Matt Dad Stuff, Family, Friends, Inner Monologue

MUSIC TO MY EARS

One thing I love to do is just sit around a listen to music. New music, old music, rock music, or classical, it just depends on my mood. I’d call them listening nights. Usually I’d pick a night when Aya was out late, and I’d park it on the couch with a stack of CDs and listen. Pretty loud too. But with Ellie around, I don’t really get to do it as much as I used to. I have music on a lot, but it’s different. I love taking drives by myself now just so I can crank the music. Even if it’s a short trip to the gas station, I bring my iPod and put on a song and jam. I might not even get to finish the song but I don’t care, it’s still that short moment when I can remember who I am. Anyway, I’m really lucky to have Joe, a next door neighbor who loves listening nights just as much as I do. And on a recent visit to his house, the subject was the Beatles, and the volume had no limits.

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Matt Dad Stuff, Inner Monologue

TELL ME HOW YOU FEEL

We all just want to be heard, right?  We want to be understood and have our feelings validated.  It’s funny how talking about our emotions can seem so simple, yet it can be one of the hardest things to do.  Not only to say it, but have it understood.  We can hold back on what we are feeling for the fear of the other person not understanding.  Not getting it.  We don’t want our delivery misinterpreted.  “That’s not what I said!?”  It’s so easy to be misunderstood.  To have the delivery be all wrong.  How many times have you heard this phrase, “It’s not so much what you said, it’s how you said it.”  Most of us have either said that, or had that said to us at some point.  Well, I find that Ellie has been having plenty of trouble expressing her emotions lately.  And I’ve been having just as much trouble trying to understand them.

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Matt Inner Monologue

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY…

to me!  One year ago today I started this blog with my first post called, Happy Mall Walkers.  When I started this thing I really didn’t know what to expect.  I didn’t really follow blogs at the time and didn’t know what to do.  I just knew I needed a creative outlet of some sort and posting a story in one place seemed easier than e-mailing my friends.  So I started this blog.  But I needed a name.

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Matt Dad Stuff, Family, Inner Monologue

THE POWER OF DAD

As I spend my days changing diapers, preparing Ellie’s food, grocery shopping, cooking, administering naps, and scheduling play dates, I often forget that I’m a dad and what that means. The people I talk to on a regular basis are all moms and we talk about the stay-at-home life for the most part. I have way more in common with my mom right now than I do with my dad too. My mom and I talk about recipes and baby stuff and things like that. While this is really exciting for my mom it can be difficult and a little isolating at times for me. But I often forget that my dad might feel a little left out now too as my mom and I talk at length about butt cream and the Reverse Tooth Fairy. With Father’s Day here, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my relationship with my dad, the things I’ve learned from him, and the power a dad can have.

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Matt Adventures, Dad Stuff, Family, Inner Monologue

TAKE FIVE

Last week ended with me losing my diaper bag that also carried my camera and my prescription sunglasses.  I tried not to let it bother me too much and tried to let it go.  I had enough things going on at home to not let it get me down too long anyways.  This past week was a good week, but a really busy week.  Museums, drywall, grocery shopping, family dinner, cooking, farmer’s market petting farm, running errands, and Japanese school.  I think I tried doing too much this week while keeping our renovation project moving and I think it finally caught up with me.

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