Charlie had to go to the doctor recently, and was not at all pleased about the trip. Our 3 1/2-year-old was in pain and arrived there, with his mom and brother, a hot mess. Bawling on the floor, he cried like he was getting paid in candy for the tears that hit the floor. It was then that his older brother did something incredibly sweet, genuinely helpful and entirely on his own accord. He walked over and started asking Charlie questions about Phineas and Ferb. Phineas and Ferb is something the boys and I watch quite often as it is as entertaining for adults as it is for … [Read more...]
About Trey Burley
Tips on Bringing Kids to Comic Con
Wondering whether bringing kids to comic con is a good idea? Of course, it is! I took my children to their first "comic con" event when they were 4 and 2. I knew they wouldn’t remember much, but I certainly wanted them to have fun. Here are some tips you will find helpful, especially if you have little children, that I learned about during that first one (and note: the same basic tips can be carried over to a baseball card show or any other fan conference you take kids to): Research in advance Before bringing kids to comic con, look up the schedule and vendor list. Just a little bit of … [Read more...]
Can Parents Have a Favorite Child?
When I was in school, I had a friend whose father preferred his sister to him. The reason: the father expected his daughter to cheer and the son to play football. Unfortunately for the son, he was barely over five feet tall. My friend could never get over the fact that he wasn’t acceptable to his father simply because of his height. As babies, my boys were very similar – so similar that it is difficult to remember what our oldest and youngest liked as babies. Sure, the older one liked to sleep more and the younger one liked balls more, but overall they were both very calm babies who both … [Read more...]
Fathers of All Ages
A friend of mine from college was in town so I messaged him immediately to if he’d have time to get together. It was great seeing him again because it brought back some great memories and encouraged me about today’s young people. For the record, I feel like I’m 90 years old when I write ‘today’s young people,’ but in this context it’s true. My friend’s son is in his senior year of high school. My kids are 3 and 5. I don’t feel like an old dad, but suddenly, seeing a good friend from college talking about his life and what he does as a dad made me feel weird. Having a child forces you to … [Read more...]
Having “The Talk” Down the Road
You know those times you’re innocently talking to a child and they open up a whole new dimension of where you were planning on going with the conversation? Maybe it should be called "the autobahn"or "the cul-de-sac" of a child’s conversation. Sometimes it’s an innocent cul-de-sac. The conversation goes round and round. Other times, it takes that lightspeed Endor jump from innocent to "hold me tightly, I need a moment." This talk we had is a combination of two types of streets. We were on the highway and Jake was talking about some of his friends who were going or had just returned from … [Read more...]