The Games Of The XXIX Olympiad, Part 2 - Sleeping Kids and SlingBox

Please note, have your ballot for 'father of the year' ready to fill out, so when you read this post, you can quickly make your submission on my behalf!

Sleeping Kids
So last Friday the US Women were playing Canada in the Quarterfinals of US Women's Olympic football. The game was being played in Shanghai, so I figured that surely the match would be on one of the 3 CCTV stations covering the Olympics.

I talked one of my co-workers into meeting me at a local 'American' bar which has a pretty good sports bar set up with a large screen and various other flat panel TVs. Steph was still feeling badly from a bug she picked up and the jet lag, so she opted to stay at home, and the girls and I braved the rainstorm to head to Malone's and meet Tom.

Unfortunately I learned upon arrival, that there was no football match being televised... The ever popular sports of Judo and Badminton were consuming all the televisions. I found out from the manager that the storm had impacted satellite coverage, so there was no way to get the match, and only the standard CCTV stations (not featuring football) were available - DRAT!

Anyhow, the girls and I waited for Tom and ordered dinner... Tom showed up shortly and as we were all eating, the girls were 'hitting the wall' - getting very sleepy. Normally I am a stickler for good table manners, but given the jet lag the girls were operating under, I didn't give them a hard time about slouching, our laying their heads down in between bites... We were in a bench seat with pillows, so it was so inviting for them.

And the father of the year moment - get those ballots ready:

Gigi laid her head down on my lap at one point, while eating a bite of her 'kid's spaghetti'. While I was talking to Tom I realized I felt something on my leg - it was her drool mixed with some spaghetti... it seems she had laid her head down and fallen asleep mid-bite; fork still in her hand, some food still in her mouth, some escaping from her mouth. Classic.

I removed the fork, wiped my leg and let her sleep. Tom and I were still finishing up dinner, and I saw no reason to wake her. She then prompted to wiggle around - I assume to get more comfortable... she stretched her arms a little, and one of them, when she returned to a resting position, she placed directly on my dinner plate... so image this: she's laying on the bench seat, head in my lap (at least no drool or food coming out of her mouth), with one arm up on the table, resting smack in the middle of my french fries...

Livi also fell asleep shortly behind Gigi... And her I could not wake up when Tom and I had finished eating... Could not physically do it! So Tom is carrying Gigi (recently extricated from my lap and dinner plate) while I am dragging Olivia across the 'pleather' bench seat in an effort to get her close enough to me to pick up.

So there it is - please get the 'Father of the Year' ballots in the mail as soon as possible as not to miss the cut-off! :)

SlingBox
Once I got the kids home and into bed, I decided to switch on the SlingBox and see what kind of events were being televised in the US. It turns out the US Women's match vs. Canada had been delayed 1 hour and 40 minutes to accommodate the rain/thunder/lighting. The upside of this for me was that I was able to see the 2nd half of the match from the comfort of my couch, no drooling child on my lap, no judgemental eyes looking at me saying 'how can that man bring his kids to a sports bar and let them fall asleep here, just so he can watch sports'. (Here's hoping your 'Father of the Year' applications arrive before their 'dissenting opinions'.)

The US won 2-1 in 'extra time' - basically 'overtime' as described in mainstream sports in the US. It was a good match to watch, and thanks to the amazing technology called Slingbox, I was able to do so!

The interesting thing about this was that I was sitting in China, watching a football match that was being played in the same city I was in, watching over the computer, hooked up to a TV in Seattle, watching on channel 099, which is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation! Just crazy!

Next Post will be Part 3 - our heading to the Olympics: Argentina vs. Netherlands Football!

Cheers,
Joe