All posts by R.C. Liley

I'm an ex-mutual fund accountant who left the cubicle world to be a stay-at-home dad to my beautiful little girl, Avery, who entered our life on 11/15/13 and handsome little boy, Wes, who joined our family on 11/19/17. Also happily married to my wife, Kelley, as of 8/17/07. Sorry ladies... :) Fitness and nutrition is of the utmost importance in our family and we strive to reflect this in our daily life. I always prepare our meals at home and only go out if it's a special occasion, and even then I tend to not get much. Food should be fun and a joy to eat, not something quickly consumed from a fast food chain or scarf down before the next meeting. I have come from strictly logging high miles to train for the next marathon to keeping exercise varied and focusing more on strength. I still enjoy going for a run when I can, but nothing crazy, and I prefer hill sprints while pushing my daughter, Avery in the stroller. She loves it and I get a great workout! I want to show the world how to appreciate their body and feed it real, wholesome food while moving more throughout the day. In doing so, everyone would be healthier, happier, and we'd all live in a better place as a result. I blog mainly about my life as a stay-at-home dad and frequently include reviews, participate in campaigns, and share my thoughts on fitness and nutrition. If you ever have any questions or thoughts to share, please reach out as I'm always open to listening or helping others however possible. That is, when I have free time since Avery is and my wife are the number one priorities!

My Top Healthy Summer Resources for the Family

Father’s Day marks the official first day of summer this year. I don’t know about you, but we’re already feeling the heat in Texas and could go for some of that rain we had a few weeks ago.

With summer, comes heat, and a lot of it! Heat can be dangerous to all of us, but detrimental to our little ones. But that doesn’t mean they need to stay indoors sitting in the A/C all through the season. As long as we keep it smart, everyone can have a wonderful, healthy time under the sun.

I’ve gathered a few sites I find interesting and helpful with tips on how to stay safe and healthy this summer and wanted to share them with you. Most of these are geared towards the family, but I added a few not specifically meant for families that are packed with helpful nutrition and activity tips everyone can use.

First off, make sure you know what you’re rubbing all over your family’s skin. Our skin is highly porous and absorbs a lot of what you put on it, and many sunscreens do more harm than good with the amount of toxic chemicals they contain. This may seem like a minute detail to a full grown adult, but for a tiny baby or toddler, everything is much more concentrated and can post a serious threat. Read my post on sunscreen safety here. P.S. I also apologize to my wife in the post since I used to waive off the dangers of sunscreen myself.

15 Nutrition Tips For A Healthy Summer – Just a nice quick list to refer to for ways to eat smart but not be bored with a chicken and broccoli type meal. Which, by the way, I actually think is pretty good!

Keep Your Kids Happy and Healthy: Summer Tips For Parents – Hey, even the government has useful advice for a change! Make sure to check out the links provided in each tip for even more healthy ideas.

8 Summer Steps For Healthy Living – Some seemingly obvious tips from WebMD, but handy if you’re having a brain fog moment.

The Best Healthy Pantry Foods – This is a great list from Ben Greenfield and we have most of these in our pantry. Great to have year round!

Easy Meals For Busy Athletes – Another Ben Greenfield info bomb. Obviously, you don’t have to be an athlete to enjoy the benefits of these fast and healthy meals.

5 Fun Home Activities To Do With Your Kids – I love this list from The Good Dad Project! Some good ideas for indoor activities to help beat the heat and have fun as a family!

Keep The Kids Active All Summer Long – This list from Macaroni Kid is sure to have at least one or two ideas you haven’t considered for fun and productive activities your kids will learn from.

I like this list from the Macaroni Kid – Family Fitness site providing several simple foundations to keep your family fit and healthy all year. Print it and stick it on the fridge so it’s always fresh on your mind.

The Foundations of Family Fitness and Wellness

Hope you’re able to find some good tips and implement them in your home this summer. Please, just keep safe and well hydrated while having fun in the sun!

Hi there, I'm just keeping hydrated!
Hi there, I’m just keeping hydrated!

Do you have any plans for hanging out with the kids this summer?

Are you getting away and having someone else watch the kids?

Any tips you have for a safe, healthy summer that you’d like to share?

A Parent vs Toddler Standoff

So it’s come to this. We have stooped to the stubbornness level of our toddler and now have a standoff at least twice a day. It’s usually us asking her to pick something up, but she won’t budge and neither do we.

We both end up standing there waiting for the other to act, but nothing happens. Well, my wife or I will repeat ourselves more than any parenting book would recommend, and Avery will usually let out a series of whines and/or a cutesy “hi” with a cheesy grin.

Seeing as to how Kelley and I are both pretty stubborn already, and Avery is, well, a toddler which automatically equals stubborn, these standoffs can be quite time consuming. As a matter of fact, I was able to take pictures during one of our said standoffs and figured I’d go over how the event went down here.

The scene begins right after Avery dropped her almost finished green smoothie. Instead of picking it back up, she walked away to a corner in the kitchen despite my request to hand me the bottle.

DSC_0652

I ask her to pick it up again but only get that “I’m innocent” look.

DSC_0654

Going Mom and I have both been through this several times, so I knew it was going to be a while before one of us caved. I asked once more trying to keep a straight face as her turned all puppy-dog-eyes on me.

DSC_0655

Meanwhile…..

Ummm, can't someone at least just stand me up?
Ummm, can’t someone at least just stand me up?

5 minutes have passed at this point, but it felt like 30. I just kept busy with food prep and dishes for the day while she stubbornly stood in her favorite corner. Just as I was about to give in because we had plenty more to do that day, she walks over to the bottle.

I freeze, try to be nonchalant and keep away from the camera, but all she does is stand it up on the floor and step away.

DSC_0665

My relief that our standoff was over quickly turned into anguish as I realized she was going to continue dragging it on. Her smile said it all, “I won’t give in that easy, Dad!”

DSC_0666

It was on, there was no way in hell I would give in now! All chores could wait. Kelley just might come home from work hours later to see us staring at each other with the bottle still standing on the floor. I would win this standoff, dammit!

Several minutes slowly passed as I looked around for something else to do while asking her to pick up the bottle a few more times. My angst about how long this would last kept growing deeper, but finally a glimmer of hope emerged; she bent down to get the bottle!

DSC_0667

Was this the end of our impasse? Would the household chores and a workout actually get done? My anxiety eased up a little with each progressive move she made.

DSC_0668

Yes, contact! Keep going…..

DSC_0669

We have liftoff! I think even Avery felt relieved as she held the bottle high in celebration.

DSC_0670

I was about to hold my hand out for her to give me the bottle, but I guess all of that time in between made her thirsty.

DSC_0673

Ummm, Avery, can I have the bottle now? I’m pretty sure she was telling me to hold on a minute here.

DSC_0672

Finally, after finishing what was left, she relinquished the bottle and most importantly, our standoff. But she didn’t want to act happy about it…

DSC_0676

I took the bottle with a giant grin and praised her for doing good. I think that turned her mood into something better and she even gave herself a little round of applause.

DSC_0682

How can you be upset with that face for more than a minute? Not easy, I’ll tell you that much.

Although, this is only one of many occurrences that have happened and will happen, I guess it’s just a part of parenting.

Do you find you and your kids in standoff situations often?

What are some of the ways you deal with these trying times?

Daddy-Daughter Flipping Fun in Slow Motion

Tropical Storm Bill might keep us inside, but it’s not keeping us from a little daddy-daughter fun! Who’s raining on whose parade now, Bill? I thought it was funny, except that there’s no parade…..*sigh*

In lieu of spending time writing out a blog post, I thought it would be fun to record Avery and her Daddy (that’s me) running around the house and me flipping her on a pallet I made in the living room. She gets high and sometimes I let her land a little too hard, but she keeps coming back for more.

I figured slowing down some of the flipping action would make for a fun video to watch for everyone. Make sure you have your audio on as that should make for a good laugh.

If you’re wondering, yes, I will do sound effects for your audio or video project. I know, it’s just a gift. 😉

But seriously, is it just programmed in everyone’s head to make sound effects when playing with kids? I can’t think of a time I don’t make stupid noises when chasing/throwing/tickling Avery, or any kid really.

Hope you enjoy the video as much as I did making it. For the record, this helped wear her out for a much better nap time than the day before…..

What kind of sound effects do you make when you play with kids?

Are you being affected by Tropical Storm Bill?