I’m lucky that in my professional travels, I have a chance to work with and meet so many wonderful people.  In February, while attending the Blissdom Conference in Nashville, I was fortunate enough to have a few minutes to meet and talk with singer Chris Mann.

At the time…Chris was one of dozens of contestants on NBC’s The Voice and had just made it onto Christina Aguilera’s team.

Tonight…he’s one of four contestants vying to fulfill a dream and competing tonight to be the winner.

Dads…Chris has an exceptional understanding of social media and how the community of women online connect with each other but let’s show him a thing or two about dads…that we too can motivate an army of advocates.  Watch the show tonight and vote for Chris.

Here’s a message from Chris Mann just for you…with all the details.  Thanks!

My blog posts on Dad-O-matic have sparked a running joke where some readers compare them to interviews by Barbara Walters because they both tend to make people cry. I take it as a compliment of course. I enjoy sharing some amazing songs with intensely emotional meaning such as my pieces for “You’re Gonna Miss This” or “Then They Do” by Trace Atkins.

Well, here’s a new one that’s guarantied to get you misty-eyed. It’s called “It Won’t Be Like This for Long” by Darius Rucker, formerly from Hootie and the Blowfish. It’s a beautiful song with an important message similar to the other tunes I’ve shared before, all about the importance of enjoying and appreciating our precious time with our kids and families. Yes, even the tough times as the song describes so well from the start when newborns cry and cry all night and you can’t sleep. Pretty soon all parents learn that each phase passes rather quickly, perhaps too quickly and we wind up missing those things we couldn’t wait to end.

On a personal note, I know I miss those late night bottle feedings and diaper changes at 3 AM. I still have a soft spot in my heart whenever I see or hear anything to do with Nick at Night because I used to watch it while I fed one of my babies in the rocking chair. The other day I saw one of the drop clothes I used to use during those feedings and I had to fight hard not to cry. I really do miss so many of those times even though I did my best not to miss out on any of them. Even then I reminded myself that I would miss losing out on sleep for one of my angels but I still long for those days. I would give anything to do it all over again. After all, when we are old and gray we won’t remember how much sleep we got but all of those precious memories we made.

Note: I want to thank Stephen “Steak” Shapiro from 790 the Zone for introducing me to this song. He was talking about it this morning during my drive to work so I had to check it out and sure enough it was as good as he claimed. I know it’s funny because here’s a big city sports talk show host sharing how emotional he gets listening to a song on the air. I think real men don’t have a problem with showing their emotions, especially when it comes to their family.

Lyrics to Darius Rucker’s new song
It Won’t Be Like This For Long

He didnt have to wake up
He’d been up all nite
Lay’n there in bed listen’n
To his new born baby cry
He makes a pot of coffee
He splashes water on his face
His wife gives him a kiss and says
It gonna be OK

It wont be like this for long
One day soon we’ll look back laugh’n
At the week we brought her home
This phase is gonna fly by
So baby just hold on
It wont be like this for long

Four years later bout four thirty
She’s crawling in there bed
And when he drops her off at preschool
She’s clinging to his leg
The teacher peels her off of him
He says what can I do
She says now dont you worry
This will only last a week or two

It wont be like this for long
One day soon we’ll drop her off
And she wont even know your gone
This phase is gonna fly by
If you can just hold on
It wont be like this for long

One day soon she’ll be a teenager
And at times you’ll think she hates him
Then he’ll walk her down the isle
And he’ll raise her vale
But right now she up and cry’n
And the truth is that he dont mind
As he kisses her good night
And she says her prayers
He lays down there beside her
Till her eyes are finally closed
And just watch’n her it breaks his heart
Cause he already knows
It wont be like this for long
One day soon that little girl is gonna be
All grown up and gone
Yeah this phase is gonna fly by
He’s try’n to hold on
It wont be like this for long
It wont be like this for long

“Dear Zachary” is an amazing documentary that everyone should experience. It’s a tough one to get through but it’s so worth it if you do. I won’t give away anything surprising but all I can say is that you will be moved and I think changed for the better after witnessing this masterful film.

In essence, this is a love letter from director Kurt Kuenne to his best friend Dr. Andrew Bagby who was murdered by a woman he dated. He made this movie for Andrew’s unborn son so he would know the real man who was his dad. He interviewed all of his friends and relatives to paint a wonderful and honest portrait of Andrew. Along the way, the story becomes unbelievable and infuriating. If it were not a true story you would stop watching this film. It’s that outrageous what happens in this film.

The parents of the murdered father, Kate and David Bagby, have to endure incredible hardships as they have to move to Canada to be with their grandson while the law tries to extradite the murderer of their son. All the while, they have to talk to this monster and see her if they want to spend time with their grandson. It’s unreal what the Canadian legal system does or doesn’t do for over a year. They even let her go free on bail not once but twice! I will say no more.

Fortunately, if there is any silver lining to the nightmare that these sweet people had to endure is the fact that they were able to force major changes to laws in the Canadian legal system that would prevent murderers from getting free on bail. It might not help them but they did this to help many other victims in the future. I truly think Kate and David Bagby are amazing human beings for having the strength to do all that they did. The same is true of the director of this film who did an incredible job. It truly showed the impact that each friend can have on so many lives. It reminded me of It’s a Wonderful Life in some respects as we got to see how Andrew’s short life (only 28 when killed) impacted so many lives in a big way.

By the way, Kurt Kuenne also directed one of my favorite short films, the viral hit called “VALIDATION” which is on YouTube. He’s a talented filmmaker and judging from this work of art, a wonderful friend.
Here’s Validation

I’m going to admit that I’m on the fence. With this ad for Huggies Diapers (click through if you can’t see it in your reader), the ad itself is a bit awkward (adult women making “oh he’s HOT” faces at toddlers – yes, it’s tongue in cheek), but I dunno. Diapers that look like jeans? If we’re going there, I want ones that look like studded leather pants. Or chinos. Or…

You?

My son’s eyebrows met in the middle as his upper lip disappeared beneath the lower.  “The library?” he asked.  His tiny nose scrunched the way it always does when he knows the answer is no.

I shook my head. My boy is now on his 264th guess, give or take. “Nope,” I said, “try again.”

“Ummmmm…” he elasticized the sound until it was almost at a chant. “Are we going to Disneyland?”

I could say that the guesses were growing outlandish, but a few predictions back he went with Las Vegas and there were definitely no plans of crossing any borders.

“Is it the park where there is the statue of the tall, tall man?”

I said “No,” but that particular prediction saw me scooping up my son, spinning him around, and tossing him on the bed for a torrent of tickles.  “Guess again.”

The tall, tall man is none other than the 16th president of the United States, Mr. Abraham Lincoln. Honest Abe happens to have a statue sitting at the entrance to a park we haven’t even breathed near for the last two years.

“The garbage dump?”

“He wishes,” I thought while shaking my head.

“The beach?”

“Not quite, buddy.”

By this time, my boy has been guessing for almost an hour and I’m honestly shocked he hasn’t yet nailed it. The answer is the movies to which he has already been handful of times. That’s more than I can say for Texas, the Island of Sodor, or “Dinosaur Missouri,” all which add to the sum total of never.

“Saturn?” his voice hit a pitch that let me know that he knew the precise giddiness of his guess.

“You finally got it!” I said.

“No,” My soon shook his head and fell into a fit of giggles. “We can not go to outer space.”

Surprisingly, he never did get it, but that’s not what this story’s about. He was undaunted no doubt, but the reason I’m relating this tale is because I was stricken by the wide reach of my little man’s recall.

If my boy can so fluidly draw memory of the park with the tall, tall man, even though we haven’t stepped foot in the shade of that American giant in half a preschooler’s lifetime, then there are a hundred million other moments inside the deepest trenches of his mind, waiting for resurrection.

I can’t control every machination of my children’s lives, nor would I ever want to.  They will choose what to make and who to make it with.  They are with me now though, and most of their minutes fall within my orbit.  I must make sure I manage all that rolls before me.

Sean Platt is a dad and a ghostwriter for hire who also tweets.