The Annoying Sibling Syndrome

 

"Mock,...Yea-ah,...Ing,...Yea-ah,...BIIIIRD!!!...Yea-ah,...YEA,...Yea-ah..."

- Lloyed and Harry, Dumb and Dumber

   The day previous to this post, The Wife looked back and saw our 5YO son reenacting the above scene sitting next to our 2YO daughter. She told him to knock it off, and in a frustrated voice muttered, "Geez,....Lloyd." I busted up laughing since I also noticed our poor wee girl had the same look on her face as the guy in the middle. 

   In a long line of annoying siblings, our boy can be the leader of the pack. While he is sweet, loving, tender, caring, and a snuggle-bug,....is also a button pusher and bluff caller. Once he's in the car, there's an invisible timer to see how fast he can get me to blow up like the guy from Dumb and Dumber. It can be mind-numbingly irritating, but then, wasn't I a young boy once?

   This is the key point. Our pediatrician once said that our boy is "very bright, and with that, he needs engagement or he will get bored." So the challenge is to be "creative in a really interesting way..." (Dr. Oatman, Gross Pointe Blank). Sure, we can plan outings, excursions, invasions, etc., but what does one do in the car? I'm not a fan of putting a movie on EVERY time we enter the vehicle. That can spiral out of control. The flip side of that is Lloyd singing Mockingbird in my daughters face.

   So the challenge continues. Any thoughts are welcome. Suggestions will be considered. Patience will continue to be tested. In the meantime, here's the most annoying sound in the world.

J.

Movie Review - Playing For Keeps

 

Lewis: "Are you upset mom's getting married?"

 George: "Yeah, but Matt seems like a nice guy."

 Lewis: "I've decided I'm not going to call him dad."

- Playing For Keeps

 

   Over the weekend, The Wife and I were looking for a movie to watch before bed. We stumbled across Playing For Keeps on Netflix. Stumbled is the right work, as we'd never heard of it before. It's got Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Dennis Quaid, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, to name a few. I saw that after it's $35m budget, it didn't do so well. Without seeing a trailer we put it on, as it got a good star rating from Netflix viewers.

   Now it should be known, that I love movies. I'm not hard to please, as I'm not looking for a life changing event. I'm just looking for a distraction for 2 hours. I can hear some of my fellow dad's saying "he's a man whore!", and "that's not what it really like!" Uh, who cares. Gerard Butler plays a retired soccer player (football to the rest of the world to us yanks). He's had a kid with Jessica Biel's character and has not been the best father. As he looks for work and reluctantly takes a coaching job for his son's team, there are some relationships that happen to mess things up. Hilarity ensues.

   The Wife and I ended up loving this movie for the message is sent that the interests of a child super cede our own desires. When we decide to bring a child into this world (or make decisions that produce a child), there is responsibility that comes with it. The acting was great and portrayed the story well in my eyes. I'm an emotional guy, and can tear up at a decent Hallmark commercial. This movie was no exception. When I see even an on-screen father, making the decision to be a better dad, I'm moved. I have my own son, and am trying to build my relationship with him every day.

   I played soccer for 10 years growing up, so that theme was not lost on my. Though it was late when the movie ended, I wanted to go kick the ball around with my boy immediately after. I'm not sure I would have ever seen it if it were not on Netflix, but it's worth viewing if anything I've written above interests you. I laughed a bunch of times and LOVED the scene of father and son practicing a little "footie" together in the rain.

   Ole-ole-ole-ole.....

 

J.