Category Archives: Parenting

Give This Divorced Dad Blogger Some Love

04/03/2015 R.C. Liley 2 Comments

The blogging community as a whole is pretty tight-knit, but us dad bloggers take it up a notch and share the common bond for the love of our family and writing. This divorced dad and I have been reading, commenting, and sharing each others’ posts for a while now, and I’d even say we have become online friends.

Sounds corny, huh? Maybe he even thinks so and would quickly disagree. But just like he says about his blog, this is my blog, I own it, and I can say what I want. So there!

His name is Gary Mathews (yes, just one “t”….blame his mother), and he owns the blog Skipah’s Realm. He is as open as he can be about his feelings towards his ~~ex-wife~~ daughter’s egg donor and has an awesome sense of humor. All around great guy and wonderful father to a beautiful girl. Almost as beautiful as Avery, but obviously I’m allowed to be biased just like any parent. 😉

Guess I should explain the title to this post. When I say “love”, I don’t mean it in the sense that most of your dirty minds are probably thinking, I’m talking about NuttZo Love, or #NuttZoLove, just for the Twitter aficionados. Gary and I have been going back and forth about Girl Scout cookies and NuttZo for some time now. He’s all about the only packaged form of legal crack that’s sold by cute little girls just to make it even harder to refuse, and I’m all about NuttZo. Obviously, I’m a proud ambassador because I believe in it’s healthy goodness!

Like most people I know, he’s resistant to changing from his tried and true peanut butter (albeit hydrogenated), but I’m hoping he gets the chance to try and love NuttZo! As I told him before, if not for his own sake, for his precious daughter’s sake. Give her the healthy benefits without sacrificing taste so she has all the energy to ride bike and walk with her daddy for years and years to come.

Okay, I’m not trying to make a sales pitch here (I won’t earn anything from your purchase anyway), just wanting Gary to get some NuttZo (besides his ex) of his own to try and share with his little girl. I shared a few recipes he could try with NuttZo, and meant to give him the NuttZo Banana Bread Recipe I posted a couple weeks ago but forgot. So there it is now, Gary, put down those crack-infused cookies and make something for you and your beautiful blonde bomber!

Since your daughter is seven, I probably wouldn’t feed her like I do Avery though. Just a tip. 🙂

So, if you’re around the New Albany, Indiana area and happen to have or want to get an extra jar of NuttZo, please swing for Gary to try (I rhymed!!). Gary, hope you don’t mind me sharing your location, but I just figured it’s okay since it is on your Twitter page!

Or if you’re a lucky NuttZo employee who has the power to send this guy a jar, please do so! I know he won’t be disappointed and will “spread” the good word after trying and sharing with his daughter. It might even make her as excited about the set of cool cinnamon-scented socks from littlemissmatched.com he was able to let her have and write a review on. Notice I said “set”, they come in threes and not a pair. Genius!

Wow, I’ve gone on about this single dad for a while now, huh? Should Going Mom be worried? Ummmm, no, she’s beautiful enough to turn a gay guy straight! But I’m already straight, I wasn’t saying she turned me straight. Not that there’s anything wrong with being gay. Ahh, shut-up, R.C.!!

Anyway, if you don’t want to give him NuttZo Love, just go over to his blog and read about his adventures of being taken back to court by the crazy egg donor, spending time with his daughter’s Russian KGB spy, vodka-drinking hamster named “Hammy”, how he overcame the depression of divorce, and his blissful time with his daughter when she gets to stay with him.

Disclosure: All stories about Hammy are completely fictional, but he does house a Russian Hamster named Hammy for his daughter.

As he says, co-parenting sucks, and I’m forever grateful not to know about that firsthand. And never want to!! Hear that, Kelley? 🙂

Also, I’d like to thank Mr. Skipah for mentioning me several times (like here and here) on his blog and linking back to my blog. It’s all a part of the dad blogger (or all bloggers really) community just supporting one another.

Thank you, Gary, I enjoy reading your posts and the comments you leave on my posts. Wish you and your daughter the best, and it’s obvious you are the best dad/parent for her! Now go find some NuttZo!

Parenting

Jumping Dads and Beer With a Friend

04/02/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

April Fools’ Day was supposed to be a fun day at a nearby park with our Dallas Dads Group, but Nature wasted no time living up to the term “April Showers”. Just hours after midnight, it rained, and continued with storms all throughout the day.

Luckily, when scheduling this meet up, I had an indoor backup plan for the bounce house we went to for my first scheduled Dallas Dads Group event. I was looking forward to being outside with other dads and our kids since Avery and I had a good time when we went last week. Avery even ran sprints across the soccer field with me!

Soon, that awesome playground in the background will be more than just a giant mulch pit for her to throw wood pieces! The whole mulch thing is why I decided not to be too upset about our change of plans and figured some bouncing action would suit all of us just well.

Two other dads were able to attend, one with an almost 3 year old son, and the other with a 1 1/2 year old daughter. The father-son duo were making their way through all of the bounce houses like a tornado in a trailer park. Both were jumping and playing non-stop, and I’m not sure who had more fun; kid or adult.

Meanwhile, the other dad and I had to help our girls around, but they still had plenty of play time too. Well, after the initial shell-shock phase where the look on their face is saying “Where the hell am I?!”

That soon passed and Avery was in a basketball bounce house doing her best to keep on her feet. Poor girl kept tumbling as you would expect from an already unstable toddler in an inflatable house. Not that I helped by jumping all around her. Just helping to work on her stability is all!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by RC Liley (@going_dad)

I tried lifting her to the rim so she could make a slam dunk, but Avery refused to let the ball go. Guess we still have some work to do on teaching her the game of basketball. Not that I know much more than trying to get the ball in the other team’s hoop.

What I loved most about our dads group was that all three of us dads were getting in there and jumping around with our kids while the moms that brought their kids were either sitting on a bench or standing outside watching or on their phone. Okay, moms reading this, don’t blow up on me! I’m not saying all moms do this, I know that’s not true, just the ones that were there while we were.

We good, caring mothers? Good. 🙂

Before we parted ways, we had an employee snap a shot of us dads with our quickly expiring toddlers.

Good times for sure.

Avery and I stopped at Sprouts on the way home to pick up a few groceries. I found a new kimchi I’ve never seen before and can’t wait to try it. Fermented food is packed full of gut healing goodness and it’s great as a topping on a variety of things.

Once home, I knocked out a quick tabata kettlebell workout with Avery and went for a walk with her and Abby (our Golden). I fed Avery lunch while making dinner for Going Mom and trying to eat something for myself. Kelley had a dentist appointment and was coming home early right after.

My wife was nice enough to let me out of the house alone so I could meet an old friend at a local pub for a few beers. I didn’t want to appear too eager to get out, but I left before nap time was over with good beer on my mind.

Don’t worry, I didn’t have a lot, and made it back just in time to sit down for dinner at our usual time; late. It’s always nice to catch up with an old friend and to have good beer while doing so, hopefully we’ll meet again sooner rather than later.

It was a long but fun-filled day, and can’t wait to go to our next meet up with our Dallas Dads Group. Maybe next time the weather will hold up and we can make it to the park!

I'm waiting on you. — I’m waiting on you.

If you had to choose, would you pick being outside or an indoor venue like a bounce house to be with your kids?

Have any long time friends you like to meet with every now and then to play catch up?

Life, Parenting, Soft Star Shoes

A Trip to Trader Joe’s, Soft Star Run, and Our Rain Barrel

03/31/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

Trader Joe’s recently opened up shop right next to us and I’ve been wanting to go check it out. I’ve been to TJ’s several times before, but it’s been awhile since my last visit. As a proclaimed foodie, I’m drawn to the less mainstream grocery stores, and decided to finally pay the new location a visit.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by RC Liley (@going_dad)

And what better companion than my daughter, Avery, to peruse the aisles of a new store! But not before someone decided to back into us as we were parking. A guy in front of me turned into a perfectly open parking space on the left and I turned into another on the right, then the proceeded to back up to park in the other space next to me! It ended with his rear bumper connecting with mine. Nothing too serious, but annoy nonetheless. Just one more “to-do” by needing to call the guy’s insurance to have it repaired.

Like I said, not that bad, but also not that good. But guess it could be a lot worse and I’m thankful the guy was actually nice and apologetic. Avery didn’t even know what was going on and she kept rather calm.

We left Going Mom at home so she could have some time to work on getting her rain barrel setup and on our refreshed veggie and herb garden. Yep, I do the grocery shopping while my wife works on the yard. No shame here, plus I still do the mowing. Well, except for when Kelley wins an argument over who gets to use our EGO Power+ Lawn Mower.

My wife and I argued over who got to use our @egopowerplus #mower. Guess she has #PowerBeyondBelief just like #EGO! #batterypower #cordless #greenliving #Spring

A video posted by RC Liley (@going_dad) on Mar 29, 2015 at 12:32pm PDT

But next time, it’s all mine! ~~Unless there’s a good sale at Costco~~ Then I’ll drink beer and grill steaks!

Back to Trader Joe’s; I was not impressed. After spending some time picking up every item and reading the ingredients, I finally remembered doing the same thing last time I went and couldn’t figure out what makes it so great. Most of what I found were packaged foods with processed vegetable oils, sugar, modified corn starch, sulfur dioxide, etc. when all I really want is some freakin’ frozen mixed veggies or a decent bag of snackworthy mixed nuts. There were some good finds, though, one of them being this bottle of cold brew coffee concentrate.

Normally, I make my own, but this will be a lifesaver when I’m in a pinch. So I don’t plan on making many trips back there as my usual stores suit me just fine.

After Saturday’s let down of an exciting store trip, Kelley kept Avery with her as she continued yard work so I could go on a solo Sunday run in my Soft Star Shoes. I’ve been running rather short distances with Avery in the stroller and holding the leash for our Golden, Abby, to tag along, but haven’t had the chance for a solo run in a while. Needless to say, I was excited for the bit of freedom.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by RC Liley (@going_dad)

I ended up running about 66 minutes and covered 7.8 hilly miles. It was wonderful, liberating, and….it kinda hurt. Stupid chafing. Just a few years ago, this distance would be an easy, laughable even, run, but now it’s my long run!

However, I did see a giant home with a Ferrari and Lamborghini parked in it’s own upscale shop. Just for a little motivation, I ran up their driveway for a closer look, waved to the owners standing outside, and turned right around to continue my run. Sorry, no pictures since I run with as little as possible, but trust me, the cars were nice!

When I returned, Going Mom had a lot done and our garden is ready to grow several organic herbs and vegetables. Waiting sucks, but hopefully it will all be worth it.

Avery kept busy by running wild and throwing dirt every which direction as Kelley watched her while trying to get her own dirt “thrown” around. Being the Going Mom that she is, my wife did an outstanding job on the revamped and extended garden and the rain barrel G-Ma got her for X-Mas.

Now we just wait for the next rain and see how everything holds up.

I’m not sure what it was exactly, but that evening, after her nap, Avery was a wild child the rest of the day. She was in the sun a little longer than usual, so the only reasonable thing I can think of is that there’s some strange correlation between the sun and inner demons. It might sound far-fetched, but Avery has been known to house a demon in the past.

I mean, even the cat, who usually doesn’t mind her, went into hiding….