The Plum Pit Incident

I recently gave Joshua a whole plum to eat. Rebecca was eating one, and he said he wanted the same thing. I'm happy when they eat fresh fruit, so I didn't think twice. The kids sat quietly at their little white table, happily chewing down the juicy fruit. Then, for no apparent reason, Joshua stands up and starts asking for Mommy (Mommy was out for dinner with her friends, there was only Daddy). Whenever he experiences any kind of discomfort or stress, it's right to Mommy he goes....so I knew something was wrong.

I looked down at what remained of his snack, and saw only a few pieces of purple plum skin that he had peeled off. So what happened to the rest of the plum...including the pit!!!???? Uh Oh.

"Joshua, did you swallow the pit?", I asked. "No", he said. One more time, a little sterner..."Joshua, did you swallow the pit?"

"Stop talking about it", he tells me. So, I stopped. He seemed fine. My guess was that he became uncomfortable while the pit when down his esophagus, but once it made its way to his stomach, he felt much better.

The rest of the night was uneventful...well, except for Joshua stubbing his pinky toe and crying hysterically. But that's par for the course.

When Jen came home, she wasn't too pleased to hear what happened. "Why the hell would you give him an entire plum?" So we called the doctor, checked the web, and talked to family and friends. What we learned is that once the pit hits the stomach, there is very little danger. We just need to make sure that the pit finds its way out. Which it did, thank God. (I won't go into details).

Anyone else have such experiences?

Working Long Hours

Since I commute a long distance to work, I don't see the kids a whole lot during the week. I leave the house before they wake up, and often I get home after they go to sleep (sometimes I get home early enough to put them to bed - which my wife is always grateful for). Since I work in the world of Online Media, there aren't many employment options for me out in the burbs. Most of the major media companies in the region are located in New York City.

This is a tough dilemma. I want to make sure I am advancing my career appropriately and earning as much as I possibly can for my family. But on the other hand, I don't want to be just a weekend dad. I want to be a regular fixture in my kids' lives. They mean the world to me, and I want to be with them as much as possible.

What do other dads out there do in similar situations? I'd love to know.

Sports

I'm trying to teach the kids some basic skills like kicking a soccer ball or hitting a plastic softball off a tee. Joshua (age 2) has much more interest than Rebecca (age 5). And I'm not buying the whole boy-girl thing. I've seen plenty of little girls enthusiastically take on a new athletic skill when taught to them. Joshua will spend hours hitting the ball off the tee (as long as he has ol' Dad there to constantly pick up the balls and tee them up for him). So how do I get Rebecca more interested? She's well coordinated, and I've seen her hit the ball pretty well - so I don't think lack of skills is an issue.

Any advice from other Dads on how to get kids more interested in sports related activities?

Kids Coming Alive!

We took the kids to a family get together down in Philly this weekend. The minute we got there Joshua went into 2 year-old-boy mode, and immediately starting running around like a madman. Then he proceeded to lie flat on the floor and refused to get up, while cleaning up the spilled red wine with his brand new shirt.

Rebecca began to assert her independence, and told us that she wanted to go by herself to watch the other kids dance. This was a big move for her. She is usually very clingy at these types of events. So she walked about 10 feet away from us, turning her head every 30 seconds or so to make sure we were still there. We did our best to seem casual, as if we were not watching her. After a few minutes one of our cousins spotted her and invited her to sit down. She was great.

Onward and upward!!!