Dad Street

Thank you to Crocs for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Crocs’ new Back to School line. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

“Back to School Shopping” is something that is really foreign to me. Actually, my memories of back to school shopping were the days of buying a new 3-ring binder, backpack, clothes, and shoes. It’s been quite some time now since those days were a reality but it brings me back.

I’m on the other side of the fence now with O and Jake. Perhaps I’m still a few years away from the real back to school shopping but I’m getting there. O and Jake both start Pre-School tomorrow. I suppose this is technically just “To School Shopping” since in theory there isn’t any “Back” but I digress.

Even with Pre-School starting tomorrow O and Jake still need new clothes, backpacks, and of course shoes. We’re lucky in that they wear uniforms to Pre-School. Okay, the “uniforms” are actually just overalls with a shirt underneath but you get the point. If you have kids that are O and Jake’s age you know how quickly they go through shoes. This past weekend we were visiting family in Southern California for Jake’s 2nd birthday. We took advantage of their huge malls and of course had to take them shopping for school.

At 3 years of age, O has an opinion about shoes and really enjoyed picking them out. Jake? Not so much…He was busy trying to steal my dad’s cane away from him (he had hip surgery recently). Anyway, shopping for these little guys can be a challenge.

All in all our first official “Back To School” shopping experience was fun and I’m sure there’s going to be plenty of follow up shopping to do too! I’ve learned a valuable technique though for the rest of you dads out there. If you’re tired of shopping just try the “Yes Approach”. Basically when your wife asks you if you like something you just say, “Yes”. You will be amazed how fast you leave the store when you say, “Yes” to everything! It works like magic and before you know it, you’re out of the store.

*Warning: The “Yes Approach” may be hazardous to your financial health.

To help get your “Back To School” shopping underway I wanted to mention my friends over at Crocs.

The Crocs Back to School kids’ line are school-approved on the outside (because they’re close-toed and close-heeled), but have the same comfort in the inside.

They have 13 new styles for boys and girls from K-8.

Check out all these great styles and colors on their site! While you’re there check out their giveaway for a chance to win a family trip to San Diego (no purchase necessary).

Crocs has also shared this cool little video, “They’ve Got Summer Inside”, with us. The music video is interactive and you can click on the shoes in the video to go directly to the shoes’ corresponding pages on the Crocs official site.

Bonus Fun! Try to find the hidden Easter Egg within the video. Click on it and see what happens! Here’s a photo hint!

As many of you know by now I’ve been working with TeleNav as one of their Navigator in Chiefs. I genuinely use the app a lot and enthusiastically share it with anyone around me. There are so many great features that’s it’s hard to pinpoint just a few.

It’s rare that I’m not talking about O or Jake in a post and so I thought they could help me with this one as well. Let’s face it- us dads have some issues when it comes to driving. So today I’m going to list out the Top 10 Reasons Dads should Use TeleNav in the eyes of O and Jake. Even though they are 2 and 3 years old, respectively, they totally made this list up and shared every detail of it with me.

So without further ado here goes nothing…Well something…Well actually 10 somethings…

10. TeleNav will talk to you while driving so you don’t have to make stupid jokes just to keep from being bored.
9. You can actually search for ice cream and it will tell you exactly how to get there. We like ice cream.
8. The app will tell you when there’s a red camera light so Mom doesn’t have to get a picture of you in the mail doing 90mph in a 65mph.
7. TeleNav will tell you the cheapest gas around, per octane, so that extra money you save can go directly to what we were talking about in #9.
6. We love cartoons so when you’re tired of looking at the cool Satellite view in the app you can switch to the animated one.
5. Voice activation is an awesome feature so you’re not compelled to type and drive. We’ll thank you when we don’t get in an accident.
4. Live traffic is a cool feature we love so we don’t have to hear you complaining that there shouldn’t be traffic.
3. When Mom asks you to go to the store you can make pretend you’re all grown up and making choices by deciding which “route preference” to take.
2. When we’re on long road trips and have to stop for a potty break you have no more excuses about not knowing where a bathroom is just so you don’t have to stop.

and finally…

1. With the “Shake to go” feature if we’re ever lost we just have to throw ice down your pants and watch you jump. In just a few shakes TeleNav will have us on our way home.

If you want to find out more be sure to visit TeleNav!

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.

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…

Back To School Shopping With Crocs

Top 10 Reasons To Get TeleNav

A Week On Dad Street: Pink Fingernails And All