On the first day of preschool

August 30, 2010


Let’s talk about the point when we let go.

No. On second thought. Let’s not. Because this isn’t letting go in the traditional sense.

This is simply me, writing a note to my little girl, sticking it in her backpack and watching as she toddles up the steps to her first day of preschool.

And this is her, at ease and excited, taking in the situation and accepting her role as a child who’s ready to learn. To learn differently, without the eager eyes of her parents looming over; instead, with the freedom of individuality.

And this is us. Realizing that it all moves so fast. That cliches are true. And that while we’re not letting go, we are beginning to ease up on the reins.

That, though she can’t yet read it, she’s been given the go ahead.

“Sierra -
Enjoy this – your first day of school.
You are going to have a great time.
I am already so proud of you.
Love, Daddy.”

I can’t wait to hear how it turns out. Every single day of it. I can’t wait.

And until the end of each of those days, I’ll learn to slowly let go, a little at a time.

Tags: Education, Sierra |

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Puddle jumping

August 23, 2010


It took six inches of rain water, slowly creeping up my pant leg, to put my mind at rest.

More than that, it took the happy shrieks of a puddle-jumping toddler. A preschooler, nearly; her ladybug raincoat dripping with rain, her snow boots soaked.

I viewed the incoming storm as an adult, fighting to keep settled, cycling through grown-up problems – home repair and career jitters and the constant march of time – while Sierra took the rain as a blessing.

Simplicity as dictated by an overeager three-year-old.

She didn’t give a damn about the 9-to-5 or per-square-yard carpet costs. She didn’t realize the rain was pouring down hard enough to give her daddy a stress headache.

She cared that there were puddles. And that she had a reason to put on her raincoat. And that, while only minutes ago she had been sad that the sun had gone away, she now had an opportunity to rid the evening of the weight of adult seriousness.

I was powerless to resist. So I obliged.

Good thing, too. It’s amazing what a little bundle of sunshine can do as it splashes through the rain.

Tags: Sierra |

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D*** it

August 20, 2010


SIERRA: Damn it.
KERRIE: Sierra, little girls shouldn’t say “damn it.”
SIERRA: *beginning to cry* Only mommies and daddies can say “damn it?”
KERRIE: Well, even mommies and daddy’s shouldn’t say it.
…
SIERRA: *holding back tears*
…
SIERRA: So NO ONE can say “damn it?!”

(Great. Go ahead and guess where she learned THAT phrase. One hint: IT WAS ME.

I’m probably too early for the Father of the Year award, right?)

Tags: Sierra |

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A quick note on children’s brands

August 15, 2010


Proper spellings of children’s brands that I’ve encountered today.

Outside of Crayola, I’d have spelled every one of these wrong. The last is the most surprising to me. Not Milton Bradley, which was a staple of my childhood, but MB Games. Flip the box over, and you’ll see a link to Hasbro.com. A quick Wikipedia search confirms that Milton Bradley was taken over by Hasbro.

In 1984.

My peanut butter is in my chocolate and all of that, right?

In other spelling foibles, Fisher-Price has a hyphen. I had no idea. Also, I swore Play-doh was spelled without the “y.” Funny – I’m convinced it’s spelled EVEN MORE wrong than it actually is.

This is all without mentioning the brand-less watercolors I wiped up yesterday.

Tags: Isaac, Sierra, Words |

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Keep it simple, stupid

August 3, 2010


Sierra got a camera for her birthday. A digital one: the VTech Kidizoom Plus. It takes real pictures and everything. She was excited. I was excited. We were all excited to get it going.

But it wasn’t the easiest thing to figure out. Part of that is because, in essence, Sierra also got the following for her birthday:
• A photo editor
• A game system
• A framing kit
• A slide show
• A movie camera

All in the same package.

Sierra is a three-year old girl. She likes to take pictures with her camera – not play games, not film movies, not put wacky frames on wacky shots. To her, this is merely a camera. To me, it’s a monstrosity in over-indulgence; some “design by committee” product spec that attempted not to make a great product but, in the way committees are wont to do, make a product that tries to appeal to every single demographic available.

Sierra loves her camera, and I think it’s pretty fun. Grandpa Dennis did a great job picking it out. We’ve already started a Flickr page with Sierra’s pictures. (They are fantastic, by the way, if you like blurry, off centered pictures of her family and the backs of their legs.)

But the insistence of modern manufacturing to pile on the features and added benefits – often to the detriment of the original reason for purchasing the product – is frustrating and, dare I say, ugly.

Kids want cameras to take pictures. They will be happy with a simple camera that takes good pictures and – here’s the kicker! – is easy to use.

That means no extra features to bog down the button landscape. Just a few buttons to work the camera, like the old Holga models.

Do people really want all the things on this camera? Or are they simply a way to create false competitive advantages in a crowded toy marketplace – competitive advantages that are then one upped by the competitors, which are then one upped by the original product, which continue ad nauseum until soon there isn’t enough room on the package to explain what the damned thing does.

Here’s the thing: it’s a toy. For a kid. Yet, it’s become so complicated that even I had a hard time working it.

Did we forget about the simple rules of making toys? Rule Number Two: TOYS ARE FOR KIDS.

It’s all I ask. Simplicity. Better design. Something Sierra will be happy with. Something she’ll have no problem grasping and understanding. Something we all can be proud to purchase.

And, thanks but no thanks, we’re okay without the wacky hat slide show.

Tags: Annoyances, Photography, Sierra |

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Stalling

July 21, 2010


SIERRA (In bed): *crying*
COREY: What’s wrong, Sierra?
SIERRA: THERE WAS A BUG … IN MY BED … there’s no bug.
…
SIERRA: There’s no bug. But … But I have four bug bites.
…
SIERRA: Daddy, I have four bug bites.
COREY: I know, Sierra.
SIERRA: I have four bug bites.
…
SIERRA: Daddy, I am a kitty.

Tags: Sierra |

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Persistence

July 21, 2010


SIERRA (pointing at picture in Ladybug Girl): Mommy, what is her?
KERRIE: She.
SIERRA: Mommy, what is she?
KERRIE: She’s wearing a dress.
SIERRA (pointing at same picture): What is SHE?
KERRIE: She’s wearing a dress.
SIERRA (unsatisfied): What is SHE?!
KERRIE: She’s wearing a dress. Like a princess.
SIERRA: WHAT IS SHE?
KERRIE: SHE’S LIKE A 70s MODEL.
..
SIERRA: Oh.
…
SIERRA (pointing at the next picture): Mommy, what is she?

Tags: Books, Sierra |

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