A few days ago, I picked my daughter Zion up from my mom’s house in Chicago, and got into a heated argument with my grandmother.

Okay, it wasn’t really an argument. (I wouldn’t dare raise my voice at my 83-year-old granny.)

But it WAS fairly intense, as we shared two different opinions about an important issue that is, perhaps, overlooked: Whether or not parents should let their kids use pacifiers.

Our conflict started when my mother told me that Zion had been crying while trying to doze off. She was asleep by the time I arrived; however, my granny said it was a fight because she didn’t have her pacifier to soothe her.

My mother hadn’t given her one because she thought Zion no longer took a pacifier to go to sleep. And for the most part, my mom was right.

Nevertheless, my bulging-eyed granny was quick to sternly say, “Tony, you don’t raise no babies on a pacifier.”

I thought her advice was ludicrous. I simply couldn’t imagine us making it through a two-hour church service without a pacifier to help keep a squirming Zion — or my son Jayden — quiet. When we forget to take a pacifier for Zion, I have carry her out of the sanctuary so she doesn’t disturb the service. But with a pacifier in tow, I’m able to worship God with ease.

So I asked my granny why so many people give pacifiers as baby shower gifts, and why they’re sold in stores everywhere. (Today, they come in all colors and even with fake jewels so babies can have bling in their mouths.)

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I recently asked Netflix - the online movie rental giant - to compile a list of the top kids movie rentals in the Kankakee area. I provided them with ZIP codes for Kankakee (60901), Bradley (60915) and Bourbonnais (60914).

The good folks at Netflix went back to 2000 in their database. The company then sent me a Top 10 list for each of the three ZIP codes. I thought it was pretty interesting to see how kids movie rentals differed from place to place. Here’s the list. Enjoy!

Top 10 Kids Movie rentals for Kankakee (60901)

1. Night at the Museum

2. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

3. Happy Feet

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My 22-month-old son is in love with Dora the Explorer. We have a DVR, and it’s set to record every episode of Nick Jr.’s bilingual beauty.

We don’t watch every episode, but it is good to have a stockpile. Say I need to answer an important phone call or take a shower, I can always plop Bubba in front of the television for 24 minutes of Dora (broadcast without commercial interruption.)

I was flipping through the channels on a lazy Saturday morning and stumbled upon Dora the Explorer on Univision.

We usually watch television downstairs. That’s where the cable box and DVR are located. However, this morning I was channel surfing on the upstairs television. It works with an old-fashioned, rooftop antenna.

The channel selection on this TV is lousy. Sure you get your local network stations - 2, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 32. Beyond that, the viable options are few. It’s mostly shopping channels, televised preachers or foreign-language programming.

Still, I found myself glued to Dora on the Spanish-language station. I’ve watched countless episodes of this show, but this was interesting because it was the exact opposite. The Nick Jr. show casts Dora as an English-speaking girl who goes on a daily adventure teaching children Spanish words and phrases along the way. On Univision, the adventures are the same, but Dora speaks Spanish and teaches kids English words and phrases.

One of my favorite characters on the Nick Jr. show is Tico the Squirrel. Tico doesn’t speak a lick of English and is usually found driving a yellow car. Dora has to stop to speak Spanish to Tico, who then usually helps out by offering Dora and her pet monkey, Boots, a ride.

On Univision, Tico speaks English. It was very interesting to hear his voice. I searched the Internet looking for a video link to the English-speaking Tico. Unfortunately, I came up short. I did find this small clip from a Spanish-speaking Dora show on Youtube. It features Dora’s backpack - another reoccurring character - speaking Spanish instead of English. Enjoy.

“Will my chores get easier in the future?” the kids ask.

The complaints seldom stop when it comes to kids and chores.

And the answer is “no,” by the way. It only gets worse as you get out on your own about six years from now, we tell the daughter. And then there is my popular line of “it could be worse; you could be taking care of livestock every day like we did.”

Or, try this one: “Imagine how much worse it would be if we did not have indoor plumbing.”

Chores are a constant struggle. Even though the kids know that if they do the work without complaining, they might get a little commission, that doesn’t seem to help.

The daughter even suggested she save up money for a new dishwasher so she didn’t have to hand wash the dishes. I then reminded her that she would also have to pay the utility costs associated with a dishwasher.

That gets a fun and educational conversation going (as well as a few Web site searches to back up the parents’ comments) about electricity and propane and how those utility costs are only going to go up, just like the price of food and fuel.

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On yesterday afternoon, my wife and I sorted through the last four storage bins/bags full of Zion’s old clothes. It seemed to take forever to prepare the items to be donated to two friends who are having girls within the coming months.

There were colorful — although pink, mostly — dresses, pants, onesies, sandals. The piles also included receiving bibs, socks, blankets. Plus, two of the most memorable dresses from Zion’s first year — a tiny yellow one she wore on Easter, when she was three months old; and a red and black one she wore on Christmas, just a week before she turned 1.

It was fun to reflect on the events to which Zion wore certain clothes and how much she’s grown. However, I couldn’t help but think about all the money we spent on outfits that she never wore.

Prior to Zion’s arrival, we anxiously went out and bought clothes, just hoping that she would fit them. For those of you who aren’t parents, every mom and dad faces the dilemma of not knowing what size your child will be once born.

And how rapidly, the baby will grow.

And will he or she outgrow clothes set apart for a certain season before it even arrives.

For example, by summer 2007, Zion probably would’ve suffocated by wearing the summer clothes we had bought for her the previous fall. So we had to do more shopping. Read the rest of this entry »

With Mother’s Day approaching, I find myself in a common dilemma - what to get The Wife. Rarely is there an easy answer to this question. It seems particularly daunting for men. However, I may struggle a bit more than most.

I am a stay-at-home dad. The Wife is the breadwinner. This poses a unique moral question around the time of Mother’s Day and other gift-giving occasions. I find myself asking, “What should I buy The Wife with her money? Shouldn’t she decide how to spend the little bit extra we have for such occasions?”

Then again, it’s supposed to be “our money,” right? There is no HIS and HERS. It’s not like a bath towel or a toothbrush. Still, I just can’t shake the feeling of guilt I get when buying a frivolous gift with the credit card, knowing she is going to be the one to pay the bill.

For some reason paying the mortgage is different than spending 50 bucks on a perfume. What if she hates the perfume I buy? Why not just let her pick out the perfume herself? Though, that hardly seems like a good Mother’s Day gift.

“Go buy yourself something nice honey. Oh, and pay for it yourself too.”

Sounds like a recipe for sleeping on the couch.

I’m looking for suggestions for the perfect Mother’s Day gift. Really hoping to knock The Wife off her feet with something special. Any ideas?

Moms, what has been the best gift you have ever received? Dads, kids and other gift-givers, what Mother’s Day gifts have you given that have really blown Mom away?

Over the past few months, I’ve been trying to deal with old age.

Okay, I just turned 29 in February. But on some days, my body tells me that I’m much older than I want to be. My legs and knees feel as they’ve weakened, which concerns me because I can hardly wait to get back on the basketball courts this summer.

And perhaps, worst of all, my hair isn’t growing all the way out in one spot. (I cut my hair fairly low so no one can see it.) That’s right, I’m worried about going bald already. My dad and uncles all sport bald heads, and they were all about my age when their hair follicles became stubborn.

Working two jobs for the last six months and having a second child has, indeed, increased my stress levels. But I believe there may be another reason for my loss of hair.

It’s Zion constantly pulling out hers.

Almost all day, everyday, my 15-month-old, darling daughter grabs at her hair. She’ll do it in her sleep; my wife and I have cringed after finding strands of hair in her bed in the morning.

We think it has become a coping mechanism for Zion, as she deals with whatever stresses she faces from day to day. Having a handsome, little brother named Jayden, who “steals her show” sometimes, has been rough for her.

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We asked the kids recently to name some of their heroes.

Grandma, Grandpa, soldiers, Jesus, Sunday School teachers, youth group teachers, school teachers, extracurricular activity leaders and good friends were among those topping the list after they had really thought about it.

You don’t have to look far. There are so many caring people out there.

The conversation then started wandering to a bigger world picture and some famous people who helped bring about great changes.

“Most of those famous people are dead now,” adds the son.

We’re big fans of history and documentaries on DVD and that may be the extent of our vacation this year.

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Grace turned 3 on Wednesday, but the events that day were nothing compared to the excitement leading up to the big circus party on Sunday. The kids had so much fun, I’m beginning to think I should go into the party planning business.

All right, I’ll admit the circus party wasn’t entirely my idea. My mom was the brainchild, but I ran with it — and it turned out really cute. We have 25 friends and family attend, and the 13 kids had a blast.

It all began with a roll of tickets I found at GFS. When the kids arrived they were all handed 25 tickets to use at the party. There were an array of games I set up outdoors to play. You could play bozo buckets for four tickets, walk the tightrope or play the penny toss onto plates for two, try your hand at juggling or cast a reel for a magnetic fish for three tickets, or get your face painted for four tickets. If you won any of these games, you got double the amount of tickets paid back.

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How big is your footprint?

I was doing some household number crunching one evening when I came across a Web site where you calculate your carbon footprint.

I was just about to start the quick little survey and find out what the family’s score was when I decided I better go to the kitchen and get supper started.

Meanwhile, the daughter (who had apparently finished her homework already, hee, hee) sneaks over to the laptop and plops herself down in the chair and takes over the mouse and keyboard. Interesting, considering I had not mentioned what I was working on at the computer. All of a sudden she starts hollering out questions for me to answer so she can complete the little quiz and we can find out what size of a “big, bad environmental shoe” the family wears. We live in a small house, so I probably exaggerated the “hollering” part. You can hear the person just about anywhere in the house.

She was having fun calculating our carbon footprint.

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