When I was a kid, there was a series of commercials for “Chiffon” margarine that had the tag line, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!”  Lately it seems that perhaps we must have been trying to fool her and now Mother Nature is seeking her revenge and proving her prowess with a daunting display …
Continue reading 5 Ways To Be Prepared When Mother Nature RoarsFebruary 2010
You are browsing the site archives for February 2010.
Here’s a news item about a tragedy that has a silver lining thanks to the University of Clemson and its football coach Dabo Swinney. High School football star Jake Nicolopulos had a dream to play college football for the Clemson Tigers and it was all set to become a reality until he had a stroke …
Continue reading Class ActAt the opening of this episode you will hear a promo for The Boom Effect, an auction and fund raiser for fellow dad and good friend Tee Morris who recently lost his wife.  Tee will be raising his little girl known as “Sonic Boom” on his own, and the Podcasting community has been very supportive …
Continue reading Cast of Dads #10: Walking The Line OnlineHere’s an excerpt from Katrina Kenison’s wonderful book “The Gift of an Ordinary Day” that totally captures the beauty and power of being a parent, for both moms and dads. I loved what she shared here because it’s something that I realized a long time ago. It isn’t really all the big important events in …
Continue reading The Gift of an Ordinary DayLIAR.  It is a four letter word that can be far more hurtful than other familiar expletives. This is especially true when the liar in question is someone you love dearly and completely.  As parents we spend our lives hoping to instill in our children a sense of truth, trust and responsibility.  We teach them …
Continue reading They Say Truth Hurts, But Lying Is More Painful“…You can’t be too careful.” These were the words of a somewhat strident middle-aged lady at Dungeekin Minor’s ‘football’ training session on Saturday, as she vocally and agressively demanded to see the (female) coaches ‘paperwork’. The trouble is – I rather think you can be too careful. When you’re not the parent, and you turn …
Continue reading “In Today’s Climate . . . “(NOTE: usually my posts here are written originally for Dad-o-matic.  That said, I recently wrote on my personal blog about Chef Jamie Oliver’s impassioned and impactful speech about childhood obesity at the recent TED conference.  I realize that Chef Oliver’s speech would likely be of great interest to the Dad-o-matic crowd, so with permission from …
Continue reading Food, Glorious Food??? Are We Feeding Our Kids To Death?On Thursday my middle child Abby decided she was ready to wear panties. She had a hard time on Thursday but when I put her to bed Thursday night she said “Daddy can I wear panties to school again tomorrow?” So on Friday she did better and then yesterday when we were all home she …
Continue reading Panties and BusinessThe Cast of Dads gathered early on Valentine’s Day to catch up and compare notes on our romantic plans for the day.  Despite a few pregnant pauses as we contemplated Cupid, we managed to cover a wide range of topics, from our daughters dating, to the pleasures of power tools.  Here is a complete rundown of …
Continue reading Cast of Dads #9: Pausing For Valentine’s DayYesterday was Valentine’s Day, and while Jeff has provided some great ways to avoid disaster today, I wanted to talk about why I didn’t really start caring about it all, until our oldest daughter was born. It’s not that I’m not a romantic, quite the contrary. I think it’s more that, like most men, I …
Continue reading Valentine’s Day Reborn With MeaningIt is Valentine’s Day!  Time for everyone to get their heart on!  For us Dads it is one of those days (like birthdays, anniversaries, the day you and your significant other met, etc.) that is best not forgotten.  There are many ways to recognize the day and reveal your romantic side, and like most things …
Continue reading 5 Ways To Avoid A Valentine’s Day Massacre!Here’s an amazing project from Pepsi called the PEPSI REFRESH PROJECT where they will spend millions of dollars to fund ideas that we submit that have a positive impact on the world and planet. It’s such a wonderful concept and makes a great deal of sense because not only can we submit our ideas but …
Continue reading Refresh ProjectWe bought our daughter one of those little primary-colored push car toys for her first birthday. It gets great gas mileage and holds up amazingly well in crashes, of which there have been many so far. The other day, she got herself caught in a traffic jam. The legs of our counter-height kitchen table and …
Continue reading Life’s Little Traffic JamsDespite the siren song of beer and wings calling in the distance, the Cast of Dads set aside time on Superbowl Sunday to record an episode: “Superbowl Sunday With The Cast of Dads.” While the talk quickly turned to football, some of us – er, me – revealed we are I am not as up …
Continue reading Cast of Dads #8: Winging It For The SuperbowlWe men took more than our usual bashing during the 60 or so commercials played during SuperBowl Sunday. We deserved some of the mocking but come on already, Madison Avenue. It’s time to give us men a little more credit, don’t you think? Still, I enjoyed the funny ones as much as the next guy. …
Continue reading Favorite SuperBowl AdsShortly after the iPad was released Jeff Sass wrote a great blog about iDad. iDad is a great parody on the value of a dad over an iPad and a fun little read. There is another great DAD moment that was captured in a post last night Who Dad published by Doriano “Paisano” Carta. Last …
Continue reading What is a DADvocate?Congratulations go out to the New Orleans Saints for beating the Indianapolis Colts tonight in the SuperBowl 31-17 behind the MVP arm of Drew Brees. I was happy to see them win mostly because of everything the people of New Orleans went through a few years ago with Hurricane Katrina. It’s such an amazing story. …
Continue reading WhoDadMany moons ago, when I was just a mere tike, when my Mom and Dad taught me to “share” they were mostly trying to get me not to explode in a hissy fit when my younger sister or one of my playmates wouldn’t let go of my Legos or give up my G.I. Joe. Life …
Continue reading Teaching Kids To Share In A Digital AgeHere’s just a quick comedy break… hilarious stuff
Continue reading E*Trade Baby Outtakes
I don’t talk about my dad too often, actually this is my first post where I’m acknowledging him. Unfortunately he has had sever depression for the last 10 -15 years and he hasn’t dealt with it. Three months ago after my son was born it finally got in the way of our relationship and we are not currently speaking. This hurts me and is not really by my choice but it is what it is and it does not take away from the fact the my father was a great dad while we were growing up. He was a doctor and he was busy, but he was there for us and present when he was with us. I never felt neglected and I loved, and love him very much.
Continue reading I’m a dork just like my dadDo you remember when the Christmas toys were new and exciting, even after Easter? Those were the good old days when a favorite toy lasted beyond the current TV season. Like many parents, I try to get gifts each Christmas that will have staying power. Invariably, some of the toys don’t live up to the …
Continue reading The Expiration Date on Christmas ToysThis week the Cast of Dads took a step back from tech talk and focused our discussion on more fatherly pursuits, thanks to some feedback and suggestions from our listeners. We appreciate getting your feedback on the show and if there are specific topics you would like for us to tackle let us know in …
Continue reading Cast of Dads 7: More On Morons…This is my first post as a new dad contributor to Dad-O-Matic and it is about giving back. Where do kids learn to be so compassionate for others? Usually from their parents in most cases but not in this particular situation. I have three kids and my oldest child Sabreena is very into one particular …
Continue reading Children Giving BackI just watched this 88-second spot and it really got thru to me loud and clear. Thanks to Zane Aveton (aka @zaneology on Twitter) for sharing this tonight. I hope it impacts all of you the same way it has for me. What a powerful reminder. Find more videos like this on AdGabber
Continue reading Family TiesLemonade is a documentary short that delivers a powerful message. It focuses on several advertising professionals and how they dealt with the shocking impact of being laid off. Many of them looked at this sometimes devastating blow as a wake up call and chose to go for their dreams and do what they’ve always wanted …
Continue reading When Life Gives You Lemons