Teeth

Teeth. Sigh. Is there anything more tedious than brushing them, flossing them, buffing them, glossing them? (Sorry, I got possessed by the spirit of Dr Seuss for a moment there…)

But ya gotta do it. I am the unproud bearer of yellow ones because I didn’t look after them as a teenager. I am missing a few due to decay and have fillings in others. So as I raise my boys, it’s important to me to have them eat right and look after their teeth.

But important to me and important to them are two different things. I don’t know whether I’ve talked about the difference between my 2 boys; I often sing the theme from the Odd Couple as they pass by.

Oldest Son is kinda like Felix, but with a surfer hair style and much better dress sense. And youngest son is of course Oscar the slob. Oh, he doesn’t mean to be, but neat hair, unstained clothes and having space to walk across the bedroom floor just aren’t priorities when there are so many other things to focus on, like daydreaming, daydreaming and his favorite passtime daydreaming.

So guess which one has trouble with his teeth? Yep: Oscar. Sigh. But sometimes the more you push, or manipluate or trick the kids with fancy psychology, the more they just resist. The tooth debate is in recess at the moment at my house (during which he’ll probably surprise me and get out the electric toothbrush to start buffing…)

Today I came across some helpful material on the Raising Children Network here in Oz. The first item I’ll link to is a video about eating habits and tooth care which features a nice cameo from Russell Crowe. (What a great voice!). The second is an article about School-age dental care. Both have links off to other topics in the series.

WARNING DAD JOKE: So don’t give your kids’ dental health the brushoff; go check out these links.

Pacify Me!

I do read parenting books, but usually they’re as tough to get through as my ex-pastor’s sermons. (And the boring or just plain unhelpful ones are not the ones I tend to review here.)

Not this one. Comedian Chris Mancini has pulled off an eminently readable tome on being a New Dad written in the conversational style of the guy who feels your pain, your bewilderment and your stress, rather than the guy with all the answers.

Why read it then, if he gives no answers? Well, it’s not that he doesn’t bury nuggets of valuable advice and information throughout the book. There’s actually quite a lot of them (and Chris seems quite surprised at times to find himself coming up with them!). It’s more that Chris seems to set out to normalize the anxiety and pressures that befall a guy from the moment his partner first says “I’m pregnant”. (Actually, he starts earlier than that, but I’ll let him tell that story).

He almost lost me on page 3 when he dissed life coaches, but I’m bigger than that.

What follows is my 8 point summary of the book from where I sit. I do need to mention (because I’m aware that my readers come from varied faith and cultural backgrounds), if you can’t look past plenty of sexual references and coarse language, you won’t enjoy it. Anyway, here’s the summary:

1. Chris makes the point it’s normal to be freaked out (hey that’s the title of my blog!). In fact I think this is possibly the most valuable aspect of Pacify Me, apart form the laughs: normalizing the feelings many men experience regarding new baby. His reasons for those feelings include the feeling of powerlessness, which is something us males don’t do well…
2. Loved Dante’s 9 Infernal Circles of Babies ‘R’ Us…
3. The battle over having or not having the mother-in-law present for the birth. Well fought, valiant Chris.
4. The chapter on crying (the baby’s not Chris’) is one of the best summaries on causes/options that I’ve seen. What some books might spend 20 or 40 pages to cover, Chris nails in 5.
5. I enjoyed the constant pop culture references: Python, Star Wars, Dr Seuss. These make much more sense to me than references to the latest academic study in … whatever.
6. The trials and tribulations of finding a good daycare.
7. I also liked Chris’ authentic and growing relationship with his daughter.
8. Finally, men, you can read the back half of Chris’ book and feel like you know what you’re talking about when your wife or the mother-in-law wants to discuss (for example) what the baby should be fed as it grows older. I like knowing what I’m talking about (or at least sounding like I do).

 A good read that will help New Dads keep perspective and maintain a shred of sanity.

They’re Back!

Yes the Aldins have returned from the warmth of Queensland’s Gold Coast to the chill of Melbourne. Many thanks to our housesitter Teaghs who not only looked after the dog-monkey, but MADE OUR BED WITH FRESH SHEETS for our arrival home. So nice to have a maid…

Here’s a few happy snaps and some thoughts to follow. Will also bore you with shots from wifey’s cell phone once I get it hooked up to the PC…

 

 

 

Youngest Son riding the waves…

 

 

 

Youngest Son with the one that got away…

 

 

 

 

 

The view from out of our apartment living room window.

 

 

 

 

Ten  Point Summary of holiday:

1. 13 year old males need to either take a friend up with them or be taken out and entertained every second of every day or else their testosterone levels take the fun out of the holiday for everyone else. (Lesson learned for next time)
2. 13 year old males can also be trusted to take their brother for the afternoon around the theme park so Mum and Dad can play on the slides. (That was a GOOD day).
3. Movieworld sucks mainly because they won’t let you take food into the park and you have to pay ridiculous prices for their food.
4. Dreamworld suprised me by having the most (and best) to do of any of the 5 main theme parks up there.
5. My bad back survived the Superman ride, the Tower of Terror (twice), the Motorcoaster and LOTS of waterslides.
6. Ten year old boys are fun to take on holidays because everything’s exciting and fun.
7. On the Gold Coast you get burnt in the morning and tanned in the afternoon. Wierd.
8. Very little customer service exists on the Gold Coast. Don’t expect it and you won’t get annoyed.
9. Fold up magnetic games are a lifesaver on plane trips with kids.
10. Highlight last time was firing 50 rounds with a Glock. This time it was simply sitting on the patio reading a novel and staring at the surf. Must be getting old…