  Ah, you have to love them!

After trying to endure the questions and loud cheering and booing for some time I resigned myself to the fact that I would need to go get breakfast ready and watch the golf on our little TV in the kitchen. Thus I left the girls to watch Curious George on the flat screen TV. My 45 minutes or so of peaceful golf watching never happened and it was time to start another day.

The moral of the story for me is not 'enjoy every moment with your kid and take pleasure in all of their questions and enthusiasm.'  No, the moral of the story for me is that I need to teach the girls how to read the clock and not come down the stairs before 7:30 a.m.!