The Best Job There Is!

There is a much greater reward than any cash compensation could ever replace though… that is, the smiles, the kisses, the hugs, the love… seeing them grow and develop.. the list goes on and on.

But of course, we all need some cash to get by. So what can parents do to earn real money, and still not miss out on those wonderful moments with the kids?

An office job is one option… but… we’ve all seen the tired-eyed mom or dad show up at the office with burp-up stains on his or her shoulder… heck, I’ve been that guy in the office many times. Having a full-time office job with kids can really be tough. I remember a time when my son was still a baby… I would get home from the office at 6pm or so…already exhausted… have dinner, and put him to bed. I hardly got to see him, and those hours that I saw him, he was mostly tired and cranky.

Lucky enough for me, my job now is pretty flexible and I can work from home. I have shifted my hours to earlier hours in the day, so, I am still tired, but I finish early enough that I can spend time in the afternoon with my kids. If you ever get a chance to have a job with flexible hours like that, take it! It is really great  to be able to spend more quality time with the kids.

If you are looking for ways to work flexibly from home, here are a few examples of the possibilities, to get your creative juices flowing:

-Find an employer who allows flexible work arrangements so that you can work from home (kind of like my employer). Best Buy is an example of an employer that is leading this movement.

-Do some freelancing – like website development or graphic design (there are a lot of websites where you can offer your freelancing services).

-If you are the crafty type, sell your crafts on sites like Etsy or eBay.

-If you are web-savvy, try out some online affiliate marketing, through sites like Clickbank, and/or set up some websites where you can sell your own products or services – check out the book: Get Rich Click!: The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet for some great Internet business ideas and tips on how to put them into action.

All of these ideas can help you work flexibly from home, so you can choose your hours, work as little or as much as you want, and still bring in some money to help support your family. Of course, some will work better than others, and it will also depend on your talents and how much effort you are willing and able to put in, but choose what works best for you, your financial situation, your family, and your schedule.

Also, if you happen to be in the UK, check out WorkingMums.co.uk, for some good postings and ideas on part-time jobs , flexible jobs, work from home jobs, etc, for mums!

If you decide to make the move to working from home, I wish you all the best and guarantee you will enjoy it!

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So we are happy to take part in a series of adventures in getting organized with Brother P-Touch. We’ll be putting Brother P-Touch labels to the test, and using them to get organized. We’ll report back to you how we get along with the labeller and labels, and if they live up to The Dad Jam’s toughness tests.

Here, in Episode 1, we’ll put some Brother P-Touch labels through the ringer and see if they stay stuck and maintain their integrity. Then, in Episode 2, we’ll show you how we used the labels to get ourselves organized. In Episode 3, we’ll wrap it all up and let you know how the labels are holding up against everyday use.

Episode 1:

Episode 1 began with the arrival of our Brother P-Touch Extreme Test Kit.

The test kit included: P-Touch Sample Labels, a Plexi-Glass Block, Nail Polish Remover, bleach, a brush, and a scrubber sponge.

Our mission: to see how well the label would hold up to some intense scrubbing and an abrasives.

For our first test, we subjected the “Test Zone” label on the plexi-glass block to the following abuse:

1. Nail Polish Remover

2. Intese brushing

3. Bleach

4. More intense brushing

Here are the before, during, and after photos:

Before

During

More During, and Enduring

After - Still looking Great!

Looks like the labels were holding up well! So for the next test, we upped the ante:

1. Bleach

2. Sponge Scrubbing

3. Brushing

4. 5 minutes of water pouring onto the label

5. Nail Polish Remover

6. More Brushing

7. More Sponge Scrubbing

Did the label hold up? See for yourself:

Before

During

Another during shot...

After the test - still looking as good as new!

As you can see, we couldn’t do anything to break these labels! The text was totally unaffected, and the labels did not come off at all!

The only thing that was damaged in this whole process, were our fingers. They were totally red from all the scrubbing and chemicals!

This testing did more damage to our fingers than to the labels!

So there you have it. Looks like we have some really tough labels on our hands. Looking forward to using the labels to get organized, and putting them to the test in our house. Stay tuned for Episode 2!

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Nota Bene: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Brother P-Touch and received a product and gift card to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Today was an exciting day for our 5 year old preschooler son, whom I will lovingly refer to here as “Smarty Pants.” A big package arrived in the mail for him… a Green Lantern Colossal Cannon and an action figure from the Green Lantern movie.

It was a big hit, let me tell you.

When Dad Central Consulting told me they would be sending me some Green Lantern items to review, including a “Colossal Cannon,” I didn’t take the term “Colossal” too literally… but man, it really is colossal! My first thought was, “My wife is going to kill me!” (we don’t buy a lot of big-size toys that shoot stuff… but hey, for The Green Lantern you have to make an exception, right?)

And, seeing how excited Smarty Pants was about it, my inner child took over and I started unpacking it as quickly as Smarty Pants was. What was that I said about my wife?

The Package

My first thought was that it seemed a lot sturdier than most plastic toys these days. We don’t buy a lot of plastic toys, mainly because they tend to break so easily, but the Colossal Cannon is very solid and looks to be well made. It also worked fine through hours of use by Smarty Pants and two of his friends (also boys)… a test where many other plastic toys have faltered.

My son’s reaction on unpacking it was, “Cool!” and, “This is the best toy ever!’

After I took a picture, Smarty Pants wanted to take one too.

Unpacking the goods

The Action Figure

Showing his excitement

With that, we headed to the hallway to see what this puppy could do. We loaded it up with the supplied 10 discs, and fired away. It was easy enough to use, and the discs flew in a straight path about 20 feet, and quite quickly too.

Loading it up

Two of Smarty Pants’ friends came by, and were equally enthralled. They had a lot of fun with it, and everyone thought it was the coolest thing ever. What they liked the most was that it can rapid-fire all the discs… you just load them all in, and keep pressing the trigger to fire them all in succession. You don’t need to pause to reload between discs or reset anything. You only have to reload once you’ve shot all 10 discs.

Having fun

For Smarty Pants, who just turned 5, it took a bit of a knack to get the rapid-fire down, but one of his 7-year-old friends was able to do it with no problems right off the bat. I, of course, was the record holder for shooting all 10 discs the fastest. Hehe.

The action figure was a big hit too… so much so that one of Smarty Pants’ friends already asked if he can borrow it over night. Its at the friends’ place now, and it was the last thing that Smarty Pants mentioned before going to bed tonight. Hopefully we’ll get it back tomorrow!

Judging from that smile... I think he likes it... just a hunch

My recommendation – if you’re looking for a cool toy that shoots stuff…get it! The rapid-fire aspect of it is very cool. But maybe ask your parents to buy it for your kid, so that you can blame it on them when your wife comes home

Return to Parenting – The Dad Jam Home.

Note: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Dad Central Consulting on behalf of Mattel and received Green Lantern toys to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

So…. being the green beans that we are …. I was happy to say “Yes” when I was contacted to try out the new Green Works(TM) line of cleaning products from Clorox(R).  We have already been using several brands of biodegradable and natural cleaning products, so trying out a new one was a delight.

We tried out the Green Works laundry detergent, and the All-Purpose Cleaner.  I’ll let you know how well they cleaned and how we liked them in a sec.

First, I’ll tell you a little bit about why anyone would want to clean with this stuff in the first place.

Think of it this way – when you use a cleaning product that is full of unnatural and poisonous chemicals, you are basically dumping those chemicals into the water while you rinse.  Imagine standing by the water system and dumping chemicals and bleach into it.  It’s not the type of thing you would typically do on a Saturday afternoon – but you are doing it every time you clean with harsh chemicals.  Using cleaning products that are natural and biodegradable helps you sleep easy, knowing that what you are rinsing into the water supply is natural and will biodegrade.

That brings me to Green Works… what I think is the first mainstream natural and biodegradable cleaning product on the market.  It is really about time that a big company brought something like this out.  Before, you had to go to specialty stores to get these types of products, and usually they were produced only in a small scale.  So I’m happy to see Green Works on the market, and hope that its presence will encourage more people to go green and use green cleaning products.

Green Works natural cleaners are made with at least 95% natural plant and mineral-based biodegradable cleaning ingredients derived from coconuts and essential oils.  They are packaged in recyclable bottles, and are not tested on animals.  The only thing I would like to see in the Green Works future, in terms of packaging, is a low-plastic “refill” package – so that customers can re-use the big bottles and just refill them to reduce waste.

Now comes the big question… will it clean the crayon marks from the wall?  Will it clean the pureed carrots from the floor?  What about the vomit on the shoulder of my best shirt?  And how does it smell (the cleaner, not the vomit)?

According to Green Works(TM): “in lab tests, Green Works hard surface cleaners clean as well as many traditional cleaners on many soils.”

So what does that mean in practice?

Well, we used it to successfully clean a lot of marks on our walls, without any degradation of the paint.  We used it to clean our stainless steel appliances, and other appliances and fixtures, and it worked well there too.  We have been using the laundry detergent regularly, and it gets the clothes nice and clean and smelling good too.  Compared to other natural and biodegradable laundry detergents we have used, Green Works leaves the clothes smelling best overall.  We will definitely continue to use the laundry detergent from now on, and the all purpose cleaner too.

But don’t take my word for it… try it out yourself.  I have some coupons for a free bottle of the laundry detergent.  (Not buy one get one free… just simply, give the coupon at the cash register and get one free).  If you’d like a coupon, and you live in Canada, just leave a comment here and I’ll contact you by email to get your address, and I’ll send you one of the coupons in the mail.  I’ll send coupons to the first five people that leave comments here.  Just use the coupon to get your free bottle.  I hope trying it out will convert you to, or at least get you thinking about, using green cleaning products.  If you like Green Works after you’ve tried it, come back again and leave another comment to let us know!

P.S. If you’d like to fill out an online survey giving feedback on Green Works, you can do so here.  For every survey that is completed, a $2 donation will be made to the Redwood Family Support Shelter.

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If you live in the U.K. or Ireland, Mother’s Day has already passed and I hope you got your wife something nice.  You can stop reading now.

With less than a month until Mother’s Day, its time to start thinking about getting a little something for the mother of your children, to show her how much you appreciate what a great mother she is, and to thank her for blessing your life with those little *cough* bundles of joy *cough*cough*

Hence this post about Mother’s Day Gift Ideas.  Not just any Mother’s Day Gift Ideas though.  No no.  The Dad Jam is not about ordinary flowers and chocolate.  I’m giving you my favourite Geeky Mother’s Day Gift ideas.  If you and/or your wife are geeks, you’ll love these gift ideas.  If you’re not a geek, you too, can join forces with the Brits and stop reading… now.

Okay, if you’ve made it this far, you and/or your wife are non-Brit geeks.  Congratulations, you are in for a treat – especially if your wife has a blog or loves to tweet on Twitter.  I spent some time browsing ThinkGeek.com for the ultimate Geeky Mother’s Day Gift Ideas.  Now that I’ve done all the hard work for you, just sit back, relax, and read my ideas.

There are quite a few nice T-Shirt ideas for the summer.  For example, there’s an I’m Blogging This T-Shirt, which is ideal if your wife is a blogger.  A nice, related, T-Shirt is the I’m Tweeting This T-Shirt, if your wife tweets everything and the kitchen sink. (By the way, if you Twitter, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter as well).

Alternatively, if your wife gives you strange (but loving) looks whenever you talk about your blog or about all the wonderful things you are tweeting on Twitter, you might find the I Love My Geek T-Shirt more appropriate.

Okay, enough with the T-Shirts already.

Lets face it, being a mom means sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation means caffeine dependency.  So why not give the mother of your children the gift of caffeine? If you give her a Caffeine Molecule Necklace, she can have caffeine with her everywhere she goes.

Besides caffeine, what’s something else that every mother needs? Yep, you got it, serenity NOW. With a USB Aromatherapy Oil Burner your wife can have serenity while blogging or tweeting about how stressful her day has been. It’s like two therapies in one.

And last but not least, for those relaxing or romantic moments, when you want to light a candle, but have hidden all the matches from the kids in a place where you can’t even find them, an LED Candle is the perfect solution. You can leave it unattended without worrying about your toddler setting the house on fire when he inevitably knocks it over.

So there you have it, practical Mother’s Day Gift Ideas with a geeky twist to them.  Cuz lets face it, if you’ve read this far into this Jam, you must have a little bit of geek in you, and that’s a good thing, so why not show it off!

In the spirit of full disclosure, ThinkGeek.com did not pay me to write this post.  I really, genuinely, like their products (because I’m a geek).  I belong to their affiliate program, so, the above links ARE affiliate links, but I don’t get paid if you click on them.  It was my own choice to share these products with you, because I like geeky products.  I would get a commission if you were to click on one of the above links and actually buy something.  If you don’t, that’s alright with me.  If you do, think of it as supporting The Dad Jam.  Whatever little money I earn from The Dad Jam (and it is very little), I put back into improving this site for all you Mom and Dad Jammers out there.  Peace and Happy Mother’s Day!

If you like any of these ideas, or have a Mother’s Day Gift Idea of your own that you’d like to share, please leave a comment below!

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When we got home, we cracked one of the board games open and started playing it.  Smarty Pants loved it and we had more fun than Paris Hilton at a birthday bash.

All this board game fun got me thinking – whatever happened to family fun playing board games?  Do you ever hear of families having fun together playing board games anymore?  I’m sure there are families out there with older kids that have family board game fun, but do any parents out there with 3 or 4 year olds play board games with them?

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of playing board games with my family and friends.  Whether Scrabble, Monopoly, Sorry, or Checkers, I was on those games like a fat kid on french fries.  I’ve spoken to many parents who share the same sentiments.  Board games are fun, educational, and provide the perfect opportunity to bond with, and teach, your kids.  Most importantly, you can play them with young kids too.

I asked the owner of our local toy store recently why he doesn’t carry any board games for young kids.  His answer:  They don’t sell well.  Why?  Because parents more often buy something that their young kids can play with independently.  Board games are more work and take more time and involvement.

Maybe parents also don’t realise that you can play a board game with a three or four year old, or can’t be bothered to try.

This is a reflection of how changing times affect our family activities and the time we spend bonding with our kids.  In our hectic lives, we would rather hand our kids something that will occupy them than take the time to sit and play a game with them.  It’s a pity, because board games are fun, and are the perfect opportunity to spend time with your kids.  Think back to your own childhood, and I’m sure you can remember having family fun over a beloved board game.

If you have a young child, try playing a simple board game with her.  I guarantee you a fun, bonding, experience.

Here are some great board games that we like, that can be played with children as young as 3 years old:

Enchanted Forest: We bought this game at the swap meet and it looks awesome.  It is a Ravensburger game, so you know you can’t go wrong. The game involves looking for treasures under trees in the forest, and remembering where they are to report them back to the King.  Different variations of the game can be played, depending on the age level.  For younger children, you can play a simple version that just involves collecting the trees as you move along the board.  The more complex version (which is great for when the kids get a bit older) involves memory, strategy, and the use of “magic.”   I’m really looking forward to playing this one!  Smarty Pants already had a great time setting up the little wooden trees on the colourful board, and  laying out the magical cards.

The Squirrel Game: Another one from Ravensburger that we got at the swap meet.  We recently played this together and had a blast.  This game comes with little squirrels carrying wheelbarrows, a bunch of little pine cones, the game board, and special die.  Each player is a squirrel, running around the game board collecting pine cones to bring back home.  You collect the pine cones in your little wheelbarrow.  When you have more than six pine cones in your wheelbarrow, you have to dump them out because it is too heavy for the squirrel to carry.  If you meet another player along the way, you can either take up to three of his pine cones, or give him up to three of your pine cones to lighten your load – which adds a bit of strategy to the game.  The player that collects the most pine cones at his home wins.  It’s really cute game that I don’t think is on the market any longer, unfortunately.

Orchard (Obstgarten): This is a cool game from the German toy titanic “Haba” – one of the best toy companies in the world.  This game is a top seller in Germany and Austria, but doesn’t seem to be as well known in North America.  We have it and have had lots of fun playing it.  It is a cooperative game, where you roll a nice wooden die, and depending on the colour you roll, you pick a wooden fruit from a tree and put it in your basket (e.g. if you roll red, you pick a cherry, if you roll green, you pick an apple, etc.)  If you roll “the Raven”, then you put a piece of the raven puzzle together.  If the raven puzzle is built before all the players collect all the fruit, then the raven wins.  If you collect all the fruit before the raven puzzle is complete, then all the players win.  We have a lot of fun with this and it is great for learning about fruits and colours.  The little baskets for collecting the fruit are really cute, and the pieces are all high quality solid wood.  I also like that this is a cooperative game.

So there you have it, some fun ideas to get you started back in the world of board games and to help you revive your family board game night.  Do you have a favourite board game or childhood board game memory?  Do you agree that parents don’t generally try to play board games with younger kids?  Leave a comment and let us know!

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Our cat got a lot more attention from me before the kids were born, and having small kids around hasn’t been an easy adjustment for her.  For one, Smarty Pants chases her around until she finds a hiding spot.  For two, we have less time to play with her and keep her active.  I’m sure there are other parents out there with cats and dogs that feel the same.

A couple of weeks ago I took our cat to the vet for a check-up, and he noticed that she is slightly overweight.  It didn’t come as a big surprise to me, since the only exercise she gets is running from Smarty Pants to her favorite hiding spot.

I confessed this to the vet.  Luckily he is a reasonable, friendly guy, so he didn’t put me in cat-jail for neglect.  He understood my predicament and gave me a great tip for keeping the cat active when my hands are full.  (That’s not the only thing he gave me — I also walked away the proud owner of some not-so-low-priced diet food — grumble grumble)

What was his tip?
You got it:  A laser.

Yes, a laser.  Okay, well, a laser pointer.

He said we should buy a cheap laser pointer (you can get them these days for less than five bucks), and see if our cat would chase it around.  He explained that about 50% of cats will chase a laser dot endlessly, and the other 50% will chase it for awhile then figure it out and never chase it again.  Our cat falls into the former 50%.  Not sure if that is something I should be proud of or happy about, but I am.

The beauty of using a laser pointer, if you have the “right” cat for it, is that you don’t have to run around the room with it to keep your cat running.  And you never have to pick it up off the ground and throw it (well, you can, but you might break it).  You stand in one spot, and with just a flick of the wrist, move the dot from one end of the room to the other.  You can do it from any distance too.  Back and forth, high and low, round in circles.  Skip to my Lou.

Our cat loves it and chases after it with vigor.  Smarty Pants even plays with her and the laser now.  He points it across the room and watches with bliss as she chases it around.  (Of course we monitor him to make sure he is not misusing it or pointing it in anyone’s eyes, including the cat’s.)

Now if I have Sweet Cheeks in one hand, I can entertain the cat with the other hand, or if I’m reading a book to Smarty Pants, I might have the book in one hand, and move the laser around across the room with the other.  Or I might just hand the laser to Smarty Pants and let it keep him and the cat occupied.

We like our little laser.  For $3.99, both our cat and Smarty Pants have had hours of fun, and the cat got some good activity out of it too.

Have you noticed you have less time for your pets since having kids, and what have you done about it?  Add some comments to this Jam and let us know!

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Flickr photo courtesy of fofurasfelinas

Photofiddle.com is a cool service that allows you to upload any photo of your choice, “fiddle” it (i.e. use Photoshop-like tools and filters to make it look artsy or artistic), and then have it shipped to your doorstep in your choice of format: framed, rolled print, rolled canvas or canvas wrapped on stretchers.  The end result is your own piece of art that looks like real art.

Photofiddle.com has been around since 2004 and most notably has been featured on Oprah’s “O List” in 2006.  This really put them on the map, as you would expect from Oprah’s Midas touch.  More recently, the Today Show picked Photofiddle.com as a great DIY decorating idea and the CBS Early Show featured it as a best Mother’s Day gift idea.

Well, Mother’s Day has come and gone and your Mom missed out on this great gift-giving opportunity (although I’m sure she loved the flowers too).  Don’t fret…you can make up for it this Christmas.  Depending on what style and size artwork you choose, this $50 gift certificate can nearly get you something for free.

So check out Photofiddle.com and enter here to win the $50 gift certificate. 

As a bonus, I have a Dad Jam exclusive coupon code that will get you 15% off of any order you place at Photofiddle.com.  I will send out the coupon code to everyone who enters the giveaway contest, including the winner, just for entering.

Here’s how to enter, and the rules:

1. Each person can have up to a maximum of two entries in the contest.
2. You can enter the contest by adding both thedadjam.com and this post to your Stumbleupon.com favorites, AND/OR, by adding thedadjam.com and this post to any other social networking website (delicious, digg, etc.).  You must also leave a comment here at this post to let me know that you have entered and how you have entered (e.g. either via Stumble Upon, or the other social networking site, or both).  This is so that I can verify your entry, and also so that I have your email address to send you the 15% off coupon code and the gift certificate if you win.
3. I will not use your email address for any other purpose other than to send you the 15% off coupon code and the $50 gift certificate should you win.
4. To get two entries in the contest, you would do both of the tasks in point 2, but you only would need to leave one comment to let me know.
5. The contest closes at midnight Pacific Time on Tuesday December 9th, 2008.  All entries past this date will not be included in the contest.
6. I will announce the winner on Wednesday December 10th, 2008, and will send out all coupon codes and the winning gift certificate on that day, Pacific Time, my time permitting, depending on the number of entries, I may not have everything out until Thursday December 11th, but will try my best to get everything out by the 10th.
7. The Dad Jam does not take any responsibility for your orders with Photofiddle.com after this contest is closed.  You will need to deal with Photofiddle.com directly to redeem your gift certificate and/or coupon and abide by Photofiddle.com’s terms and conditions for doing so.
8. The winner of the contest will be chosen by random.org.  I will assign each email address a number (two numbers if you enter twice), and ask random.org to choose a random number.  The holder of the email address with the matching random number is the winner.
9. The winner will be asked to answer a simple skill testing question to claim the prize, in order to cover my butt for any places where there it is required to do that.
10. I will be nominated to become an honourary lawyer for having written these rules.

So go ahead and enter, and let me know about it!  If you have any questions, please contact me.

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Is there hope for me with a diaper bag like this?

I must be really tired, because somehow I just managed to let my wife, who I will now call Love Buns in this and all future posts, buy a glammed-up diaper bag.  What is the problem with a glammed-up diaper bag, you ask?  Well, nothing, except that I will most likely be the one sporting it everytime we go out together or I take Sweet Cheeks out by myself.

Take a look at the photo.  Now read the description of the bag as per the site where we bought it:

“The DUO diaper bag…all glammed up!
The DUO Glam is the perfect diaper bag for stylish moms who want the DUO design in a gorgeous, multicolored dot pattern and lightweight laminated cotton canvas.”

Key words:  glammed, stylish, moms, gorgeous, multicolored

How am I ever going to pull this one off?  It is hard enough for me to look cool with my current clothing and accessory pool (or lack thereof).  Now I have to try and pull off a “cool and laid back dad” look while toting my gorgeous, stylish, glamour bag.  Any ideas how to make this work?

Need to find a way to offset this and detract attention from it.  Maybe a really cool hat would do the trick (maybe that is where the term “Hat Trick” comes from…).

At least it has a lot of pockets… maybe I can fit my Archos 605 Wifi in one of them and try and look like I am making a fashion statement with the bag.  Or maybe if David Beckham starts sporting the same one it will suddenly become cool and I will be the hottest dad on the block.

Let me know if you still think there is hope for me!  Will definitely let you know how it is when we get it and maybe post a picture of me with it… if I am not too embarrassed!

What type of diaper bag do you use?  Did you compromise to get a unisex bag, do you have a man-bag, or do you just use a glamour bag, like I will?

P.S.  Love buns, if you are reading this, I love you and please forgive me!

Hey you! Get some sleep!

Many of you have heard of the movie, “Crouching Tiger, hidden dragon.”  I am here to tell you a bit about its lesser known, but critically acclaimed, sequel, “Bouncing Ball, sleeping baby.”

The plotline goes like this:

11pm.  A tired and desperate father is trying every trick in the book (and on this site) to relieve his seven week old baby daughter’s fussiness and crying.  Nothing seems to be working.  She has been fed and has a clean diaper.  Feeling desperate, the father eyes his wife’s 26 inch Zenzu Exercise Ball in the corner of the room.  In need of a moment of zen, he gets on the ball.  With his baby held upright and her head close to his left shoulder, he starts bouncing up and down on the ball gently.  Gently.  Not like Tigger.  More like a slow, gentle, TLC type of bounce.  It feels good.  Faster than he can say, “Supercalafragialisticexpialadocious,” his baby relaxes and so does he.  No more fussiness.  No more crying.  Just a calm, relaxed, sleeping baby.  The father has achieved zen.  The mystery of the bouncing ball, sleeping baby has been solved.  Wondering why he didn’t try this earlier, the father realizes he is too tired to wonder and heads to bed.  He sleeps.

Based on a true story.  Coming to a bedroom near you.  Give it a try!

Disclaimer:  be very gentle when bouncing and don’t bounce too strongly.  You don’t want to shake your baby.

Join the Jam and tell us your favourite baby calming story!