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 DoghouseNovember 2008
You are browsing the site archives for November 2008.
Full 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 Sweets