Tidy Husband

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

  1. It's Magical

    The few mornings where it really was.

    This morning was magical.

    Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

    Not because of anything really, just because.

    It was a cool morning here so there was a reminder in the app to send the child in some raingear.

    Huh. Where do you think the raingear would be? I thought we might have a too small peppa pig rain jacket in the closet.

    “I’ll look!”, jumped up the child as she ran to the closet

    “WE DO HAVE THE JACKET”, she exclaimed “It’s Magical”.

    “Well…I don’t know if it’s magical”, I replied.

    “Oh, no! Look! It still fits. It is magical. The sleeves are too short, but that’s okay”

    “See? It’s magical”. she said.

    Okay.. Hey if you’re happy - Let’s go.

    When in the car on the way to camp we talked about how it would be very different without gravity.

    We decided that it would be fun. We could just fly to camp instead of drive, and the drinking water would be floating in the air so you would just have to open your mouth and the best part is to travel you would need to have a jetpack.

    And jetpacks?

    They’re Magical - just like her Peppa Pig raincoat that’s 2 sizes too small.

    Until next time,

    TH and Co.

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  2. Bugs and Trees

    If a tree falls…

    There was some excitement this morning at the summer camp.

    Photo by Lukasz Szmigiel on Unsplash. The roadway to her campground looks very similar - minus a few trees now.

    When we arrived at camp the director was at the end of the road directing - as one does and when we got out of the car he told us to be quick because overnight one of the trees fell over onto the basketball court and there were others that might as well.

    Of course this was big news for six-year-olds and I heard all about it when I got home.

    “Dad, BUGS ATE THE TREE!” she told me with wide eyes at the dinner table. “One almost fell on Mr. Jason’s car!

    I asked her if she saw any of those carpenter ants carrying the little saws with their work helmets on - but she looked at me like I had lost my mind so that Dad joke didn’t land. I’m sharing it here in hopes of a more receptive audience.

    By the afternoon the basketball court was back in action and they were playing four squares.

    “That’s a game where there’s four squares, Dad” she told me tonight.

    Speaking of games, BW brought home some board games from her trip that her neice/nephew had definitely outgrown and we played one game tonight but we’re pretty sure we did it wrong because she had the entire game memorized on the 2nd time around and we’re pretty sure that’s now it’s supposed to work.

    Eh, rules. Who needs ‘em? We had fun playing that’s all that matters.

    That, and trees fall at night. I still think the bugs get their saws out and push them over, but she’s not buying it

    Until Next Time,

    TH and Co.

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  3. The Arcade

    You pay your money and you take your chances.

    Now that BW is home again and the Arcade has been revealed I can show this to the rest of the world because I know you’ve been waiting.

    Photo by Carl Raw on Unsplash

    To introduce those who haven’t been keeping up, this weekend we turned a few cardboard boxes and a trip to the dollar store into an arcade in the family room:

    First, the sign: If your customers can’t find you it’s not good.

    After you walk through the entrance you’re greeted with the game room, complete with screens and controllers. You’ll note that this is a 2-player game due to the dual displays. We went all out with this.

    Up next, skee-ball. Or, at least there was a ball. The dog ate the ball and to quote the child “It was a Minnie Mouse ball we bought at the dollar store, but that’s okay”. We’ve been using rolled up socks and they work too. 1

    The skee ball rules here are beginner friendly: If you get your sock anywhere near a hole you win. This is not the house’s most profitable game.

    And the moment you’ve all been waiting for: The Claw Machine.

    This started out as a Blue Apron box, but when you’re six you can do so much more with it.

    There’s lots of parts here so please pay attention:

    First, we had the box. Then we cut two holes as you see here - one on the top and one on the front. We did have plastic wrap on the front hole at one point but it wasn’t a good idea as it always fell off so after a while we just went without.

    The joystick is two glow sticks tape together and if you look closely you hit the red button that was drawn on the box when you are ready to shoot your shot.

    Because she failed robotics in kinderarten she had to have her Dad be the grabber operator. We found the grabber at the Dollar store and it’s teamwork that allowed us to create this together. She operates the joystick and I’m up top ready to go when that big red button gets pushed.

    And that my friends is the 2025 tour of her Summer Arcade. Be sure to stay tuned for more cardboard adventures and be sure to like and subscribe!

    Keep on winning,

    TH and Co.

    1. I tell you, between using socks for skee ball and making emergency stuffed animals out of them I should write a book. ↩

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  4. 10 Days of Numbers

    I ran out of fingers to count all of this

    I figure seeing as how BW comes back tomorrow afternoon to the chaos and Arcades that is our life I though I would document some of the highlights of the past week or so:

    Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

    1. Days it rained: None. They said it was going to but the sun said otherwise.
    2. Number of times I let the dog in. A low guess would be about 10,000
    3. Number of huggies: Oh, at least a thousand
    4. Number of arcades built: 1, but played with at least six times
    5. Number of times we went to McDonald’s. Zero - we can’t break all the rules
    6. Total time we left the island: Zero. We have everything we need at home
    7. Number of times we went in the pool: Just one, because summer camp is exhausting.
    8. Number of Tears: One big meltdown and a few showers but overall not bad.
    9. Number of vegetables served. Not a billion, that’s for sure
    10. Number of times I said “go to bed”. There’s the billion.

    Bonus one: Number of kindergarten reunions (I wish I was kidding) I went to where all her friends met with her kindergarten teacher at the school and had ice cream and played while the parents sweltered in the hot sun trying to herd their little charges that enough was enough and we all had to go home now: One.

    Percentage that BW is attending next year’s school reunion: 100.

    Until Next Time,

    TH and Co.

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  5. 6 And a Half Again

    Because dad can’t count.

    Today is her second 6-and-a-half year old celebration and we had a blast today. She was on her best behavior all day today. If only every day…

    Photo by Michal Balog on Unsplash

    Last month ~~we~~ I thought she was 6 and a half only to realize that I can’t count and today is the day that’s she’s that age. So today we celebrated by doing pretty much whatever she wanted.

    First she woke up early and I woke later the sound of YouTube Kids at full volume from the living room. I let her chill on the couch until mid morning and then we had to plan for creating the arcade.

    OMG the Arcade, you guys. This is a surprise for mommy so I don’t want to spill the beans but she’s pretty creative - she had an idea exactly how she wanted this to be and I have to say it’s pretty awesome.

    She had a sandwich for lunch and then we had to make a list for the dollar store - which she later brought to the store and checked off the items as we went down the aisles.

    We had one thing to do today and that was to go get her a haircut and she was so good. There was not a peep or complaint, just polite conversation with her hairstylist about her summer plans.

    this is six and a half.

    Up next was the dollar store and it got the same treatment as when we went to the supermarket earlier this week. But we had a list so we stuck to it. We did by a “it’s my birthday button which she wore proudly all day.

    Then we came home and built the arcade for a good hour at least to get it to her preferred state. The “arcade” is now all set up in the family room for Mommy to see.

    Then it was snacktime and even she knows when too much is too much rule breaking and she asked for a healthy snack and not cookies or something.

    A lounge on the couch was interrupted by her friends coming over to play - back to back - so when one left another showed up and she played until after six pm. She wasn’t interested in dinner so we didn’t eat until just before bed and it was just leftovers. By then she was toast.

    The plan was we were going to have a slumber party in the family room with all the glow in the dark bracelets we found at the dollar store but she ended up sleeping in her bed as she didn’t like being alone in the dark in unfamiliar territory.

    And who can blame her? A slumber party can be fun but there’s nothing like sleeping in your own bed.

    Happy Half Birthday,

    TH and Co.

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