Welcome back to the "Gray Hair & Daycare" podcast! Older dads Frank and Carlo kick off this episode with a near-disaster that highlights the dangers of modern kitchenware (the massive Stanley Cup) in their dad life. This Gen X dads duo gets real about aging, humor in life, and the stark contrast in customer service at Chick-fil-A.
In the book report segment, they discuss critical baby advice from a Psychology Today article, which reveals that 90% of brain development happens before age five. This underscores the importance of a parenting coach mindset and being responsive when raising kids. Frank shares an update on Baby Josie's (6.5 months old) rapid development, including sitting up unassisted, banging things together, and her ever-changing weight percentile. He also recounts a potential parenting mistakes moment at the pediatrician's office, where he questioned the possibility of an apple allergy being just sensitive baby skin. Tune in for practical fatherhood tips and more honest fatherhood advice from a man being a dad a little later in life!
Chapter Markers:
0:00 - The Stanley Cup Takedown: A Near-Death Experience
1:21 - Aging & "Sir": The Back Half of the 50s
3:06 - The Chick-fil-A Time Machine: Good Service is Weird
5:44 - The Ratchet of Culture: Why the Pendulum Never Swings Back
10:27 - Book Report: 90% of the Brain is Built by Five
14:00 - The Foundation is Key: Responsive Parenting
16:15 - Surfing on the Activity Center: Josie's Milestones
18:27 - What Just Happened: The Tug-of-War Baby
20:53 - Weight Watchers, Baby Edition (83rd for Height, 16th for Weight)
21:56 - The Apple Allergy Debate: Hives vs. Sweet Potato Smear
Relevant Links Mentioned:
Stanley Cup Tankard Mug (Example):
https://tinyurl.com/Giant-Tankard
Detroit Free Press / Yahoo News Article: Experts Sharing Why the First Five Years Are So Critical (Related research on 90% brain growth by age 5):
https://tinyurl.com/Brain-Development-Article
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[Frank]
So we're sitting down, I had cooked dinner, and Kelly was kind of putting together her plate, I had my plate, baby's in the high chair facing me, so I kind of sit at the end of the table, she's off on that side, and we have a tablecloth. She now has grabbed, so she will grab, so she tries to do literally the pull-away, except on the table is, Kelly has one of these Stanley Cup tankard mug things, the really big ones, and it's metal, and I look up to see her like tug-of-war style pulling the tablecloth toward the edge, and that thing is on the
[Carlo]
literally about to fall on her, jump up, catch it, and you are in that moment, you have to watch that baby, oh yeah, and you're still lucky enough where they're not walking around, but already she's found a way to endanger herself.
[Frank]
This is the Gray Hair and Day Care Podcast, with a combined age of 111 years, and a combined IQ in that same range, your hosts, Frank Cereo and Carlo Russo. Welcome back, I am really now suppressing a murderous rage, I should keep the outtakes, and you probably enjoy that more than what I actually have to say, anyhow, some technical issues have been plaguing us, and we're hoping that everything's gonna work. If you could see what's on our equipment right now, you would laugh, but literally I had to put an ice pack on one of my cameras because it keeps overheating, let's hope.
Hollywood baby. Yeah, this is how you get it done, get it done, big budget, so here we are, as always I am Frank Cereo, I am 56 years old, and my little girl baby Josie is six and a half months old.
[Carlo]
Wow. Welcome back. Six and a month.
Six and a half months. Six and a half months. We're all losing our minds right now, six and a half months, you're 56.
I'm 56, we're getting old. Yeah, I just, two days after your birthday was mine, we had a discussion before we were recording, that I'm starting to feel like I'm an older gentleman.
[Frank]
A senior statesman.
[Carlo]
Yeah, 55 plus is not 40s anymore. No. And it's weird because when I was in my 40s, I said, God, I can't believe I'm 40, it's not like I was 30.
You always feel younger when you're 10 years older than what you just left.
[Frank]
I think when you're in your 40s, I think the ravages of time have just started to show up, and you really start to feel it, but you also have a lot of things figured out for the first time in your life. I know for me, because I'm a very, as you would know by the fact that I just became a parent, I'm a late bloomer, so it took me until my 40s to figure
