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My Personal Driving Assistant

 Parenting, Travel
Aug 182011
 


Honestly, I’ve never been the most adventurous person when it comes to checking out new places. More so, checking out new places in strange towns. I work some 80 miles from home so while I’m far away from home on a regular basis I pretty much just go to work and then come home. If I’m not bringing lunch to work there’s a handful of regular lunch places I visit. It’s nice because I know exactly where the restaurant is, I know the food, and it’s just easy in the middle of the work day.

Some days I just get an itch to try something new. I know there’s got to be so many good places to eat around me that I just don’t know about. I’ve been using my AT&T Navigator app on my iPhone whenever I’m out driving. When you’re in the car you really don’t want to be fiddling around with an app to try and find what you’re looking for. Especially when you have limited time, like a lunch break, you just want to go. Well the other day I got a craving for some Mexican food. I’m sitting in the parking lot thinking of how many Mexican restaurants I knew around my work.

I knew of one.

So I tapped the microphone icon on the app and spoke into my phone, “Mexican Restaurant”. Up came a list of all the Mexican food restaurants around me. What was cool about the list was that there were stars indicating ratings given by past customers. Before I knew it I was off and on my way to a completely new place. What was even more cool was that I didn’t need to know how to get there. The app gave me turn by turn voice-activated directions.

Growing up on the east coast the kind of Mexican food I ate wasn’t…well let’s just say it was probably more Tex-Mex than actually authentic Mexican food. Ever since moving to California I’ve had the fortunate experience of tasting the real deal. I’m still drawn to the food I ate growing up like Chimichangas. I had to see how this new place stood up to the test. I did wind up having their homemade chips and salsa which was awesome as well. All in all it was an awesome experience visiting a completely new place. It was great knowing that I would have no problem getting there and that there were others who already rated the place.

It’s true that I could have done all this using multiple apps on my phone like Yelp for reviews and then back to AT&T Navigator for the directions. Having it all on one app and using the voice activation feature just made it so much easier for me. It’s like I have my own little personal driving assistant with me wherever I go.

There are so many features to this app that I love. When I’m able to take something simple like an app and use it to help me explore, find new things, and still feel confident about my travel it’s an awesome thing. I happen to like things that just work. For me, something as simple as finding my next new favorite restaurant isn’t so simple but using the AT&T Navigator app is.

Disclosure: I am a member of the TeleNav Navigator in Chief dad panel and was provided compensation to participate. While I have received compensation to participate in the program as with anything that I review the opinions are 100% mine.

Planning A Weekend Getaway With Baby

 Travel
Jul 152011
 

Travel, Children

I remember before we had kids we would wake up on Saturday morning wondering where we’d venture off to. Back then all we had to worry about was holiday traffic and then maybe who would dog sit for us. Of course, it was just my wife and I so there was little planning required and any stops we’d have to make were short and infrequent.

The Baby

Wow, having a child changes everything and I would argue it does for the better. Better doesn’t always mean less challenging though. I think that’s the case when it comes to travel and weekend getaways as we’ll explore.

Food

I found out very quickly after having O and then Jake that babies need food. I’m not sure why this wasn’t obvious to me but I guess they need to eat and lots of it. ;-)

Bringing snacks for the car trip is really important. I highly recommend bringing a small cooler or insulated lunch sack with some fresh or dried fruit, cereal, and other snacks that transport easily. Jake is allergic to dairy so we have to be very careful that we ensure we have plenty of dairy free snacks. Often times and especially when traveling it’s hard to find a variety of foods for him.

Stopping along the way can be a very good thing. I’m one of those Travel Nazis that just likes to get where we’re going. So, if I can get there without stopping I will. Of course, when the wife starts slapping the back of my head or one of the kids have crapped themselves so bad I gag on my own inhales it’s time for the pullover. Once pulled over it’s refreshing for everyone. First, the car gets aired out but it’s important for the little ones to get out and stretch on those long drives.

Eating while on the road can be a messy affair. Whether baby is eating in the car or in a restaurant it’s not the same as eating at home . As if they’re not messy at home, right? ;-) My favorite all time bib comes from Bibagogo. There are many things I love about this bib and one of them is it’s ability to travel. It folds up very easily, stores two cloths for cleanup and even a pocket for a utensil. Make sure you throw a couple of these in your diaper bag or trunk of your car and you’ll be on your way to fewer clothing changes.

Naps

Naps are a tricky thing on weekend getaways. Usually you’re feeling stressed for time because of the short nature of the trip and of course, you may be in the car a lot. Some kids do really well sleeping in the car and others not so much. Both O and Jake are great car sleepers and have no problem doing so. We do try and time our drive (if possible) around their nap times. In otherwords, we may leave a little later in the morning so they pass out soon after we leave or we may drive at night so it’s their bed time. Of course, if your children don’t do so well sleeping in the car you’ll want to plan the opposite having them nap first and then leave.

Napping while at your destination can be a challenge too. Especially if baby doesn’t sleep well in the car you’re going to be relegated to naps at the hotel or place of stay. Again, I think it’s important that children (especially small babies) have some sort of consistent routine/schedule they can keep. They’ll feel better and be more prepared for the unexpected if they can at least keep to the schedules they’re familiar with relative to eating and napping. Obviously things come up and I’m all about teaching children to adapt to change and to be flexible but really do you want them to learn while you’re on your first weekend getaway? I didn’t think so….

Potty Breaks/Diaper Changes

I mentioned a little earlier how I’m a Travel Nazi and don’t like stops, remember? Well they are important no matter how stubborn your driver is. Not all locations have changing stations all though most do. Feel free to consider places to stop that aren’t obvious along your journey. Yes, it’s convenient to change your baby’s diaper at a Restaurant but you may have already eaten. Consider stopping at a Target or Walmart too. They’re all over the place, have plenty of changing tables, and if you forget something you can always buy it there. No matter where you stop make sure you pack plenty of wipes both for hands and for bottoms. A lot of places you may be forced to stop are dirtier than dirt. Guess the first place baby puts their hands after they touch something dirty? Yup, their mouth! Yuck!

Do yourself a favor and check out a portable potty. We found one that works great! It folds up very compactly, has bags to hold the poopy and pee, and can be stored in the trunk. We’ve actually used it at the park and other local stops.

Warning: There’s nothing you can do about this but be prepared to pull over 4 times in a 20-mile radius. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve been told they went in their diaper only to pull over, let them out, pull down their pants and find out they’re dry.

Cribs/Beds

Obviously, you’re not taking your crib with you on your weekend getaway. However, this doesn’t mean baby doesn’t or won’t have a place to sleep. Call ahead to the hotel as many of them keep them on hand for us parents. Just make sure that the crib is very sturdy and not loose in anyway. If you think it may be don’t hesitate to question this and request a replacement or for them to tighten it.

Another option is to bring your own travel play pen but I would highly recommend baby has slept in it beforehand. It’d be bad to find out he/she can’t stand it the first night on your trip. If that’s not possible, you’ll just have to go in to it prepared you may not be sleeping.

The other choice is for baby to sleep in bed with you. This is a personal choice and one that parents choose at home as well as on the road. I won’t recommend for or against this but I will say that if you choose to have baby in bed just make sure he/she is in the middle of you and your spouse and not on the end of the bed. We’ve had two separate occasions where my wife was breastfeeding one of the kids and in the middle of the night without realizing they wound up on the outside of the bed. Moments later the loud *thump* sound heard followed by a scream was them hitting the floor. Yes, they were perfectly okay but there is no worse feeling than knowing your baby just fell off the bed and it’s YOUR FAULT!! Okay, there are many worse feelings but I think it added a nice touch to this post.

All in all I think it’s just important to remember that your weekend getaway can be a ton of fun but not without some planning. If you allow yourself to accept that your travel may take a little longer and it’s not going to be exactly like it was before children you can and will have plenty of fun. Weekend getaways can be great for the kids too as they get to see and explore unchartered territory. They’re probably used to the neighborhood parks and malls. Giving them the opportunity to see and visit new places will help them see that they live in such a vast and ever changing world with lots of new sights and sounds. Plus, I guarantee that the more you travel with them the more flexible they’ll be with change. So get away for the weekend and show baby that we all have so much to explore and really what better way to explore than to do so with your family?

Jet Set Dadstreet 2

A Week On Dad Street: Pink Fingernails And All

 Parenting
Jun 102011
 

It’s weird how I come up with things to write. I think the reason I’m so chatty on Twitter is because it’s so easy. Things pop up into my brain faster than Jakey needs his next diaper change (which is quick). The problem is getting them all down on the proverbial paper. With Twitter, I have a thought, out whips my phone and viola! It usually takes a little bit bigger of an event to cause me to realize I should/could write about it. The problem is I’m kind of a normal guy and so I don’t get too many major events in my life. What winds up happening is that I post too infrequent (I miss not writing). Hence, this week I went all week without anything to say. Which if you know me on Twitter, Facebook, or real life I never have a shortage of anything to say. Some may wish I do, but alas that’s not the case.

So with that I thought I’d bring to you some of those “normal things” happening in a given week for me.

I had been working from home this past week when O and Jake were sitting in their highchairs, having lunch. Normally Jake is down for a nap by this time but he seemed to be a little more wired than usual – Can you even imagine? Anyway, I look over and realized he was still eating his graham cracker. Only when I looked up from his hand I noticed the boy was knocked out! He fell asleep eating!!

When we bought the house it came with a stove that was pretty darn old. Let’s put it this way; we’ve been lighting the range with a lighter and the oven had to be set to 250 in order to get it to 350. Needless to say it was in desperate need of replacement. Fortunately, my wife’s parents were renovating their kitchen and were replacing their stove. It was a nearly new stove with some really awesome features, like convection! As someone who cooks (I’m the chef in the house) the importance of a good quality stove is never under-appreciated. Well they were nice enough to not only give us their stove for free but to deliver it to us too!! My MIL and SIL (that’s Mother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law for you non web people) drove the 400 miles from Southern California to deliver it! I had to make some minor adjustments to the height of the stove. Apparently, Jake wanted to give Daddy a helping hand and thank goodness he did!

As someone who enjoys cooking, I also like going food shopping. I know, I’m weird…right? I like food so the prospect of going to shop and buy it is pretty appealing. Plus, the last I checked I kind of need it to stay breathing so it’s overall a good thing. Prior to having the kids I was always worried about what that’d be like. Fortunately, someone invented the perfect mode of transportation for my food as well as the kiddies. Every time we go to the store O and Jake race to the shopping cart with the dual driving car attached! They drive me all over the store!

It wouldn’t have been a complete week of parenting without having my nails painted. My wife decided to paint O’s nails for the first time. She was so excited about it that she ran over to me, nail polish in hand, wanting to return the favor. The only problem was the favor should have been returned to her Mom. Apparently, she didn’t get the memo that most dudes don’t have nail polish. Anyway, I’m not your normal dude or your normal dad so when she came over I gladly offered both of my hands and feet to be painted a pretty pink. All was fine and good until I showed up at the Dr. this week realizing my finger and toe nails were painted pink. Yeah, I had flip flops on too. I’m pretty sure he thought I was lying when I said I had a three year old daughter at home. Oh well…

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