FRIDGE WISDOM
Sometimes witty, sometimes wise, always cool
Fridge Wisdom: You like me, you really like me!
Designer Daddy’s Facebook page recently reached its 200th “Like” milestone, so a big shout out to Todd P., Claudia H., and Tom S. (#s 198, 199, and 200, respectively)!
And to you and all the other Likers, posters, commenters, forwarders, followers, retweeters, sharers and readers, I send you a heartfelt…
Fridge Wisdom: Regarding the dog’s butt
I’ve found this phrase pretty useless in teaching my toddler just about anything. Yet it’s one of the top 10 (if not the #1) default commands parents use when trying to bring their wee ones in line. I know I’ve certainly spouted it at JJ in desperate situations, and always to no avail.
What was lacking? Specifics.
“Don’t poke the dog in the butt.”
“Bite your food, not your hand.”
“Those are Daddy’s toys. Please don’t remove them from their original packaging or they lose their value.”
“Buddy, no rocking the extremely large, expensive TV back and forth.”
“Stop touching that. It’s got poop on it.”
Niceness (like sharing) is nebulous and subjective. The dog’s butt is not.
JJ’s Top 10 of 2011
I can’t believe another year has zoomed past, and with that a toddler that’s learned to zoom quite a bit on his own! To recap, here are a few of JJ’s favorite things from 2011…
Fridge Wisdom: Birthday(s) edition!
I gotta get some more "Ds" or change the name of the blog...
So here we are, one year later and the blog is still going strong (ish). Someone recently asked me how I found the time. Which is ironic because I follow several other Dad Blogs — most of them are SAHD (Stat-at-home Dads) — yet they are much more prolific. I’m always wishing I had more time to write, but I gotta make money and take care of the kiddo some of the time, too.
Speaking of making money, I realize blogging doesn’t (at least not for me), but I have really come to enjoy it and so indulge myself. And hopefully a few readers have enjoyed it along the way as well. I also tell myself this is my version of scrapbooking. While I am pretty crafty, I don’t have the patience for that level of craziness.
Of course the blog’s 1st birthday coincides with the 2nd birthday of JJ, the blog’s inspiration!
So here’s a special guest Fridge Wisdom submission from two of JJ’s cousins who visited this last weekend for all the festivities.
Thanks Bella and Kristina! (By the way, their awesome pig and owl hats can be found at BJ’s, in addition to the links from Amazon.)
Fridge Wisdom: ¡Gracias, pero no gracias!
Like any perfect parent, I have kept JJ from watching TV before the age of two, since pediatricians recommend they have very limited exposure up until that age. Umm… no. Like any good American, TV is my back-up entertainer, schoolteacher and tranquilizer. It’s how I was raised, and I turned out okay. Ish.
Also like any good American (of a certain age), I learned the most from Sesame Street. Counting. ABCs. How to tell when one thing is not like the other. And of course Spanish. Mucho, mucho Spanish.
And speaking of Spanish… There are a lot more options vying for my toddler’s attention, and Sesame Street is pretty low on his radar. Not so low—much to my chagrin—is Dora. You know, The (bilingual) Explorah. As a designer, I must say the animation is pretty abhorrent (what’s with the disembodied eyebrows?!?) As an adult, the repetitiveness of the dialog drives me loco. And the whole talking to the kids through the screen bit? Very creepy.
But as a parent, I must admit JJ has learned quite a bit, from this adventuresome tot and her boot-wearing monkey. Probably because they hammer it into his tiny, impressionable skull. And unfortunately not a lot of what he learns is very useful.
So a big ¡Gracias, pero no Gracias! to Dora for teaching JJ such essential words as:
How about teaching some phrases helpful in everyday life? Something like:
Or perhaps:
So what random and totally pointless thing did your rugrat learn from the boob tube?
Fridge Wisdom
I had an idea a while back* — inspired by my blog’s masthead — to spell witty (and hopefully sometimes wise) things on the fridge using the magnet letters we seem to be accruing at an alarming rate (we’re up to 3 sets). As with any idea that requires more than me sitting on my ass at the computer, it took a while to get around to it. But at long last here I am, presenting my first installment of…
As I was playing around with this, I decided there needed to be some rules to keep it interesting (for me at least) and from getting out of control. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
1. I can only spell words using the magnets I currently own (no Photoshopping in additional “T”s if I want to spell “temper tantrum” and only have one).
2. I can, however, manipulate letters to form different letters. (The “d” in “Fridge” is a “P” turned on its head)
3. I can use other, non-letter magnets – if needed – to spell a word. (See Starbucks magnet above)