There is no better reminder of all of your bad habits than having a child. If you have a son, they watch you and want to do all the things you do. Unfortunately, that includes your bad habits. Check that, that especially includes your bad habits. 

I was reminded of that again the other day:

My son wanted a blue car like his daddy, and because grandparents do what they do, he was given this instead of a matchbox car. After he got in the car, I was soon very uncomfortable. 

No, it wasn’t because of the size of the gift. It wasn’t for safety reasons. Between the fact these are impossible to flip over, the low rate of speed, and bike helmets, that wasn’t the issue. The real issue was what my son did once he got in the car. 

Almost everyday, I have to derive through bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way to preschool. This means I have to deal with idiots of every kind who won’t drive for a number of reasons: 

• On their cellphone
• Completely zoned out and not paying attention
• Doing their makeup in the car
• Eating breakfast
• Talking to everyone in the car
• Turning the knobs on the radio like it’s one of the ones with the dials
• Singing and dancing
• Letting everyone in whether or not people actually want to get in even if it means stopping dead in traffic to let it happen 
• Somehow I have to get two or three lanes over in the span of 3 feet and I’m just realizing it now so I’m stopped
• Just not in a hurry to get anywhere
• And one of my favorites: the person who takes a cat nap at every red light. 

With my child in the car, I make sure not to use profanity or insults, and if anyone of the aforementioned people get angry with me, I certainly don’t engage. To that extent, I thought having a child made me a better man. 

That was until my son got in the car, and his very first reaction was to slam the horn repeatedly and scream, “DRIVE YOUR CAR!  GET OFF THE ROAD!”

By the way, that’s when you get the knowing look from your wife. You don’t even have to turn around to see it. It’s there. You don’t even have to have the conversation about it either. It happens instantaneously and telepathically. 

And yet, you will talk about it. You will both laugh that he did it and reinforce to one another how he watches everything. The end result is I’m seemingly calmer in the car without any slamming of the horn. 

One added benefit – I’ve found flashing your lights certainly pisses people off more than slamming your horn. I wish I knew this sooner. To that end, I can once again say I’m once again better for having a son. 

Because my son loves the movie Cars, we took my son to the Cars 3 Tour last weekend.  Despite it initially being listed as being at Citi Field, the tour was moved to The Shops at Atlas Park.  It was a good thing my wife decided to check the information the night before because we were all set to go to Citi Field.  Part of the reason for that was the Mets ticket office confirmed for me that it was going to take place in the Citi Field parking lot despite the Mets being home.  I digress.

When things of this nature happen, the obvious question that arises was whether it was worth it or not.  Based upon the fun my son, it was certainly worth it.  What was great about it was the event was completely free.  There were no hidden costs anywhere.  When you get there, there are no fees for anything.  Also, there was no merchandise for sale.  Basically, you are able to get in and get out without paying for anything except parking.  To that end, it is a cheap day out with your child.  Those days are few and far between.

Now, the one thing it will cost you is time.  There are lines everywhere.  Some locations have fast passes for entry available (for free), but those are limited.  By this point, they have been snatched up.  Another consideration is they get you entry only.  You have to wait in line for the various events they have inside.  Keep in mind, those lines move quickly.

The first stop was Alamo where you got to do “Street Art.”  Essentially, it is a large piece of paper where your child can use colored pencils and markers to color.

They change the sheets throughout the day so if your child is upset they didn’t get to color in Lightning McQueen or another part of the picture, you can always circle back.  Once you are done, Alamo will give your child a pack of colored pencils.

After that, there is a section where they have the Cars toys and toy sets.  Your child can launch the different cars, and they can watch as the different cars “race.”

From there, you begin getting into more sponsored tents with different activities.  These other tents provide a game and a photo opportunity as an avenue to get your information.  The first was Coppertone who had something set up where your child can actually change a tire:

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​At that stop, they give you Coppertone coupons, and they also allow you to take a family photo.  Once you input your information, the items will be texted and/or emailed to you immediately.

The next stop is the Crest sponsored tent.  There you can take a photo with a Cars background, and then your child gets to spin the wheel.  The prizes there are toothpaste, a toothbrush, or Cars tattoos.

After that, you get to do the things you really came there to do.  First is a stop where you can build your own Cars’ car.  It is a piece of paper that you can cut out and fold into a car shape.  Your character choices are Lightning McQueen, who your child knew already, Cruz Ramirez, or Jackson Storm.  Trust me, your children will know and want Cruz before the day is over.  If your child doesn’t want a character, you can opt for a blank color he can color himself.  Considering it is an open air facility, you have the opportunity to go back multiple times and get them all.  Either that, or you can ask nicely.  The staff there was kind and courteous.

After building their own car, your child gets to watch a part of the movie.  For those that visit these locations, they get to see a brief clip describing the making of the movie followed by a small clip of the movie.  The long is long, but it is worth it.  It is a 16 minute clip, and they get a good amount of people into the small theater.  Typically, you are going to wait a half hour to an hour to watch it.

Finally, you get to see what you came there to see.  They have Lightning McQueen, Cruz Ramirez, and Jackson Storm there for your children to see.

Note, it is to see only.  You are not allowed to touch.  They remind you of this constantly.  While you cannot touch them, you are allowed to take a picture with each of the cars.  They will only permit you to use one camera per group.  Some of your photos may not come out as well as you would want because your child may be upset they cannot touch the cars.  This is a good time to remind you that you can go through multiple times.

If you are lucky, the second time through your child will be in a better mood (if they were upset in the first place).  Trust me, there were a lot of upset kids they could not touch the cars.  Whether you go through once or twice, don’t worry, they take a lot of pictures with each car.  If someone blinks, there will be another photo where they aren’t.

Overall, it took about an hour once your are inside, and it was a great day out with the family.  It got my child excited to watch Cars 3.  It also led to him asking for the new cars.  Don’t worry, there is a massive display of all the Cars 3 merchandise at Toys R Us.

By the way, your kid will know what is available even without a trip to Toys R Us. On the way out, you receive a poster will all the cars available for sale. On the bright side, you also get a $5 coupon to see the movie at Regal Cinemas. 

If you are interested and live in the tri-state area, this could be your last chance to see it.  The Cars will be at the Cherry Hill Mall on Saturday, May 13th  from 10 AM – 4 PM and Sunday, May 14th from 11 AM – 4 PM.

When you first discover that your wife is pregnant and going to have a child, there are number of doctor visits and tests.  Sooner or later, and with modern science it’s sooner that it used to be, you get the question from your doctor, do you want to find out the gender of the baby?

Like most couples, my wife and I had the debate, and we decided to find out.  Our goal in finding out was to have one special and private moment where we could celebrate finding out the gender.  I was reminded of that moment again when I saw this video on Twitter:

The biggest shot of my life. #7 at Pebble Beach. #GenderReveal pic.twitter.com/JAptoL1L3q

— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) April 24, 2017

This was an exciting moment the father and mother got to celebrate, and they did it in a really cool fashion.  For my wife and I, we were a little more subdued in how we did it.  We did the traditional cake with the gender:

We jazzed up the moment if you will by using the cake cutter and server from our wedding and by using a tea set we got from a trip we make to London.  It was a moment that the two of us will never forget.

And trust me, finding out the gender didn’t rob us of any joy in the delivery room.  When our son was born, the gender was the last thing in our minds.  When your child is born, all you are thinking about is whether or not the baby and the mommy are healthy.  That’s the joy.  While I don’t speak from experience, finding out the gender then, really takes a massive backseat.  If anything goes wrong in the delivery room, as it did for us as it does for many other parents, the gender will be the absolute last thing on your minds.

Keeping that in mind, find out the gender.  Create another special moment for yourselves and your family.  I know when we found out the gender, we had some fun with it.  We bought a boy’s pink polo shirt to trick my parents.  When they opened it, it had a note pinned to it saying, “Real Men Wear Pink!”  For my mother in law, we sent balloons and flowers to hear at work.  Everyone had their moment, and it was great.

There are three more added benefits to finding out the gender.  The first is if you are stuck on a name, you get extra time to focus on figuring out the name for just one sex.  When people send you gifts, you get gender specific gifts instead of the “neutral” stuff.  That neutral stuff is terrible, and it varies from year to year.  Overall, I still maintain yellow is not a boy’s color, nor is green a girl’s color.  And no baby should wear gray or brown.

There’s another factor to consider.  When you find out the gender, not everyone is happy.  Sure, they’ll give you the line, “We just hope the baby is happy and healthy!”  They’re lying.  Most are not like my father who came outright and said, “I want it to be a boy!”  Hint, most grandfathers want their sons to have a boy because it means the name lives on.  Long story short is everyone has their preference, and some will get crushed when they find out the gender.  Letting them know early let’s them work out whatever it is they need to work out before the baby comes.

One last note, and this is perhaps the most important.  Finding out the gender allows you to bond more with your unborn child.  It’s not just a baby.  Now it is a boy or a girl.  If you have a name picked out, it’s not a baby in there, that’s John or George or Patrick or Jamison or whatever name you have picked out.  If it’s a girl, that’s Olivia or Eva or Katie, etc.  That’s a powerful moment, and one that makes the decision to find out the gender worth so much the more.

So for parents that are debating finding out the gender of their baby, I fully encourage you to do so.  It was one of the greatest moments in my life.  I hope it will be one of the greatest moments in your life as well.

For the third straight year, I’m having my son pick out his very own NCAA bracket. Surprisingly, he won a big pool the first year as he picked Duke to win it all. It was a nice chunk of change to go into his college fund. 

The obvious question was how I got a four month old to pick the brackets. Well, it wasn’t easy. 

What I did was I went online, and I printed out pictures of all the mascots of the 68 teams in the tournament. I then put them in front of him, and I asked him to pick one. It took a very long time, more time than I care to admit, but it was a fun experience. 

Now that my son is three, it is much easier. He can better identify the pictures, and he can ask different questions. 

With his eagerness for St. Patrick’s Day, it’s of little surprise his far he had Notre Dame going. Basically speaking, if a team had some type of animal as the mascot, my son had them going further in the tournament. Having personally run pools in the past, I’ve seen worse methods of picking brackets. 

I had fun doing this with my son this year, and I look forward to watching the games with him. Hopefully, his bracket will win a pool or two like it did two years ago. 

On Tuesday, the Northeast is supposed to be slammed with a Northeaster.  This means that every old lady in your neighborhood is going to be running to the grocery store to stock up on the three staples of milk, bread, and eggs.  If you have a child, you will also need to run to the grocery store to get milk.  I do not want to know what would happen around here if we ever ran out of milk.

However, my shopping list isn’t done.  With the promise of a lot of snow coming, there is the potential that there will be enough snow to build a snowman.  Now, you could go the Frosty route and try to get away with a button nose, but you’re not going to see that button, nor are you ever going to find that button again.  No, instead, you are better off going the Olaf route and getting carrots for the snowmen.
I doubt there will be coal in your local supermarket this time of year.  Hopefully, you can use a couple of rocks and jam them in there.  If you want, color them with a black Sharpie so they stand out.  In fact, you can use a colored Sharpie if you want.  Ask your child what color they want the snowman’s eyes to be.  They can be blue, brown, or green like your child, or just the traditional black.

And with that, you should have enough stuff to build a snowman in your own backyard.  Hopefully, the snow sticks well enough to build a snowman instead of having to pile snow up to make some sort of snowman like creature.

If you’re ambitious, you can make a quick and easy chicken soup with your child in the slow cooker.  Pre-cut the remaining carrots with some celery and onions.  Get a roaster while you are at the grocery store and tear up the chicken.  Allow your child to combine the ingredients with broth or stock into the slow cooker.  Add some salt and pepper, and you can then let it run while you are outside playing with your kid in the snow.  When you come back in the house, you can have a quick and easy chicken soup.  It may not be the greatest, but at least it is hot, and it’ll be easier to get your child to eat it because he made it.

By the way, while you are out there shopping this weekend, make sure you get a sled if you don’t have one already.

When I think back to my youth, I fondly remember shows like He-Man and Thundercats.  As a father, I wish my son could enjoy these shows like I once did.  Once my son began watching shows like Paw Patrol, I really wanted my son to begin watching shows like He-Man and Thundercats.

With He-Man on Netflix, it is certainly possible for him to do so.  And yet, I don’t sit down and watch He-Man with him because that was my show growing up.  Paw Patrol is his.  When he goes and he plays with his friends, they all want to do play and talk about Paw Patrol.  The other kids don’t know He-Man, and I don’t want to make my son the outsider of the group.  So, with that, I eschew He-Man in favor of Paw Patrol.  It’s not pleasant.

Recently, I discovered there may be some middle ground for my son and I.  Growing up, I also watched DuckTales.  It was a great cartoon, and perhaps an even better video game.  To this day, I remember every line to the DuckTales theme song.  Who doesn’t?  It was catchy.

The diving into the money pit and the whole ordeal.  It was great.  It is a show I would love to share with my son.  That goes double with him loving Mickey’s Christmas Carol as much as I did.  At this point, my son knows all of those Disney characters, and I think he would love DuckTales.  Again, the problem is his friends don’t watch.

But maybe they will start this summer as apparently Disney is relaunching DuckTales.  Naturally, it isn’t going to have any of the original voices, but that’s not a big issue.  What’s important is they are going to relaunch DuckTales.  There’s a trailer for it and everything now:

So yeah, about that.

Maybe I’m just being a bit too nostalgic, and maybe I’m being too much of an old man. But man, that doesn’t look great. It certainly doesn’t look anywhere near as good as the original. And yet, I think I’d rather watch this than Paw Patrol again, and again, and again. So, in that sense, beggar’s can’t be choosers.

Still, I wish this looked better.  Here’s hoping it’s a giant success and not the equivalent of the remake of The Longest Yard.