November 2012
CONOR'S TRAINING TO BE A TEXAN
26/11/12 14:16 Filed in: child development
Conor's now 13 months and is just learning to talk. He says a lot of gibberish but not really much more than ma ma and da da. Except the last couple of weeks. He learned 'hat' one day and that word has stuck with him for some reason. He knows 'cat' from when he was in Ireland two weeks ago. He says 'no' and shakes his head until you think it's going to fall off. But this morning, I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and Conor crawled into the dog's crate while the dog was outside. He then looked through the mesh top and said, "Hi Dad!" I could hardly believe my ears. He laughed and crawled back out of the dog crate.
Here he is saying, 'hello' and your guess is as good as mine on the other phrase. Almost sounds like 'How are ya?' But that would be a little too advanced, I think.
Comments
CONOR'S NOT CONTENT WITH JUST LEARNING TO WALK
26/11/12 14:13
I didn't see anything in the parenting handbook that says he should get a timeout for this. But at the same time, something just doesn't seem right about it, either. Hmmm…
DESIGNING AND BUILDING A ROCKING HORSE FOR CONOR
24/11/12 14:18 Filed in: design | Woodworking
I always thought it would be cool to build a rocking horse and now that Conor is 1 year old, I thought he might enjoy it. I've been collecting rocking horse pictures for about a month now and curating them on my Pinterest account. This morning, I drew up a few plans and the parts list and headed out to a lumberyard to get the wood.
I was planning on making it from walnut but there wasn't much to be had so I decided to make it out of spanish cedar. I've never worked with Spanish cedar but I've heard that boat builders love it because it's so easy to work with. I got the wood home and began to cut out the parts. At first, I thought the hardest part was drawing the head from scratch. But it wasn't actually that hard. I just sketched it on a piece of plywood and it looked like a horse's head so I cut it out. I still need to trace the plywood template onto the cedar but that can wait. The hardest part was cutting the compound angles for the legs. What was I thinking when I designed that part? It ate up most of the day but I think I' got it looking pretty good. I'll report as I build. But here's how chaotic my workbench looked today as I was working. - See more at: http://dadsdecoded.com/blog/index_files/archive-nov-2012.html#sthash.h2mNdtr6.dpuf
TEX AND I TO RUSTLE UP SOME LOBSTER
21/11/12 14:21
I found a cowboy hat and some chaps the other day for Conor. This is perfect because we're working on a new music video called, "Pearl Handled Pistols" and I needed a cowboy outfit for him. I got it at Crazy 8 and it was must have been a Halloween leftover. Sweeet.
I wrote a western song a dozen years ago and Conor loves this song. He recently learned the word, 'hat'. And in the song I say, "I do not wear a 10 gallon hat, i doubt if this will ever change." And every time he hears the song, he picks out that one word, "hat" that he knows and shouts it out and grins. It's the funniest dang thing.
RAISING YOUR KIDS TO BE ENTREPRENEURS
Do you ever look at your child and wonder, "What's he/she going to grow up to be?" And do you wonder what role you play in that decision? Well, I sure do. I play the piano, the guitar and the flute for my son daily in hopes that he'll get interested in playing music when he gets older. I'm not saying I want him to be a professional musician, but I know that music has been a great communication tool for me when I need to get things off my chest. Or I want to tell others what's inside my head.
I read him books and tell him stories so he understands words, speaking and inflections of voice. I think it may help him enjoy books and reading when he gets older because that's where all the answers are. I try to pick out toys that are wooden, and fabric that are texturally interesting to the touch so that he appreciates aesthetics and design.
My wife and I talk and laugh around him and are affectionate so he sees that these are the ways we treat others that we care about.
But there's still something lacking as I try to teach my son how to think as an adult. I was always taught to work hard and everything else will follow. And it has worked out okay for me to some degree. But as I grew older, I saw that there were others around me that were not working as hard as me but were just as successful or more so. And I wondered, 'what do they know that I don't?" And one day I picked up the book, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," and it began to sink in. I have come to believe that it's not necessary to work hard as it is to work smart. And this means understanding the world around us. It means to discover what others around us need or want and find ways to provide it. And when we discover how to provide it, delegate those tasks to others so it frees us up to make other discoveries. It's called being an entrepreneur. Since I have moved to Boston, I have met dozens of entrepreneurs and am friends with many of them. And i'm intrigued with their belief system.
Most of these entrepreneurs are no smarter than your average Joe and sometimes, not as smart. And they don't pretend to be smarter. It is their natural ability to think of an idea and hire someone to find the solutions for them. It doesn't dawn on them that they don't know enough to run a company. It doesn't cross their minds that they are in over their heads. They just know that they have an idea and that if someone should be able to make money from that idea, why not them. In essence, they claim their prize, they step into the ring with both feet and only then do they ask, "How in the world am I going to succeed. And one step at a time, they find solutions to each problem.
I began to wonder if I could teach my son to think this way. And in my search, I came across a TedTalks speech by Cameron Herold that really made me think that perhaps there is a road map. I think the speaker is a little too quick to assume some of his points. But that's exactly what an entrepreneur does so I cut him some slack. But I took many of his points to heart and will incorporate those examples that make sense to me as I teach Conor to be self sufficient, independent and to think bigger in a world that needs big answers.
Here's the speech and examples of how to get your child to think like an entrepreneur.