http://www.husbandhood.net Husbandhood: The state of being both a husband and a parent. Husbandhood.net: The site that provides skills and tips on husbandhood Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:16:23 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 After we had our twins we were on the hunt for a really good double stroller that could handle hills, bumpy terrain and snow, lots of it. We heard really great things about the Valco stroller so we decided to go ahead with researching the fine details and try to find one for a great price. We decided on the relatively new Valco Baby Twin Runabout Trimode stroller (wow that’s a mouthful). Since the model was so new no one was selling any used ones on Craigslist. So that left us with buying a new one. Valco strollers are expensive and if you are planning to buy a new one expect to pay over $650 (including shipping) for one. After doing several searches on the web and discovering that every online retailer is charging the same price for a Valco I decided to check out eBay. As it turned out, a store was auctioning off the exact same model we were interested in with a starting bid of about $50 and with no reserve price. No reserve price means that there is no minimum price for winning an item on ebay. The highest bidder wins at the end of the auction regardless. In the case of the Valco, we won the auction at $515. That’s savings of about $85. This was 8 months ago. Just a few days ago I was checking out a shopping website and discovered that these Valco Baby Twin Runabout Tri mode stroller no reserve auctions were still taking place on eBay. So before you decide on paying the full retail price (even from another online retailer that offers free shipping) for your next baby stroller check out eBay first and maybe you’ll save too. Here is a list of No Reserve auctions for some of the popular strollers on the market today. These are actual auctions taking place on eBay.com. The prices are listed in real time and the auctions are sorted by end date. http://www.husbandhood.net/looking-to-buy-a-stroller-for-a-good-price-try-ebay/ Since my wife was pregnant with the twins I pretty much took over the cooking in our home. I started with simple recipes and slowly worked my way up to more complex ones. I enjoyed it so much that my wife barely makes dinner. Here is a relatively simple and fast recipe that you husbands (and wives?) can make to impress your wife and kids. What you’ll need: Oven Chicken thighs, legs (Calculate about two chicken thighs per person or one chick thigh and two legs. If you eat like me then you’ll need to add four more thighs) Rectangular tin or Pyrex dish (it really doesn’t matter what you use as long as it is oven safe. Just make sure its big enough to hold the amount of chicken you want to bake.) Spices: Paprika, pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder Place chicken thighs and legs in cooking tray or dish Sprinkle with spices Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 180 degrees Celsius. Eat it up. Yum! Important Notes for absolute beginners: 1. Make sure you know how to set the oven timer so that you don’t end up with overcooked dried out chicken 2. If your oven has different cooking settings, make sure its on ‘Bake’ mode and not on Broil mode. 3. When the chicken is done take it out of the oven (with an oven mitt). Yes this may sound obvious but newbies tend to not be aware of the obvious (“Well how the heck was I supposed to know that I should take it out of the oven.”). If the oven is off and you know that you will be eating dinner very soon then you could leave it in there to stay warm for no more than 15-20 minutes. http://www.husbandhood.net/impress-your-wife-and-kids-with-this-easy-to-make-non-sweet-chicken-recipe/ Spend some quality time with your children when you put them to bed at night. Even if you don’t put them to bed you could still lie down with them in their beds and just schmooze. I have been doing this with my five year old son and seven year daughter for years now and its extremely rewarding. At night after putting them down to bed, I would cuddle with them for anywhere from five to twenty minutes. I don’t do this every night, only when I have time. The earlier they go to bed the more time I would have with them. Sometimes I would just fall asleep next to them for up to an hour. It’s a great way to get a nap in the evening. Let them ask you anything or talk about anything they want. Make it like an “ask me anything” session where they can ask you about anything no matter how silly. This is a really great way for them to get to know you as their father. My son loves to ask me about all the toys I had when I was little. My daughter asked me about all the pets I used to have, “What type of dog did you have when you were little?”. You don’t have to talk about anything really. If you kids want to just cuddle with you then that’s just as great. It can really get to be fun when your son or daughter asks you about something when you were little and you happen to have photos of what you're talking about. Just the other day my son asked me about a couple of toys I had when I was little. Remembering that I had pictures of me with the toys I ran downstairs to get my photo album. Its amazing how things or toys in the background of a picture become the main focus of the photo. Do this every or almost every night for just five minutes (even two minutes is something) and you'll see the difference that it will make in both your life and your kids. http://www.husbandhood.net/busy-dads-build-a-quality-relationship-with-your-kids-in-just-five-minutes-a-night/