Tag: #StayathomeDad

  • Summer Day Camp Anxiety Continues!

    Okay, it’s feeling like two steps forward and one step back over here.

    I was informed yesterday that the kid was lacking two vaccines which she needs to be cleared for camp. I called our pediatrician’s office, and was able to get an appointment today for the kid to get the vaccines. That all went according to plan.

    We made it to the doctor’s office, got in right away, the nurse was awesome and gave the shot to the kid without any panic or tears. All good.

    Now, to verify that the kid has received the shots, I just need a vaccination form signed by the kid’s doc for verification… which will take three business days… And Monday’s a holiday. And the camp starts on Tuesday, 9am.

    Ung…

    I was given the, “we’ll do our best to rush it.” The is no reason for me not to trust the staff at the pediatrician’s office. They have been great with everything we have ever needed in the past six years. I need to trust them.

    And I have been in work situations before where the most honest answer I could give was, “I will do my best.” Most of the time, I still got yelled at by the client, so I don’t want to be the guy who browbeats his way into getting what he wants.

    Sure, worst case here is that she misses the first day of camp… But, I don’t want to disappoint my kid.

  • Summer Day Camp Anxiety

    This is the first Summer that we are dealing with sending the kid to day camp. All the pre-schools that our daughter has been in were all year, so there really wasn’t a “Summer” time, as the school never really came to an end. Now that we have finished Kindergarten and are going into First Grade, that means real Summer Camps.

    I will admit that I started this whole process way too late. But, I do have the kid in a day camp that starts next week, which is a relief. But we live in the time of COVID, which means a crap ton of hoops to jump through.

    There was quite a stack of forms that needed to be filled out. They were a stack of online forms, but it still did take me an afternoon to fill everything out. And I am still fill out stuff. And I just found out that she has two vaccines that she hasn’t received yet and needs for camp. Her yearly physical is in August, but now we have to go to the doctor’s office and get them. And then resubmit all the forms!

    And then there’s daily lunches that I need to send with her. I don’t know why this is giving me so much anxiety, but it is. The place is a nut free camp, not surprised or upset about that, but as I look back on what I have been feeding the kid over the past year, nuts shows up in about half of the stuff. And I also feel that I need to be really creative when it comes to her food.

    This is our daughter’s first chance to be around kids her age for about six hours a day, and I just want it to go right. I want her to have fun, and make friends, and learn stuff, and… be a kid with kids. She hasn’t had that in over a year and I desperately want her to have that again. Just to have Summer fun.

  • Making My Own Writing Work

    We started the conversation last night about my returning to work. It was an open ended, “let’s just start talking about this topic” kind of conversation. We were just sharing our thoughts a feelings, before we actually have to sit down and make a plan.

    The first fact of our situation, that we both agreed on, is that I am taking care of the kid while she is in remote school for the next three weeks, and for the Summer vacation as well. Come September, when the kid is back in school, like actually back in the school building, then that will be my first opportunity to work.

    And I need to work. We are getting by, which is good, but we are not getting ahead. I’ve talked about our debt before, and that is the albatross in our life. Until that’s put to rest, we can’t save in a meaningful way, or get a new place to live, or retirement, or the kid’s college. So… the second income is needed.

    Now, what will that work be? That’s the trick.

    I will clean up the old resume this Summer, and keep an eye out in the theatre and arts world to see if something shows up.

    Professionally writing fiction is about a ten-year journey, and I’m about year one into it. I say that because all the people I know who are published, it took them about ten years of writing, submitting, networking, and just persevering. And there is still no guarantee there.

    I like blogging, but that also isn’t a guarantee either. All the professional and unsolicited advice I have received has all told me the same thing; blog about something that you are passionate about, and that no one else does. My first response was, ME, but that seems narcissistic and counterproductive. After having created a list of topics I care about, the only one that popped out to me was to blog about the puppetry community in New York. That seemed to make sense to me.

    I mean, I have been working as a puppeteer on and off since 2006. I have friends in the community. I go and see puppet shows on my own accord. Then, I see that there aren’t a lot of people writing about puppets. Maybe it’s worth exploring.

    Either way… Albatross!

  • Looking for Writing Work

    I am down to the final three months before the kid is back in school, and I need to have a job. I will be honest, working from home would be ideal, but when push comes to shove, and if it’s a good job, then I will be willing to go where I am needed.

    The other thing is that I have been at the blog for 11 months now, and I do value the 4 of you, on average, who come by to check it out. It is a huge improvement over my daily average of .5 people when I started on July 20th. The goal was to write about what I was interested in, and try to craft it in a short, concise way, 250 words per post, that was entertaining, but also made a point. The fact that the blog grew, from 60 subscribers to 215 in less than a year, might not be earth shattering, but at least showed there was interest.

    The other goal was to work on the skills that would enable me to go forth and find employment as a writer. That one is all on me. I think my first desire was to be able to purchase a new computer from the earnings of writing, which is still an admirable objective. I would like to add if I could bring in about $500 a month, I would be over the moon happy.

    So, I stand at this crossroads. If I am serious that this is what I want to do, then I need to start putting in the work to make it happen, at least, more than I am doing right now.

    But, the lingering thought in the back of my head is, I have no idea how to get started… Who do I talk to? Do I need a resume? Writing samples? An introduction? What is the first step? I am here, but I want to get there… Just, how?

  • This Morning with the Kid

    Some days are easier than others, you know. Today started off as a tough one for the kid. She was getting out of bed, when I went to take the dog for a walk. I could tell that she was still tired and a little grumpy. When I got back from the walk, there was a sulk on her. She was listening to her mother by getting dressed, and brushing her teeth, but the kid wasn’t into it. As my wife was putting the kid’s hair in a ponytail, the child was in a full frown. The kid went over to her desk, where her computer was to start her remote day in school, and just pout landed in her little chair.

    I went over to her, and picked her up, and just gave her a big hug. “Tough morning?” I asked.

    Her face was buried into my shoulder, but I could feel her head nodding a yes to my question.

    “Well,” I started, “today is going to get better.”

    She lifted her head to face me. “How do you know?” she asked.

    “I don’t. I just believe it will get better.”

    “Like a prediction?”

    “Sort of. But more like, I’m sure it’s going to happen.”

    “…okay.”

    I put her down, and she took her seat for the remote class. “Can we go to the park?” she asked.

    “Sure.” I confirmed.

    “Good,” the kid answered.