Things I don't like doing

• detailed management oversight
• organizing people who don't know what they're doing to get a project done
• repetitive tasks that require no creative input
• being dishonest
  
• jogging in the rain
• losing soccer matches in inclement weather
• being bored
• disappointing other people, letting people down who rely on me
• watching inefficiency
• watching people throw stuff away that could be recycled
• being misunderstood
• being called a hypocrite (even if I am sometimes)
• being responsible for my plants dying due to underwatering them
• starting a project that I don't finish
• breaking people's hearts
• watching my new baby cry
• not having my technology work as it should (calendar in my iphone!)
• getting tachychardia (panic attacks)
• having a messy desk/house/car
• getting traffic tickets
• underperforming
• ....
  

Doing what I love

This is a purely introspective entry, inspired by BrianKim.net. Here goes the lists>>>

THINGS I LIKE DOING

• making people laugh
• helping people find out what their calling could be
• raw innovation: coming up with ideas to improve things, either forcing it by staring at a blank blogger entry/notepad, or spontaneously when I'm living my life and spot a problem to be solved.
• making people feel heard and listened to
• connecting people to other people they might like/grow from knowing.
• reducing my carbon footprint and/or energy drain
• playing co-rec soccer on Monday nights
• playing Scrabble with Elise
• staring at Piper Grace (new daughter)
• making predictions about things
• listening to music, esp downtempo/electronic
  
• watching movies
• streamlining tasks
• eating good dinner out/ potluck dinners with friends
• improving my house
• fixing my Mercedes
• talking with friends on the phone/video teleconference (Yay iMac!)
• Inspiring people
• talking about renewable energy/sustainability/alt fuels
• altering my consciousness/meditation
• microprinting
• blogging
• Stumbling Upon Websites/Videos
  
• starting little plants from cuttings
• talking about the positive future
• finding common ground with people
• thinking about being President (seriously)
• rebounding to Daft Punk or Blackalicious
• reflect on solutions to global problems
• discovering new energy saving innovations
• Recycling/Reusing stuff I don't need anymore
• Attending Junto Gatherings
• Problem solving around community issues
• cleaning the house
• playing my 5 guitar noodles
• lip-syncing to iTunes
• discovering deeper overlaps with my Grand Unified Theory and other people's systems for how the Universe works
• thinking about new businesses to run
• sledding, sliding, careening in snow
  
• driving my biodiesel cars
• thinking about the connections between my father and I, my great grandfather and I, my brother and I.
• visiting and bonding with my family, esp. my siblings
• mind-melding with my wife on esoteric topics
• making wooden toys
• going to parties with friends and family
• speculating on other people's relationships, how they could improve, what motivates them to be together
• blogging...
  

Fatherhood #5, or, Get Your Skill On

As I type, my baby Piper is fast asleep at my side. Literally, she is on my hip in a cool contraption called the Ergo Baby Carrier. It's a gift from the Gods. It lets me walk around and do things, while being able to care for, see and cuddle my child anytime. She's warm against my body (and I'm warm against hers, keeping us both cozy), and she almost always falls asleep in the carrier. This is a device that lends a very important helping hand, making 3 people happy at the same time. But this device is not enough.

Our new incredible (Insert-Calming-Device-Here) can be a great tool for keeping your baby happy, but when that doesn't do the trick, what else have you got in your bag? Better be able to answer this question, and have a few extra tricks on top of that one. My personal favorite is the Rebounder Method. Basically, anything that you can personally do to keep the baby happy for 30 minutes at a time is what you're looking for.

I can't stress the point enough, you HAVE to find a way to get your baby happy without milk. Feeding is great, but you (if you're a father) don't have breasts and you never will. I know that hurts to hear and may be surprising to discover. If you don't have breasts, then you can't pump milk either, so that's another method you can't control. You must find a way that works for everyone (throwing baby in the air works for about 5 minutes, but doesn't make mom happy and can't be sustained for 30 minutes, so it's not a viable option). Do you have a rocking chair? A yoga ball? Strong arms? Figure something out, man. Ask your parents what worked for them to keep you happy/calm. Ask your wife's parents too. Get 5 techniques, minimum. I don't know how long the Ergo carrier or Rebounder Method are going to work, so I have a few more as backup. (The car idea is also not sustainable, just in case you're wondering. It works when it works, but you can't in good conscience drive your kid around whenever they are upset.)

Frankly, in addition to you as the father taking on new role as diaper changer (which I highly recommend you consider as, again, you cannot breastfeed), the Calming Technique Guy is pretty much your main new identity. Clearly, supporting your wife/partner in their calming methods is a good idea (getting them the tools they need when they need them), but your own worth as a father may be at stake here in the early stages of parenting. If I'm coming off sounding urgent or even desperate, it's because this is a very important understanding to come to.

If you have some favorite techniques for calming your baby, please post a comment, I will check this entry often.

--ABC

Blogstorming: The Idea Firehose

Okay, here's the inevitable bifurcation of my online identity: A second blog:
www.ideafirehose.blogspot.com.

It's a place where I will be posting my ideas as an exercise in free thought dispersion.
It's high time I put my brain in a jar, right Bender?

I will continue to post my thoughts/feelings on this glowplugger site, but my innovative/creative stuff needs to be in a particular place with a goal attached to it.

My goal is 3 per day.

Special thanks to Michael Lefevre for the idea!

-ABC