Hell Week

Alright, so Monday marks the 7th day that dad had been home since his surgery. I survived week one. To be quite honest, it hasn't been as bad as I expected. Probably due to the fact that dad is zonked out on pain killers most of the time. But all in all, this week went by pretty well. 


The day he came home one of his buddies stayed with him because I wasn't able to, and I wasn't really sure what to expect. But when I finally came home and saw him, I realized that he was doing fine. He can still walk and function, but he mostly sleeps because of the pain killers. 


I have to say the first day he was left completely alone was when the funny things started happening. It started Tuesday morning when I was getting ready for school. I was already running late, so I was bustling around the house and dad was just laying on the couch in the living room. Every now and then I would hear "oh, it's ok Sadie...don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Don't feel like you have to call in to check on me....I'll live." "Yup okay dad I'm in a hurry I have to go". I continued getting ready, suddenly I heard a high pitched, off-tone voice singing from the living room: "Alllll by myseeeelffff...don't wanna be, allll by myseeeelffff". Oh lord. Save me. 


Once dad got over his anxiety of being left alone, the texts started.


"hey its dad, pik up brocli and brussel sprouts. garlic slt. thx"


"the cats r playin with my cast ha ha ha"


"can u stop at walmart get my pics and pills. thx"


"how do i order movie on satelite?"


The flurry of horribly misspelled texting seemed to subside after the first few days, now they seem to stick to grocery lists and errands he needs me to do. 


Doing homework is almost impossible unless he is asleep. Every two minutes he calls me to get things for him. I don't understand why he just doesn't ask me to do six things at once instead of calling me six different times to do things like "pass [him] that bottle of water", the one that's sitting two feet in front of him on the table. *sigh*


To conclude, I think this week went fairly well. But I am a little weary as to what will happen when the drugs run out and I cant just put dad to sleep anymore. I have a feeling I may lose my mind. I'll keep you posted. 

Pre-Op

This week is going to be a big week around my house. My dad is going in for surgery on his foot. Alert the media.


Dad needs to get surgery on his foot, don't ask me why because I really dont even know. All I know is that ever since he found out, it might as well have been Y2K or the Apocalypse around here. We have enough food to feed an army....for a year, he got the oil changed on both vehicles, made a list of emergency contacts, got water, gas and propane, and ordered all the movie channels on the satellite. I think its safe to say this is the biggest thing since my birth.


Now, to give dad some credit, the doctors did say that he would be off his feet for a few weeks, meaning he will have to use crutches to get around. But by the way he's preparing you would think they were amputating both his legs entirely. And it doesn't help that dad has never had surgery for anything before. So I don't think he knows what to expect at all. However, I'm sure the doctors would have warned him if he was going to be incapacitated.


I originally suggested that my dad stay with my aunt for the first week, since her and my uncle work shifts and they have two kids, there is usually always someone home; but that idea didn't fly. "I need to be comfortable, I need to be in my own domain so I can heal Sadie". Okay dad. So needless to say I am curious/terrified to see how the next week goes. I have a feeling my phone is going to be going off a lot in class. Sorry for the interruption.

Cat Crazy

This blog post is going to be a little different than the previous posts. The purpose of this post is to attempt to explain the situations my dad gets himself into. Because only someone like my dad would end up in some of the predicaments he ends up in.

Earlier this week dad had to take our cats to the vet for shots or flea treatments or something like that. So he put each cat in a carrying cage and took them both to the appointment. So around 10:00 am I got a phone call from my dad: “you’ll never guess what just happened at the vet”. He proceeded to tell me the story.

He got to the appointment and I guess he gave the cat carriers to the vet and she took them into the back. A few minutes later she comes out and says, “um, do you have any idea why your one cat is bleeding all over herself?” (He didn’t). Well, apparently our one cat isn’t very partial to being locked in a cage, so she took it upon herself to scratch to hard at the cage door, that she ended up declawing herself. Wonderful. So the vet went back to fix her up and give her the shots. Not long after, she came out again. “Your other cat is very aggressive and wont stop biting at the spot where we gave him the shots. We are afraid he might hurt himself.”

So dad came home with two flea treated cats: one with bandages on her paws and antibiotics for the next week, and the other with a cone around his head. This would only happen to him. He takes them in to get treated thinking he is doing a good thing, meanwhile every thing ends up twice as bad and twice as much money/work. Poor dad.

Gone Fishin'

Last weekend my dad went on an ice fishing trip with a bunch of his buddies. A few of them came to our house the day before they left and helped my dad build an ice hut and get everything ready for the trip. The whole thing was a little nostalgic for me because it made me remember all the stuff my dad did with me as a kid.

My parents separated when I was just a baby so I don’t remember what it was like when they were together, but from the time I could comprehend what was going on I knew that my dad would always be there for me. My dad was the kind of guy who didn’t want to be like all the other “weekend dads” who just saw their kids on the weekends and that was it. Every time it was “dad’s weekend” I knew I would be doing fun, constructive things with him. Whether it was building a go-kart, going fishing, swimming, hiking, camping, tobogganing or simply letting me eat ice cream for breakfast, my dad always made the effort to make sure our time together was well spent.

I have a lot of friends who have separated parents. As a kid, when I would talk to them about what they did when they went to visit with their dads most of them would say they just went there and hung around and watched TV. When I went to my dad’s for the weekend, it was an event. My whole family would come over for dinner and we would always do something with my little cousins.

I feel like my dad’s involvement in my life as a kid really made a difference in how I am as a person today. Even though I didn’t grow up living in the same house as both parents, I still feel like I had more of both parents than many people I know whose parents were together.

Life with Homie - A sitcom?

 In a recent Parents Television Council study, it was reported that 83% of all prime-time family sitcoms involve some form of father-child relationship. If you do the math, that's a whole lot of TV dads. 

The study showed that, as a whole, television shows are increasingly showing more fathers who are involved in their children's lives.  According to the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI):

• Fathers who live with their children are more likely to have a close, enduring relationship with their children than those who do not. 
• Twenty-four million children (34 percent) live absent their biological father. Children who live absent their biological fathers are, on average, at least two to three times more likely to be poor, to use drugs, to experience educational, health, emotional and behavioral problems, to be victims of child abuse, and to engage in criminal behavior than their peers who live with their married, biological (or adoptive) parents.
• Children with involved, loving fathers are significantly more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem, exhibit empathy and pro-social behavior, and avoid high-risk behaviors such as drug use, truancy, and criminal activity compared to children who have uninvolved fathers.

With the history of television already spanning more than 50 years, there certainly are some fictional fathers that have struck a chord with audiences. But which ones? And why?

Another study conducted by askmen.com applied a number of criteria to find out which are TV's most memorable dads. The criteria areas follows:

·  The character must primarily be known as a father;

·  The main purpose of this character is to be a father figure;

·  The show must appeal to men in general (so Danny Tanner from Full House is out)

·  The show may, or may not, currently be on the air 

So which prime-time daddy's made it on the list? Here are the results:

Bieber Fever

One thing I am starting to realize from living with dad, is that I am constantly learning new things about him. This week's revelation: my dad has a crush on Justin Bieber.


I first starting noticing my dad's new found love for the Biebs last week when we were watching tv. A commercial for his new movie "Never Say Never" came on, and out of nowhere, dad came running into the room "OH MY GOD SADIE!! Is that a Justin Bieber MOVIE?!?!" "yes dad" "Oh my god. That movie is gonna make more than TITANIC! Mark my words Sade...highest grossing film of all time!" I was pretty taken back by his enthusiasm for the flick, but I was even more taken back by his knowledge of Bieber facts. "He's from Ontario you know? Straford. He grew up there. Oh, annnd he plays hockey, it's hard to hate the kid if he plays hockey. And like also plays like...4 different instruments too." Oh really dad? Impressive.


It continued...


"OHHH and did you see him on the cover of that magazine with all the kisses on his face?!" (referring to last month's Vanity Fair). "Yes dad I saw it". "They did that on purpose you know. All those little teenage girls are going to see those kisses and wish they were from THEM! And then they're going to buy the magazine." Damn those sneaky marketing tactics.


But it doesn't stop there. The magnitude of dad's Bieber Fever reached a tipping point last night while we were watching the Grammy Awards.


Every time the camera stopped on Biebs, dad would yell "Look! Look! There he is!" During his performance, the praise just kept coming: "Oh he sounds pretty good! His dancing is good, reminds me of M.J, he is definitely winning something." During all the awards presentations in categories which J.B was nominated, dad was hell bend on him winning. "He's got this one in the bag for SUREE Sadie, watch." Needless to say, the Grammy's were disappointing for daddy.


So this week I learned that my father is a true Belieber. Not sure how I feel about this yet. Updates to come...

Update

Dad's buddy is over for a bbq tonight. He fixed the toilet in the first 10 minutes he was here. 

Mr. Clean

So I just got home from work about an hour ago, haven't seen dad in two days. First thing he does when I walk in the door is ask if I noticed if he cleaned the bathroom. He has this thing where he feels as though I should praise him when he cleans or does some other kind of household chore - despite the fact that the things we actually need done around the house remain in shambles. Yes dad, I noticed you cleaned the bathroom. The toilet is still broken and I have to stick my hand down the back of the tank to flush it, but thank god the bowl is shiny. 

Welcome to My Life

Hello Everyone! Welcome to Life With Homie - a sneak peak into what it's like to be 22 and  living with a single dad...who sometimes thinks he's 22.

The idea for this blog came to me from two different angles.

Firstly, I wanted to use the blog as a place to share anecdotal stories about the stresses, annoyances, awkward moments, funny moments, and general grievances that come along with living with my father (mostly because my friends are probably tired of hearing about it).

But the second reason I wanted to start this blog was to share an insiders view of what it is like living with a single parent, particularly a father whom you have never lived with before (and who has never lived with anyone for that matter). I wanted to approach many of the situations from a personal standpoint, but also from the standpoint my dad is probably coming from. Because, while it is frustrating and challenging at times, living together is also comical and has definitely brought us closer; and I know that at the end of the day my dad is simply doing the best he can in trying to make me comfortable and happy - even if it doesn't always seem like it.

I thought I should start off my telling you a little about my dad and why I thought he would be an interesting person to blog about. First thing you should probably know is that "Homie" comes from my dad's nickname "Homeboy" (just in case anyone was wondering). Now, at first glance, dad seems like an average 49 year old guy with a pretty routine lifestyle: work 9-5, gym every night, my cousin's hockey every Tuesday, visit the parents every Sunday. But my dad is definitely unique, and I think the main thing that makes him so interesting and at times, so comical to most people, is the fact that he hasn't lived with anyone else before. So, he acts almost as if he is hosting a party all the time. He's always "on" and when I moved in it was the first time my dad had anyone there to talk to everyday or do things with. 

Now, when I say talk to everyday, boy do I mean it. Imagine an auctioneer holding it in for 30 years. I swear on some days I'm lucky if I even get an "mmhmm" in the mix - usually he just talks at me, not with me. And god forbid I have a friend over - I have to brief people: "Okay, now he is going to talk to you...A LOT, and feed you, and offer you beer, and more beer...YOU CAN SAY NO IF YOU WANT. Just nod your head, and laugh when he laughs at a joke he made." Oh dad, so hospitable and friendly. But it is things like this that make my dad who he is; and despite the occasional annoyance to me, it's just dad being, dad and it's what makes him so funny and like-able.

So that it, a glance into the ideas behind my blog. Hopefully some of you find it entertaining and maybe even a little insightful. Feel free to log on and check it out, leave comments, and share stories you might have about living with your parents/kids.