Not Just Another Dad

RARE! Thanksgiving Day Sale at Lucky Brand Jeans!

Posted by David - November 25th, 2009

Hey NJAD readers! I wouldn’t normally create a post just to sell something, but this is an uncommon day for discounts. Aside from all the other Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers I will feature on my blog this weekend, Lucky Brand Jeans is offering 30% off their products ON THANKSGIVING DAY! The sale does exclude sale, clearance, and gift cards, but they still have lots of great stuff to offer for gifts, or yourself. Just click the link below.

30% Off Thanksgiving Day Only at Lucky Brand (excludes Gift Cards, Sale & Clearance).

I also wouldn’t promote something that I didn’t use and enjoy myself. Lucky Jeans are possibly the most comfortable jeans I have ever worn…and I wear jeans a lot (even to the occasional wedding). They also have some pretty funky stuff for the kids, like this pair of pants my son rocked on his 1st birthday…

Xavier wearing Lucky Brand pants on his 1st birthday

Happy Thanksgiving!

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I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Big Trains 2

Posted by David - November 24th, 2009

Being a Gemini in almost every way, there are loads of subjects that interest me, if only in the most superficial way. Those of us born under the astrological sign of Gemini, if you even casually “believe” in such things, are known to be great communicators with a quick wit, inquisitive about many things, but lacking the patience to stay interested in any subject long enough to master even one. That describes me to a tee, and has helped me in such pursuits as trivia (catch that?) and conversation, but alas, not in any monetary way. I enjoy topics ranging from sports to history, politics to movies, and cars to conservation. One topic, however, has never grabbed my attention…not even for a moment, until now. That topic is trains.

Listen, I’m not saying that I have been completely unaware of trains. I have utilized trains quite a bit in my life as a means of transportation, and even rather enjoyed riding the train during my childhood. What I mean is that trains never intrigued me enough to watch them, learn about them, collect them, or play with toy versions of them. I do remember a friend of mine who had an electric train that I played with once or twice, but watching a miniature sized freight train run around a six foot oval track was far from what I considered fun. Seeing freight trains live meant only one thing to me, a long boring delay in an otherwise efficient trip to wherever it was we were headed.

Now, flash to the present. We live in a neighborhood that is positively littered with trains. From our balcony you can watch Chicago’s Metra commuter trains arriving and departing from Ogilvie Transportation Center (formerly the Northwestern Train Station). Not even 1/2 block to our south is the CTA elevated line carrying the Green and Pink lines servicing Chicago’s West Side nearly 24 hours a day. Within two blocks to our north both the aforementioned Metra trains and the occasional Amtrak train pass over the grade crossings at both Clinton Street and Canal Street on their way into Union Station. Those same trains can be viewed from directly overhead as they pass under either Lake Street or Des Plaines Street. As I type this, I am listening to the hum of a Metra engine, bells a dinging, on it’s way into Ogilvie.

Though it can be a bit of a ruckus during both the morning and the afternoon rush, it very quickly becomes part of the ambient noise, and is easily ignored…if you are so inclined, of course. My son, Xavier became enamored with trains even before he was mobile. Early on, he was particularly fond of the CTA, which we actually ride far more often than we do the Metra. He smiled as the trains clattered by overhead, and he laughed as they pulled in and out of the stations at which we waited. In fact, one of the first phrases he ever uttered was “Up-Up” referring to the “El” train loudly passing overhead on Lake St.

Riding on the CTA El train

As he learned to walk, the city opened a new park and playground north of us on the corner of Kinzie and Jefferson. This was shortly after his first birthday, and required a walk across the grade crossing on Clinton St., which typically resulted in a mandatory wait of at least 15-20 minutes to watch a handful of Metra trains roll by at eye level. Xavier’s love of trains was growing, and he was not alone. As we got to know several of the other parents in the neighborhood, it became apparent that this love of the rails was at least in large part a factor of proximity. Without exception, every child (boys and girls) growing up in this area of the West Loop loves to watch the trains go by, though some obsess a bit more than others.

Sensing the interest, Kerry was the first of the parental team to enter the realm of Thomas the Tank Engine, and she jumped right in with both feet. Xavier’s first gift, for no special occasion whatsoever, was the Pirate’s Cove set which included track, a couple of bridges and tunnels (one referred to as Skull Mountain), Thomas, Salty, and a cargo car. The cost for this “little gift” was…wait for it…$150! He loved it, and still plays with it every day almost two years later. Many other engines and vehicles followed including four trains from a company called Whittle Trains that are exact wooden replicas of an Amtrak Engine, Amtrak Superliner Coach Car, Metra Passenger Car, and CTA Passenger Car. On any significant trip from home, Xavier must be accompanied by at least one, and usually several of his trains.

The wooden Thomas trains are relatively expensive, but have a certain handcrafted and traditional feel to them. I think these wooden toys create a sense of nostalgia in this final generation of parents who grew up playing with toys that were considered “high-tech” if they ran on batteries. With an entire community of characters to select from and collect, it also plays upon my inner urge to collect them all. In the past this urge has manifested in collections of baseball cards, G.I. Joe figures, coins, matchbooks, shot glasses, and photos of state capitol buildings. Good for Xavier, and bad for my wallet. The characters all originate in the other, and in my opinion, more evil side of Thomas…the television episodes, all of which are available on DVD. Each episode runs about 8 minutes, and having been created by a Reverend, would teach some sort of good moral lesson, or so we believed.

Xavier watching the South Shore Metra trains come in under Jackson St.

I was the one who first introduced the DVDs to the house, so shame on me. Again, Xavier loved them, and for a time, wanted to watch them over anything else available on the television. I brought the first ones home as a surprise when he was probably about 18 months old. The three of us sat down together to watch the first episode without a worry at all. He had already seen Thomas on T.V. a couple of times and enjoyed it, so what could go wrong? In the first episode, “Percy’s Chocolate Crunch”, Xavier’s second favorite engine, Percy, in the course of trying to stay clean by delivering sugar to the chocolate factory, slides on an oily track and crashes rather violently through the entire length of the factory, finally exiting hard through the back wall covered in chocolate. Harmless fantasy to older children and adults, sure, but Xavier was stunned, and seeing the tears welling up, I quickly skipped to the next episode, the name of which escapes me. In this episode, Gordon, the biggest and fastest engine on the Island of Sodor, decides he is too fast too obey a slow caution sign on some old tracks, and before we knew it, he had derailed and crashed through the countryside coming to a stop only after plowing through a barn and throwing his driver and fireman into a pile of dirt. This time we were too late, and Xavier melted down. Though it only took a few minutes to calm him, we went ahead and previewed the other episodes before allowing him to watch them. During our previews we even caught the trains calling each other “stupid” and telling each other to “shut up”. Reverend indeed!

Xavier decked out in his Thomas Gear for "A Day Out With Thomas"

Fortunately, Xavier has grown tired of the Thomas shows, but has replaced them with more desire than ever to see the trains in person down at the grade crossing. We oblige at least a couple of times per day, and he comes home extra happy if he is lucky enough to see an Amtrak being pulled by the efficient GE Genesis Engine and pushed by an Amtrak Cascades Engine. He will even sit down quietly on the floor and page through the free Amtrak catalog showing all the various lines and trips one can take aboard the rails of Amtrak. We are seriously contemplating a long trip on either Amtrak’s Empire Builder or California Zephyr once Hayden is old enough to appreciate it.

Now, as if nurture isn’t a powerful force in child development, Hayden at only seven months old is beginning to take a shine to the big engines as they roll by. Her favorite toys of Xavier’s to swipe as she “army crawls” the living room are his Thomas trains and track. The good news is that if she does somehow end up loving Thomas as well, we already have such a large collection that sharing will be a piece of cake.

As for me, I still don’t understand the obsession, but have certainly learned a lot more about it. I now know the actual manufacturers and models of the various engines used by Metra to power their trains, and Xavier and I have even been introduced to one in particular that the Metra staff refers to as “Stinky Vern”. I have a pretty good handle on when all the different trains depart from Ogilvie Transportation Center as we frequently skip the grade crossing and walk the three blocks to the station itself where we can watch the trains arrive and depart right at the source. I am now familiar with the term “Railfan” and the community to which that name belongs. I know of locomotives with such colorful names as The Blue Goose, The Commodore Vanderbilt, The Mighty Hudson, and the Southern Pacific Daylight Express. I have even filmed some Metra and Amtrak trains during our excursions and posted them to YouTube where I have several hundred views and a handful of comments. Despite all that, I still don’t feel the love, but so long as Xavier and Hayden enjoy the trains, by god, I will do my best to pretend.

Be Well!

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This Dad’s Blog Has A New Address!

Posted by David - November 19th, 2009

To all of you readers of Just Another Dad, we have moved! Finally sold the condo?! I wish that were the case, but in actuality, only the blog has moved. What once was justanotherdad.wordpress.com is now http://notjustanotherdad.com. If you enter the old domain, you will still get to the new site, but if you have bookmarked the site, please take a second to update the link with the new URL.

You will quickly notice that the look and feel of the site has changed as well. I would love your feedback on this as it can be easily changed again. I chose it because it conveys a sense of adventure that suggests stories from books my own Dad would read to me as a child.

As always, please take note of the affiliate partnerships I have established in the right column, and take a moment to click through and browse their sites, buying at will.

Thanks so much for following along, I hope it continues to be as much fun to read and contribute as it has been for me to write.

Be Well!

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Pediatrician's Advice About H1N1 – Follow-up

Posted by David - November 18th, 2009

Several weeks ago, I posted a letter from our pediatric office regarding the H1N1 virus, the hysteria surrounding it, and some advice about the vaccine. It got a lot of hits, so I thought I would post the follow-up letter that we received about a week and a half ago for your perusal. Hopefully, this will continue to take some of the edge off this relatively mild virus. As with the first time, the italics represent a direct quote from the letter written by Diane Holmes, M.D. and Kenneth Polin, M.D.

We are now into the seventh month of this outbreak, and fortunately, the overall severity of this infection has not increased. The media reports the most severely affected patients without regard to the significant numbers who are not very ill and recover easily. According to Center for Disease Control estimates, almost 6 million individuals have been infected, generating approximately 20,000 hospitalizations. By those statistics, an individual with H1N1 disease has less than a 0.3% chance of even being sick enough to be hospitalized. Please try not to fall prey to the media-based hysteria. They are only giving the part of the story that draws viewers.

As we talk with our pediatrician friends in the area, we are all frustrated both with the lack of vaccine and the limitations of administration. The entire H1N1 vaccine supply in the US is channeled through the federal government and subsequently through state and then local health departments.

Unfortunately, their efficiency is not always up to the standards we would like. With all our staff working as hard as possible and with some of our nurses and doctors putting in extra time to just vaccinate, we have been able to give slightly more than 2,000 doses of the vaccine so far. We understand your frustration if your child is not yet in that group.

Please understand that all pediatric patients are now considered in the priority group for the vaccine. Even if we had enough vaccine for everyone (and we certainly do not) and our personnel did nothing but vaccinate all day, every day, it would still take more than 12 days to give the vaccine to everyone who wants it. We absolutely want to vaccinate as many children as possible, but we need to also continue seeing sick children and give other essential vaccines. One additional avenue to obtain the vaccine for your child is to bring him/her along with your other child’s scheduled visit. We are happy to accommodate you if the proper vaccine is available that day. Just ask the secretary to pull out the charts for the other child(ren), too, when you check in.

Another area of frustration is in trying to make practice adjustments keep in compliance with changing CDC guidelines. This might result in inconsistent information at times being given to you by our staff. We can only continue to try to do our best.

Please know that we take all pediatric illness very seriously. Symptoms of flu (cough, congestion, fever, muscle aches, sore throat) do not routinely need to be seen in the office or the Emergency Department. If at any point, however, you have concerns about your child’s illness (especially any fever lasting longer than 72 hours, any breathing compromise, child looking progressively sicker, child unable to drink) you should have your child seen. One frequently asked question is “What is the fever number that we should worry about?” In children over 6 months of age, there is no “worry number.” Always evaluate your child’s situation in context and trust your parental judgement. A child with a 104 fever who is droopy but alert, breathing easily and able to drink is much less concerning than the child whose fever is 101 but is not alert, has respiratory issues, doesn’t have good color or is getting dehydrated.

Many thanks to those of you who have expressed appreciation to our office staff and our nurses recently for all their hard work during this very stressful time. Your kindness and understanding is truly appreciated.

As always, we are trying to be as responsive to your concerns as possible. Together, we will get through this.

Be Well!

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Toe Walker – First Follow-up 1

Posted by David - November 17th, 2009

It has been three weeks since I wrote the article “Toe Walking – Not Just For Ballerinas Anymore” pertaining to toe walking in toddlers. Two office visits and more than 10 hours of exercises later, I thought I’d update you all to our progress, and perhaps get a little more conversation going around this surprisingly common subject.

First, let me say that I really like the doctors we are seeing at Children’s Memorial Hospital. They are knowledgeable, patient, and willing to crawl around on the floor walking like a bear or crab, and rolling large padded columns up and down inclines. They are also expensive, like much of our healthcare in America. Billing at slightly higher than $400 for 30 minutes of thoughtful and targeted exercise is very excessive in my opinion, but I will leave it at that for the healthcare topic. The point is that those weekly visits will not be weekly, but rather bi-weekly or even monthly depending on our feelings about Xavier’s progress. After all, the 30 minute sessions in the office aren’t going to correct the issue, our 30 minutes a day at home will, so other than to officially monitor progress or offer tips and additional exercise ideas, we will save ourselves and the (ahem) insurance company the cost of weekly $400 visits.

Xavier is progressing decently, though slow progress is to be expected. He is physically able to walk with a healthy heel-strike-first gait, a big advantage. His range of motion is normal, so whenever we remind him to “walk on flat feet” he immediately begins walking correctly…for a little while anyway. This is actually one of the more important things we have been advised to do is to constantly observe his walk, and remind him to get off his toes. It is both amusing and annoying to listen to us walk down the street having a normal conversation interrupted every couple of minutes or so with a “FLAT FEET” or “HEELS DOWN” reminder tossed the way of my little man. To his credit, he never complains, and drops his heels down every time, no questions asked.

The other important element of the treatment is the exercise routine. About 30 minutes of each day (not all at one time) we do fun little exercises to strengthen Xavier’s core muscles designed to make it easier and more natural for him to steer his balance back to his heels from his toes. Some of these exercises include:

Duck Walking – Stand with feet close together and bending at the knees, put hands just below each knee. Take small steps across the room or around the playground, quacking like a duck while walking. This is both the toughest exercise, but also might be the most effective according to the therapists. Done correctly, it is very difficult to do this without the body weight being centered over the heels.
Air Kick-Ball – Lay on back and try to grab a ball held above your chest with both feet, or instead of grabbing, just kicking is OK. Try this once yourself and it will be obvious that this is designed to strengthen the abdominal muscles making it easier to keep body weight balanced over the heels. Xavier actually thinks this one is really fun and will interrupt a regular game of kick-ball to do this exercise.
Squat Toy Pick-up – Stand with feet about shoulder-width apart. Keeping heels planted on the floor, squat at the knees and with both hands pick up a toy or small object placed between feet and slightly behind heels. Note that I personally have never been able to squat down with my feet flat on the floor, but can only do so on my toes with heels elevated.
Bear Walk – With feet as flat as possible and bending mostly at the waist (as opposed to the knees) place hands on the floor and walk across the room or around playground.
Crab Walk – Same concept as the Bear Walk, but with stomach and chest facing the sky as opposed to facing the floor.
Push Something Heavy – Push a short and reasonably heavy object along the floor keeping feet as flat as possible, or even better…
Pull Something Heavy – Same as above but pull while walking backward. This almost forces the heels to the floor first.
Superman (or woman) – Have child lay on stomach across your lap with most of upper body hanging over the side of your lap unsupported. Have the child reach for a ball or other object with both hands. The object should be held high and far enough away so that a good stretch up and out is needed to grab the object. This is designed to strengthen the lower back muscles and complements the abdominal core exercise above. The nice thing with this exercise is that you can easily touch the child’s lower back and feel it working.

There are a handful of others we have been given, but these are in the standard rotation. Xavier is showing progress, and will sometimes stand or walk on flat feet without prompting, but still has a long way to go. It is interesting to me how many people either have a child or know a child who has been through this and has had both success and a definite lack of success in correcting it, even with serial bracing. I am very hopeful our little dancer will be fine, but not without significant effort. I wish nothing but the best to anyone else who is working on the same thing, and would love to hear about your experiences as well.

Be Well!

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T.V. Or Not T.V. – That Is The Question 2

Posted by David - November 12th, 2009

I love television! You love television too. C’mon, admit it, even if you think you spend too much time watching T.V., you love it. Television is an incredible invention and tool. It informs, entertains, passes the time, and creates loads of water cooler topics for us all to chat about while we aren’t watching T.V. Now, with the advent of first, cable programming, then satellite television, there are a seemingly endless supply of shows we can watch. Too many, in fact, for a single person to watch all of, so along came Picture-in-Picture, TiVo and DVRs, followed quickly by DVDs of television shows, webcasts, and iPod downloads. We watch comedies, drama, sports, documentaries, reality shows, then shows about reality shows, and awful “celebrity news” programs about the people on the shows about reality shows. Let me just sum this paragraph up by simply stating the following: TMZ? OMG!

I have also loved television for as long as I remember. I have very fond and vivid memories of watching “Sesame Street”, “Electric Company”, and “Zoom” on PBS back when I was four or five years old living on the north side of Chicago. I remember the intro music to the nightly news shows my dad watched religiously (and still does). I can still sing word-for-word the jingles for Empire Carpets, Aronson Furniture, and Townhouse T.V. and Appliances. I remember all those Saturday morning cartoons and watching sitcom after sitcom like “Welcome Back Kotter”, “Barney Miller”, and “Alice” after school every day. In recent years I was truly addicted to several shows including “Lost”, “Survivor”, “The Amazing Race”, and “CSI” (yes, the Vegas one – do the others even deserve the “CSI” name?). Finally, of course, I don’t let a Sunday go by without watching 6+ hours of NFL football, though I do try to get out of the house and be social for those.

Wow, sounds like I must have a rotted brain, obese body, high blood pressure, and a propensity for violent behavior, right? Nope. Aside from being a little softer around the middle, and perhaps a little less sharp than my interestingly television-free college years, I am a pretty healthy, happy, and good natured person with a good head on his shoulders, thank you. Does this mean that too much T.V. is in no way detrimental to human development? No way!

Many studies have been done that effectively demonstrate that excessive television viewing in early childhood leads to a higher risk of all the nastiness I listed above. Just to reinforce, that was obesity, high blood pressure, delayed or reduced capacity to learn reading and writing skills, and aggressive or violent behavior and mannerisms. I guess the key question is what constitutes “too much”? It appears as though the general consensus is that any television is worse than no television, but let’s be honest about the reality of a child growing up in America and never watching any television. From what I have read, it sounds like the scientific suggestion is that 4 hours or more daily is excessive, and progressively less than that is progressively better. So, now you know what to do with your children, just cut back that television time, right? Wrong.

Like almost everything else in life, that is simplifying the issue way too much. Let’s assume that children are going to watch television. In my case, the primary child watching television is my two and a half year old son, Xavier. Xavier likes a handful of television programs, and probably watches too much television. It is frustrating for both my wife and I as we would like to curtail his viewing habits more than we have, but between my money-making efforts and her caring for seven month old Hayden in addition to Xavier, television is a convenient distraction, and allows us to get the necessities done. You might think that makes us bad parents, and you have a right to your opinion, but there is more to it than that.

Here are some of the ways that we try to make the time he spends watching television effective, and hopefully less damaging to his development:

Avoid programming that includes commercials. Fortunately, we get the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and Noggin to complement our PBS channel. I know that Disney and PBS are commercial free, and I believe Noggin is as well. Commercials suck! They are well-produced and have a very definite objective to sell products and/or services to us. The benefit that they entertain us only makes their messages more powerful, and is in no way their primary objective. Children, toddlers in particular, can’t discern between commercials and regular programming, and can often immediately want the things they see on commercials. They can do the same with things they see on television programs, but generally the programs aren’t specifically trying to sell them something, so the impact is perhaps lessened.
Choose programming that encourages the viewers to be interactive, physically active, and thinking. Perhaps “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” isn’t the greatest, but throughout that show, the characters ask questions directly to the “camera” and even pause so the child can respond. Mickey and his pals will also encourage the child to get up off his or her butt and march, dance, skip, and stretch. Other favorites of ours that at least try to be educational include “Word World” and “Sid the Science Kid”. I am not claiming that these shows will turn our young boy into a super-genius (his genes will do that), but they are relatively entertaining even for adults which helps us interact as well and ask him questions about what he watched, what he thought of it, and heap praise on him when he demonstrates having learned something during the show.
Get him actively playing and exploring outside the home for several hours each day, or inside if and outdoor excursion is either unmanageable or unaffordable. We utilize a local playground, the nearby train stations, and our very walkable urban neighborhood. Xavier has had the opportunity to explore some of the greatest museums our country has to offer, including the outstanding Children’s Museum on Navy Pier. FYI, if you live in Chicago, you can go to any local library and check out free passes to most of the city’s museums, pending their availability, of course.
Read to him every night before bed, and randomly throughout the day. During reading, it is important to keep the child engaged by asking questions about the story, what he thinks might happen next, what he would do in that situation, and other questions along those lines. We need to make more time to read to him, and encourage him to “read” alone as well.

With all that said, there are some weak points we need to correct, but struggle to balance. I have mentioned often in the past that Xavier loves trains. It is no surprise he would, they are big powerful machines that are ever present in our neighborhood as we live only blocks away from the two major commuter train stations in Chicago (Union Station and Ogilvie Transportation Center), and steps from the Green/Pink CTA elevated line (the “El”). Along with that love of trains comes a love for train videos and shows. Xavier will watch everything from “Thomas the Tank Engine”, to a DVD series appropriately title “I Love Toy Trains”, and a surprisingly gargantuan assortment of train videos available for viewing on YouTube.

While the train videos seem innocent, they have a few drawbacks that are causing us to become more strict about his time spent viewing them. First, while not commercials, they are selling us something…toy trains, imagine that! I have to admit that I have at times gotten swept into the collectible nature of the Thomas the Tank Engine characters, of which there are many more than you might imagine. We use the wooden variety (they also are available in die cast and a plastic motorized version), which cost anywhere from $10-$30 retail per character. The various buildings and accouterments are even more wallet-thinning ringing in for prices extending well into the $100+ range. Now that he has discovered actual “O” and “HO” scale toy trains I can only imagine how high the prices of his wish lists will climb.

These shows and videos can also be quite violent. Not in the shooting way that cop shows and war movies are, nor in the reality defying catastrophic injury manner of such cartoons as “Bugs Bunny” or “Tom and Jerry” are, but rather in the frequency and seriousness of the train derailments and other disasters that saturate the Thomas series. Even in the “I Love Toy Trains” series which features video of actual toy train layouts in various shops and basements, the “funny” moments involve trains crashing and derailing. I have no doubt in my mind that Xavier’s tendency to involve crashing in all aspects of his play come directly from our decision to introduce him to the “Thomas the Tank Engine” video series. Recently, I have found myself catching him in the midst of reenacting scenes from the videos, stopping him from completing the scene, and explaining that trains crashing is actually very far from funny, and that people get very hurt when train crashes happen (regardless of how incredibly powerful they are to watch).

So, I’m not so much looking for advice as much as sharing our experience with television, and wondering if others would be willing to share their challenges with this battle (and by battle, I men with the ubiquitousness of television more than the battle with the child wanting to watch it). This is something that is very difficult to avoid due to the demands on our time, and can’t be even close to unique to us.

I’d also love to know from the parents out there if and by how much having children has curtailed their own television watching habits. I have significantly reduced mine, and now will not even watch a single episode of a new show knowing my own propensity to becoming “hooked”. I still watch “Heroes”, will not miss “Lost”, and try to keep up with “The Amazing Race”. I still watch a lot of football on Sunday and most Monday Nights. I have lost touch with “How I Met Your Mother”, “Survivor”, and “The Big Bang Theory”. The only other show in the rotation is “The Biggest Loser” which, at two hours per episode is both way too long and easy to cut away from sporadically to get things done. Those people on that show are both inspirational and indicative of the epidemic of obesity in America, and it is something I like to keep up with.

Thank you, and Goodnight.

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The Nomad Dad 4

Posted by David - November 11th, 2009

As I continue my evolution into a self-employed online entrepreneur, I run a never-ending gauntlet of new challenges for which I am just now becoming equipped. Some of these challenges include learning new technological skills, finding capital, hunting for great partners, and continually motivating myself to continue working, bypassing the amazing and grotesque story of the woman on Oprah whose boss’ “pet” chimpanzee mauled her beyond recognition. Alas, while these challenges are difficult hurdles to negotiate, the one for which I was least prepared is trying to work at home.

Working in “a home” is not the issue so much as working in “my current home”. My wife, 2.5 year old son, 7 month old daughter, and I all share a 1,280 square foot, 2 bedroom, authentic brick and timber true loft in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood. If you are not familiar with a true loft, it means that the layout is very open with no doors and walls that do not reach the very high ceilings. We have been trying unsuccessfully to sell our place for about a year now, but the market is tough, and we happen to live in a neighborhood which is developing very quickly, with inventory saturating the market, much of it being sold off on the cheap at developer auctions and such. Our condo is extremely cool, the location is almost unbeatable, and the amenities are more than adequate. It was huge when Kerry and I moved in, and plenty of space even when Xavier came along. Hayden’s arrival earlier this year threw off the “tenant-to-square-foot ratio”, and in preparation for her arrival, we put our place up for sale.

To make a long story short (this isn’t an article intended to sell our condo after all), it still hasn’t sold. In June, I began working from home, and my ability to work in an environment free of not only daily temptations like T.V. and Xbox 360, but also regular interruptions from all three of my roommates has been severely compromised. To be fair, for the first couple of months I was home, my “work” consisted of spending several daytime hours surfing multiple job listing resources and networking, while the “Worldwide Pants” hours were spent working on my blogs. Late in the summer, however, it occurred to me that the world is changing in a profound way right now, and establishing multiple wellsprings of income while building my own personal brand is vital to my family’s future. To that end, I officially undertook other business building ventures, and my “work” has actually become exactly that…work. So, what to do about the home office situation?

Obviously, the best solution is also one that is more or less beyond my control, and that is selling our condo, and moving into a home where I can have a real office with a door dedicated to business activities. While ideal, a door alone will not completely solve the problem of interruption, so I looked to other sources of advice about ways to handle this underestimated challenge. One article in particular caught my eye, with simple and straightforward tips from a father of six who works from home. Yes, I live in a loft, but he has six rugrats at home with him, that gives him a degree of authority on the subject that I respect. It sounds like this is an issue for many Dads and also Moms, and the numbers of people working from home is growing every day, so I want to share Mr. Leo Babauta’s article, 10 (More) Tips on Doing Productive Web Work with Kids in the House, with others here.

Because Mr. Babauta does not specifically offer tips for my situation where a door, or even ten feet of separation exist between me and my potential interruptions, I thought I would add a personal touch by emphasizing the ability to work productively while “on the run”. Yes, for some a nomadic lifestyle is not the most productive, but I happen to live in the heart of one of the most populous cities in the world, so I have no shortage of locations where I can plop down with my backpack and laptop and get some work done. Today I sat in my nearest neighborhood Starbucks (I have four within a 3-4 minute walk), yesterday I did some work at Borders, and tomorrow I might visit Argo Tea.

Coffee shops and their ilk are also not ideal, often they are quite busy, and the music that the staff chooses to play can sometimes be overwhelming. Using these businesses like a biologically advantaged Cuckoo bird also comes with the delicate dance I will simply title “How-much-do-I-have-to-buy-to-be-left-alone-for-many-hours-on-end-and-will-this-Tall-Pike-Place-Roast-get-the-job-done?” tango. So far, so good. Usually I shell out about $2 for a hot beverage and the permission to commandeer my own little corner with electrical outlet for 3-4 hours, and no hassles whatsoever.

So, for now, this needs to be my top solution, though in the long run, it will not be sufficient. There are some things that must be done “in the office”, and for that I must either develop better techniques for blocking out the distractions, or give up some additional sleep. It is also a situation that requires a commitment from my wife, and she has been mostly good about it thus far. One huge benefit to working from home on my own business, after all, is the ability to spend more time with my family, so to some extent, my workday will always be “non-traditional”, it just demands a little creativity and dedication.

I’d love to hear from others who either have dealt with or are currently dealing with this same issue. What have you tried to better the situation? What has worked, and what has not? Oh, and if you think this story can benefit others, please pass it on, either directly, or by using the share buttons directly below this article.

Be Well!

4 Comments »

My Lil' Kicker 3

Posted by David - November 9th, 2009

This afternoon I officially registered my son for his first soccer “team”. We will be attending the Lil’ Kickers program here in Chicago. We are in the Thumpers division for 2-year olds, and start classes on December 2nd. I discovered that at the first class he would get his first uniform, and I openly chuckled at myself for how excited that made me feel.

From all I’ve read, it sound like a really nice program aimed at teaching children about soccer, yes, but also about listening skills, balance, coordination, and teamwork, the first and last of which Xavier could use a little coaching on. Lil’ Kickers is a franchise organization with 100 locations in 28 states and enrollment of over 237,000 kids! You can read more about Lil’ Kickers here.

If you have or had your own children in Lil’ Kickers, I would very much like to hear about your experience with them. If you haven’t, and you are interested in possibly signing up your own lil’ kicker(s), stay tuned, and I will post regularly about how it goes for us.

Be Well!

3 Comments »

The Halloween That Was 1

Posted by David - November 5th, 2009

So, as we leave the three-day period known by the Catholics at Hallowmas, I can’t help but reflect a bit on one of the most fun, but also one of the most meaningless of all the holidays we celebrate today. Additionally, now that my son is beginning to understand some of the more entertaining elements of the celebration, i.e. getting candy, I wanted to understand at what point the candy element became part of the holiday. It struck me, like so many elements of the other major holidays, as just more American consumerism overwhelming the true meaning of a widely celebrated holiday. Finally, as I attempt to eat healthier and take better care of mine and my family’s diets, I wanted to see if there was some way I could start a movement to eliminate some of the candy overload we are all forced to participate in every year on October 31.

So, the consensus is that the modern celebration of Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhein (pronounced Sow-in). See, the ancient Celts lived in what is now Ireland, Britain, and parts of Northern France. What many people do not realize due to the climate moderating currents in the Northern Atlantic Ocean is that the United Kingdom sits as far north as cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Moscow, and Stockholm. The winters there, while not as cold as those continental cities in Canada and Russia, still hover near freezing, and the days in the winter get very short, and correspondingly very long in the summer. Imagine a winter there without the aid of electricity, heat, accessible food, modern plumbing, and pre-wrapped bite size chocolate candy…brr, gives me the chills just thinking about it.

Samhein for the Celts marked the end of the summer as they had completed harvesting their crops and were in the process of slaughtering their livestock for their winter stores. The Celts also lived in a time and place that was still unfamiliar with Christianity, Islam, and probably even Judaism. Their gods were those who controlled the elements around them, and their belief in an afterlife was of a spiritual world of the dead which existed separate from their world of the living. During Samhein, the Celts believed that the boundaries between the realms of the living and the dead became “ill-defined” allowing co-mingling with dead spirits both harmless and harmful. The Celts donned disguises during this festival often depicting the evil spirits that might do them harm. Sensibly, they believed that if they looked like an evil spirit themselves, perhaps the real evil spirits would leave them alone. Finally, in preparation for the long cold winter, the Celtic Druids would build massive bonfires upon which the Celts would burn crops and livestock as sacrificial offerings to the gods…so much for logic, eh?

The Romans finally arrived in the lands of the Celts around 40 A.D., bringing with them a couple of late-fall festivals called Feralia and Pomona that became combined with Samhein. The Roman festival of Pomona specifically honored the Roman goddess of fruit and trees, and its symbol was an apple. This symbol likely led to the tradition of bobbing for apples in later years. Later, the Catholic Church created the holidays of All Saints Day on November 1st and All Souls Day on November 2nd in order to bring a semblance of Christianity to the celebration known collectively as Hallowmas.

Not until the mid-1800s did the traditions of dressing up and going door to door asking for food or money emerge in America. Gradually, Halloween became more about community and big Halloween parties. Community leaders and schools gradually made an effort to remove the mischief and superstition from the holiday, and by the middle of the 20th century the holiday became secular and aimed primarily at the youth of America. Trick-or-Treating became the custom and flourished as a way for the community to “share” the cost together, and theoretically prevent “tricks” to their household and property by providing treats for the children. Halloween is now estimated to be a $7 billion industry, second commercially only to Christmas.

For a time, children would often receive apples coated in candy, toffee, caramel, and sometimes nuts. These homemade treats, while certainly scrumptious, provided fodder for hysteria as rumors of ne’er-do-well hiding blades and needles in these treats scared most parents into forbidding the eating of such treats in favor of well-sealed confections made by big candy companies. In fact, most unsealed candy and treats are now considered some of the most detestable of treats one can receive on Halloween, and may even subject the treat provider to some “tricks” for their audacity. Convenient circumstances for companies such as Hershey, Mars, Cadbury, and Nestle to swoop in with solutions for every American home.

So, what are the kids today celebrating? Instead of being frightened by spirits of scamps and rascals or stories of mischief and terror, we are more scared of other people surely intending harm. Most trick-or-treat parades appear populated with parents herding munchkins still dressed as vampires and pirates, but also as Teletubbies, Thomas the Tank Engine, and other popular icons of the day. While more sanitized, these aren’t too far off my own memories of Halloweens past.

Most of my candy-hauling took place during the early 1980s and involved loads of Snickers, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, but also way too much Good n’ Plenty, Necco wafers, Double Bubble, and those annoying Peanut Butter nougat chews in the Orange and Black wrappers. I was an unabashedly terrible costume creator, but loved the “thrill of the hunt”, and during my best years went with a handful of friends sans parental supervision. We would stop off at home from time to time to empty our load and head out to a different zone (or occasionally hit some of the “good” houses a second or even third time). By the end of those nights, I had undoubtedly collected a year’s worth or more of candy, and ate a good portion of it immediately after the mandatory sort-and-trade session. I was a big fan of Almond Joy and Mounds which I could score for a song from most of my friends.

Some of my most entertaining Halloween memories, however, were not of trick-or-treating, but rather the all too rare Halloween party involving those Taffy Apples, apple-bobbing, and various games. I wore some pretty cool costumes (mostly homemade) back when it was my mother, rather than me, choosing my disguise, and later admired the handiwork of my more imaginative friends.

I guess now, as a parent, I am hopeful that we can find a home in a place where those old-school parties of the past will take place, and my kids can have the same great memories of this holiday beyond just the brands of candy and fears of the dark strangers of the world to interfere. And here is a thought for all parents next year, how about being one of those “bad” houses and give away something other than candy for a change? How about shiny quarters, or dollar coins if you are able? Perhaps Clif bars if you must give a candy-like treat? If you already have made this change, what did you give out? I am just thinking in the spirit of helping our country be a little less obese, perhaps we can help delay the orgy of sweets that typically begins with Halloween and extends right on through New Year’s Day every year.

And please, if you absolutely must give out candy, just don’t, whatever you do, be the house giving out those wretched Black and Orange wrapped Peanut Butter nougat chews. If you do, may the trick be on you!

Happy Halloween that was!

1 Comment »

A Pediatricians Advice About H1N1 1

Posted by David - October 29th, 2009

This is a direct paste of a letter sent by Dr. Kenneth Polin to my wife, Kerry, along with what I assume are many other parents today. Dr. Polin works out of Town & Country Pediatrics who operate three offices here in Chicagoland. The immunizations being provided by Town & Country Pediatrics are all Thimerosal-free, so are in limited supply and high demand. This is causing the offices to get swamped with calls throughout the day, making it difficult for actual sick children to get appointments to be seen. The offices have informed all parents this morning that they will only accept calls for day-of vaccinations for a single 30 minute period each morning…so a bit of a lottery system if you will. In any case, here is the letter…

Dear Kerry,

There has been a lot of information and misinformation regarding the current influenza as well as relating to the flu in general. We would like to inform and clarify in order to calm fears and help our patients cope with the current situation.

Influenza is an annual event caused by a virus which changes each year. That is why patients need to have a new influenza vaccine annually. The vaccines given in past year do not cover the new strains which appear. Most of the strains we see annually are somewhat related and can cause significant complications in the healthy population as well as in the population with underlying medical issues.

Every year, in the US, approximately 36,000 people die of the flu and related complications. This new flu which has been around since the spring of this year has taken a toll with about 1000 patients dying including 100 children (this is over six months time). The majority of these deaths have occurred in patients with other medical conditions however, this has not been exclusively the case and some healthy patients may have severe complications and even die. It is important to keep things in perspective and if your child gets sick, to be armed with information and not worry needlessly.

The signs and symptoms of the flu (all types) are a quick onset of fever with a dry cough. There are often accompanying body aches and many patients complain of eyeball aches. There may be vomiting also. Not all patients will have all symptoms. If your child has these and has no other medical issues, routine health measures for comfort are all that is needed. If your child is young (under two years old) or has other health issues we should discuss whether we should see your child or manage at home without a visit to our office. Additionally, if your previously well child appears to be compromised in areas of shortness of breath, significant vomiting, acting strangely, or you are just uncomfortable with his/her appearance, call us ASAP. The CDC no longer recommends the use of a flu test as the in-office test is not that reliable and better diagnoses are made using a history and physical diagnostic skills. The use of antiviral medications has also been discouraged in healthy patients in order to avoid development of resistance by the virus to these medications.

The best way to prevent the disease is vaccinating, but there is at the time of this writing only a limited supply as well as a limited resource availability to administer the vaccine. If you want the vaccine, consider all possible sources. Our office supply of seasonal flu vaccine was reduced as the manufacturers were told to shift their production from seasonal to swine flu. All of the swine flu vaccine was sent to the public health sector who in turn have distributed it to multiple sites including, to a limited extent, our office. We will be sending out information about what we have and what we can reasonably be expected to administer via email and on our website.

Keep in mind this is not a panic situation and with your help we can weather this storm together and not fall into the trap of fear that is not warranted.

As it relates to my previous post, The Drama is Deafening, this letter will hopefully show that both extremes are unwarranted right now, perhaps the hysteria about H1N1 even more so.

Be Well!