Friday, September 26, 2008

Mom's Day Off

I wanted to make sure fellow moms knew about an upcoming Cincinnati event for dads and their kids to attend together (and give moms a day off!).

The All Pro Dad Father & Kids Experience will be held at the Cincinnati Bengals' Paul Brown Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4 from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. The event will include an afternoon of fun activities for dads and kids, as well as helpful tips for being a better father.

If the dads in your life need a little extra encouragement, Bengals Hall-of-Famer Anthony Munoz will be in attendance as an official spokesman of the All Pro Dad program.
Bengals Hall of famer Anthony Munoz to host All Pro DAD
FATHER & KIDS EXPERIENCE Presented by hhgregg

Cincinnati Dads and Kids Invited to the Paul Brown Stadium on
Saturday, October 4th, for an afternoon of Relationship Building and FUN
limited space available

CINCINNATI, OH. -- (Sept. 24, 2008) – Pro Football Hall of Famer, Anthony Munoz, will be joining Cincinnati dads and their kids as host of the All Pro Dad Father & Kids Experience to be held at Paul Brown Stadium on Saturday, October 4th from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. The event, presented by hhgregg, is an afternoon of fun activities, including tips on being better father.

Founded with the help of Tony Dungy, the All Pro Dad fatherhood program helps to educate fathers on the best ways to become an “All Pro Dad.” Fathers are encouraged to bring their children to the event, where they receive fatherhood tips and participate in special activities with their kids, while rotating through football-themed learning stations located around the field.

"Thousands of men around the world are becoming better husbands and fathers by joining our All Pro Dad team,” said All Pro Dad spokesman Anthony Muñoz, “To become an All Pro Dad, we encourage men to spend one minute a day reading our free daily email - The Play of the Day, one hour a month participating in an All Pro Dad's Day breakfast, and one day a year taking part in our All Pro Dad Father and Kids Experience."

A $15 fee per family includes admission for dad and up to four kids. This event is recommended for children ages five and older. Register online at www.AllProDad.com or by calling 1-800-956-8300 ext 309. Advance registration is required.

The event is being presented by hhgregg, Wal-Mart, National City, Mercy Health Partners and Prasco Laboratories. WKRC-TV and 1530 Homer the Sports Animal are media partners for the event.


BACKGROUND:
“All Pro Dad Father & Kids Experience” is the football-themed event of All Pro Dad, the fatherhood program of Family First, a national non-profit organization based in Tampa, Fla. It was launched with the help of Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy in 1997, features 55 NFL Players, coaches and alumni who speak out on the importance of being a good father. In 2008, All Pro Dad currently has events planned with nearly half of the NFL teams. For more information, please visit www.AllProDad.com.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

Fear of Heights

Ever since I had my first child I've been afraid of heights, but only when my little ones are around. Before children, I could tower over the Grand Canyon looking down on the expanse, and know for certain I was not in danger. I know I'm not in danger, but suddenly I worry about my kids. I know they know their own limits, which is why I'm not so worried about them jumping from too high, it's more the fear of a friend holding my baby on a high deck, you never know if the baby is going to spring free of their grasp. I also thought my mom rather crazy for shouting, "don't get so close to the edge" the second she spotted a high drop. Her fear continued even if we were all in the car on a high winding road.

Once I had kids I suddenly gained the same freaky irrational fear that my mom carried through life. My husband constantly reminds me that worrying doesn't do any good, so just let it go. Fine. I'll try.

Today I took my three girls and three dogs on our typical nature hike in the woods that we frequent, on the path that we always walk on. The nice thing about living in Cincinnati is that we almost always have the trail to ourselves. (Not a hiking population in Cincinnati)Today we came across another dog, a German Shepard to be exact. He was barking at our crowd the second he spotted the dogs and he started running for our leashed set of three. My dogs get a little defensive when they are the only dogs on a leash, so I grabbed the two biggest dogs and let my oldest daughter deal with the smallest and loudest barker. The German Shepard continued past our largest dog Max (see November post) and Max had just had enough of being taunted while on a leash by another huge dog, so he got up from his sit position and decided to take control of the situation by barking at the visiting dog. When he got up to bark, he lurched back and sent my two year old daughter flying through the air, on the only section of the high path that was missing about 3 feet of guard rail. She sailed through the air to a landing of a rock filled dried up stream bed about 10 feet below. It was all slow motion. I saw her sailing through the air for what seemed like 5 minutes.

I screamed. I screamed to the owner of the dog, "my baby, my baby is down there". When he finally realized that I wasn't saying, "my Puppy is down there", he flew down the steep slope to retrieve my stunned but alive child. I truly couldn't believe she was alive. She started crying, which even in my total state of panic, I knew it was a good sign- if there was to be a good sign. It was a straight fall down into the rocks, she didn't hit much on her way down, if anything and all day, after the trauma, I've kept saying to myself that I can't believe she is still alive. I just can't believe we still have our youngest. I saw her life pass before my eyes today and I haven't really been able to stop crying about the incident.

I carried my crying child, with my shaking legs up the path to our cars. The dogs were confused since they have never had such a short hike before that they hesitated to get into the car. I called my husband Michael, took the older kids home and drove the baby to Children's hospital. Michael and the girls met us there shortly after we were admitted (amazing when you tell them your baby fell from about 8-10 feet, you get treated immediately. While we waited for our second check-up of the 3 hour visit, my daughter was playing with some toys in the exam room, and was making the people fall from high places, so I know she grasped the concept of exactly what had happened. Now I'm wondering if she too will carry the gene of being afraid of heights, or will she now embrace them knowing you can survive from a high altitude fall.

And to think I was telling some friends this summer that parenthood just keeps getting easier. Really, I need to take that back. I'm questioning my qualifications altogether.