300

I just wanted to do a quick post saying thank you to all that have been reading my blog and I can't believe it but the blog has been viewed over 300 times now! This is a significant number since one of the martial arts I am studying is pankration and that is the art the spartans trained in. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to listen to my rambling thoughts and views on the world. I also wanted to say I would also like to make this more of a community by having more readers comment. It only takes a second and you can even comment anonymously. I would enjoy having discussions about the posts. You don't even have to agree with me, if you don't post your thoughts, if you do, post your thoughts. I appreciate your effort in this endeavor.

Is God trying to guide me...am I really that stubborn

Well I am giving the update for what we found out through our interviews today. The first meeting we had was with an in home daycare provider that Sara and David would be the youngest kids there. This was a small daycare with the majority of her kids being of school age with a set of twin 3 year olds that come a few times a week. We talked with this provider for about an hour, she told us basically that she would implement whatever curriculum we wanted the children to have. This was a nice feature and will allow us to feel more involved in the learning process and know exactly what they should be working on at home and at daycare. We have Baby Can Read , so I feel very comfortable leaving this with her and the kids can work on it. So, there we are talking in the driveway about how she used to live in Orlando like us and only lived there for a short time when I realize that we are going to be late for our next appointment. I rush my wife and the provider to a quick close of the conversation and we rush to the car, and then guess what happened..Well, I bet you won't know unless you drive a 1999 malibu as well. The stupid Anti Theft system came on and disables the motor from being started. So, here we are sitting in our car after we rushed away from a conversation waiting on the system to override itself so we can leave. The only problem is it took five ten minute sessions of the override to happen.  I then begin to think if this was God's way of taking free will away from me by disabling the car, because as our discussion became leaning more towards going with the provider's driveway we were blocking I got an idea to try the little trick that got the car started. That or the relief of stress in my brain thinking of the money we can save cleared my thoughts to process new information. Now, it is 4:30 and we are late to two appointments. So, we call the two of them and ask them if they can just tell us their rates over the phone to see if it is even worth it for us to drive over there and see it.They both agreed to and we found that with the reduced rates dcfs pays out for in home care providers that we would only save around 100 to 150 dollars. This did not sound worth it since we had just come from a provider where all we would be paying is the copay which will save us 560 a month.(Woohoo was the emotion I felt when doing the calculations. So now we have found someone that is licensed, trustworthy, and affordable. The checklist I linked earlier was only used in one place since the fact that we couldn't afford the other ones nullified their entry into our daycare competition. I am super excited since this 560 a month means we can fix the car, have the kids do more activities, and gives us money to save and put away for a rainy day. The thing we should remember is that it is not the quality of the equipment that is important, but the quality of instruction and human interaction that is. My advice to any parents out there in the same or similar situation is to not think twice about seeking out cheaper childcare alternatives. Find a qualified individual that does not have the huge overhead of a large building or the other expenses that come with it. The human being that is taking care of your children is more important than some fancy playground they might or might not have. Do not ever forget the human component whn choosing places for your children to attend, whether it be karate, dance, or schools.

Here are I am thinking about my two precious children being as cute as they can possibly be before going to bed tonight. You have no idea the emotions this stirs up when me when I think about how much I love these two children and how my father only tried to contact me once in my 24 years on this earth. I thank God every day just for allowing me to be a part of their lives. I pray every father or man that sees this post is a true man and sticks around for their children. You don't have to stay with the woman if you do not love her, but for God's sake be there for the human being or beings that you created. I want to include some helpful tips in the blog in order to not just rant about my own life, but to bring some insight into the things that I have been able to learn through my experiences. The first thing I am going to do is to include a list of things to do with your child or children in order to create a deeper bond with them:

READ- stands for "Read Everything Again Daddy" as my daughter likes to say.This is my favorite thing to do with my children. I sit them on my lap and pull out a dr. Seuss book or any other book with pictures and they will cuddle in close and listen to every word. This is a double bonus, not only are we bonding but they are learning as well. My three year old knew the entire alphabet and could sight read 100 words 4 months ago. It's not because I sit her in front of a boob tube I will tell you that much. (TV can be educational with appropriate programs...we can get into that one later) The interaction between you and your children during this time will give you motivation to get through all the diaper changes and tantrums.

Play- You have children, they like to play, so play with them. It can be as simple as getting on their level on the ground and pushing cars back and forth with them or playwrestling with them. My favorite moment of the past few weeks may sound wierd, but it was when I took the kids outside to play some teeball...wait that's not my favorite part, it was when I said we had to go back inside to eat dinner and my daughter, the food vaccuum, cried because we could not play "baseball games" as she calls it anymore. If there was one thing that got me through my rough life, besides people, would have to be baseball. Sharing an interest with your child could be it's on section, but hey it's my blog and not yours so here it is. The physical activity probably wouldn't do anybody any harm either.

Teach- Life presents many opportunties to teach our children everything we know and those things that we do not know. If your children are anything like mine, then their two favorite words are "What's That." Or "Dat," in David's case. Children want to learn, why not let them and even help them in that journey. If you are taking a walk outside, take the time to point out objects and colors. As tempting as it is to say "Shh", don't, do not extinguish that inner desire to learn in your child before they can speak a full sentence. Your children are human beings, so talk to them, lend them your knowledge and you will be surprised at how much they can pick up. I then use their new knowledge as a game after the being told something a few times. If we see a new animal they just learned or know already I point and say, "What's that?" Two words and I can assess my children's knowledge and comprehension. This I know will change as they grow older, but so will I and the way that I will lend my knowledge to them. The thing I want to teach them most is that learning is never finished, you do not just get some diploma and say, "Ok, I know everything now." I want them to be so intelligent that they know how little they know.

So, take the time to do one or all of these things today and see if you don't feel closer to your children.

I would like to get this blog going, so if any ideas please leave a comment or message me.

Back to writing

I have recently felt the need to begin writing again. It has now been over two years since my last blog post and it saddens me. It has been a very busy two years though. We moved to Illinois...again to have our second child, David Gabriel Trammell. He is now 18 months old. Our daughter Sara is 3 years old as of 6/20/2011. I started going back to school after we moved up here. I am currently working at a hospital in the food and nutrition department part time. Man, it seems like I can never get fully away from food service. I have been working with food in some capacity for 7 of my working years since I was 14. I really think I want to take this blog in a little bit different direction. I am different than I was two years ago. My life plan two years ago was to help my aunt and uncle with their camp and conference center for the rest of my days on this place called Earth. Things did not work out that way and here I am sitting 10 hours away from them and having barely spoken to them in two years. That is sad isn't it? With all the modern technology we have that somehow I have been able to not have communication with somebody, let alone family. I want to write about family in this blog and how it should be. I have grown up the majority of my life without it and recognize the importance of it. I do not see family being simply defined as blood or legal relationships, but a network of people that you can rely on and have trust in to know they will be there for you through the thick and the thin. By the way I have not found that complete network, but am searching ever for it. I will continue to post as I work my way through this ever tangling world of people and relationships with those people. I will write about my family and the things we are doing. If not interested then don't waste my time by leaving me a message or comment. I have also begun to research my family history and seek out my father whom I have only met once and have no for sure idea where to begin. I am on a journey called life, and I will be bringing whomever wants to come along with me through this blog.