Archive for June
Posted by PapiBlogger on Friday June 18th, 2010 at 11:59 AM
The Original: My papi singing for my grandmother Micaela on her 90th birthday.
I chose the “Papi” part of PapiBlogger’s name in honor of my late father Santos Antonio “Tony” Ruiz who at the age of 60 passed in 2005 from smoking-related cancer.
My dad was a hardworking, blue collar type of guy with a sharp sense of humor and a fervent sense of patriotism for both Cuba and the United States. When I think about my real “Papi” this Father’s Day, there are numerous legacies he’s left me but there’s two that have particularly served me well.
(more…)
Tags: affectionate, jokes, loving, papi's legacy, practical joker
Posted in The Way Things Are | 4 Comments »
Posted by PapiBlogger on Thursday June 17th, 2010 at 08:16 AM
My phobia for roaches helped me develop a parenting trick a couple years ago that can be very useful for those of you who have kids that are unsteady with their food or drinks in the house. In other words, this trick is for parents whose children ALWAYS spill food or drinks.
Years before I became a parent, I observed how moms always seem to run after their kids begging them not to let foods or drinks fall on the couch or the rug or the bedroom. In almost every case that I witnessed, those warnings seemed in vain. Children were either not careful or they were purposefully reckless.
(more…)
Tags: cleaner eating, food spills, spills, The Corner Eating Trick
Posted in Parenting Tricks | No Comments »
Posted by PapiBlogger on Wednesday June 16th, 2010 at 04:08 PM
In the beginning of my “career” as a video game junkie in the late 70s there was no Playstation or Xbox. Back then, avid arcade players like me had to settle for what are now classic handheld games like the ones pictured here, Football 2 and Battlestar Galactica.
In those days, depending on which handheld electronic game you were playing, beeping red-lighted dots represented everything from your quarterback and pitcher to your race car and spaceship. By modern standards, yesterday’s handheld games are horses compared to today’s Sony PSP and Nintendo “Ferraris.” (more…)
Tags: Battlestar Galactica, classic games, Football 2, handheld games, Leapster, The Bible Game
Posted in Parenting Tricks | 2 Comments »
Posted by PapiBlogger on Tuesday June 15th, 2010 at 12:31 PM
The 2010 Chevrolet Traverse has been chosen to be the epic roadtrip's "Papimobile"
In 1903, when the entire United States had but 150 miles of paved roads, Dr. Horatio Nelson Jackson set off from San Francisco in a 20-horsepower Winton touring car hoping to become the first person to cross the U.S. in what was then dubbed a “horseless carriage.” Sixty-three days later, after many trials and tribulations, Dr. Jackson, his co-driver Sewall Crocker and their bulldog Bud made it to New York City.
More than 100 years later, a Miami family of five is about to embark on what might be this century’s epic U.S. family road trip. Starting on Father’s Day, PapiBlogger.com founder and father of three Manny Ruiz, his wife Angela and their children Briani (1), Elena (6) and Jonathan (10) will embark on a 10,000-mile PapiBlogger Family Road Trip that will circle the four corners of the continental United States. (more…)
Tags: 10000, Angela, Chevrolet Traverse, Manny Ruiz, PapiBlogger Family Roadtrip, Sony, Sprint Nextel
Posted in Parenting Tricks | 6 Comments »
Posted by PapiBlogger on at 01:25 AM
My two older kids Jonathan (10) and Elena (6) have already eaten more foods from more countries than most adults will ever try in their entire lifetime. If you didn’t know them before they first met my Foodie Queen wife Angela four years ago, you wouldn’t believe that the only things Jonathan and Elena liked to eat then were the typical kid fares of spaghetti, pizza, hamburgers and Cuban food.
Today, by our count, Jonathan has tried foods from 35 countries. Elena is at 25 nations and counting. Both of my older kids consider sushi one of their favorite treats and both have already tasted foods from Iran, India, Thailand, Peru, Lebanon, Argentina, Morocco and Greece, among other countries. (more…)
Tags: collecting countries, foodies, foods
Posted in Parenting Tricks | No Comments »
Posted by PapiBlogger on Friday June 11th, 2010 at 08:59 AM
My wife, kids and I were recently at a local park’s chocolate festival when something stunning happened to my one year-old Briani. As my son Jonathan took his little sister near a donkey that a Juan Valdez-looking man was parading around for kids to pet, the donkey bit Briani on her baby fingers!
Even more surreal was that I actually photographed, with a zoom lens (see above photo) the exact moment when the evil donkey chomped on her fingers so hard that she bled. (more…)
Tags: animals are animals, animals are unpredictable, donkey bite, The Dangerous Donkey Trick
Posted in Parenting Tricks | 2 Comments »
Posted by PapiBlogger on Wednesday June 9th, 2010 at 12:05 PM
The first word my one year old daughter Briani learned was “papa.” The first one she learned to fear was “cuna.”
For those who are Spanish-language challenged, “cuna” means crib. In my house and outside it, I’ve created an aura around the word cuna for my one year old that often works as deterrent for all kinds of unwanted baby behavior. The reason it works is because it is the first word of warning I’ve managed to teach my little one that gets her attention.
Briani knows that when I say, “CUNA” or “Quieres ir para la CUNA?” (do you want to go to the crib?), I mean business. (more…)
Tags: crib trick, fuzzy toddler, The Cuna Trick, time out
Posted in Parenting Tricks | 2 Comments »
Posted by PapiBlogger on Monday June 7th, 2010 at 08:16 PM
I have loads of tricks relating to the topic of “crime and punishment” for kids but today I want to talk about a very practical trick that I learned several years ago at a parenting class. The reason you may love the Silent Cry Trick is because it is one of the best tricks you can use to get your children, ages three to approximately 10, to not thoroughly embarrass you in public the next time that you deny them a privilege or discipline them.
(more…)
Tags: castigar, castigo, gritar, grito silencioso, llorar
Posted in Parenting Tricks | 1 Comment »
