Category Archives: Parenting

She had been waiting 10 years for this very moment

Truth be told, back when Dawn and I met I was not the biggest Depeche Mode fan. They have always been her favorite, longer than I’ve know her for sure, which, is definitely saying something considering I have the privilege of being able to say we have been together for more than half our lives. Over time, she turned me in to a fan and I have been to a number of their shows with her. One of their songs had a significant role in our wedding. Dawn and I welcomed an amazing little boy into our lives just over 10 years ago. In a wonderful gesture by a life-long friend, the first music our son heard on his way home from the hospital was Depeche Mode.

In summary, they have been a very welcome part of our relationship for as long as it has existed.

Dawn and I have been to tons of concerts over the years. It was something we enjoyed throughout our lives, growing up together, moving between the phases of our relationship from boyfriend/girlfriend to husband/wife to mom/dad of our little man. She has always had her favorites and I mine, but for most of them we have shared the experience.

And then there is this weekend.

You see, ever since becoming a Momma she has wanted to be able to take the little man to see Depeche Mode. On Saturday, September 28th 2013 we realized that dream. And I’ll tell you this… it is now the most memorable, significant concert moment I’ve ever been witness to. Being able to see the love of my life overcome with an absolute, pure joy, well, there are just no words for things like that.

I will tell you this though, I haven’t felt so alive, in years…..

Tucking in meditation

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Last night, I did my normal routine of tucking the big man in to bed then going into the office for my nightly meditation. I started and I believe about 10 minutes had gone by before I heard

Dad, are you already sitting?

Yes.

Can you come in here?

Sure.

So I go into his room and he asks if I can sit with him for a couple minutes. I always enjoy this. The way I saw it, I didn’t have to end my meditation, this was just an extension of it.

I kneeled down next to his bed and placed my hand on his head as I usually have when I get to do this. Instead of just my own breath to concentrate on, I also had his. I noticed the minute he fell asleep (his breathing makes an ever so slight change, I noticed that years ago), and figured I was done meditating for the night as well.

Parents, if you have the opportunity, I highly recommend a “tucking in” meditation session every once in a while.

Minecraft

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The big man has been into Minecraft for a while now. He connects to multiple different servers across the world, including one run by an old friend. Just about every one of his friends plays Minecraft, he even has a meetup with a bunch of his buddies from Hacker Scouts once a month. He has a ‘Steve’ head, which is a cardboard box that is shaped like the main character, a foam pickaxe, and about a billion Minecraft t-shirts. We’ll just say Minecraft runs a close second to Mario and Luigi.

I rarely have time to play video games even though I really enjoy them, so I had always held back on getting myself an account. A few weeks ago that changed and I finally went ahead and bought an account. (a funny thing is, another good friend of mine told me yesterday that he’s done the same thing)

The big man and I have been really enjoying it. We rarely connect to anything besides the ‘LAN world’ we created here at home, but, that is perfect. He and I have been creating a world with buildings, a castle, a mansion, a swimming pool, cave, and even a roller coaster! Just he and I.

Today while I was clearing out a cave near our swimming pool, he built a bunch of furniture in our mansion. Check out his DJ booth: (if it doesn’t load, refresh the page, Vine is wonky from time to time)

I have really been enjoying our time playing. We work together to build our own little world. Any other moms or dads out there play? Would love to hear about your experiences as well.

laundry and suffering

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The big man and I were cleaning his clothes out yesterday and once we removed everything he had outgrow, decided it would be good to wash all his t-shirts. He had so many in his drawer that it was overflowing (and a side effect of the overflow was wrinkles). He’s been very helpful with folding, but this time he decided to sit on the couch and whine a little when I said it was time to help.

I took that opportunity to talk to him about his reaction and suffering.

“You know, how you react to this task is only affecting you”

“I don’t want to fold”

“It’s not my favorite thing to do either, but, how I react to it directly relates to whether it is hard to get through, or easy. You see, if there is something I don’t particularly enjoy doing, I can make a choice; do I decide ‘this is horrible, I hate this’, or, ‘this isn’t my favorite thing to do, but I can get through it pretty quick so no big deal’. If I choose the first reaction, I suffer. However, if I choose the second, I don’t, and I also usually get through the task much quicker. Which do you think would be the better decision?”

“Saying it’s no big deal.”

“Yep. Do you know where I learned that?”

“Your Dad?”

“Great guess, but actually, it was <I point my eyes up and to the left, towards our Buddha that sits in the front room>”

“From Buddha. <as he smiles>”

“Yep. That is one of the most basic, yet, most important teachings. It is also why I sit every night. So the mind I have when I sit, can be the mind I have when I work on a task that I don’t particularly care for.”

“<he smiles some more> OK”

And you know, we got through folding that laundry basket full of his t-shirts pretty quickly.

Comic Con 2013

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We are back from Comic Con and rested up! What a great time we had. Here are a few highlights:

Thursday

Our drive down to San Diego. Overall, we made pretty good time and we were excited to be on our way down there.

Then we RAN to the Nintendo Lounge so a very special little boy would get to see what he had been waiting for.

Then we walked over to the Vikings area so Ian and I could go raid a village with shield maidens by our side! SKOL!!!!!

Then walked over to the Sega Arcade to play more games before heading to the hotel to rest up for a few days of adventure.

Link to my gallery of Thursday pics on Google+

Friday

Dawn has this amazing ability to function on little to no sleep, and when Comic Con comes around, she is always on a mission! This years mission was The Walking Dead panel. She was in line for Hall H by 4AM. (Yes, Hall H is officially that ridiculous at this point.) Ian and I met up with her early in the morning as well to get our badges and make sure we were there for the panel too.

‘The World’s End’ panel with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright. The movie looks hilarious, cannot wait to see it.

‘The Walking Dead’ panel!!!! Along with hearing from the majority of the cast, we saw scenes from the next season. Bring on the zombies!

Next up, ‘Vikings’ panel!!! The cast were great to see in person, and seemed to have great chemistry with one another. They showed footage from Season 2 and I think my jaw stayed open for a few minutes afterwards. Huge huge huge season to look forward to! After the panel, we raced outside to try and meet them as they left, and we were in luck! We met Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha), Travis Fimmel (Ragnar), and Clive Standen (Rollo)!

One of the highlights of my Comic Con experience this year was meeting Katheryn Winnick. Not only did I get a picture with her, but I was also able to tell her thank you for portraying such a strong female character on the show. She seemed truly appreciative of the comment. (We need more of this!)

Dawn and I both got our picture with Travis Fimmel. A friend of mine commented that he and I could be brothers; I’ll take it! haha.

And finally, I was lucky enough to also meet Clive Standen! He really seemed like he was having a great time at Con meeting the massive amounts of fans that came out to support their work and the show.

I recorded the cast introduction:

and the entire panel (without footage, since that isn’t legal):

Link to my gallery of Friday pics on Google+

Saturday

Dawn went off to a few TV show panels, while Ian and I headed over to the Nintendo lounge. He loves it there!

The happy guy playing the new Mario game for about the 400th time. haha.

The big man with his friend Prill from Nintendo. She is very nice and remembers him at every event!

Even the photographer working for Nintendo commented that this was the best picture he’d seen all weekend! I have to agree, our little Viking rocks.

Then we went out to the exhibit hall again for a while. Had to get a picture of this; Minecraft + Lego + Ian = awesome.

Great costume from Popcap promoting their new Plants vs Zombies 2 game.

Dawn and I waiting in line for Hall H again. Tried to get in for the Thor panel. Unfortunately, we didn’t get in.

Amazing special effects makeup on display!

And finally, an extremely impressive Lego ‘The Hobbit’ display.

Link to my gallery of Saturday pics on Google+

Sunday

Walked around the exhibit hall and saw more great cosplay!

Killed a couple of zombies at The Walking Dead booth.

Then we met up with a couple of Ian’s buddies.

Next, it was off to the SpongeBob panel. During a sing-along, one of the people from Nickelodeon approached me and asked if I would be captain for Team Patrick. I had no idea what this meant, but of course I said yes. Later found out what it meant – getting up in front of the entire ballroom with Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick Star) and Tom Kenny (SpongeBob) to dance!! What the heck,,, when in Rome, right?!! Ian wouldn’t come up with me, but his buddy Corbin did and we made a great team. About half way through I look over and Dawn is in tears she’s laughing so hard! Ian said I was really goofy. Mission accomplished. After I asked Bill Fagerbakke to take a picture and later realized (when I actually looked at the picture on the phone) that Tom Kenny photo-bombed us!! How many chances do you get to say you were taking a picture with Patrick and SpongeBob photo-bombed you????!!!! After the panel we even got to talk to them again for more pictures and they signed shirts for us. Definitely another major highlight of Comic Con this year. (We have video of the dancing, will post it as soon as we can)

Next, it was back out to the exhibit hall. We even got to sit on the Star Trek Bridge.

Finally done, and extremely tired….

Link to my gallery of Sunday pics on Google+

That afternoon you dye your 9 yr old’s hair green

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Yesterday afternoon Dawn and I had fun dyeing the big man’s hair. She’s been asking him for a while and he finally decided it would be fun.

Heading to the store to pick up some Manic Panic

Applying the awesome

Looks green to me!

We also dyed momma's hair (not green though)

He looks awesome

Had a great time and I think he looks really cool.

Minimal Advent Calendar

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Recently, I found a link on swissmiss that really caught my eye; a minimal advent calendar. Dawn loves Christmas time, and I thought this would be a great idea to give her. Though I would have liked to support the artist who had the idea, I didn’t really have time to order it and wait for it to ship from Germany. Hopefully I can support them through a different purchase for someone at a later date. Plus, I am lucky; my friend Mike M. at work is a fantastic woodworker!

I showed Mike the item and told him my idea, and he said he’d be able to do it in no time. He’s a good guy and wouldn’t take money for it, so, I do owe him lunch. (thanks again Mike!!)

What I really loved about this, besides the minimal aspect of the item, was that Ian and I could write personal notes to Dawn for each day. Here is the little man crafting his priceless notes to momma. I love what he wrote for her.

We each crafted notes; things we could do for her, personal notes, and shared memories. I know I enjoyed writing the notes, and I could tell the little man did as well. He can be so creative.

The advent calendar, full of notes.

Then, we made her sit at the table so he could place it in front of her while she had her eyes closed. He, of course, had the notes in a very specific order; planning exact days he wanted her to open specific ones he’d written.

I think she enjoyed her surprise, and will be able to enjoy it all month.

Picture from ComicCon

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July 22, 2011 - San Diego, California, U.S. - Dressed as ''The Mario Brothers,'' Kris Freedain, of Laguna Niguel, enjoys a moment with Ian Freedain, 7, while taking a break from Comic-Con International 2011 at San Diego Convention Center on Fri., July 22, 2011, in San Diego. Over 100,000 people are July 22, 2011 – San Diego, California, U.S. – Dressed as ”The Mario Brothers,” Kris Freedain, of Laguna Niguel, enjoys a moment with Ian Freedain, 7, while taking a break from Comic-Con International 2011 at San Diego Convention Center on Fri., July 22, 2011, in San Diego. Over 100,000 people are – Alamy Stock Images at Dijitalimaj.

I don’t actually remember seeing this back then, but what a fun time we all had. Also, looks like this is a ‘stock image’ site; weird.

Guys night out with my best buddy

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Momma had ladies night out with a few friends last night, so Ian and I went and had some fun at Boomers.

First up, a round of mini-golf. We both got a hole-in-one on the 12th hole!

Next was a race on the cart track. Definitely favorite part of the evening with Ian screaming “this is like real life Mario Kart!!!” as we raced around the track. Even with another car tailing us, we came in first place. Even lapped two other single drivers.

After that, dinner. No comment on the food, but good conversation.

Lastly we finished the night with video games (of course).

Fun times!

Equanimity

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Sitting at the park today while the little man plays with a couple of kids he just met. I’ve always found it completely wonderful how children have this ability. At the same time, I can’t help but be baffled by how as adults, more often than not it seems, we somehow lose this ability. There is an old saying that goes something like ‘put kids in a sandbox and they’ll play together regardless of race, gender, religion, or anything. It’s not until outside influences come in do they begin to care or see differences.’

Our children can re-teach us a lot about equanimity.