Parenting as a Christian Single Dad

It has been some time now that Madalyn has been a big fan of Dora the Explorer DVDs . She really does love those cartoons and I think they are good for her. Not having cable tv I don't have many options for quality programming for Madalyn and myself to watch. She just doesn't get the CREATE channel like I do. I decided to do some research and was amazed that there are over 2 dozen Dora DVDs. Holy Cow! If you are interested in checking out Dora for your kids I recommend saving a bit of money and shopping for Dora at Amazon.com

Here is a kicker... Madalyn just finished dinner and she is sitting on me and as I am looking up at her I notice something shiny in her nose. It was a jewelry bead! What the heck. How long had it been there? How was I going to get it out? I was fairly certain I knew how it got there but I asked just the same. Of course she put it there at daycare and "yes" it was a bead. After several attempts with the tweezers and a crying little girl I was finally able to get it out. I never thought being a father meant digging jewelry out of their nose. :-) I think she understands the importance of not sticking things up her nose. I just hope there isn't any other beads up there. Kids... you gotta love them.

Sometimes I wonder just how much Madalyn is getting about Jesus. Sure every now and then she prays over dinner and does a really good job but besides that I am uncertain just how much she understands. Today I got a ray of hope. Went hiking in the hills above some great Boise real estate and I hear her talking, I thought to me. She was asking whom I thought was me to not let her fall. So I told her to get up to where I was and I would hold on to her. She quickly corrected me and told me she was talking to Jesus. As simple as that was it sure did put a smile on my face.

Maybe I am a bit paranoid but I can get that way from time to time. I am often skeptical of artificial sweeteners and such because I think sugar is great, in moderation of course. But since Madalyn has grown accustom to loving sugar, it must be a genetic thing, I have decided to feed her some sugar free food items. I thought about doing a little research on aspartame and even asked a chemist that I work with exactly what it was and I did not like the answer. In a language that I can understand it came down to this: ASPARTAME IS BAD! Of course there are millions out there that would agree and even disagree. Heck the FDA says it is okay even though they have received thousands of aspartame side effects complaints. There are hundreds of websites, not that I believe everything that is on the Internet, that are opposed to aspartame. The ones that I looked at seemed to have valid concerns and even stories that make you question if it is worth it. From what I can tell there really is n...

I have been doing some serious praying that Madalyn would be with me more while God works on my ex’s heart about her living conditions. (She is on her 3rd live in boyfriend in the past 12 months) On Mother’s Day she did not come to pick up Madalyn and I come to find out that her car broke down. Because of this I have been able to have several more days with Madalyn and loving it. Things are just so much better, I feel like a better father, I feel less rushed, and more consistent. Overall I feel great but I continue to have this nagging feeling of guilt. Guilt that Madalyn is not able to be with her mom. I wish I could help her and fix her car but that is not my responsibility. My prayer is being answered and I feel guilty and selfish. WHY? Maybe I am selfish, actually I know I am but deep down I really want what is best for Madalyn and I know that is being with both her mom and dad. Eventually, unless God has other plans, she will get her car fixed and things will return to normal and ...

With the big push towards sugar free everything I am a bit nervous of what is to come. Personally I don't believe that these sugar substitutes are the answer and we are setting ourselves up for a big problem. I love sugar yet I know to much of it is a bad thing and when it comes to Madalyn I am trying to find healthy alternatives that she will enjoy. The most recent of which is buying those yogurts in a tube and freezing them. I know this is probably an old idea but I really never had to deal with such issues, heck until recently I never bought yogurt. I guess I am a late bloomer. Anyhow it works great and Madalyn loves the choice of eating the yogurt from the freezer or the fridge.