Tidy Husband

Eligible for the seniors discount and the Happy Meal deal at the same time.

  1. F is for Footwear

    Also, with unicorns. And Lights

    I can’t believe she’s grown so much that she needed new shoes again but it’s been a few months at least since the last pair – so here we are:

    Yes, these light up. I think they come as standard equipment these days.

    New shoe day for her. Kid’s Size 2!

    We had kind of planned to take her to the store with me this past weekend but it didn’t happen.

    As it turned out, I dropped off somebody next door to the Skechers outlet so I popped in and lo and behold they had her size and on sale. Also, it’s much easier to shop without her in tow. I was in and out in ten minutes flat.

    Of course as soon as she got in the door after school she saw the pink box and asked “what’s in the box!!”

    She was thrilled. They’re big – but not by much and she’ll grow into them. Also there needs to be room for her SMO’s to fit as well and these have zipper that goes down the side for easy on and off. Also, they are high tops for ankle support. I never knew shopping for shoes for her would be so complicated.

    When she was trying them on she asked me if I had shoes that lit up when I was a kid “back in the day”.

    No.

    I had earth shoes back in the day. Also velour shirts. And brown corduroy pants. I was constantly uncomfortable.

    image source

    Remember these? I do.

    Mine were brown, of course. These actually helped my toe walking when I was a kid as it stretched my tendon in the back so as funky as they were, they worked and also fashionable! (for a time)

    The other pair of shoes I remember having were Cougars and with a PEPSI logo and platform too! I am pretty sure I was the coolest kid in the neighborhood. I could twist an ankle at anytime wearing them but hey at least I looked good doing it.

    image source

    I’m a big proponent on spending on shoes that are quality and fit right – especially for little growing feet. We can cheap out on cheap clothes for her from Target or wherever but when it comes to footwear I think it’s important to have footwear that fits and is comfortable.

    That said, my current shopping for shoes is just to find a pair on clearance on eBay in my size and call it a day. I’m not quite at new balance dad shoes, but I am close.

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  2. Soccer mixed with laundry periods

    As BW and I were folding laundry together we realized that:

    1. Holy, Laundry. We don’t know where it comes from. We both don’t have jobs that would require us to have this much laundry. I blame the child.
    2. The weekends go fast here. Saturday is Soccer, Swimming is on Sunday and add some time for the tablet and for BW to watch the Eagles play and there you have it – bath night on Sunday is here.

    Time flies. We did absolutely nothing spectacular unless you count BW’s painting above (which is spectacular BTW) and yet here it is Sunday again.

    alternate title: space chickens

    Tonight is the night the three wise men come and apparently with Camels too!. I hope they wipe their feet when they come in as I just mopped the floor! Also Camels spit I am told. I will be miffed if there’s spit everywhere when I wake up

    When BW told her the men and camels were stopping by tonight she asked me what it was all about. I told her my standard reply: ask your Mother.

    This must be a Latin thing because in Canada we just had the two wise men: Tim Horton and Ron Joyce. And they were wise – Especially Ron as he made a bit of money, eh? The book is a good read. if you want to know the history of Canada’s wise men.

    Here in the USA they have to add “cafe and bake shop” to the sign outside of Tim Horton’s so people will know. In Canada we don’t need no sign to explain what Timmy’s is.

    ☕🫎

    I had never heard of this wise men thing. I thought they came to see Jesus and left. I didn’t realize that they came to your house in the middle of the night – and with Camels in tow as well.. Apparently they got the Christmas dates mixed up and they show up in the new year looking for little kid’s shoes by the door to leave gifts.

    Or, at least that’s what I am told.

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  3. Three Th-ings

    10:28am

    Hey Dad!

    How to you spell opening?

    OPENING I reply

    How about running?

    RUNNING I reply.

    I ask her if she notes the two N’s in running. She does. She is engaged. She asked what other words work with -ing as the ending.

    I say “how about driving”? (as that’s what we were doing at the time this was all going down).I ask her how you spell it and she spells out the word DRIVEING.

    I say no and there’s no double E’s like there would be in RUNNING. I say that in a way it’s weird because the singular is not driv, it’s drive.

    She laughed so hard at that and the fact that “driv” could be a word. It’s hard for a 5-year-old to understand the -ing thing.

    We then went through almost every word that could end with an -ing.

    It was a long drive to soccer this morning.

    12:05 pm

    Hey Dad!

    How come some signs say “exit” and some say “way out”?

    That’s a very good question I say and I don’t really have an answer. It could be regional – like in Scotland they might say “way out” instead.

    She thought about this for a good minute, and then blurted out in a better Scottish accent than I could ever do:

    “In Scotland they say Merrrrrrry Christmas”

    7:12 pm

    Hey Dad!

    “Did you know that tsunami is not an English word?”

    Okay, time for bed – you’re now smarter than me.

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  4. Socky Underpants

    She has a favorite toy. All kids do.

    Want to know what gets lost all the time? You betcha, the favorite toy.

    In our case, it’s Don.

    Say Hello To Donald Trunk the fourth

    We’re on Donald the Trunk IV. One, two and three all got eaten by the dog at some point. We cut the binky off long long ago and I have to tell you it was the most upset I ever saw her. She was begging me to somehow to fix it. The fix was to cut it off so it doesn’t ruin her teeth. She got over it.

    Anyway, Don.

    We have spent countless hours looking for Don. We have torn apart entire rooms looking for Don. I have had my entire head in the dog crate looking for Don. When it comes to bedtime the words every adult in the house doesn’t want to hear is “Has anybody seen Don?”

    We keep hoping that one day there will not be a need to search for Don and instead we’ll be looking for her iPhone. I can’t wait. I think.

    Want to know what happens when Don gets left behind when we’re away and you can’t buzz down to Target to get a replacement quickly? You improvise.

    Folks, I present to you Socky Underpants:

    Yes, that’s a sock she goes to bed with. Clean underpants are always at the ready.

    We were away in Philadelphia and I forget where Don was, but he wasn’t with us so in a moment of desperation or inspiration I came up with this sock thing you see above.

    I didn’t have a lot to go with as we just had a small suitcase at the Air B+B so I grabbed the sock and some of her clean underpants, shoved them in a sock and ta-da!

    Necessity is the mother of Invention

    She loved it. We were away from Don for almost a week and she could care less because she had socky underpants.

    This is actual verison 2.0 and a limited edition socky underpants. The other night we could not find Don for the life of us so I suggested that we make a Socky Underpants and she was all over it. There was an entire discussion on what underpants should go in there. It took way too long at 8:30 pm to jam some underpants in one of my socks and get her to bed.

    Of course as soon as we had the socky situation sorted out we found Don. I was cleaning up and tossed him into my pocket in my hoodie and then went and hung the hoodie up.

    She went to bed with both and could not be happier.

    Be very afraid Elmo. There’s a new kid in town.

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  5. Fear of the Norovirus

    Hey – What’s your biggest fear?

    Snakes?

    Darkness?

    The incoming Trump Administration?

    Here, we have a fear of getting sick. Every year our new years resolution is not to go to the hospital and every year we break it at least once.

    F is for Fracture

    Nothing to see here. Just another crazy day here. Keep it moving.

    Tidy HusbandJames Fitzsimmons

    BW’s biggest fear? The Norovirus

    Norovirus cases are surging. A doctor explains what to look for | CNN

    The number of norovirus cases is increasing across the US, but there are ways to reduce your chances of infection and stave off dehydration and other symptoms.

    CNNKatia Hetter

    This evening I was horsing around with the child on the couch and when I got up I had to stop as I had a sudden feeling of malaise.

    So, I laid down on said couch for a while and I seemed to perk up a bit. I don’t know what it is/was. I do know I am going to bed as soon as I write this masterpiece.

    I look over and BW is wide eyed and worried I might be dying at any second now.

    “You’re not going to barf are you? she asked.

    “You can’t get sick” she says.

    “It’s the Norovirus. I know it’s the Norovirus” she’s stating confidently.

    She is so afraid of me getting sick. And likewise.

    If one gets sick, the other is hosed.

    First, you have to single parent it which is exhausting but then on top of that you have to take care of the sick person.

    Second, we’re a team and if the balance shifts either way things go sideways real fast here. BW has no idea how the toilet cleaning works and I have no idea about the cooking. The child gets a lot of sandwiches and toast when BW is sick. Thank god for Cheerios.

    And if the child gets sick, then all bets are off and the house is a disaster, we’re all a nervous wreck and we can’t wait for her to get better. A

    What happened to me tonight? Dunno. It could be the McDonald’s I had for lunch was a poor dietary choice. Or, it could be that I need bowl. NOW.

    Consider this your first PSA of the year:

    Wash Your Hands. A lot.

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