Protect your furry friends...

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 17:07:24 GMT

So, it's the holiday season and as such we have been participating in a variety of holiday preparations. Pretty soon, the cookie baking will be in full swing, the decorations will be finished, and I will be sleeping on the couch in some form of an egg nog coma. We all get caught up in the holidays and admittedly, it's my favorite time of the year.

On Sunday, one of our neighbors gave us a nice holiday poinsettia plant, a very festive holiday plant. I had heard that these were poisonous to household pets, and especially cats, of which we have two. I graciously accepted the plant and took it into the house so that the cold nights of Washington wouldn't kill it. I figured I could put it up on some horizontal surface that was high enough to make it unavailable to our cats. Turns out, before I could find a place for it, one of our cat's (known in our house as: "The Cat") was already nipping at it. After I removed it from her jaws, I started looking for some additional information about poisonous plants for pets. I found this site that provides a lot of helpful information for protecting your furry friend from certain harmful substances that are part of normal holiday festivities. Turns out, poinsettia plants aren't as harmful to cats as lore has suggested. "The Cat" survives, and likely did not burn any of her nine lives. However, keeping plants like that away from her is still the smartest move. Check out the site, and see what else is even worse than poinsettias...

He walks...

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 06:01:45 GMT

If you have been reading my blog, you probably read about Chris' new shoes... We bought them thinking he would be walking soon. Turns out, its sooner than we thought... We actually both witnessed him take some small steps tonight on his own. It was amazing how he just sort of figured out that he could do it on his own. I really think its really a confidence thing rather than an ability thing. He can totally do it, he just needs to convince himself he can. Tonight was the first big step toward convincing himself. So, I guess its safe to say any day now he will be taking more than just a few steps.... amazing.

There is something of an inspirational nature here if you look closely. As adults, we often find ourselves in a similar situation. We know we can do something, but we need to convince ourselves that we can before we actually do it. Everyone has challenges right? Be they work, relationships, education, or health, we don't often gain any success until we are confident in our ability to take that first step. I look at Chris and think, what's he worried about? The worst that can happen is that he falls down, and then gets back up and tries again. I realize of course that its my job to encourage him to get back up and try again so his confidence and success continue to grow. I think driving this behavior is really key for him to feel confident about tackling much harder things as he gets older. I want him to realize that success in life comes from learning from your (and others) mistakes, and feeling confident enough to continue trying.

Truthfully, I think watching him and thinking about how to best teach him what I have learned really gives me an excuse to evaluate myself as well. Of course, I want to be a good role model to him, and if I can get better along the way then that's a bonus right? In all actuality, I think its him that makes me better anyway, whether I realize it or not. There is something about having a child that puts a lot of other things in life into perspective. I had a professor in college tell us that our only job in life was to "rear the next generation". I thought that was a pretty unusual thing to tell a bunch of eager soon-to-be graduates who were heading out into the work world. I see now how he is right, but I think in his own way though, Chris helps me grow up too. I think this parenting thing is really a great reciprocal arrangement... the children teach us to be more confident in our endeavors as parents as we teach them to be more confident in their endeavors as children. I just hope that as we go forward, he listens to what I have to say... :-)

So join me in congratulating Chris on his first steps! Good job pal. Dad could not be more proud.

Welcome to Bruno's Space: Parenthood

Protect your furry friends...

He walks...