The Long Detail Version for Dads and Moms:
My post yesterday, Those Darn Dad Ghost Sightings, How to Apologize to Your Brother and Sister, came back to bite me in the butt. My brother in-law wanted the video of his daughter being scared so I was going to send it to him. I guess karma gave me a little scare of my own.

I was getting ready to upload the video and other pictures on our home laptop. My wife took the camera and decided to delete the pictures and video that we already had uploaded on the computer. I of course told her to be careful. What did she delete on accident? The video my brother in-law wanted? My wife was sorry and of course I was mad. She asked me if I could fix it. I couldn’t think straight so it took me awhile to think of how to fix the deleted file. Lucky for me that I have some computer college classes that I took so I was able to remember that you can recover data from a flash drive if it has not been updated with new information.

Thanks took CNET and VaioSoft Recovery Manager 1.5; I was able to save the day and save the video file. My brother in-law now can use it for future humiliation when his daughter gets married or graduates from high school.

Note: VaioSoft Recovery Manager 1.5 is free. I highly suggest to using it to save your files on your external data storage devices such as xD cards, SD Cards and other types of data cards.

It all started out one spooky night after a sister’s wedding, we were watching ghost sightings that I got via email.  The first one was the Michael Jackson Ghost Video. That video was so scary it scared my 10-year-old nephew 4 feet into the air. The version below does not have a scary figure jumping out like what I showed my nephew.

Then we were going to scare my 8-year-old nephew. He does not scare easy and did not have a problem with the above video.   He then wanted to try the ghost maze video/picture offered by my almost 16 year-old nephew.   This is when the scary stuff happened. 8 year-olds do not have fine motor mouse control when it comes to small corners with mazes.  My 8-year-old nephew got tired of it but of course my 7-year-old niece wanted to try.  After hearing from her dad to hurry up and get it over with I thought it was OK to go.  Little did I know another innocent 7-year-old niece was in the background watching and wanting to try. Well after 10 minutes of taping, she finally did it with a little help from her older cousins.  Well the result was one little scared girl who almost peed her pants and another scared girl who cried and one Uncle in trouble with his brother and sister.

I know it was not all my fault they viewed the tape but I still was the responsible adult in the situation.  I even laughed some from my niece’s reaction to the maze picture. It is the immature dad in me.  So I took the steps on how to apologize to this situation and applied to my sister, brother and sister in-law.  They had a right to be mad that the responsible adults in the room did not stop it.  I would be mad too if my kids were going to have a sleepless night because they saw a scary picture that they had never seen before and they were not expecting it.

To refresh your memory of how to apologize….

1. I am sorry.
2. It was my fault
3. How do I make it right “that is how I can tell sincerity”

So here is another example on how to apologize.  I am sorry to my brother, sister and sister in-law for letting their kids see something I knew they shouldn’t.  I share in the blame for this and take responsibility for not being a responsible adult in the room. It is my fault.  I really cannot take what I did back but I can be more responsible in the future.  I have been a very responsible uncle in the past and I will again in the future.

There is my apology.  The thing is I have a video of this and my brother in-law wants a copy.  It could be a web sensation and I bet you are itching to watch.  If I did that my apology to my sister would be down the tubes but her husband wants to watch and had some laughs about it.  What to do?

Real Dad Blog Version:  It can be very funny to show kids and adults scary things that make them jump until the line is crossed.  When the line is crossed, apologize.  The question is, what to do with the video?

Expensive Sunglasses- Forgetful Mom and Dad

I remember when Melissa was pregnant with our son, Rylan, she was very forgetful.  She would tell me something and then tell me the same thing 2 minutes later.   She would forget a lot.  It was like her IQ dropped 10 points.  This is very common for moms to be.  For new dads to be, get ready to be the memories of your wives.

Don’t worry the memory does come back.  Once your baby is born, your wife is your memory.   She will tell you what needs to be done and when.  As a dad, you will even ask if you are doing everything right.

A couple of days ago my wife, Rylan, and I went shopping at Kohl’s.  We had a 30% off coupon so we did our best to be frugal.  On the way into Kohl’s I complained to Melissa that I still had sunglasses on top of my head and I didn’t want to leave them in the dressing room with me.  All three of us got clothes.  Melissa and I had to try ours on.  We probably spent an hour shopping.  We had some great mom and dad teamwork.  I would watch Rylan when she was trying on clothes and I would watch Rylan when she would try on clothes.

We paid for our clothes and some other things at Kohl’s with our 30% off.  About the same spot I complained to Melissa about bringing in my sunglasses, I said, “Oh crud, where are my sunglasses.”  I really said some other words that I should not say in front of my son.

Then Melissa said, “Oh crud, I don’t have mine either.  I hope they are still in the dressing room”

My sunglasses wouldn’t have been a big deal since they were the grocery store special.  Melissa’s sunglasses were a different story.  I believe they were a $300 gift of very expensive plastic.  I sure can’t tell the difference between them and my grocery store special glasses.

Needless to say, either Kohl’s customers do not know anything about designer sunglasses like me or they are very kind and let the person come back and retrieve them.  This dad will take both of those answers.  I am just glad we both got our sunglasses back and our mom and dad forgetfulness was not costly.  I am also glad that we both forgot our sunglasses or my wife would have something to hold against me.

Real Dad Blog Version:  My wife and I forgot our sunglasses.  We got them back.  Phew!  Never bring your sunglasses into a store’s dressing room.

Dad Blog watching the Twins Late Into the Night

As the Real Dad Blog starts to grow, you will find that I love Minnesota sports. I am a sports dad.  I love the Vikings (please do not sign Favre), the Twins, Gophers, T-Wolves and the Wild. My post tonight is just to vent about my mistakes a couple of times this week watching the Twins.  You may have notice that is why some of my posts are showing up late at night on the blog for dads.

The Twins have been on an east coast road trip.  My mistake is that I  watched the games.  The games start at 9:00 PM central time and get over past 12:00.   Last night Joe Nathan, Mr. Reliable, blew a save and the Twins lost in 10.  Tonight they lost again.  Why am I staying up to watch the Twin’s lose.  I guess I love the game of baseball.

As a dad, staying up late watching sports isn’t always the best of ideas.  Our kids get up early and they expect us to get up early with them, especially on weekends.  “Daddy, will you watch cartoons with me.”   You never know what could happen.  It could be Monday Night Football season.  You have a party at friends house because it is Green Bay vs.  Minnesota.  Of course you get  home late AND your kid wakes up at 3:00 in the morning throwing up.  I know this has happened to some of you.

Let’s pull it together Twins.  Better yet, let’s pull it together Dad, and stop watching the late games.  Mom’s, we are sorry for being men.  We will not whine for being stupid and staying up late.  Oh what men will do for sport.