This is my last post of any sort for 2008 but my first post for Dadomatic. I wanted my last post of the year to be something that I am the most passionate about and that’s just being a dad. No matter what the economy is like, no matter the weather is and really no …
Continue reading Just Being Dad2008
You are browsing the site archives for 2008.
My daughter is over 3 feet tall. She is also only 2 years old. She stand head and shoulders above other kids. she gets her height from me. I am about 6’4″ to 6’5″ depending on what gas station I am coming out of. The reason I bring this up is because Danni also has …
Continue reading That's What She Said Wednesday- The DrawerIt’s kind of cool to have my first chance to post here at Dad-o-Matic on the final day of a year, and the dawn of a new one. 2008 and 2009 are incredibly important years for me as a father. In 2008 my step-daughter Stephanie turned eighteen. She’s an adult now, and I have to …
Continue reading Fast Moving Clocks and the End of Another YearImage via Wikipedia Today I had to have a difficult conversation with my daughters. It was made harder because we live apart, they in the UK me here in the US. So over the phone I had to break the news that I had received only a few hours earlier, that their Grandmother, my Mother …
Continue reading Difficult ConversationsOne of the problems with being a type-A obsessive compulsive about my work is that it gets in the way of being a type-A obsessive compulsive with my kids. In the long run, while money is nice, time spent with the kids is the real currency of life. In that vein, here’s my list of …
Continue reading The Top Ten Things I Wish I Did In 2008Great entertainers like Art Linkletter and Bill Cosby recognized the attraction of the pure innocence and good humor of kids being kids.  When he was younger, my middle son Ethan (now 18)  seemed to be constantly auditioning for his own regular slot on “KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS.”  Some of my all time favorites were …
Continue reading George Washingmachine And The New Year’s Revolution!SecretBuilders is a virtual world game going after the kids market currently dominated by Disney properties like Club Penguin and ToonTown, on the one hand, and commercial tie-in sites like Webkinz on the other. My boys (6 and 9) like to play games online. Unfortunately, the games they like to play aren’t always the games …
Continue reading Review: SecretBuilders.com“Wide Open Spaces” by the Dixie Chicks is a good companion piece to my previous post called “Toys in the Attic” which covered the pain of realizing your child has outgrown playing with their beloved toys. In this song, the parents have to come to grips with the sobering reality that their little girl is …
Continue reading Wide Open SpacesIn 1955 a Sears & Roebuck store in Colorado Springs advertised for children to call and talk to Santa. Only trouble was that the misprinted phone number connected the children to the Commander in Chief of CONAD, responsible for the tracking of possible incoming ICBMs over North American airspace. Colonel Harry Shoup happily gave children …
Continue reading Tracking Santa with NORAD This Christmas EveMERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, OR JUST GOOD DAY TO YOU AND YOURS!! I had this whole other story written out but it will get posted next week. TWSS (That’s What She Said): Christmas Lights is more timely seeing how it is Christmas Eve. As I stated in a couple of week’s ago TWSS post about …
Continue reading That's What She Said: Christmas LightsThe first thing I realized when I took at look at Eat, Shrink, and Be Merry was that this wouldn’t be a book for guys. The tagline of the book reads “Great-tasting food that won’t go from you lips to your hips”. I mean please. Then I realized that while my hips were fine, my …
Continue reading Book review: Eat, Shrink & Be Merry!When thinking about what to get my kids for the holidays I always try to put myself in their shoes and remember the gifts I received and how I felt about them when I was their age.  As kids grow up, the things that constitute a good gift may change dramatically, and as parents we …
Continue reading How To Give Good Gift!The scene in Toy Story 2 when Jessie tells Woody her story about the girl that owned her is a heartbreaking one for me every time I see it. I think it stings more with time as my three children continue to grow up and abandon their once beloved toys one by one. It’s such …
Continue reading Toys in the AtticGuess what. If you can set aside your pride, emasculation ain’t so bad. I posted yesterday about the embarrassment suffered when my wife went public as the family snow blower, and am happy to announce my full recovery today. As predicted, the storm started yesterday afternoon and we woke to 12 inches of snow. Worried …
Continue reading Emasculation RewardedLike many of you, our Christmas break is going to include some road tripping to visit family. In my case we are driving from Indiana to New Jersey and there is no way I can deal with 14 hours of If You’re Happy and You Know It or London Bridge. While my oldest son will …
Continue reading Holiday Road Trip? Kid's Music Choices That Don't SuckWelcome to my regular Friday feature, Worst of the Week. As a white, suburbanite husband and dad of two kids, there’s a lot that can go wrong and this entry is all about how to fix it. I hope you enjoy it! Last week I blogged about our Elementary school closing. Since that time we …
Continue reading Worst of the Week: School Vote Delayed for Three MonthsAs dads, we all understand the roles we are expected to play in our families. My wife and I have a twenty first century marriage, meaning we take a more balanced approach to parenting. We both cook, bathe the kids, discipline… Ward Cleaver would be appalled; June Cleaver would feel disenfranchised. I should have known …
Continue reading EmasculationI am not one to make excuses. I was really busy yesterday. I promised my wife that Is stay off blogs and the Internet, I broke the promise but for good reason so I could post this. Danni, my daughter, is the little girl in the middle with the Santa hat on! Enjoy and Merry …
Continue reading Why There Was No That's What She Said Wednesday: She SingsThis morning I woke up to a jarring story in the newspaper. The killer of Adam Walsh was finally identified. On July 27, 1981, Adam went into a deparment store with his mother. She lost track of him for just a second…and he was abducted by the person we now known as his killer, Ottis …
Continue reading A tragic day of innocence lostTis the season to be… inundated with religious debate.  I’d like to lighten things up a bit and focus on how the Holidays can be Holy days for everyone, regardless of your particular beliefs.  As someone who is Jewish that married someone who is not, my kids were raised with exposure to both the Jewish …
Continue reading Holy Days vs. HolidaysCarl and Raylene Worthington believe that prayer–not medicine–should be used to treat illness. When their 15-month-old daughter developed bacterial bronchial pneumonia, they turned to their faith rather than a doctor. The child died, and the parents are now facing manslaughter charges. Reading about the recent court battle over parental rights in Oregon has raised some …
Continue reading Your Right to Raise Your ChildSlowing down your Christmas day
Continue reading Slowing Down ChristmasWelcome to my regular Friday feature, Worst of the Week. As a white, suburbanite husband and dad of two kids, there’s a lot that can go wrong and this entry is all about how to fix it. I hope you enjoy it! Just when things could get any worse for a family living in Detroit, …
Continue reading Worst of the Week: Our School Is ClosingAs I begin my first blog post with Dad-O-Matic, first I just want to welcome you the reader, and acknowledge my fellow Dad-O-Matic bloggers, as well as Chris Brogan and Paisono. Without them we wouldn’t have this awesome community of parents. Some background about me, I am a happily married husband of 11 years, and …
Continue reading Christmas TraditionSorry i missed last week but i was traveling for work. When work sends me to “work in the field” they mean it very literally. I am not near computers until late at night and then all I want to do is crawl into bed. Now on to what you all came here for, That’s …
Continue reading That's What She Said: SantaOK, that title is a bit pretentious..  Nonetheless, I know that most parents are not like me.  You see, I am an avid gamer, and even at 43 years old I have 5 consoles in my house.  Wait, actually that is four, one of the xBox 360s is in for repairs.  (My son has the …
Continue reading Video Game Buying GuideI was checking out various offers and ideas for what dads might want to do for 2009, and I stumbled across BookSwim, a site that lets you rent books and give them back when you’re done. It’s like Netflix for books, which seemed pretty cool to me, and further, they had children’s books. If you’re …
Continue reading Save Money in 2009 by RentingTwilight has a major following among teen and tween girls (like my 12 year old niece who spent all Thanksgiving plowing through the books or my 17 year old niece who went to a midnight showing when it opened and told me it was “incredible”), but I think it’s also a movie that boys and …
Continue reading Becoming a Man: A Father of Boys watches "Twilight"By Danny Guspie This is my personal story and journey. The first year that that my wife and I were separated was by far the most difficult Christmas ever. At the time, I was a working dad as well as full-time single dad, and my olive branch gesture was to send the kids to my …
Continue reading Divorce and Kids during Christmas, Holidays can be GREAT!Ever think “I should write that down” when your child says something funny? I use Twitter for that. Here’re some Tweet-worthy comments from my boys. Six-year-old Zachary “Guess what, Daddy?” What, Zach? “I was the first one to see Santa after he ate his lunch!” “I pooped extra for you.” Dad: “Why?” Zach: “So you …
Continue reading Tweet your kidsI have written here before about 4 letter words. My big son Zach just reminded me of a very important 3 letter word – H U G.  As he was leaving the house he asked me for one. My first reaction was, “You’re too old for that…” Zach, after all, is 20. He also really …
Continue reading Give That Kid A Squeeze! (or Vice Versa)Today’s the day my wife and I learned that leaving the TV on in the morning while we get dressed for work is leaving quite an impression on our 5-year-old daughter – and we’re going to have to change our morning habits. You see, for several months, our daughter has wanted a dog for the …
Continue reading It Could Be Worse: She Could Want a Pony.I recently switched from a Blackberry to an iphone and before I did, I checked the memo section of my Blackberry to see if there was anything I needed to clear out or transfer. It was packed. Not with memos. And, not by me. The memo section was wall to wall with songs and poems …
Continue reading How A Blackberry Turned My Kid Into A PoetThe holidays can be bittersweet for Dads on the backside of any divorce, even a “good one.” I’ve been doing it for a while, and thought I’d use a post to reflect on what I’ve learned about how to manage the bad, and maximize the good. 1. Never make your kids choose between their two …
Continue reading Ten Holiday Tips For Divorced DadsHow will you be celebrating this Christmas? I’m not talking about the food. That wonderful banquet of smells and tastes. The turkey (that for us Aussies feels a little .. odd), the peas, honey carrots. Mum’s pudding that’s been hanging in the pantry for quite a while, with the kids asking why pudding doesn’t stay …
Continue reading Du Jour Means ChristmasBuying gifts, whether they are for Birthday’s, Christmas or just general tokens of affection gets harder as your children grow up. My two daughters are especially difficult to buy for. There are two reasons for this, one they are both in their late teens / early adult hood (one turns 18 next week, one turned …
Continue reading Creative Gift Buying for TeensThis post is a sponsored post on behalf of Kmart via Izea. The opinions are mine. I have to admit that I haven’t stepped foot in a Kmart for a while, like probably since before they merged up with Sears. But this assignment was totally worth it. Basically, the plan was this: take a $500 …
Continue reading Sponsored Post-Kmart Holiday Shopping Dad StyleGrowing up, my parents and teachers told me that I was smart and talented frequently enough for me to believe them. While adults thought they were doing the right thing by lavishing praise on children (whether or not they deserve it) a growing amount of research shows that telling children that they are special or …
Continue reading New Ways to Praise: "You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake"This video is part of an apparently successful marketing campaign launched by JC Penny.  My only criticism is that it’s a bit long, but definitely worth a peek.  While I’ve been in the doghouse many times I hadn’t thought of JC Penny as the way out … UNTIL NOW! h/t to Dr. Val
Continue reading Men in the DoghouseFull disclosure: Whenever I post online, be it my blog or Twitter, I’m just a little bit nervous. Maybe nervous isn’t the right word – But I do experience a moment of hesitation before I hit the publish button. Sounds strange but it’s true. I work for a medical school and children’s hospital remarkably concerned …
Continue reading The Transparent Pediatrician – How Thin is Too Thin?My daughter is six. She’s having a bit of trouble fitting in at school, and frankly, with us. I know the reason, though. She’s going to be famous. It’s true. I can tell. She’s creative, a true outlier, someone who doesn’t even know there is a trend, let alone that she’s bucking it. And she’s …
Continue reading Tell Them They'll Be FamousPhone Home! In this age of email, text and instant messages, it is easy to forget the power of your voice. It is easy to forget the simplicity and impact of a phone call. We are spoiled by the instant connections we make online. Spoiled by the ability to tell the world what we are …
Continue reading ET Had It Right: Phone Home!Just over a year ago, the founder of this project, Chris Brogan, wrote a blog post entitled 100 Topics I Hope YOU Write. I bookmarked it for future reference – it was, and still is, a great resource for when the blogging ideas well runs dry. Today sees the first fruit of that blog post’s …
Continue reading My Children Will Do It DifferentlyThe dads from Dad-o-Matic want to wish everyone and their loved ones a Happy Thanksgiving! With all the tough times going on right now, we should all be extra thankful for all the blessings in our lives. Let’s also do what we can to help others this time of year as well as throughout the …
Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving from Dad-o-MaticThis is my first contribution to Dad-O-Matic (Howdy Everyone!) I realize everyone is busy with Holiday planning,but please take a moment and wander down this thought with me for a second. As a social media guy, I wanted to help everyone take a moment of thought and finalize it with a moment of action. This …
Continue reading Social Media CharityAs we approach this holiday season, it seems we have little to be thankful about. Still topping the news are stories of death and dire. Abraham Biggs, a Florida teenager blogs that he will commit suicide and then webcasts a video of the event, live, while viewers on the Internet wonder if it’s a hoax. …
Continue reading Don't Underestimate the Objects of Our ThanksMy daughter, Danni, is two year old going on twenty-two. She has to have the last word in every conversation. My wife would say that Danni gets it from me. The other night, we were watching a DVD that I was reviewing for a giveaway on Buck’s Blog. Danni crawled out of my lap after …
Continue reading That's What She Said- Last Word I am sorry to admit that my wife really doesn’t enjoy cooking.  She does her best, but sometimes her general indifference to the culinary arts rears it’s ugly head.  Who could blame her, since as a stay at home mom, it’s up to her to ensure that there are 3 square meals on the …
Continue reading Cooking Up a MemoryAs parents, we all want what’s best for our children. Education, health, happiness – all these and more are top of our lists when it comes to our kids being happy and having the best start in life. Yet we also need to understand that at times we may not always be going the right …
Continue reading Helping Our Kids GrowMy little girl Lia was born in 2003, a healthy and beautiful little mite that immediately changed everything for me. Up until the point I held her in my arms, I guess I didn’t really feel like I was a daddy. The moment I felt her warmth in my arms and saw her innocent little …
Continue reading Stay Away Daddies Aren't Always to Blame   In this day and age, many a social networking site has sprung up. A few of the most popular are Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. There’s a new player in town though that brings us elements of all three with a touch of blog thrown in, wee-web.com.    Wee-web is all about your …
Continue reading Wee-Web, A Family Social Network?I was sent a LeapFrog Didj to evaluate, for my six year old daughter. She was already a Leapster user, and enjoyed it, but she’s clearly getting a bit too old for the content there. She aces all the games, and that’s no fun- not being challenged. So, getting into the Didj was a cool …
Continue reading LeapFrog Hops Up to the DidjAs parents, we’re always looking for ways to save a buck when it comes to eating out with the family. This has become especially important these days because of the current state of the economy. The more kids you have, obviously the more that restaurant bill will be. That’s why it’s critical to know which …
Continue reading Find Free Places to Eat for Your Kids with KidsMealDealsThere is lots of talk about Rockstars here and here, but I am going to talk about the Rockstar under your roof… the Rockstar you are raising. I have three Rockstars in my house, and only one of them is a musician. The musician, my middle son Ethan, is an accomplished guitarist and studies music …
Continue reading How To Raise A Rockstar!I posted this idea to the other dads on the Dad-o-Matic email list and a few folks thought it was a fun idea. I know Clay at DadLabs (awesome site if you don’t know it) has also talked about this I believe. My friend Rick Trader and I were musing a few years back about …
Continue reading Throw a Daddy Shower (but pick a better name)I have worked for 14 years in consulting, managed projects of over 50,000 man-days of effort, run teams of 90+ people including some off-shore, and have been through some tense projects. So the first time my wife left me home alone with my three boys, I figured (to quote City Slickers) “Scoop of chocolate, scoop …
Continue reading Home Alone With the BoysWelcome to my regular Friday feature, Worst of the Week. As a white, suburbanite husband and dad of two kids, there’s a lot that can go wrong and this entry is all about how to fix it. I hope you enjoy it! Well it was just a matter of time – Patrick, my eight year …
Continue reading Worst of the Week: You’ve Got Junk MailMy daughter, Danni, has never been sick. Sure she has had the sniffles and she has gotten a mild fever but she has never vomited until last Wednesday. Danni had puked during snack time at school. Chelsea, my wife, went and got her. On the way home, Danni asked if she could have some juice. …
Continue reading That's What She Said Wednesday: So SickDo you understand how to use RSS (Real Simple Syndication)? We bloggers often assume that you do, but not everyone does. Don’t be ashamed, we all have to learn some time. Darren Rowse explains RSS well on his Problogger blog, as does Common Craft in their video: RSS In Plain English. Finally, watch the video: …
Continue reading How RSS Can Help Protect Your Wee OnesMy son is experiencing regrets. Ben is 27 and, not too long out of the U.S. Army (he served in the Iraqi Freedom invasion force with the 101st Airborne), is planning a July 2009 wedding while going through the process of starting a career in law enforcement. He has gone through the application process, a …
Continue reading A good man revisits his difficult youthAdjustafresh did a great post on bedtime books back in October, and I noticed a bunch of people commented on it. I found a few new ones there for my older kids, including the hilarious and genuine Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I thought I’d do another one, this time focused on a different kind …
Continue reading 5 Mystical Bedtime BooksAge is a funny thing.  From a purely physical perspective our vision technically deteriorates with age, however from every other aspect I believe our true “vision” grows sharper and more clear the older we get.  One thing in particular that I find our aged vision makes it much easier to see is the deep connections …
Continue reading Be A Great Person And You Will Be A Great ParentIf you were part of the ad/marketing technology scene in the Greater Washington metro area in the late nineties thru and past the millennium you most definitely know the name Mitch Arnowitz. Mitch was the caretaker and the leader of a burgeoning marketing and PR community that could be found on the Netpreneur Exchange, which …
Continue reading Elan is a hip guy and he'll pull throughThe 49 UP documentary series is an incredible experience that every parent should make time for. It began in 1964 and has grown to become a collection of seven documentaries that has followed the lives of 14 British children every seven years from the age of seven to 49 in the most recent release. The …
Continue reading The Dreams of YouthWelcome to my regular Friday feature, Worst of the Week. As a white, suburbanite husband and dad of two kids, there’s a lot that can go wrong and this entry is all about how to fix it. I hope you enjoy it! I mentioned last week that Erin (6) was not motivated while participating in …
Continue reading Worst of the Week: Homework TimeWhen I was a kid our family photos were all kept in albums. The hundreds of photos were meticulously positioned under the plastic static film on each page by my mum. She was great about writing the dates and locations of the photos on the backs. Today we’re lucky enough to have plenty of storage …
Continue reading Back Up Your Photos NowI love to cook. For years my pantry included the “cooking wine” that’s probably in your pantry as well. One day I was watching Michael Chiarello’s show on Food Network, a show about risotto con funghi, one of my favorites. He paused after toasting the arborio and said something like, “At this point I like …
Continue reading Children's Music Is Evil.Mark Schultz wrote “He’s My Son” while he was a youth minister for a boy he knew that was diagnosed with leukemia. No matter what your religious background might be, I’m sure you will be moved by this song and the emotions of the parents that Mark so eloquently captures. The song has become an …
Continue reading He’s My SonI’ve always thought that the blogosphere is beginning to wallow in its own waste. And here’s my proof: Paul Boutin’s piece in this month’s Wired. He’s predicting that the end is effectively near for folks like us and I half believe him. Tweeter is what the blog was in 2004. Most of us have witnessed …
Continue reading The End of BlogsI should start by saying that I blog almost daily at Buck’s Blog and have an on going segment over there called Daddy Dairies. I thought I start a weekly feature here at Dad-O-Matic called That’s What She Said. Now take your mind our of the gutter. My kid, as do all kids, says the …
Continue reading That's What She Said Wednesdays: Mommy SadWhen lying is good … advice from Dad-o-Matic author Joe Hage about when lying to your child might teach an unforgettable lesson.
Continue reading When lying is goodIt makes no difference where we put it, what precautions we take or how much we don’t want them to get into that candy cache, my kids are like thieves in the night. Not only are they good at it, but they change their tactics as they learn them. Like the machine that teaches itself, …
Continue reading My Kids Are Ninjas For Halloween CandyI’ve had all I can stand, I can’t stand no more….this is one of my personal bugbears and, as a Dad, I have to rant about it. I am sick, sick SICK of hearing that for my surfaces to be ‘clean’ I need to have killed all the bacteria as well, for the sake of …
Continue reading Stop With the Sanitising!I expected that our first airport experience was going to be an extreme test of our follow though and endurance but I think I “misunderestimated†exactly how crazy, unprepared and naively optimistic it was going to be.
Continue reading Airports and Babies Do Not MixThe American male’s obsession with the automobile is nurtured at a very young age. We play with toy cars as soon as we are old enough that our parents are reasonably sure we won’t chew off and eat the tiny toy tires. I myself was weaned on Corgi, Matchbox and Hot Wheels. Driving – being …
Continue reading Baby, You Can Drive My Car… at 13???Welcome to my regular Friday feature, Worst of the Week. As a white, suburbanite husband and dad of two kids, there’s a lot that can go wrong and this entry is all about how to fix it. I hope you enjoy it! My daughter Erin (6) loves to play soccer. She is in her second …
Continue reading Worst of the Week: Run Forrest, Run!My dad got his start in business sweeping up at nights for a remote office of a big company. He had struggled in college, yet over the course of 20 years he worked his way up to be the president of another company. He also went back to college while raising two young kids. When …
Continue reading 20 Thoughts: My Father's AdviceIt’s eleven minutes after seven in the morning. If the kids are going to make it to school on time, I need to get them out of the door and strapped into the car by 7:15. Inevitably, one of them (my son is 4, daughter is 7) will encounter a challenge (I don’t know where …
Continue reading Take Time to Say, "No" This goes out to single dads, heck why not all dads out there for that matter. This post is a bit on the personal level, and while “advice” may not be properly given, it is more about being a wake up call for us dads who tend to put work ahead of family… especially …
Continue reading Priorities: Single Dad vs. Mr. EntrepreneurInspired by fellow Dad-o-Matic author Brendon Connelly and his Photowalking with kids, here’s five easy steps to family fun. 1. Get camera. 2. Go to Party City or equivalent. 3. Try on ridiculous hats / glasses. 4. Photograph. 5. Repeat. Have fun! From Joe, Beth, Zachary, and Lucas Hage! P.S. We bought Lucas’ birthday candles …
Continue reading Photo fun for freeMom’s and dads are different. Moms are emotional, dads are physical. You know, Venus and Mars. More evidence: The flying baby video that’s gone viral recently. That’s no mamma swingin’ the baby. As an obviously phony work of video creativity, perhaps I’m spared as a baby doctor from telling the broadcast audience what’s painfully obvious: …
Continue reading The Amazing Flying BabyElle loves music.  The second a song comes on the radio, she starts to sway and bop to the beat.  She has done this since she was 6 months old.  She is 13 months now.  We enrolled her in The Music Class several months ago, and she loves it.  Being the youngest, allows her to get …
Continue reading Singing With My DaughterIt is the morning after Halloween and the house is quiet, save the occasional whine or bark of one of the dogs. In the kitchen there are no plastic pumpkin pails or bright orange bags filled with candy. There are no empty wrappers for me to pick up off the floor, left strewn about by …
Continue reading Bitter SweetsWelcome to my regular Friday feature, Worst of the Week. As a white, suburbanite husband and dad of two kids, there’s a lot that can go wrong and this entry is all about how to fix it. I hope you enjoy it! This past weekend our family along with 4 other families went to the …
Continue reading Worst of the Week: Children of the CornPhotowalking is fun. Especially with kids! All you need are at least one kid and at least one camera. If you’re not familiar with the idea, photowalking is just a fancy way to say, “Go play outside!” There’s really nothing more to it than simply walking around an interesting area, and taking lots of pictures. …
Continue reading Photowalking with kidsWarning: Some of the content in the following commercials will be disturbing to some of you. They are graphic in nature on purpose as they are trying to share their message about the dangers of driving too fast, driving drunk or driving without wearing your seatbelts. Mostly, these spots are focussed on young teen drivers …
Continue reading Teens and DrivingMy family has been away for a few weeks. In fact, they’ve been away for enough weeks that I legitimately miss them deeply. Even the kids. I’m picking them up on Friday, which is a couple of days from now. Doing some back-of-the-Chinese-food-delivery-bag-left-on-the-table-for-days math, I realized: holy cow! That’s two days from now. Now, when …
Continue reading Domestic BlitzA delicious irony exists in our household. It’s the irony where a) we own every current game console, portable or otherwise, and b) No Game Playing Shall Occur During on School Nights, except on very rare, special occasions, say, being stuck home sick from school on Wednesday because someone has contracted a Medieval Bubonic Plague. …
Continue reading What are your video game rules?About 13 years ago from right about now, I was a proud new dad. Four months earlier I was blessed to enter the world of fatherhood with the birth of my son Connor. Having a little bundle of joy that totally depends on you is one of the most wonderful things that can happen to …
Continue reading "It's nice to see a man take an interest in his child"Our children are more proficient than we ever were with the digital realm. Their social lives, education, shopping, and entertainment often revolve in the online world. But how do you protect them? Yes, working with them and watching over their shoulder is best – but rarely practical. What software do you use to: Ensure your …
Continue reading Protecting our children online: What software do you use?In our house full of boys (One dad, two sons, two boy cats, a boy dog and a rotating menagerie of bugs of indeterminate gender), we hold one truth to be self-evident: mom is special. Mom doesn’t get much “girl time” at our place, but she does have seemingly unlimited opportunity to be hassled, annoyed …
Continue reading Taking care of momEvery dad knows this song, Harry Chapin’s classic “Cat’s in the Cradle”. It was a number one hit in 1974 and originally written as a poem by Harry’s wife Sandie who received credit as co-writer of the song. Incidentally, she didn’t write it about Harry’s relationship with their son as commonly believed but actually about …
Continue reading The Cat’s in the CradleI only post here once a week, but I read the blog daily. For me the best post this week, if not the best ever post on here was written by Paisano – Sins of the Father. He uses the song by Everclear Father of Mine to relate the sense of abandoment, confusion and frustration felt …
Continue reading Investment TipI’m always searching for new apps for my iPhone, I was thrilled when I recently found a free version of PacMan. As I searched through the iTunes Music Store free apps section, I came across an amazing app that’s so much more useful than killing ghosts. Phone Aid serves as a quick guide and support …
Continue reading Your iPhone Can Save Your Child's LifeThe picture of my “Vampire Weekend†above was taken on Halloween probably 16 years ago. The two little bloodsuckers with me in the photo are now 20 and 18 years old. Time flies when you are having fun, and we were definitely having fun! Halloween may be a scary time, but I think that as …
Continue reading Fangs For The Memories!Welcome to my regular Friday feature, Worst of the Week. As a white, suburbanite husband and dad of two kids, there’s a lot that can go wrong and this entry is all about how to fix it. I hope you enjoy it! As a stay-at-home (and in desperate need of a job) Dad, it’s my …
Continue reading Worst of the Week: “Dad, dinner sucks!â€ÂWhen my 12-year-old daughter wanted to read my latest book, I discouraged her, because it addresses adult subjects, including organized rebellion against government (just the thought of which these days can label you a traitor), and it depicts sex and violence. My 12-year-old. This is a girl who watches Bones and The X-Files, then switches …
Continue reading Our Kids Can Handle a Lot More than We Give Them Credit ForThis week we experienced a moment of heart wrenching sorrow. Our third little one is heading to school next year. Already, as the Mums and Dads wait for the older kids to get out of school, she has a posse of friends. They play and carry on. She has a special friend, whose name I’ve …
Continue reading How Do You Deal With Rejection?One of the things I love the most about my job – the travel – also has a huge downside as a dad. Whether it’s a day-trip that begins with waking up at 4:30 a.m. and then not getting home until after 9 p.m. or a multi-day trek across time zones, I miss those daily …
Continue reading Gift Ideas and Travel Tips from Dads“Father of Mine” by EverClear is an extra special song for me because it truly hits home for me on a deep personal level. I relate to the words so much because my father left our mom with four sons in a strange new land when I was a toddler and I never really got …
Continue reading The Sins of Our FathersHaving started a Father’s Group (Pop Culture) over three years ago I can honestly say it’s one of the best things I’ve done as a father. At the time I was freelancing and was essentially a SAHD (Stay at Home Dad) and desperately needed some dad-bonding where I could get advice from other guys trying …
Continue reading Start A Dad's GroupMy dad got into computers in the 1970s. Sometimes, he’d take me to work and I’d play this Star Trek game on a computer that had to print out the “screen” on paper. Sometimes, I’d destroy reams of paper chasing a Klingon around. I had no idea how much I was underfoot, but my Dad …
Continue reading Kids on the WebI’m going to admit it: I hate Halloween. There, I’m out of the closet, and for the record: I don’t like chocolate, or what having a sack of the stuff laying around for a few days does to my sugar junkie kids. Heck, by election day I’ll need to send them to glucose rehab. How …
Continue reading The Halloween Costume – It'll Give You NightmaresIt seems that once a child reaches School, or Daycare, that Kid’s Parties become both a bane and a blessing. Parents, in my experience, put on a good show for their kid’s celebrations. Grinning through the crazy, you can see the glimmer in their eyes. Looking forward with bated breath for all the other parties …
Continue reading Practical: Party OnI have only been a dad for 3 months. My wife and I welcomed Franklin Phillip Lewis to our family on July 4th, 2008 at 7PM. He is my pride and joy. Since that day I hate leaving the house to go to work in the morning and I have found myself doing everything in …
Continue reading Advice for Expecting Fathers from a New DadIn my most recent (and for that matter only so far…) post I talked about recognizing the signs that your son or daughter may have autism. In this post I want to talk about dealing with the diagnosis. As I mentioned previously, we had suspicions about our son perhaps being autistic. Well we finally got …
Continue reading Autism, dealing with the diagnosisBeing the father of two older children, especially when they don’t live with me presents a lot of different challenges. I live in the US, they live in the UK. I haven’t lived there for 7 years, it has changed over that time. My daughters were 13 & 11 when I left the country, now …
Continue reading Are adult children still our kids?This is a blogpost by Dad-o-Matic author Joe Hage about a conversation to encourage your child to work for something he or she wants.
Find out more about Joe at http://joehageonline.com.
Continue reading Emploment opprotunitiesHey everyone, Kathie and I are not yet parents. Fetus Wilder isn’t scheduled to make his debut until November 27th. Happy Thanksgiving! So at week 34, Kathie is getting pretty round and she’s loving every minute of it! Yeah, it hurts to sit too long. It hurts to stand too long. It hurts to be …
Continue reading LullabyI’m sure (I hope) most of you will agree that teaching our children manners is crucial.  Here’s a simple way to reinforce your children saying, “thank you.”  This Dad-o-Matic Quick Tip works best with younger children.  When you hand your child something that they have asked for, don’t let go. Keep your grip on the object–be …
Continue reading Dad-o-Matic Quick Tip: Getting Kids to Say Thank YouI have three kids.  The two oldest are boys.  The third, and youngest, is my daughter, Olivia.  From the moment of birth, boys and girls are different.  At least that has been my experience.  As infants and toddlers, the boys were into everything, climbing on furniture even before they could walk.  Bumps, bruises, burns and …
Continue reading When Did Daddy’s Little Girl Become a Woman?Welcome to my regular Friday feature, Worst of the Week. As a white, suburbanite husband and dad of two kids, there’s a lot that can go wrong and this entry is all about how to fix it. I hope you enjoy it! Our family lives in a great subdivision. The neighbors give back your rakes, …
Continue reading Worst of the Week: Sons of AnarchyThis past Sunday our church pastor was doing a sermon on friendship. The title? “When your backs against the wall…..You have to have friendsâ€Â.  Without going into a sermon of my own, the gist of the lecture was that you’ve got to have “good, solid friends.â€Â These friends are the ones that listen and comfort …
Continue reading Our Children's Friends: Encouraging Positive FriendshipsHow much time do you spend with your kids? No, this isn’t a lecture, it’s not meant to be condemning – it’s more of a “note-to-selfâ€Â.  Because I struggle with the same balance you do – spending time with my children vs. doing work that needs to be done. I’m busy, you’re busy – we’re …
Continue reading Kids and TimeSo The Darling G and I were in Yo! Sushi on Saturday, and sat opposite us was a father with a somewhat uncooperative teenager. A bit of eavesdropping over our makis indicated that what we were seeing was a Weekend Dad. They finished lunch quickly – Dad trying (and failing) to communicate, and in doing …
Continue reading 'Weekend Dads' Should Still Be ParentsOctober 15th is Blog Action Day 2008 and the emphasis this year is on poverty. Bloggers from around the world are participating and, hopefully, increasing awareness about those who live in poverty in our own communities and around the globe. I have found this event to be a particularly good opportunity to talk to my …
Continue reading Talk to Your Kids About the PoorMy wife and I have always made it a priority to read to our children–I’m sure most of you do the same, and yes, I do the voices. I would like to think that this habit has helped lead to our second grader’s ability to read at a 5th grade level.  Every night, before bed …
Continue reading Our Favorite Bedtime BooksI feel SO behind the times! Not only do my 2 and 3 year old LOVE this song…I caught my 3 year old moving the mouse by herself to replay this about 5 times in a row.  Do your kids know this one?  The Gummy Bear Song and it’s been on YouTube for a year, …
Continue reading The Gummy Bear SongMy son was recently hit by a fellow classmate after the aggressor was warned by his teacher. It wasn’t a serious issue, just the typical elementary school kid that had some misplaced energy (or aggression). At night I talked about it with my son, investigated some options on how to handle the situation in the …
Continue reading Stand Up for Yourself… no, Walk Away7 hours in the car with the kids is pretty much a recipe for disaster, but with a little planning, and even more luck, you can turn it into a memory that will last a lifetime. I had just that opportunity last week and the ride turned out to be an absolute joy! My grandmother turned …
Continue reading Tips for Roadtrips with the KidsI have two daughters. One 17 the other just turned 20. We have lived apart for 16 years. Over those years our ability to remain an active part of each others lives has faced many challenges. When we were first parted, I lived in the next town, I saw them every weekend, and sometimes during …
Continue reading Staying in touch with teens over time & distanceReading Dave Delaney’s post about Tip for Expecting Daddies got me thinking about what got me through the first couple of months. It is a great tip. My tip is for fathers whose child is already born. Some might not agree with it but it worked for me. When my daughter, Danni, was born my …
Continue reading A Quick tip for Fathers of New BornsThe job of Storyteller has a long and worthy history in this country and is, I’m happy to say, an old tradition that in recent years has been resurrected – and rightly so. However, I don’t think it’s just the role of an official storyteller, or that of teachers, to introduce children to the wonders …
Continue reading Being A Story TellerIt’s such a simple thing, with great rewards.  When we are reading at night (the night’s that I read, which go in spurts), depending on the book, doing the voices of the characters creates another level again of story-telling.  Requirements: Be over the top! Try all different kinds of voices. The kids will …
Continue reading Kid's Books: Do You "Do" The Voices?A big part of being a good Dad is arming your kids with the tools they’ll need to understand and navigate the world successfully as adults. When I first became a Dad, I took some time to reflect on the adults I knew… on what the ones who were doing better seemed to understand, and …
Continue reading Choices and ConsequencesOne thing I’ve learned through experience is that raising a child makes you a father, not simply the act of procreation. Far too many men can do the latter but a precious few ever even try to be the former. I respect and admire anyone that accepts the sacrifice and challenge of raising a child …
Continue reading He Didn’t Have to BeSocial Networking can be a great tool for any Dad or Mom for that matter to get where their kids are and know what they’re doing. Some of the most successful people in the industry use this same method to network and grow the number of people they come in contact with. A tip I …
Continue reading Are You Following Your Kids?There are some things dads have to teach their kids, and I think one is how to take compliments well. One of our fine readers (if I could find your twitter DM, I’d call you out by name) asked me to address this, because she has a wonderful and amazing teenager who happens to be …
Continue reading How to Take ComplimentsIf you have kids over the age of 10 it is highly likely they already have their own mobile phones.  If you have kids with their own mobile phones, it is highly likely that they use their phones for a great deal of “texting” (sending text messages).  How about you? According to a new consumer …
Continue reading where r u dad? dnr is rdy!My name is Eric Peterson and I’ve been given the opportunity, by Chris, to be able and participate in this wonderful writing project. First, let me say “thank you Chris,” and second, let me say it’s an honor to be able to share with all of you. With that, I thought I would actually pull …
Continue reading A Toddler Taught Adversity LessonWith all the crap going on with respect to the economy, I felt it would be the perfect time to expand on something I have always thought . . . It can cost absolutely nothing to have a good time with your kids, yet and can be more rewarding than an all day spa trip …
Continue reading These Times are GreatI’d like to say thankyou to Chris Brogan. Since this place went live, a few weeks back, I’ve been reading and commenting with great gusto. It is really encouraging to hear other “internet” (for want of a better word, nerd, geek, computer guy, ..) Dad’s writing about what matters to them. Love. Sacrifice. Presence. And …
Continue reading ThanksI’m not a dad yet. Kathie is due to deliver our first baby around November 27th. So I’m in the position of anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby boy. As we draw closer to Thanksgiving; I’ve instinctively begun the process of re-evaluating my time. Am I using it well? Am I being effective? Is …
Continue reading DetoxificationI love being a Dad. It’s given me so many opportunities that I would never of had if I stayed a bachelor. I’ll be touching on many of those hats here at Dad-o-Matic in the upcoming weeks and months but for now let’s start of with something that every single dad can do and that …
Continue reading Volunteer At SchoolThis is a blogpost by Dad-o-Matic author Joe Hage about a way to discipline your child while keeping his self esteem in tact.
Find out more about Joe at http://joehageonline.com.
Continue reading Mom and Dad on strikeHi, my name is Stu Andrews. I’ve been a husband for ten years now, and a Dad for seven of those. Four kids so far. The idea of “Self” is prevalent in our society today, just as it has been throughout the ages. Philosophers in the first century thought up spheres of thinking that centered …
Continue reading Self vs Unself: The Ballad Of True LoveI’ve always loved this piece called “Loving Two” by an unknown author. I was moved when I first read it many years ago long before I became a dad and it touches me even more today. I understand it so much more now. It’s such a profound and emotional experience to be blessed with one …
Continue reading Limitless LoveI grew up interested in politics. And it has to come as no surprise when you consider I was born on the date of the very first televised presidential debate between Kennedy and Nixon. It was October 21st, 1960. I just had to be a political animal with that birthday. I remember very clearly sitting …
Continue reading Talking Politics with your ChildrenAs a proud father, I continue to be amazed at the development of my children. I was worried for awhile, I must admit. Two years ago one of my daughters struggled to say “TOUCHDOWN!” on Sunday afternoons. Perhaps this was because I was expecting too much of her. Or perhaps it’s because I’m a Kansas …
Continue reading The Joy of FootballBoo! With Halloween around the corner, this is a good time to address the art of scaring the bejesus out of your kids!  As someone who worked as a camp counselor for many summers, and who has three kids of my own, I feel I am highly qualified to share some tips on telling a …
Continue reading How To Tell A KILLER Scary Story!First, we both love superheroes. Second, we both love cereal. Third, we both asked Bill Gates to do the robot. Okay, well those first two are true. I’m writing this while eating a bowl big coffee mug of Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats BLUEBERRY flavor. Yes, you heard me, blueberry. Okay, the label says “blueberry muffin,” …
Continue reading What Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Brogan Have in CommonI had one of those conversations today that not only gives me something to blog about Dad but to also raise a question for the readers. I went with Sharon to the Family care clinic to get Harry ( now 1month old ) weighed and checked up and generally assessed for health. I was not …
Continue reading A Duty and Responsibility.I guess you never notice diapers (except for making the occasional Depends joke) in drug stores and super markets but when you have a child, diapers become mission #1 and all of a sudden you’re faced with buying ’em, changing ’em and what ever else you do with ’em. So, I made a trip out …
Continue reading Dad, the Cleaner…(part 1) – Diaper ConfusionToday our daughter turned 1 year old. She loves music and there are two people/ groups that seem to really have figured out how to create musical experiences that kids – well our daughter – love. The first is Eric Herman…the creator of the famous Elephant Song. The Elephant Song This is a fun song …
Continue reading The Elephant SongI’ve been a dad for almost a decade and proud to have been blessed with three angelic babies in that span. I still get choked up when I read this piece that I’m about to share with you. The message and meaning becomes deeper and more profound as the years go by, especially if you …
Continue reading Parenthood Will Change Your LifeThe PLUNGE Hey, I’m the New Dad on the Block. Sort of. After 37 years of living “Me-ness,” I took the plunge. No, I mean I TOOK THE PLUNGE – not only did I get married, but I inherited the insta-family, four daughters from my wife’s previous marriage. Being the glutton for punishment, we added …
Continue reading Heroes Overcome HumiliationThe proof copy of my dad’s memoir arrived today: Can You See God in This Picture?: A Letter to My Sons Making Sense of 25 Years as a Pastor. Because I’m an author and publisher, my father asked me to read through and edit the manuscript, written as a letter to me and my two …
Continue reading How Well Do Your Children Know You?The 10-year-old me would disagree with the 30-something me, but we have a tendency to overindulge our children with things, when in fact what they really need is our presence. While catching up with a friend recently, who has three kids of his own, we discussed the everyday challenges of being a father. We both …
Continue reading Requesting your PresenceReading Joe’s post about making family first got me thinking about some of the life lesson’s that I’ve been trying to imprint on my kids…   And one of the secrets in our family is having kids who have control over their attitude. My guess is that most parents can relate to having a two-year …
Continue reading "You must change your attitude by the count of three"This is a blogpost about a beautiful way to enrich your child’s life by Dad-o-Matic author Joe Hage.
Find out more about Joe at http://joehageonline.com.
Continue reading Dad's Life Lessons: Rule #1When your baby is born you will likely be housebound for a while. That means that you’ll be home to help your wife and tend to your wee one. This is awesome, sure you’ll be pretty sleep deprived, but it’s still awesome. There’s nothing better than gently hugging on your son or daughter, and on …
Continue reading A Quick Tip for Expecting DaddiesGreat news today for parents and their children that enjoy playing online. Parents.com and KidZui.com have formed a partnership to enhance the KidZui experience and bring more families to the kid-friendly site. For those of you that aren’t familiar with KidZui yet, it’s geared for kids ages 3-12 and provides a free browser and online …
Continue reading Parents.com and Kidzui Form Healthy Alliance for Parents and KidsI was helping my father to get online just a few days ago – I helped him buy a wireless USB adaptor, so that he could share his neighbour’s wireless wi-fi signal (with her full permission, I should say). However, I’d forgotten just how much of a pain it was to install a new device. …
Continue reading Why can't my Father get farther online?I’m going to admit it right here, right now:  I am not a Super Dad.  You know the guys, the ones that no matter what event you go to, they are there with their kids, only they probably got there a little earlier, and are undoubtedly better prepared.  Deep down you wonder how they manage …
Continue reading Ward Cleaver Did Us WrongCalm down fellas, this is not going to be an expose about your favorite Showtime series. This is going to be a quick look at a four letter word that parents and kids should make themselves comfortable with and use much more frequently. NOT ALL FOUR LETTER WORDS ARE BAD The late, great George Carlin …
Continue reading The Real “L†WordReading this post about how it’s a Federal offense to buy too much cold medicine has me bummed out. You see, this impacts things like Benedryl, which we’ve been permitted by our doctor to give to my daughter from time to time when she can’t sleep. She often has a racing mind and can’t find …
Continue reading I Want Benedryl BackThis is a blogpost about a beautiful way to enrich your child’s life by Dad-o-Matic author Joe Hage.
Find out more about Joe at http://joehageonline.com.
Continue reading Dad's Life Lessons On The WallOK…so my daughter is 11.5 months…which means her first birthday party is days away. I don’t remember my first birthday party, but if the pictures of that event tell a story, it is that it was a simple affair.  My family and my parent’s neighbors were there. There was a cake and there was candles. And …
Continue reading The First Birthday PartyIt’s that time of year again, when parents have to avoid drug stores and Wal-Mart as often as possible, if only to get away from multiple requests for a second costume, or another set of make-up, or a third pumpkin carving kit. It’s also the time of year when we look at costumes that are …
Continue reading Halloween Costumes for KidsShe’s Having a Baby is another one of those underrated comedies that touches you in ways that you never forget. John Hughes broke free from his high school brat pack mold (Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, Pretty in Pink, etc.) and totally captures the amazing experiences of marriage and parenthood in this wonderful movie. It includes …
Continue reading This Woman’s Work (She’s Having a Baby)My son was born a little over three years ago now. He surprises me daily with a new word, phrase or expression that makes me laugh. Friday at dinner, I was annoyed we were out of ketchup. He cocked his head to one side and said, “It’s okay, Daddy … you’ll live.†Fatherhood has grown …
Continue reading Fears Of A New FatherBefore I get to the point(s) of this post I figure I ought to introduce myself. My name is Dave Brodbeck, I live in Sault Ste. Marie, ON Canada where I work as a professor of psychology at Algoma University (go Thunderbirds!) Much more importantly, I have an awesome family, I am married and I …
Continue reading Autism, Recognizing The SignsThe song “Father & Son” by Cat Stevens has become increasingly poignant and powerfully meaningful to me as I raise my three children. They continue to grow up faster than I want them to but what can you do about it? All I can do is try to be the best example I can be …
Continue reading Father and SonGreat segment on NPR this morning about how as the U.S. financial system implodes around us, Americans could be turning to video games to take their mind off their troubles, much the same way that we turned to $0.05 movies during the great depression. While movie tickets sold have been flat for about the last …
Continue reading Today's Video Games are Yesterday's Movies?I’m sitting across from Paul Kontonis from For Your Imagination and I wanted to plug Dad-o-Matic, but Paul is cooler than me, so he shows me DadLabs instead. Turns out he’s got over 200 videos already on the site by dads for dads. It’s really great to look at, and I highly recommend checking it …
Continue reading We Love DadLabsGay parenting is getting a lot of ink this week. First, new dad Clay Aiken was on the cover of People Magazine with his new son Parker, next to the headline, “Yes, I’m gay.†Today, the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, a non-partisangroup dedicated to improving adoption practices nationwide, released a study that concluded that …
Continue reading Gay AdoptionsScrapbooking is one of those hobbies that have been around for decades, but like most niches it has become increasingly popular thanks to desktop publishing, digital cameras and the internet as a whole. My wife Patty and I know of several people who are involved in this hobby, but we are not one of them. …
Continue reading Scrapbooking For Dads I spend a lot of time online.  Working at an interactive agency, part of my job is staying up on the latest online trends which includes having accounts at several social media, community and networking websites. Recently, I inadvertently came across the profile of someone I knew, my niece, and I was surprised to …
Continue reading Hey – She's Not 22!I can safely say that it’s not easy being forced to watch children’s programming. Many of the programs are too slow and repetitive, like the ones that have long pauses to wait for your kids to do as their told. Or the shows feature grown ups who dance around like they’re all hopped up on, …
Continue reading Children's Television Doesn't Have To SuckThere is nothing more shocking in a man’s life then to be slammed into baby reality with a screaming mini you. Since the birth of my little girl (Sylvia June) two weeks ago, I had an idea what I would be getting into when she would be home. I knew it was going to be …
Continue reading Sleep, Sleep & NO SLEEP…In this age of financial crisis and mega billion banking bailouts, it hardly seems worthwhile to be concerned with $ 5, $10 or $20 a week. However, if you are a kid, and that 5, 10 or 20 bucks is your allowance, you are allowed to be concerned. More importantly, if you are the proud …
Continue reading The BUXX Stops Here!Recently I came across a site called Glubble. Glubble is a FREE parental control system for the FireFox browser that once installed you can have complete control over your kids online browsing experience. The system is geared for children up to the age of elementary school and may (in my opinion) be pushing it for …
Continue reading Glubble, a New and Safe Way for Your Kids to Play OnlinePlayspace Finder is a resource that mashes on top of Google Maps and gives parents a place to mark down a playground, notate what’s there, provide pictures, ratings, reviews and more. It’s a really great idea (and by great, I mean “simple”). I did a quick scan of some areas around my house, and there …
Continue reading Find a Place to PlaySaw this post by Julie Bonner, where she talks about her daughter getting a cell phone before the age of 11. Now, some of you just raised an eyebrow. You’re wondering if that’s a bit early for a ten year old to own a cell phone. I’m going to say that it’s not, from my …
Continue reading When Should Kids Have Cell PhonesI have 4 sons. Oldest just got married this summer and is living in Florida with his new wife. They will be coming home next mouth so he can defend his Masters project and be done with that. One of our other sons is in his last year of nursing school and he is getting …
Continue reading Using technology to communicate with your teenThe “C-word” – it’s one of the worst words in the English language. Whenever I hear one of my two children utter this word, they know that there will be consequences. Under no circumstances are my children allowed to say, “can’t.” Here’s how I’ve helped eliminate “can’t” (and a few other words) from the conversation. …
Continue reading The "Bad" WordsNow that we’re here, why not get it sent to you for free? Want to get it in your email inbox? Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner Or if you want to get it in your reader or choice: Subscribe in a reader Now that we’re here, stick around. Okay?
Continue reading Please Subscribe for FreeBullies have been a part of childhood for centuries, but their reigns of terror are swiftly becoming short-lived these days thanks to all of the bully awareness and Anti-Bully prevention programs that exist today. Obviously, it’s impossible to totally prevent bullying but we can always improve how and when we intervene whenever it does take …
Continue reading The Bully PulpitAs a single dad of three teenagers, I have had to come to terms with a fact many of us men don’t really like to concede; I’m mortal. As Clint Eastwood’s character Harry Callahan said so eloquently in Magnum Force, “a man’s got to know his limitations. ” Having kids taught me what Dirty Harry …
Continue reading Don't Sweat ItMy dad is a great dad. He indelibly shaped my personality, mores, and outlook in life. Now that I am a dad too, I appreciate what he did even more. It wasn’t easy to narrow them down, but these the top ten lessons that he taught me. Don’t take any shiitake from anyone. My dad …
Continue reading The Top Ten Lessons My Dad Taught MeWhen I was six, my grandfather would take me on his sales route. He sold candy. (How popular is a candy salesman?) He started buying me comics at various stops like Flo’s Variety on the hill, and Depot News downtown. I owe a lot of my ability to read to comics. And to this day, …
Continue reading Comics and KidsI’m a big sharer, or at least I think I am. I have over 11,000 photos on my Flickr account, over 100 videos on 12seconds, and a handful on YouTube as well. But if you go through them, you’ll notice only a few of them include pictures of my 16-month-old son. When my wife and …
Continue reading The Tricky Balancing Act of Online Sharing and Privacy ConcernsIf you are reading this blog, you more than likely understand technology, Web 2.0 and actually use the Internet. And if you do, you are may be like me and have a lot of articles and post you really want to read. The problem, not enough time in the day. However, there might be an …
Continue reading Dads — Take Your Reading With YouI have three kids. My wife, mother and I all have iPhones. This is not a coincidence. It didn’t take long after the introduction of the iPhone to realize that the iPhone was a great tool for entertaining youngsters and buying parents some peace… provided said youngsters are not fighting over the device itself. If …
Continue reading iPhone Apps for Kids“When should I start teaching my son (or daughter) about computers?” This is a common question I get from new parents. There’s no hard and fast answer or correct age. I always tell them to just provide access to an older computer as early as possible, even if they just pound the keys like a …
Continue reading How Soon Can Your Child Start Using Computers?When I was in grammar school, I didn’t know anyone with a life-threatening nut allergy. Today, it seems to have become a far more common occurrence, and different schools have different approaches to handling the kids with the allergies and the foods they’re allergic to. My son, who just started pre-K at a private parochial …
Continue reading Nuts!Every week, I go to the grocery store and my eyes glaze over as I roam through the food aisles looking for that perfect balance of what my daughter WILL eat and what she SHOULD eat. She’s actually quite good with fruits and vegetables, but buying these at the beginning of the week just guarantees …
Continue reading What are You Packing for SnacksThat girl there, Violette, is mildly allergic to milk. She doesn’t go into shock and her throat doesn’t close. In fact, the only real thing we notice is that she behaves quite differently after having milk products than when she doesn’t. She misbehaves a lot more. She gets a bit more hyper and harder to …
Continue reading When Your Kid Is Mildly Allergic to Milk