Well, the days of me spinning my magic over dressing the girls has pretty much come to an end. My flair for clothes combinations came to a halting stop for the almost nine year old when she entered kindergarten a few years ago. The six year old has been slowly eye rolling away from my choices since moving to the South. And now, just within the last couple of weeks, even the three year old does not believe I have the capability to match a shirt with a skirt.
Now, for those of you that know me this probably does not come as a major shock. Especially from the guy that wore jeans and a flannel shirt for four straight years in college and thought he was styling. My wadrobe consistency has not changed much: in place of the flannels there are golf shirts and soccer jerseys and the jeans have been joined by khakis and solid colored shorts. The biggest change I made recently was getting several pairs of cargo shorts in the Spring. So for me to get dressed every morning it is not that difficut to pretty much choose any bottom and it will go with any top I have. Maybe every once in a while I have to make sure the outfit I choose is not too much of one single color, but otherwise I can pretty much get dressed in the dark.
I understand I may not be #Tim Gunn or one of those other outifit experts on #TLC, but I am definitely capable of putting together an outfit for a girl to wear. Also, I know I should be happy that my girls want to be independent and that picking out clothes would be one less thing for me to do around the house. However, the problem arises when there are constant cries each night of not having any clothes to wear. And then I proceed to pick out a perfectly good option only to have it shot down for any number of reasons. "The pink leggings are a different pink than the shirt." "That is a tunic, not a shirt and it will cover the sparkles on my pants." "I am not weaing a #Phillies t-shirt to my friend's birthday party." They can be so picky sometimes.
I admit - I do occassionally have problems putting together an outfit. However, in my defense the problem is not that I am a guy, color blind, or have no sense of style whatsoever. The problem is that every piece of clothing in their drawers was designed to go specifically with one other piece of clothing. Thanks alot #Carters and #GapKids. Everything has a design on it, or glitter or sparkles, and how many possible shades of pink could there possibly be on this planet? It is even pretty hard to find a plain pair of jeans. They all have some sort of unique color splash or design that makes it hard to match it with any shirt you would like. I have asked their mother when she shops for them to just get plain jeans and simple brown shorts. She usually rolls her eyes at me, too.
For my part, as usual, I am thinking about money. If we continue to buy outfits that are not interchangeable we are going to be flat broke before the third one even gets to her teen years. Or, I am going to be doing laundry every day to make sure they have plenty of options to choose from each day so as not to have fashion emergencies.
Ah, to have a boy that would simply throw on any t-shirt and shorts that were in his drawer without a second thought as to whether they match, are in season, or were even worn yesterday. But alas, that was not my lot in life.
The challenges of a stay-at-home dad in an all female household.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
If the van is a rockin' ...
No, the title of the blog does not mean that I have gone over to some deviant dark side of blogging since moving to the South. All this simply means is that the lone man in this house has moved into a new stage of life with 3 girls. Carpooling and singing and dancing in the car!
"Carpool" is huge here in Atlanta. We were not even in our new house a week and we were carpooling for kids before we even met their parents. It started with Annie and her lacrosse team. We were lucky enough to find a great LAX program down here. However, it was for older girls, but since Annie had a couple of years of experience they said she could play. So now we get to drive a couple of 11 year old girls to practice once a week. They are very sweet girls, but they are 11 going on 22. I am still struggling with Annie turning 9 in a couple of months. And for those of you that know Annie, she loves older kids so she is trying to be very mature and "cool" in the van with the older girls.
We were driving to practicetoday, and as usual I put on #RadioDisney for the ride. My wife and friends ask how I listen to that station. Normally, when I am in the car with my three girls it is no problem. They just listen quietly and I am able to zone out and find my happy, peaceful spot (usually the back nine of a great golf course). However, I quickly realize this ride is going to be very different. No sooner are we out of the neighborhood then "TTYLXOX" by #Bella Thorne (I did not know any of these songs or so called artitsts I had to look them up. If I was ever a Boy Scout, I would say on "Scout's honor," so you'll just have to trust me) begins. The two older girls are singing at the top of their lungs and doing some sort of dance routine. Annie asked what dance they are doing and they said it is from the music video. Thank God we never saw that! And since the older girls are singing and dancing, Annie and Kelly think they should be signing and dancing, too. Brigid is out of it since she just woke up from a nap and is fighting off strep throat. So unfortunately I am rudely pulled from my happy spot and into the car with basically a full on "tweener" dance party happening. I kid you not when we were stopped at lights the whole van was shaking. I did not know whether to laugh or cry knowing that I would have basically another decade of this type of behavior!
Now, me being one not to back down from a challenge, especially from kids - whether it is an actual challenege or one I make up myself- I tried to redirect this energy. The best way I know how is to ask questions. Best thing about being a former salesperson is that you are use to asking lots of questions. I now implement his technique with my daughter's friends to find out as much information about them, and their parents, as possible. If you find the right kid that loves to talk you can find out a lot of information. However, a snag has a risen with my new strategy. While the older girls are polite and answer my questions they seem undeterred from their signing and dancing and do not provide as much detail information as usual. Does this talking and no filter on kids begin to end when they hit double digits?
As I am trying to regroup and come up with more probing questions, #Justin Bieber's song "As Long as You Love Me" begins. Now even the old reliable Radio Disney is failing me. Usually they are good for one song every ten minutes and endless commercials, but not today. They have actually played two songs right in a row. I have never had to attend a Bieber concert, and hope I never will, but if what was happening in my car with two 11 year olds, a 9 year old and a 6 year old is any indication of what a concert may be like, I am already thinking of what potential illnesses to fake. It was horrifying, from a father's point of view. The signing of lyrics, which are beyond awful, and the dancing and pure excitement was overwhelming. The car was shaking violentally and I know other people on their commutes were looking at the blue Honda Odyssey and wondering what was going on. I just pulled my hat down further over my eyes.
Finally #BeiberFever ended and Radio Disney went to commercial. I quickly tried to find anything else on the radio. I was able to put on #DMB "Ants Marching," but it was ending. The older girls said they had heard of DMB, but not sure. I then found Steve Miller "Take the Money and Run" and we listened to that for a bit. They thought it was a country song, but also thought it was ok to dance to. However, they quickly had enough of me trying to have them listen to my music and asked for Radio Disney back on the dial. The next song was Miley Cyrus' "The Climb." Not a terrible song, since I have had to listen to it several times, and even the wifey likes it. Decent message in the lyrics, too. But it was soon drowned out by more loud singing from the back. The only thing that ended this music nightmare was when all the girls at once tried to hit Miley's high note and the three year old started to cry. I tried to reassure the girls that she was sick and tired and it was not their fault, but I also was secretly loving that Brigid was in an particularly strong three-year-old whiny mood right then.
As usual my observations are only from being a dad of all females. Does this type of behaviour happen in a car full of boys? Or have I brought this on myself by not insisting we listen to better music in the car? I have to believe my thoughts and feelings of this event would have been better if they were enjoying U2 or DMB, or the Beatles, etc. Am I doomed to these types of car rides for the next decade until Brigid is in her teens? Does my power of inquisitive questioning of my daughters' friends end? Will the only rocking my van now endures come from girls signing and dancing to RadioDisney music?
The move to the South has gone as smoothly as it could have possibly gone. The move into this next stage of my daughters' social lives ... that remains to be seen!
"Carpool" is huge here in Atlanta. We were not even in our new house a week and we were carpooling for kids before we even met their parents. It started with Annie and her lacrosse team. We were lucky enough to find a great LAX program down here. However, it was for older girls, but since Annie had a couple of years of experience they said she could play. So now we get to drive a couple of 11 year old girls to practice once a week. They are very sweet girls, but they are 11 going on 22. I am still struggling with Annie turning 9 in a couple of months. And for those of you that know Annie, she loves older kids so she is trying to be very mature and "cool" in the van with the older girls.
We were driving to practicetoday, and as usual I put on #RadioDisney for the ride. My wife and friends ask how I listen to that station. Normally, when I am in the car with my three girls it is no problem. They just listen quietly and I am able to zone out and find my happy, peaceful spot (usually the back nine of a great golf course). However, I quickly realize this ride is going to be very different. No sooner are we out of the neighborhood then "TTYLXOX" by #Bella Thorne (I did not know any of these songs or so called artitsts I had to look them up. If I was ever a Boy Scout, I would say on "Scout's honor," so you'll just have to trust me) begins. The two older girls are singing at the top of their lungs and doing some sort of dance routine. Annie asked what dance they are doing and they said it is from the music video. Thank God we never saw that! And since the older girls are singing and dancing, Annie and Kelly think they should be signing and dancing, too. Brigid is out of it since she just woke up from a nap and is fighting off strep throat. So unfortunately I am rudely pulled from my happy spot and into the car with basically a full on "tweener" dance party happening. I kid you not when we were stopped at lights the whole van was shaking. I did not know whether to laugh or cry knowing that I would have basically another decade of this type of behavior!
Now, me being one not to back down from a challenge, especially from kids - whether it is an actual challenege or one I make up myself- I tried to redirect this energy. The best way I know how is to ask questions. Best thing about being a former salesperson is that you are use to asking lots of questions. I now implement his technique with my daughter's friends to find out as much information about them, and their parents, as possible. If you find the right kid that loves to talk you can find out a lot of information. However, a snag has a risen with my new strategy. While the older girls are polite and answer my questions they seem undeterred from their signing and dancing and do not provide as much detail information as usual. Does this talking and no filter on kids begin to end when they hit double digits?
As I am trying to regroup and come up with more probing questions, #Justin Bieber's song "As Long as You Love Me" begins. Now even the old reliable Radio Disney is failing me. Usually they are good for one song every ten minutes and endless commercials, but not today. They have actually played two songs right in a row. I have never had to attend a Bieber concert, and hope I never will, but if what was happening in my car with two 11 year olds, a 9 year old and a 6 year old is any indication of what a concert may be like, I am already thinking of what potential illnesses to fake. It was horrifying, from a father's point of view. The signing of lyrics, which are beyond awful, and the dancing and pure excitement was overwhelming. The car was shaking violentally and I know other people on their commutes were looking at the blue Honda Odyssey and wondering what was going on. I just pulled my hat down further over my eyes.
Finally #BeiberFever ended and Radio Disney went to commercial. I quickly tried to find anything else on the radio. I was able to put on #DMB "Ants Marching," but it was ending. The older girls said they had heard of DMB, but not sure. I then found Steve Miller "Take the Money and Run" and we listened to that for a bit. They thought it was a country song, but also thought it was ok to dance to. However, they quickly had enough of me trying to have them listen to my music and asked for Radio Disney back on the dial. The next song was Miley Cyrus' "The Climb." Not a terrible song, since I have had to listen to it several times, and even the wifey likes it. Decent message in the lyrics, too. But it was soon drowned out by more loud singing from the back. The only thing that ended this music nightmare was when all the girls at once tried to hit Miley's high note and the three year old started to cry. I tried to reassure the girls that she was sick and tired and it was not their fault, but I also was secretly loving that Brigid was in an particularly strong three-year-old whiny mood right then.
As usual my observations are only from being a dad of all females. Does this type of behaviour happen in a car full of boys? Or have I brought this on myself by not insisting we listen to better music in the car? I have to believe my thoughts and feelings of this event would have been better if they were enjoying U2 or DMB, or the Beatles, etc. Am I doomed to these types of car rides for the next decade until Brigid is in her teens? Does my power of inquisitive questioning of my daughters' friends end? Will the only rocking my van now endures come from girls signing and dancing to RadioDisney music?
The move to the South has gone as smoothly as it could have possibly gone. The move into this next stage of my daughters' social lives ... that remains to be seen!
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