I will wake up today realizing that it can’t be true, that my littlest boy is already two years old.  He can already speak several words and will be unwrapping his birthday gifts this morning.  A Toy Story Woody Doll and a Little Einsteins Rocket Ship.

Keepsakes are what I like about the past, I make some home movies of my kids every few weeks and especially on big events so that I can make DVD’s and watch them in the future.  Sometimes my son lives watching when he opened Christmas Presents the previous year, he gets giddy seeing his own excitement from the past.

So we are approaching the holidays and I look forward to making more memories, for the first time this year my oldest will be able to write his own Christmas list.  My youngest will start understanding who “Santa” is and be eager to unwrap presents.

Before I had children I never really grasped what it would be like to be a Father, I knew I wanted to be one someday from an early age but never realized how much they can bring into your life.  The way they hug you goodnight and ask for 2nd, 3rd and fourth hugs and kisses and never want to let you go.  The way that they look up to you and just want to absorb whatever you have to give.

This is just some thoughts I had and feelings to share on my Son’s Second Birthday today.

-Justin Germino

One thing that parents do not do enough of these days is to teach their children manners.  Being polite and respectful is nearly lost these days and it is refreshing to see little ones and pre-teens using some manners once in a while.  An example that we instill this in our children was during Halloween on friday, our toddler who is 1 week away from two years old without us even having to remind him exclaimed “Thank You” to every person who handed him candy on Halloween.  He is so exuberant that my baby will repeatedly say thank you even for the smallest gestures like when a waitress hands him crayons at a restaurant.  Most people think he is so cute that he apologizes almost every time without even needing reminding.

It is in his nature to be very appreciate, he also says excuse me when he burbs and sneezes and is saying please about 60% of the time when he asks for something.  Parents are the ultimate role models for their children and they lead by example.  If you are polite to people your kids will pick it up and model after you, so remember to use please and thank you, whether you are being served at a restaurant or just working with someone in your day to day.

We all could use a little more etiquette and have our manners polished a little, lets start by trying to become better role models for our children and make the next generation more polite and respectful than the current one appears to be.

-Justin Germino

Like most parents who spoil their kids I buy my kids way too many toys in my opinion.  When they have so many action figures that one breaks they are like “Oh Well”, then you know they don’t care that much.  That being said one of the most memorable and best things I do for my children is not purchased.

My son loves drawing and artwork, and I am not a good artist.  I can draw childlike creations at best.  My son loves transformers and I started making him home made Transformer cards hand drawn and colored by me.  He collects these cards and they mean so much to him.  He asks me to draw him new ones often and I have drawn dozens of them over the last year and a half.

I often sit with my son and we will draw together, I love what he draws me as well.  Sometimes I just draw them in pencil and let him color them in.  This is something we do and love together and means more than any bought toy.

So more than just material items, spend time with your kids, do crafts with them, create and be artistic.  Draw on whiteboards, read them stories, create a little “hobby” that only you and your children do one day a week and make time for it.  This are the memories they take with them for life, barely any kid will remember his 46th Star Wars action figure when they are twenty one years old, but they will remember when their parent took time to draw them figures.

Here is an example of the Silly Transformer Cards I draw that my son loves so much:

-Justin Germino

So after undergoing a minor makeover, I have my new look.   Decided to post some before and after photo’s of me over the past three months.  Am I going through a midlife crisis at 31 years of age?  Nah, this is more like playing with my look to be more in tune with the rock genre which I am not partially affiliated with on my spare time and trying to find the best way to de-emphasize the fact that I am starting to thin very badly in the front, and I don’t have much time left before I will be wearing hats full time.

This was taken in June 2008:

This was taken in August 2008:

This was taken last week after my mini makeover:

-Justin Germino

I can’t believe that my oldest boy turns five years old today.  I sit back in amazement as I try and think where the time went over the last five years.  It seemed just yesterday he was learning to talk, or crawl.  I try to enjoy and cherish every moment I can with my kids because they grow up fast.  I always knew even when I was a teenager that I wanted to be a father someday, my childish nature and my love of playing and fun and wanting to experience that with my own kids was something I looked forward to.

Now that I have two boys I couldn’t imagine life without them, in fact I am sure that I may want more children someday.  But how quickly we forget how hard it is at terrible two’s and infant stages, the sleepless nights.  Why would anyone want to suffer through it all again and again.

The answer is simple, there is nothing on this earth more rewarding than your children.  New life’s who you are in charge of and care for.  Who learn from you, you are responsible for helping to shape who they will become as adults.  The Quote from the movie Spiderman “With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility” I see as something each parent should keep with them.

With parenting, there are many shades of grey and some areas where any parents judgement is not necessarily right or wrong, but what that parent decides to do.  But there are also clearly right’s and wrongs with parenting as well.  There is no more difficult job on this planet than raising a child, and if you are particularly bad at your job, put zero effort in, abuse, neglect, you will have not only robbed yourself, but robbed your child of a childhood that they can never get back.

Just some of my views on being a parent.

-Justin Germino