HaniTainment: October 2005

In search of all things Google, we have stumbled across this site, which shows real estate listings that are then mapped using google maps! Only in CA right now but slowly stretching out to major urban areas in the US! (Hah, sucks to live in Rural USA!)

Not to be confused with Housing Maps, which pulls real estate classifieds from Craig's List and marries them to Google Maps! This one is already in NYC! Oodle Does the same thing but it's classifieds are pulled from elsewhere and frankly, the site is just too busy and hard to access! It does map more than real estate classifieds though! Now I know exactly where that potato masher is!

What I'm reading now!

Goodnight Moon!

Over and over and over and over and over again! Times two!

I love this book! But I'm sick of it already!

Bunk Cribs

I used to joke (pre-babies) that what we really needed was bunk cribs for the twins!

The joke's on me! Lo and behold! Bunk Cribs! But a little steep at ~$699 + $150 shipping! Phew! Plus, the bend down and put baby in bottom crib doesn't really work for Deb or me! My back hurts enough, thank you very much!

Available from netkidswear.com

A brief word about ... Fatherhood

A few of my friends have become expectant fathers and the one thing I've noticed about all of them is that deer in the headlights look they all seem to share. Did I have such a look? Doesn't matter because I am here to tell you that Fatherhood is easy!

How? You ask. How is Fatherhood easy? Well, I reply, let me tell you: I have found that all you have to do is go about your fathering in a matter of fact way! Being a father is a very mundane thing. You hold the baby, you soothe the baby, you change the baby, you put the baby to sleep, you give baby a bottle, etc.! There is nothing extraordinary or hard about any of these things. Simply have confidence in your ability to change the diaper, to hold baby, and these early months will be a pleasure and a breeze.

Mind you I expect Fatherhood to become increasingly difficult the older baby gets! But I still plan to mundanely go about being a father and doing all the mundane things in a confident and happy manner. (That's right, when I ground my toddler, I will do it mundanely and confidently!). Everything I've read points to the fact that one does not need to be a perfect father; a good enough father is more than enough to raise terrific kids! Just remember this golden rule: you have to model what you want to teach! If you want to raise happy kids, you have to be happy (or fake it, but beware! kids can tell when you're faking). If you want to raise confident kids, be confident!

Caveat: I've only been a father for two months! It's been a terrific two months but you may want to know that all of the above is solely my opinion!

Good luck with your fatherhood! I hope you have a mundanely awesome time!

Twins.h5m.net

Announcing the new photo website for Maia and Layla! While the site is still in Beta, it is now functioning well enough to open it up to the public!

Enjoy!