Friday, December 11, 2009

How I Measure Family Growth

Having a baby starts each parent on a long journey of accomplishments.  Birth in itself is one of life's greatest accomplishments for sure, especially for the mother and child.  The accomplishment for Dad is more along the lines of getting a smiley face in kindergarten for being a good helper.

I have used this blog to dutifully document all of Braden's accomplishments.  I have noted rolling over, crawling, walking, sleeping through the night, solid foods, first haircut and probably several others that I am forgetting.  You can find them all if you want by using the search box or by clicking on the huge BRADEN in the label cloud and sorting through them. I will do you the favor of not inserting 15 different links into this post in a desperate attempt to make you read my older posts.

There are also many other accomplishments that Braden has reached that for some reason or other have not made it to the pages of this blog.  There was the day he first found his pee pee.  There was also the first time he started rummaging through our cabinets.  Who could forget the first time he hit someone or the first time he peed on me.  I guess the point is that with a new life everything is a first.  You have to keep your eyes peeled to make sure you don't miss anything. Believe me, you don't want to miss the first time he tries to learn about Ohm's Law.

In my sometimes obscure mind there are other stages in the development of a child and a family that others may miss. Certain things help transform you from two scared adults with a screaming baby to a complete loving family.  One of those things might be the first Christmas, or the first family photo.  It could be the first time you go out to eat and actually share food. One of my favorites was Braden's first ride in a shopping cart at Wal-Mart.  How can any Arkansas family be complete without a fully capable Wal-Mart shopping child.

I better get to the point of what brought about this ridiculous discussion.  Yesterday before a trip to the aforementioned mecca of Arkansas shopping Arica and I made a decision.  It took some deep thought and serious consideration, but we were ready.  We have now become a gallon of milk family.

To me that signifies a growing family as well as anything. Our little guy is drinking so much milk that a half gallon will no longer sour alone in the back of the fridge.  Move over lower grocery bills. It's time to make room for the new gallon of milk family. Next we might graduate to the two loaf of bread or 18 egg family. Stay tuned.

Fatherhood Friday at Dad Blogs

19 comments:

BellaDaddy said...

Ha, I remember the milk transformation day well...no more three kinds of milk in the fridge...(or formula)...whole milk, fat free & soy! And who could ever forget that first pee on me day either LOL...Kudos!

Thanks for the memories!

Daddy Files said...

I cannot begin to tell you how much milk my son drinks. It's crazy. The doctor is actually advising us to cut back.

But yeah, the unspoken milestones are sometimes the best. Like when you realize he recognizes you and knows who you are. Or he can feed himself with a spoon and sit at the table like a big boy.

ericdbolton said...

My kids can go thru three gallons in a week. It's crazy.

A half gallon would last a day. :\

Katherine said...

Wow... we're kinda on the same page today....looking back and ahead.

We would let a half gallon of skim go bad all the time...now we just buy a gallon of whole and live with it! It never goes bad. That kid puts down the milk!

Gucci Mama said...

That's awesome! I thought I was the only one who thought it was a big deal to become a "gallon of milk family". We've also recently become the two loaves of bread and 18 eggs family too. It makes you feel like grocery store royalty.

Braden's Mommy said...

I actually think we could become an 18 egg carton family now as well, Braden loves eggs, we go through a carton in less than a week!

Anonymous said...

I seriously think they put something in whole milk that is like crack to kids. My son is the same way. Then one day when he was being his normal self and not wanting to eat I added Ovaltine to his milk to get him some form of nutrition. My grocery bill has been screwed ever since.

Manic Mommy said...

How funny! I recently noted we've become a 'two growing boys' family - I buy four gallons a week - and now may need to move on to two loaves of bread. We can't keep enough peanut butter on hand either.

Love these little milestones.

Brian Miller said...

lol. with two growing boys, i wish a gallon would hold us...smiles. those benchmarks are pretty fun...especially when they start asking you to crash the cart into something...well maybe thats just mine...

Mike said...

A gallon of milk equals a bottle of Hershey's syrup! haha!

Rob said...

We were also a 1 gallon milk family but when Shae started drinking milk we went to a 2 gallon family. 1 skim and 1 whole but once Shae hit 2 yr we are now a 2 gallon skim milk family. Congrats on the transformation!!

Jason @ The Devoted Dad said...

Oh, yes! I remember the switch over as well to the full gallon of milk, and we haven't gone back since. Now the question becomes what will you but- whole milk for the lad, 2% for a mixture- or skim. We will have to deal with this soon as our second child is almost 9 months, and at 1 year we will most likely make a switch.

Captain Dumbass said...

My 4 and 6 year old go through 4 litres... I think that's 2 gallons in your funny language... a week. I fear their teen years like nothing else.

Good post, Otter. Well said.

seashore subjects said...

Hmmm. I can barely remember the pre-gallon days. My kids must be old!

Bee said...

That's funny! We buy a half gallon and it does sour but my sister needs 2 gallons every week and sometimes I have to donate part of mine!

WeaselMomma said...

The food bill only gets bigger from here on out. Enjoy.

Tom said...

Ah, the stark reality. Keep marking these milestones; you'll be amazed later when you look back and see how far you've come.

Jen said...

I remember having the same conversation with my husband when Hayden reached this age. Its funny how the mile stones are marked.

Toni said...

LOL ONE Gallon of milk? We're like a six gallon of milk family! (There's only three of us.) My son is a mega milk drinker, it's crazy!