My son Tate had his first birthday this Sunday and we decided to take him to a place called Butlins in Bognor Regis England.  In case you are wondering it’s around two hours south of London and it’s design for younger kids. 

Anyway it was a great success my daughter Layla and Tate really enjoyed themselves on their three day holiday slash birthday party. We also had the pleasure of taking a walk along the sea and ate a traditional fish and chips meal. 

Along the walk I spotted a place called Gypsy Lee and I was unaware of the legend of Gipsy Rose Lee of Brighton a famous fortune teller of the 1900s and supposedly this woman according to her sign is related to this person.

Even though I did not stop by she saw me and quickly said – you are soon to be a top blogger on the net! At least that is what I think I heard her say maybe she said for twenty quid that can be true.

Butlins The Famous Billy

My Son & I - Spaceship Ride

Butlins View From The Sea

Fish & Chips Resturant

Gypsy Lee Fortune Teller

The Family:  Jason - Kelly - Layla - Tate

Ok I’ve selected a dozen photos out of the hundreds I had to choose from our Maldivian holiday!
Euro Channel Tunnel Crossing (actually a wonder of the world)

What the train looks like on the inside! Yes you actually drive your car into the train.

On our way to the airport!

The capital of Maldives, Male and it’s the smallest capital in the world they say.

Our luxury beach villa!

The main room facing the blue Maldivian  Indian Ocean

The bathroom with outdoor shower and large marble tub!

The great view I was talking about that you look out on from the bed!

Yes, my wife and I on a dolphin excursion one day.

The great sunsets we enjoyed everyday.

Just one of the great dinners we had - Seafood Signature

The Spa a place we spent many hours at getting Thai Massages and relaxing!

Ok, our holiday photo show is over and if you have ever dreamed about going to the Maldives I can highly recommend it. It’s a must do on a list before you die, truly one of the most beautiful tropical destinations to put your feet up or enjoy a great snorkel and see thousands of tropical fish.  Our destination in case anyone wanted to relax there sometime: Luxury Resorts and Spas by Anantara Maldives

Today my family and I went to a safari park for my daughter Layla’s fourth birthday celebration.  The family included; Nan, Granddad, Great Grand Mom, Tate (son), myself and Kelly (wife).   Monde Sauvage safari park was a complete success for the family with the exception of the weather but that is an expected in the country of Belgium.

I on the other hand was expecting much more from this safari.  When making my way through the safari drive I was excepting lions, tigers and bears to be right along side our Landover but this was not the case.  Well at least I am not writing an article right now on how a bear or giraffe destroy our car and the kids have not been eaten today. 

I actually had every intention of lying on this post and telling you of how close I came to being eaten by that bear and leopard but I am to honest.  The truth is that my Sony digital camera has an excellent zoom and I was able to zoom right in on them from the Landover. In case you were somewhat worried about the welfare of our children I assure that I am a Grade a Safari Man and every precaution was taken to ensure their safety.

This is an area of my life that has taken some time to reach the level that I am at today. It wasn’t until I meet my wife and after many discussions and thought did I reach the decision to become a father. The love you have for another person is the ultimate reason why you should want to reproduce life together. This rationalization made me understand why and was the deciding point for me to take the first step into fatherhood.

I think everyone would agree that parenting is extremely hard at times but the rewards are always so much more worthwhile. The decision to become a parent should never be taken lightly or consider if you are a little unsure that you are ready for it. To be a parent is something that can not be compared to anything else that you will ever experience in life. The measurement of time seems almost in relation to the blink of an eye when seeing your kids grow up. You remember when they came into this world and then before you know it they are twice the size and still growing at a rapid pace.

At the time of writing this article my wife and I have two kids, a 4 year old daughter March 19 and a son who will is 8 months old this month. I could not ask for a better family in my eyes our family is the absolute best in the world. I work for the US Government and have a remaining two years left on my contract in Belgium. My wife stays at home by choice to raise our children and has plans to start her real estate career when we move to the states at the end of my contract. To be able to have one parent able to stay at home and raise the children is a luxury and also gives you peace of mind not having to worry about the care they are receiving.

Our daughter is very intelligent for her age and always asks for the explanation as to why, to see if she is in agreement with you. Most times she will be in agreement with you when she has distinguish the truth of what you are telling her because if she thinks you are not telling the truth she will definitely tell you. At school it is an easy observation to see just how advanced she is compared to other kids in her class. I know you may be thinking but you are the father and of course you will say that about your daughter but this is not the case. She looks like and takes after her mum very head strong, determined that she is right in almost any situation that occurs.

Our son very new to the world just turned 8 months old and said his first words dad dad. My wife tells me every day how much we look alike and that the only thing he got from her was eye color. He has already doubled in size since birth and at times I do not notice how fast he is growing until you see a picture of him or when my wife is getting rid of the smaller clothes he used to wear. At the present he definitely loves his milk, biscuits, bathing, watching his sister and running around the house in his walker. A very happy baby always laughing, smiling, talking and almost never crying accept when you have a slow response time on getting his milk and of course he never thinks it enough after you’ve feed him.

I would like to think that every parent out there share great moments with there child or children that they treasure forever. For me I would have to say that I love it when they smile at me and I get that feeling in my heart, of being loved and appreciated very much. This is something that in my opinion nothing else can possibly compare to and it is something that only a parent can experience. There is so much to learn from being a parent it is not just an act of raising your children. Every day is a new learning experience that you are apart of with your children and sometimes it may seem that your kids are getting the better of you but you have to remember that both the parent and child are basically in a learning process of getting to know what is right and wrong.

Almost always you hear parents stating that I will do this better than my parents have, well this is a definite if you come from a rusty spoon back ground such as I have. I know that our children are on a complete different path than I had to take and that my wife and I are raising our kids to the best standards that are possible. For starters our children will have a cultured background since my wife is from England and we are already living in another country and we will continue to travel regardless of where we live in the world. I know that both of our children have high potential and my wife and I will always continue to influence (not force) our kids in any right direction they choose to take. Parenting sometimes does not have a clear path but through patience and always striving to do your best you find that at the end it will always prove to be worthwhile!

Getting a vasectomy and the reasons why you should have the operation. My wife and I both agree that we only wanted two children preferably a boy and girl and that is what we ending up having; Layla & Tate. So we were then confronted with the decision on permanent birth control.

I think all women will agree that men should step up and get the vasectomy considering the fact they are the one’s giving birth and us men are only standing by there sides. I like all men in the back of my mind thinking I do not want any knifes going near the region of my testicles, I really was not impressed with the vasectomy idea. Of course I knew it was my place to step up and be a man also.

The day of my operation I arrived at the hospital at 8:00 am and started the paper work, signed a document stating that the surgery should be consider irreversible with a 0.5 percent failure rate. Then they showed me to my room where I had been waiting for approximately two hours and another patient showed up in the bed beside mine. Something I have forgotten to add is that I am in Belgium a French / Flemish speaking country. So anyway the man was wheeled out in his bed and returns 3 hours later and had an IV and a tube in his mouth with blood going through it. Then they tell me to get my gown on, well point to it anyway and I was unable to ask the other man what he had done. So off I went in my bed thinking the worst about this vasectomy.

Arrival at the doctor’s operating room and doctors asks are you ok (he speaks a little english), I say slightly nervous and he says everyone is. The nurse starts to prep me at approximately 1:00 p.m.; sterilizer, four blue papers around my groin then the doctor states he will now inject the local anesthetic. I started squeezing my fists tightly thinking the worst possible pain and the he done it, comparable to the same feeling you get at the dental office when they inject the anesthetic. Ok the cutting begins feeling nothing and can not see anything because of the blue papers but I do however see smoke coming from my groin still no pain just the feeling of movement down there. Then the doctor says that side is good and will inject the other side and do the same, the other side I only felt a more pulling sensation no pain. Ok so surgery complete in 50 minutes the doctor gives the brief about not playing sports for 3 weeks and prescribed two meds a antibiotic and pain killer and said I had to return for the follow up in 10 days then the nurses wheeled me back to my room. I was released within 30 minutes from the hospital and I was on my way home at 2:35 p.m.

Day one only a little sore nothing major (less soreness compared to a tooth extraction) and no problem urinating. Day two decided to have sex was thinking I would have pain when ejaculating but no pain at all just sore where the incisions were made, note take is easy during the sex if you do decided to go for it because of the stitches. Oh also wanted to note that when I looked at the incisions they looked around a quarter of inch in length and they did bleed a little not much however. Anyway the rest of the week the soreness just gradually faded away.

At my follow up everything was A ok and then he gave me an appointment for lab work which is scheduled 2 months after surgery to check the sperm and make sure there is 0 level left. So I think you know what has to happen at that appointment, so I will be taking my wife along hopefully it’s allowed.

Follow up lab work: guess what you do not have to do you no what at the doctor’s office you do it at home and then bring it with in two hours. Test back two weeks later and I am sterile and happy with my two kids.

Yesterday my family and I went to Le Waux Hall Park in Belgium.  This is a really nice park with two ponds, playground, and many trails.  It had been two years since that last time we had visited this park and to my surprise there were two black swans this time.  A first time for me I actually did not know black swans existed until yesterday but Kelly on the other hand had seen black swans before.  There are seven species of swans in the world, all pure white except for the Australian black swan and the South American black-necked swan.

The first European to see a black swan is believed to be the Dutch sailor Antonie Caen who described the species during his visit to the Shark Bay area in 1636. Later, the Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh captured several birds on the Swan River, Western Australia in 1697, but many people in Europe did not believe him, as at that time it was believed that all swans were white. Three of the captured birds were taken to Batavia, where they lived for some time. However, the species wasn’t reported again until the arrival of the ‘First Fleet’ in 1788. The black swan was first described scientifically by Dr. John Latham in 1790.

The black swan was introduced as a game bird from Australia to New Zealand in the 1860s but also probably reached here naturally at about the same time as the population grew and spread very rapidly.  The Heather and Robertson field guide says that “by the 1960s, there were well over 100,000 birds in New Zealand with 70,000 on Lake Ellesmere alone.  The main concentrations of the birds are now to be found on coastal lakes and lagoons around the South Island and in the Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay in the North Island, as well as inland lakes in the Waikato and Rotorua. The black swan is the state bird of Western Australia.

The same day I did what was expected and I googled black swans and now I am properly educated on this subject.  I assuming they are more abundant in England and not so many Stateside if any since Kelly had seen them before and I had not. I have three additional pics that I took that I can make avaialable just comment the pics are size: 3072 x 2304.

Also wanted to note that on this very same day my eight month old son Tate said his first word which was Dad Dad and he loves to repeat it alot. A proud moment in life makes you feel really happy. 

My wife and I have trust funds established for both of our children and we did not wait to do it. To give an example our son that was just born June his account was opened only 10 days after birth the time it took to receive the social security card. The second step is telling all relatives and friends that you only want half the money they were willing to spend on toys and the other deposited into their trust fund. These days it is very easy to send money electronically from your banking account online. People that do not want to transfer electronically then have them give it to you until your child is old enough to start learning about saving money.

If you are at a deciding point between a trust fund or college savings fund there are benefits and negatives between both choices. We decided on the trust fund and was able to easily established it on our existing E*TRADE account. The funds from the trust fund can be used for any expenses that are decided on for your child. The negative is that the fund is taxable but at a lower child rate and is included with the parents assets. The 529 college fund is great for the fact that it is not taxable but if not used for the child’s education then it will be penalized. At another time I will post an article that will go into greater detail about child savings accounts.

It is a fact according to most studies, well in my opinion also that children will pick up the habits of their parents and carry them on into their lives. The way that you manage your money is important not only to you but to your very impressionable children. I know there are always exceptions to the rules and every person is responsible for making their own decisions. Yes, this is the case with me because I was a rusty spoon child but I decided to make a better life for myself and family. My family on the other hand still till this day lives the poor lifestyle never trying to achieve a higher standard of life. I know some people are happy this way and if you are then stop reading my blog and stay poor and happy then.

According to Capital One’s annual back-to-school shopping survey it reveal that fifty percent of teens want to learn more about money management. They want to learn more about budgeting, checking, saving money, loans and investing. This survey also stats that children prefer to learn from parents and that they are actually willing to listen to what we have to say!

Excuses are what I here any time this subject comes up at lunch with my co workers! Here is the most recent excuse I heard; I called the bank and since we are overseas they are unable to start a savings or trust fund for us stateside. I said that is really funny since it took me 5 minutes online to start my son’s account while stationed here. She said but that I used another bank than her, yes I said that is true I did. I then said so what other institutions did you try, she said none. Oh I said, so you have not saved anything for your daughter and she is now 1 ½ years old and my son is 2 weeks old now and has more money saved already!

Very sad I say people not getting off their butt and doing something for their children and more than likely if you come from a background such as I did then your parents probably did not save a dime for you either. So start a savings now if you truly care and have not or you too can be just like your Rusty Spoon parents.