Tidy Husband

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

  1. Year in Review

    We made it. 2024 is behind us so I thought I would take a moment to look back on the year that was.

    I guess the first thing to note is that I have gotten into the habit of writing every day. Some posts are better than others but I haven’t missed a day since her first day of kindergarten.

    2024 Highlights

    I went to Argentina for the first time. I also had my first alcoholic drink in 25 years. BW is a bad influence on me.

    Leprechauns were big this year. Too big, as I had to find a new trick that would do overnight for like two weeks. I am not looking forward to March 2025.

    We had both kindergarten training and then of course, the real thing. Hard to believe she’s halfway through the school year.

    Our basement flooded and we had to have new sewage lines installed and then my man bathroom/office renovated.

    The Child has stated she wants to change religions . Hey, whatever.

    She was brave and went and go her own breakfast.

    She fell off the playground slide. I didn’t know I could get to the hospital so fast.

    We Made a TV. It wasn’t flat screen.

    If you listen to Dad, good things happen. One day she will learn.

    We went to Disney On Ice. And I had an 8 dollar Coke.

    I’ve been driving an electric car for over a year. I’m never going to get an ICE car again.

    Things got a bit messy here from time to time.

    We had an online house tour. You don’t want to miss this.

    I went to Texas and listened to a lot of headphones.

    We thought about moving to Canada – Because: Don

    We had our annual Pumpkin Smashing. It’s our favorite time of the year.

    The Tent we bought years ago finally saw some use. It’s about time.

    I heard a lot of No’s this year come out of her. This, we have to work on still.

    I taught her about trademarks. I think.

    I had just a taste of the bachelor life. I’m not sure I like it any more.

    Paw Patrol is Out and My Little Ponies are IN. Well…duh, Dad.

    OMG the accent. It could be worse I suppose.

    Crafts were pretty big this year.. I have the glitter in my hair to prove it.

    We’ve all come a long way this year, I have taken to writing this blog/newsletter/whatever you want to call it and since the first day of school I have managed to find the time and more importantly – the energy to write here every day.

    BW is crafty this year. Very crafty

    The Child? Well…we’re getting there. She’s easier than she was a year ago. We still have our moments but for the most of she’s really good and we are both glad to have her here. It would be real quiet if I didn’t have these two with me. I’m a very lucky guy

    We watch a ball drop and that’s it? Yup.

    See you next year,

    TH and Co.

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  2. The Snow Angel

    It was a long day here for her. I think the snowplow woke her up as it was way too early for her to be awake, and from the moment she saw all the snow (about 4-5 inches) she wanted to go out to play in it.

    There’s a few problems with letting her out this morning to make snow angels. First, even th0ugh she’s up early we’re still on a deadline. Then there’s the issue with snowsuits. We have none, or boots for that matter. We suck.

    There’s definitely no time to get her into and out of a snowsuit anyway even if we did have it. Before you call CPS, Santa is on his way with boots and winter wear so everybody calm down.

    So yeah. It was a struggle for all of us this morning.

    Thank God. The School Bus

    We sent her in her sneakers because – no boots – but also that her teacher asked us not to send them in boots unless really necessary. She has 20 kids in her class and that’s 40 feet she has to shod twice a day and nobody wants to put boots on 20 kids twice a day.

    Besides, her sneakers are like 3 sizes too big for her so her SMO’s can fit inside so they’re almost considered boots anyway.

    Of course, the first thing she wants to do when she gets home is to make a snow angel. I try to talk her out of it. It’s cold and windy. And she doesn’t have the right clothes. I tried logic:

    Come inside. We have hot chocolate.

    She wasn’t budging and was going to make a snow angel one way or another.

    Guess who won?

    My angel making her angel.

    She was out there for the time it took to make the angel and then maybe five more minutes and she was frozen to the core and ready to come in.

    The snow angel and the 6am start took all the energy she had for the day and even though a friend from across the street came over to play she lost it over some silly thing (Oh, she wanted me to play hide and seek. I said no. She has a friend right there and that’s what they are for.)

    She lost it so bad her little buddy got wigged out and couldn’t get her snowpants and boots and coat back on fast enough to get out of the house that has a screaming hyena in it, instead of my daughter. I don’t blame her.

    It took a while, but I managed to get her into her bed and we had a cuddle and I tried to not fall asleep while she reset her mood and got her shit together.

    Once the shit (sorry, SH-Word) got back together with her she was pretty well behaved and seemed to have just enough energy to get through the dinner and bed routine.

    A quick story read, and she was in bed and out cold a few minutes later.

    Santa, if you’re reading this: Those boots and pants can’t get here soon enough if we keep getting more snow. I would appreciate if you could stop at our house first on Christmas Eve.

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  3. The Christmas Spirit

    After what’s been a very hard week with lots of misbehaving and whatnot, we have finally turned the corner and she was a joy all day today.

    I didn’t get out of the house in time before she got up so I ended up making her breakfast (making might be a bit of a stretch here – it was a PB sandwich) and having a cup of coffee before I headed out and there was no screaming as I was leaving which can be the norm sometimes

    Because she was up early she had time to fart around before school so I had her buried under 4 blankets on the couch and she was so excited as today she got to go to school in PJ’s and watch a movie at school and then come home and watch “shows” on her new tablet.

    Even the teachers are tired. They’re like “Screw this, let’s play a movie.

    She came home bouncing off the school bus wearing a coat that was 3 sizes too big for her, but she’ll grow into it. It’s a really nice coat. If the dog eats it, it’s getting put up for adoption – she has been warned.

    and her coat grew three sizes that day…

    She could not resist the snow and then she asked me if the snowplow had come because there’s no snow on the driveway. I had to explain weather to her and the grass is colder – or something – heck – she caught me off guard. Nobody warned me parenting would include pop-quiz science-y weather questions. I was not prepared.

    Of course, the big attraction of the day was the new tablet that she was finally allowed to watch tonight and she was great about it. She got off it when asked, and in return she got to watch it a bit after dinner. I do hope that one day she will get through her head that if she behaves then good things happen around here.

    Pizza for dinner (home made!) and then I allowed her a bit more time with the tablet and then off to bed without much complaint at all.

    It’s like Christmas came early (for BW and I anyway)

    5 more sleeps!

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  4. The Muppet Show

    “Hey Dad!”.

    Tonight after bath can we watch the show with the tall puppets?

    Tall Puppets?

    Yeah, you know – where he goes me me me me

    OH. You mean Beaker!

    me me me me me

    I had completely forgotten about Beaker.

    Poor Beaker. He always got the bad end of the stick when it came to the experiments that Dr. Bunsen Honeydew dreamed up.

    I may have written about this in the past, but after the bath we have a snack and watch a YouTube video or two. Lately we’ve been on a how it’s made kick and in fact, I wrote about how we saw how they make the ultimate Canadian junk food.

    Anyway, tonight she wanted to have the snack with the Muppets.

    She has a memory I can only envy. She remembered that at the end of the piece they show the Statler and Waldorf clip.

    I didn’t remember that. She did.

    Boy, this takes me back to “back in the day” when, if we behaved we might get to stay up and watch the muppets. I think they were on about 7pm on a Sunday but I could be wrong. I do remember it being a big deal to be able to watch the Muppets.

    I hadn’t thought about the Muppets in recent years, until today.

    Today, she can pick and choose from so much entertainment it’s hard to keep track of all choices there. We caught her watching a video about constipation the other day (It’s good to be informed!)

    I wonder if all this choice is good for her? She asked me if we had cars when I was a kid and yes, we did. In fact we had the most famous car in the neighborhood:

    They don’t make ’em like that any more.

    We were a little bit past the horse and buggy growing up (thank god) and I told her that I wasn’t that old.

    Now, go to bed. If you behave we can watch more Muppets tomorrow.

    Keep Experimenting,

    TH and Co.

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  5. The Children’s Museum

    It was a random comment when I got home tonight. In fact, it was so random that I don’t know how the topic came up but somebody in this house suggested we go to the Ralph C. Wilson Children’s Museum on Saturday.

    “What!?” she asked.

    “We’re going to the Museum?” she squealed with joy.

    OMG you guys. You would think that this is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to her. It’s not and we’ve been more than once before. I think this will be her fourth trip.

    hot wheels on a rooftop patio.

    Then the feature list started where she had to tell us about each and every thing you could do there.

    In case you were wondering, here’s what you can do there:

    1. You can sit in half a Ford Mustang at the entrance.
    2. You can put your hand/face up against a wall of pins and go around the other side and see what it looks like.
    3. You can pretend to be a mechanic on cars
    4. You can visit a replica car wash where you get dressed up as a car and then you walk thru the (pretend, thankfully) car wash.
    5. There’s a water section where you can take toy boats down a kid sized version of the Erie Canal
    6. There’s a treehouse with a slide.
    7. You can pretend to milk a cow and plant vegetables
    8. You can pretend to be a garbage man (sorry, sanitation engineer) and dress up and take out the garbage.

    1. You can play doctor at the play hospital
    2. You can build with construction tools

    and a whole lot more!

    OH! Also, they sell snacks! Dad, don’t forget the snacks!

    Tonight, we got reminded of every. single. thing you can do there of them, so we are alllll up to date with the Children’s museum in Buffalo.

    It’s all she talked about. We had to go through my photo album of past visits because we had to revisit and remember all the good times we had before.

    I guess this is exciting and I am going. I wonder if it’s because she’s a good six months older since last visit so there’s more for her to do or if it’s just what’s old is new again and it’s exciting

    I have no idea.

    What I do know is that we’re going early to beat the crowds. I want to get in and out of there before it gets crazy busy.

    3 more sleeps until the big day. I can’t wait.

    TH and Co.

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