Shit man that's crazy! I couldn't imagine what it would be like to drown and come back. That's fucking scary and definitely one of the memories you will never lose, Alzheimers be damned!
One of the funniest and cutest things about little smallsteps is that nose of hers! I don't know why but I think it's awesome lol very norse I think, or that region up there in Funland.
I hear you on the parenting and the challenges of it all. It's stressful as shit to do it all and work a job, navigate life and a mortgage and all that stuff that we were unprepared for until you just jump in and kind of do it one day. It's not fun sometimes but I wouldn't have it any other way. I want to try and be the best I can for my family and leave a lasting impression of how I think a father and husband should be. In hopes that one day, the little man will be a better version of me!
It is hard to not yell a warning every time they are about to do something foolish that will break something or hurt themselves. I've gotten better at it lately, with him getting a bit more mature than in months and years past. It's good but it's also sad to see the little ones growing up! :( lol
I cringe at the days when my wife is feeling under the weather and can't entertain and do the things she needs to so in order for me to keep working we give him an iPad and let him watch some shows. He's thankfully got an incredible imagination and lately sticks to watching fishing shows and stuff, making a mess of the living room but it's both good and bad. He was fileting a cucumber for dinner tonight, pretending it was a fish lol so I guess there are some things that he benefits from if it falls in his interest zone! But other parents do this all day every day and it's sad. We've invited some of our friends and their kids to do stuff with us but most of them refuse because their kids aren't into being outside fishing and all that. It's a damn shame!
I am not likely to forget it - I can still feel the feeling of it when I choose, which is kind of cool. The thing that was most surprising was after the initial struggle to survive on the surface, as I sank and resigned myself to fate, I was completely calm. There was no fear, no worry, no panic. Because of this experience, I don't fear death.
Lol the nose!! It is mine - so I feel sorry for her later in life :D
One of the things I have learned is that caring for the family means caring for oneself too. Neglect the self too much and everything else falls apart. I think that this is part of the reason so many marriages fail, because they don't spend time caring for themselves as a couple. Of course, there is the balance needed in there, some go overboard and into the realms of child neglect.
I do this daily! I don't want to - but it just comes out.... :D
For the first four years there was no screens at all - then Covid. We had to use it so we could work - but we limited it heavily. This summer I taught Smallsteps how to turn the TV on herself and choose some preselected shows.
It won't happen once she starts school in a few weeks, but I make a bowl of breakfast for her the night before (cucumber, carrots, grapes, cheese etc) and put it in the fridge and write a note for her to read in the morning that gives her something to do while watching, like draw a picture. Often though, she ends up drawing, playing, reading anyway, not really watching. It gives us a chance to have a sleep-in for an extra hour and, it gives her some responsibility and sense of taking care of herself.
Normally when kids here start school (not preschool like Smallsteps will start in a few weeks) they get a phone. I am thinking that the phone we get will be one of those phone watches with no apps and limited numbers.