Raising a Mets Fan
The year my son was born, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series.
Today, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.
People waited their whole lifetimes for each of these things to happen, and they never did. He’s three this month, and he’s around for both.
In an odd twist of fate, he has never seen a Yankees World Series.
It was strange typing it. It’s weirder re-reading it.
He was up for the last out, and he went right back to sleep. He has no idea how incredible he got to see something no one on this planet has ever seen.
I just hope he doesn’t have to wait long for a Mets World Series victory.
If you head over to Toys R Us, Target, Walmart, or wherever you went to get your child’s Halloween costume this year, go right back to that place today. Whatever they have in stock is going to be heavily discounted, and you can go get your child’s Halloween costume for next year at a much cheaper price.
Here’s the thing with the costumes: they don’t change from year to year. The superhero costumes you saw on the street yesterday are going to be the same ones you will see next year. It goes the same way with respect to every popular line whether it is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Thomas and Friends, or Star Wars:
That Yoda costume my son wore last year was sold again this year. Yes, with Episode VII, there were more Star Wars costumes this year, but guess what, those costumes will be available again next year. They will be available with the Yoda and Darth Vader costumes they have everyone year. Finn, Kylo Ren, and Rey are now just part of the group that will always be available. If your kid loves Star Wars get the next costume today.
If you don’t know what your child likes out of the group, or what your child will like next year you have a few options. The first, especially if your child is young enough, is to get a costume for something you have interest (like Star Wars) or that you think is cute like Toy Story.
At this point last year, my wife and I purchased a Woody costume for my son even though he had never seen Toy Story, and we didn’t know if he would like it. Over the past month or so, I would show my son funnier clips from Toy Story (notably the bloopers at the end of Toy Story 2). He thought they were funny, and he began to like Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Rex, and all the characters. He was excited when he got to watch the Halloween special Toy Story of Terror. With the time and effort put in, he actually wanted to be Woody (or Buzz Lightyear) for Halloween. That made our lives much easier:
Now, if you are not sure what your child likes, you could just get multiple costumes. If the costumes are more than 50% off, and they will be in some places, it is still the cheaper route. Once you have an idea of what your child likes either try to return the other one for store credit or just sell it on ebay. You take a hit on the one costume, but you save more money in the long run.
Admittedly, this is not going to work for some older kids. They are going to be more influenced by what their friends like, and they are going to want to go and pick out their costumes. They are also likely going to want to be whatever the new thing is that year (movie, TV show, etc.). If that is the case, you are out of luck. However, if your child is still young enough, you still have a chance to take advantage of an opportunity to save some money.
If that is the case, you should get to the store today and get your child’s Halloween costume for next year.
Everyone knows their own neighborhoods well, and they know the best places to go trick or treating in their own neighborhoods. Some of you even know of places to travel to find the houses that give away the full sized candy bars. Others will try to get to the neighborhoods that leave the bags out with the candy in them so you can fully stock up before moving to another location. Obviously, if you know the best place in your area to go, you should go there.
However, as we saw locally with Hurricane Sandy and Irene, you sometimes need to pivot when it comes to bad weather or when natural disasters cause Halloween to be postponed in your community. You also may want to try something different for a numbers of reasons (traffic in your area, not many houses giving out candy, etc.). With that in mind, here are some alternatives you could try:
Mall
Most malls have trick or treating. There are many benefits to going to your local mall to do the trick or treating. First, you are indoors, so weather is not going to be an issue. With that, your child can fully show off the costume that you purchased or made.
While too much might have been made about it in the past, you know the candy is coming from a business, so there are lesser concerns about someone tampering with the candy.
Another factor is that the mall has a number of benches and seats for you to take a respite. This is not as much of a need now that my son is older, but it was helpful his first Halloween. We needed the rest because we were carrying the candy, the diaper bag, etc. He needed a stop every so often because it’s a lot for a baby to walk around a mall.
Lastly, the mall is well lit with no traffic. Once you are inside, you don’t have to worry about cars coming down the road too quickly or a driver not paying attention. You can also stay indoors trick or treating well after it has gone dark. With this in mind, you could even stop by the mall after your kids are done trick or treating in the neighborhood if they still want to go out and get more candy.
Local Downtown
Most people either live in a town with a nice downtown area, or they live near one. While the downtown doesn’t share all the benefits of the mall, it is still a great place to go trick or treating.
First, local businesses are not going to tamper with the candy they are giving your children. Another benefit is most downtowns do have benches here and there if you need to take a quick stop to sit for five minutes. You also know that even as it gets darker, the sidewalks and streets will be well lit. Additionally, the areas are usually filled with cross walks, stop signs, and police officers (especially on days like Halloween), so you know traffic is going to be less of an issue than it normally is.
There is another benefit to the local downtown. These are primarily comprised on small businesses that want to entice to you to come back to their store. Many of them will hand out not just candy, but coupons to entice you to return to them next year. I know last year we walked home with a free studio session for a pottery studio, a free ice cream cone, 10% off our next pizza order, and a buy one get one offer from the local candy shop. You are not likely to get these at the mall, and you are really unlikely to get them from your neighbors.
Contact Your Local Officials
Many towns try to organize safe or more controlled trick or treating, or in some instances trunk or treating. These events usually take place at a local school parking lot or even at a local park. These are usually organized by the town, school, or sometimes the local police force. These events allow your child to trick or treat in a safer more organized environment. Sometimes, they are accompanied by pumpkin decorating and parades. And like trick or treating in your downtown, many local businesses make an appearance giving away free beverages (juice and hot coffee) and snacks.
Throw a Party
When all else fails, get together with some of your child’s friends’ parents and organize a party. Each parent can bring a goody bag full of candy so no one misses out on getting candy. You can also order pizza and watch scary movies (appropriate age level of course). This allows your child to have fun with their friends, and it allows you to make sure your child is in a safe environment. Note, you can obviously do this in conjunction with any of the above.
I know last year with Halloween being on a Saturday, we did all of the above with our son. We started early at the mall, and then we went to the downtown to grab lunch and trick or treat. We then returned home to just go to a few houses in our neighborhood. Lastly, we sat down and passed out candy while watching the Mets game (that ended scarier than any movie could have). It was fun, and depending on who you are and what you enjoy, I would recommend doing any of the above. The important thing is you are safe and have a good time.
Happy Halloween.
While I had fully intended to create a Thor O’Lantern, it didn’t work out that way.
First and foremost, my son wanted a Thomas pumpkin, and as such, he was going to get one:
Next, I wanted to do a standard pumpkin that he could do himself:
I’m still shocked at two things. First, that a kid’s pumpkin knife so dull it made safety scissors look like a Ginsu knife was actually able to carve the pumpkin. Second, I was really impressed my son was able to follow the lines of the pre-drawn Jack O’Lantern face:
For the last pumpkin, I had wanted to do a Noah Syndergaard one, but the stencil I printed out was too large, and I was too lazy to print out a smaller one. Instead, I decided to go with a Brandon Nimmo:
Ok, so it was Nemo. We all made the joke previously. Accordingly, I’m considering it a Mets themed pumpkin.
Happy Halloween!
For those parents who have not had the time to carve their pumpkins with their children, today is really the last day for you to do so.
One of the great things about having a boy is that they are ready, willing, and eager to get in there and participate in the entire process that is carving the pumpkin. If your son is anything like mine, he wants the knife to do the carving. Naturally, you cannot give a toddler a knife and expect good things to happen. With that said, you are going to have to do some preparation. Last year, I carved the top part out of the pumpkin and then allowed my son outside to help scoop out the seeds and the pulp:
After that, it is time to use some of those really dull pumpkin carving knives so your child can participate. Given a toddler’s dexterity coupled with their hand and arm strength, it is better to go with the traditional triangle eyes and a pretty wide open mouth, if you are going to carve the rest of the pumpkin with them:
For lights, you obviously don’t want your toddler playing with matches or a lighter. That’s just plain dumb. You also don’t want to light something and stick it in the pumpkin. They are going to get curious, and sooner or later, they are going to get burned. Moreover, they are probably going to want to light the pumpkin each and every night because that’s what children do – they want to do the same thing over and over and over and over again. With that in mind, it is probably best for you to get battery operated tea lights. They are everywhere, are reasonably priced, and they can be used over and over again unlike a match. Moreover, you can actually let your child turn the light on and off. As you will notice, the battery operated tea light has the same effect as a regular candle.
For those people who are more adventurous, or have older children, you can attempt to make your own Mets themed pumpkins this year:
Happy #NationalPumpkinDay ?
Download your very own #Mets Pumpkin stencils ➡️ https://t.co/UyAAFjfQOx pic.twitter.com/wOSWnU9x5u
— New York Mets (@Mets) October 26, 2016
For those interested, you can even make your own Noah Syndergaard or Thor O’Lantern.
No matter what path you choose, good luck, and Happy Halloween.
The other day I was in Toys R Us getting a birthday present for one of my son’s friends. On our way to find a toy, we walked through the Halloween aisle.
If you wanted a costume, it was available. Woody and Buzz from Toy Story. All of the Ninja Turtles were available. Star Wars characters old and new:
Then there were the superheroes. All of the Justice League and the Avengers were available. Most notably, there is a Thor costume. No, not the real one:
Dear Empire State Building: Wasn't me (For liability purposes only) pic.twitter.com/OJvxm5s32B
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) July 26, 2016
That’s right. No Noah Syndergaard costume. Also, no MLB costumes of any kind whatsoever. This seems like a missed opportunity.
Now, I realize MLB can’t necessarily do player costumes. If this was the 50’s you could, but not in today’s game. With the frequency in which players are traded, you would have to continuously change costumes year to year. At some point, it becomes cost ineffective.
That leaves you with a few options. First is the generic player jersey. Yes, I’m aware there are kid’s uniform sets, but have you seen them?
They’re terrible. They look nothing like the player jerseys. The other issue is they’re hard to find. Another problem is these are only made for five year olds. That eliminates a wide range of children. MLB has to do better than this.
Since MLB can’t do player jerseys and can’t do whatever the above is supposed to be, there are a few options.
The first would be to do an all time player for each franchise. Since these are young kids, you want it to be a player of as recent vintage as possible or a player everyone knows no matter how old they are. Here are some suggestions:
- Mets – Mike Piazza
- Yankees – Babe Ruth or Derek Jeter
- Red Sox – Ted Williams or David Ortiz
- Dodgers – Jackie Robinson
- Mariners – Ken Griffey, Jr.
The benefit of these is you can use them in perpetuity. The downside is these players are more iconic for the parents. That may entice the parent of a toddler to buy it, but an older child has no real attachment to these players. That coupled with the inherent issues with the current players means you need to go with something more basic.
There are two solutions to this, and they both should work well.
The first is to create mascot costumes. If you think about it, the mascot was created to entertain young fans. Generally speaking, it works as kids love team mascots:
There will be many little Mets fans who would love to be Mr. Met for Halloween. Same goes for the other popular mascots across baseball.
For teams without a mascot, baseball could go with standard face like the one on the bobbleheads. In fact, if baseball wanted, they could make them all “Bobblehead Costumes.”
For those that say, they may not sell, give it time. The same exact costume my son wore last year was still for sale a year later. And guess what? It wasn’t the only one.
With that, you help foster a child’s interest in baseball. For the child a little less interested in baseball, perhaps they get more interested due to the Halloween costumes. Kids get interested in things for far less.
Not having MLB Halloween costumes overall seems like a lost opportunity. It doesn’t give the fan a chance to be a player, a mascot, or a bobblehead for Halloween if they so choose. It also allows the kid to move on from baseball a little more after the baseball season is over.
That’s not a good thing. Accordingly, MLB needs to create Halloween costumes.
One of the best things about being a parent is you get the opportunity to remedy the perceived wrongs from your childhood. No matter how small or childish they may seem, we all have ones that linger. One of my lingering issues was my parents not going out and getting the Halloween Pail Happy Meals when my brother and I were children.
You see the Mets winning the World Series wasn’t the only major event of October 1986. I’ve never confirmed this, but I’m pretty sure Mookie Wilson got one of these for his stepson and nephew Preston Wilson. Much like the Mets hopes of winning the World Series the following year, my hopes of getting a McDonald’s Halloween Pail were dashed in 1987. My chances of obtaining one in 1989 were as much as nonstarter as the Mets chances were that year. In 1990, Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter were closer to New York than I was to getting my Halloween Pail. In 1992, there were no hopes for me or the Mets. From there, the Halloween Pails all but disappeared.
That was up until last year when the Halloween Pails re-emerged. Despite Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard not being alive in 1986, these trio of arms led the Mets to the World Series in the same year the Halloween Pails returned. Never underestimate the power of the pails. Like the good Mets fan and father (or petulant child) that I am, I made sure to get all four of them for my son who really had no clue who the Minions were or why he needed four of these pails. That changes this year.
My son loves Peanuts. He has loved them since we took him to see The Peanuts Movie, his first ever movie, for his birthday last year, and since he saw A Charlie Brown Christmas last year. Like any child, he loves Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the whole Peanuts gang:
With that, we have now found the intersection where my son’s love of Peanuts and my need to get these Halloween Pails have met in the parenting Venn diagram. With that, I have checked one thing off my parenting bucket list, and I will now seek out curing other perceived wrongs like never getting the chance to attend a Mets World Series victory parade. I guess that one will just have to wait until next year.
To ensure that will happen, I think McDonalds will need to roll out an Avengers Halloween Pail featuring Thor, Captain America (David Wright), Iron Man (Steven Matz), and The Incredible Hulk (Lucas Duda).
By the way, the Great Pumpkin is on tonight:
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown airs tonight on @ABCNetwork at 8/7c! pic.twitter.com/e9UOr3mua6
— PEANUTS (@Snoopy) October 19, 2016
Now, as my wife and probably most of society will tell you, I am not a fashionable person. In the fall and winter, I prefer a hooded sweatshirt, typically Mets, Rangers, or Giants. In the spring and summer, I wear t-shirts. Again, typically the Mets. Other than that, I have work clothes. So I am not the person to talk to you about fashion.
However, even with that, for the life of me I don’t get how drawstrings on pants are deemed fashionable or stylish.
For those that do not know what I am talking about let me explain. Typically, toddler boys like wearing sweatpants over jeans and the like. As a parent, when you are heading towards or dealing with potty training, you actually want your child to have sweatpants over jeans because they are easier to get on and off. The very last thing you want to do is discourage your child because he has trouble getting out of his pants and then has an accident. During the potty training process, you want to minimize complications. Jeans are a complication. Therefore, you want sweatpants.
If your child is anything like my child, there is a big problem with sweatpants. For my son, he has legs that are 3T (or up depending on the manufacturer) but he has a small waist that is better suited to 2T pants (he certainly doesn’t get that from me). Initially, my wife and I were excited when we noticed that many stores sell toddler sweatpants with drawstrings. We were fooled and irritated.
For some reason, different manufacturers glue or sew on faux drawstrings. In essence, this means you cannot tighten your child’s pants. While your child’s pants are falling to the ground, that drawstring just sits there mocking you. Even more infuriating is the fact that you have already taken the tags off and washed it (yes, your toddler’s clothes needs to be washed before they wear them), you cannot return it. Now that drawstring is sitting in the dresser laughing at you each and every time you reach in for a pair of pants that are actually functional. Even more infuriating is the fact that when your child does grow into the waist, the pants will be halfway up his legs.
With that in mind, just do not buy a pair of pants that have a drawstring. You need to either look for the label that says “Functional Drawstring,” of you just need to give that drawstring a tug to see if it tightens the pants. If you do that, you will not be wasting money, and more importantly, you will have pants that actually fit your child not matter what size waist they are.
One of the more difficult things about being a father was missing many of my child’s firsts because I was at work. I missed the first time my son crawled, stood up, walked, and talked. This weekend, I got to experience another one of my child’s firsts, and I could have done without it.
He was stung by a wasp.
When your child is stung by a wasp, especially for the first time, a million thoughts race through your head. My initial reaction was to take the Mets Mike Piazza jersey retirement cap off my head and kill/hit the wasp away. The question then is what do you do next?
The answer to this question is call your pediatrician. Whenever you have a question, call your pediatrician. Go seek medical advice.
Don’t even stop to google it. You’re going to come up with a number of websites with good to really bad advice. You know Web MD is going to say the limb needs to be amputated immediately or worse. You don’t really know how good the other websites are. Some will say it’s not big deal, just rub some dirt on it while others will convince you to immediately call a faith healer because medical science cannot cure your child.
So yes, start with your pediatrician as you always should.
Still reading? Ok. If you want my non-medical doctor advice, keeping in mind you shouldn’t rely on someone else other than a doctor for medical advice, here is how I recommend proceeding. Again, I’m not a medical doctor. I’m just a rationale human being that’s been stung before.
First, get rid of the wasp. It’s going to keep coming back to sting again and again and it might call for backup, so hit it with your hat, a newspaper, etc. Just get rid of it. If there are a number of them around, get out of the area and fast. Don’t risk a second, third, or more stings. If it was a bee, it’s unfortunately going to die now, so pick it up gently (it can’t sting again) and place it in some flowers so it can pass away peacefully.
Second, get the stinger out. Scrape it off with a fingernail, a credit card, etc. Scraping it off is the easiest and probably the best method. Others are using tape to remove the stinger like it’s lint on your business suit or to pinch the skin around it to bring the stinger to the surface and then scrape it away or pluck it out with a tweezer.
Once the stinger is removed, get ice on it as soon as possible. Even if your child isn’t allergic, which thank God, my son isn’t, the area is going to swell and swell quickly. In fact, even with ice the area will still swell. In the case of my son, it went from a wasp sting on the middle finger to him looking like he had an inflated doctor’s glove for a hand. Bee stings aren’t usually this bad though – they might just create a small lump.
The sting should be fine now if your child isn’t allergic. You should only worry if your child breaks out in hives or has trouble breathing. That’s the sign of an allergy. That means you have to get to a hospital immediately for emergency treatment.
Once the situation is handled, get a Band-Aid on it with either some Benadryl cream or a baking soda/water mixture. This will prevent your kid from scratching. Keep in mind, it’s going to itch. If you want to prevent infection, remember to use Polysporin and not Neosporin. Young kids may have an allergy to Neosporin. The worst thing you can do is apply something your child has an allergy to an open wound.
If your child was stung at home, you may have a wasp nest nearby. Check the garden, the eaves and the loft, plus any outbuildings like the shed or garage, to locate the nest. They usually look like a grey mass of paper hanging from the ceiling or attached to a wall, and it’ll be crawling with wasps. Stay well away from it – if they see or smell you they’ll attack you just for being there. Contact a pest control service as soon as possible on a site similar to https://www.pestcontrolexperts.com/local/california/vandenberg-air-force-base/ and leave it to the professionals to destroy. A large wasps nest is full of thousands of wasps which will easily kill you if they sting you enough times.
A bee’s nest, on the other hand, is no risk at all. Bees are friendly and docile unless you physically attack them, so their nest should be left where it is. If it’s in an inconvenient place, get a professional beekeeper to move it for you.
From there, it’s time to go out and get some ice cream and watch the Mets game.
Actually, no, I missed my first game all year even though my son was excited to see Lucas Duda play for the first time in months (I was too). Of course, the Mets game was of secondary concern to my son being alright. And yes, it did help that the Mets won. It always does.
What possesses people of a certain age to wake up and go, “You know what, let’s go to the children’s zoo today!” I would like nothing better than hanging out with a bunch of kids all day. Maybe we can go to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza afterwards!
Technically, yes, you’re permitted to go, and the zoo is happy to take your money.
However, unless you’re Adrian Balboa, why are you there?
Better yet, why do the people who go to the zoo forget it is really intended for kids?
Too frequently, these teenagers, young adults, or just out and out old people have no issue pushing ahead of children to see the penguins, or my favorite reaching past a child to prevent them from feeding the birds.
It’s cute and fun for a toddler to get the bird on a stick. You’re an adult – you need more in your life if you’re either trying to catch the bird a toddler is trying to get, or you’re excited to catch the bird. I mean it’s food on a stick. You’re not exactly baiting and trapping an animal – you know, a real accomplishment.
Also, please explain to me why you feel the need to smoke everywhere. First off, you know it’s not permitted. The laws prevent it. Furthermore, the signs are present telling you you’re not allowed. Simply put, if you’re smoking in a children’s zoo, you’re an awful human being.
Look, I don’t bring my son to nice restaurants like Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse because he doesn’t belong there. As well behaved a child as he is, he’s still a toddler that is prone to acting up, which is similar to how you act looking in the aquarium making Finding Nemo and Finding Dory jokes:
He doesn’t belong there. That’s why I don’t bring him there.
It’s part of the societal contract. I don’t bring my son to adult places where he doesn’t belong. The reciprocation is supposed to be you not being an idiot hanging out at a children’s zoo, forcing your way to the front to see the animals, not paying attention to the kids running around, and even taking a ride on the train.
Overall, there’s just something wrong with you if you’re idea of fun is hanging out in a children’s zoo. Regardless of whether or not you’re on some kind of registry, you know you shouldn’t be hanging out at children’s places. Don’t go to them.
In turn, I will continue to not bring my son to nice restaurants and bars.
Next time you feel the urge to hang out with a bunch of little kids, just go ice skating.