It’s that time of year again. It’s time to sort the CDs. Oh, I’m sure you’re thinking “Why don’t you just keep them in order as you use them?” and normally I would agree with you. After all, that’s how I use them. But I live with children. Four of them to be exact. And …

Continue reading Daddy’s Music Helpers

Our children are growing up in an amazing, incredible, awe inspiring age.  It is easy to take for granted the phenomenal, science fiction-esque, fantasy world they (and we) now live in.  A world where they can instantly communicate with any of their family or friends anywhere on the planet, any time they want, for pennies, …

Continue reading A “Spoof” Is Not Always Funny: Teaching Kids The POWER of Technology

My family enjoys many children’s performers such as the Wiggles, Dan Zanes, and Raffi. Recently we were introduced to Buck Howdy.  My wife was working so I decided to load the boys up and take them to our local zoo for the day.  The zoo’s barnyard area is contained and I can let all three …

Continue reading A Kiddie Roundup with Buck Howdy

My wife and I are preparing our oldest son for kindergarten.  This is a huge step for him.  Our oldest has Down syndrome and we decided to hold him back a year in preschool.  Now, however, he is ready for kindergarten.  While I am excited about the new things my son will be exposed to …

Continue reading Words Can Hurt

It’s summertime!  (Duh!)  For many families that means it is time for lots of “Rays and Zees” spending time outdoors with activities and relaxing in the sun.  For all of us that also means thinking about protection from those burning rays, and for parents it is yet one more thing for us to worry about. …

Continue reading Protective Wear For Fun In The Sun!

It has been awhile since I have done a That’s What She Said.  The reason for that is I have been super busy at work.  The last 6 months has been one big push towards June 28th.  My team accomplished what we set out to do and then I took a break but I am …

Continue reading That's What She Said: Colors

There is one thing that every child has, no matter how young or how old they are — A BIRTHDAY! Celebrating your kid’s birthday is always special and often a special challenge for us parents. After all, we want to create a memorable, age appropriate celebration and we want it to be fun and full …

Continue reading It Takes The Cake!

Lots of parents worry about their legacy. The legacy they leave through their children is often the way we worry about it most. Gone are the days many adults worry if they’ll be remembered as famous for something, but all but a few parents don’t want to be known as a good father or mother. …

Continue reading Passing something on

The other day I heard my middle son say to my wife, “Mommy, I love you as fast as an airplane and as high as the moon.” We should all love that hard. Photo credit: Originally uploaded to Flickr by Wilson17(newly remarried!) Benjamin Strong is the Director of Marketing for the United States Coast Guard …

Continue reading Random Thoughts On Love

Ever think ‘I should write that down’ when your child says something funny? Joe Hage uses Twitter for that. Click here for his third installment.

I use Twitter for that. Here’re some Tweet-worthy comments from my boys.

Continue reading Tweet Your Kids #3

The waiter poured the glass of wine for my son and we raised our glasses to toast…   Despite my instinctive fatherly discomfort and concerns, it was a ritual we could not avoid. After all, we were celebrating his 21st birthday… IT’S MORE THAN I CAN BEER… Yesterday, my son Zach turned 21. It is nerve …

Continue reading Drinking With Your Children

My wife and I work somewhat separate schedules.  I work a typical 9-5 schedule while she works part time at a hospital.  That means I spend some time watching our three boys by myself.  When the kids get all spun up and I start to get frustrated we need to find something to calm us …

Continue reading I am a rock star!

My daughter Katie and I recently discovered a website I thought worth sharing.  Heck, you don’t even NEED kids for this site, it’s cute and guaranteed to make you smile.  ZOOBORNS is a site where they post pictures of baby animals born in zoos and wildlife preserves around the world.  There are some oddball critters …

Continue reading Nothing Bonds Like Baby Animals

All of us dads at Dad-O-matic (over 80 strong and growing!) want to wish everyone a Happy Father’s Day! Obviously, this is an important day for us because we strive to be the ultimate voice for dads and their families. This day always makes me think of my dad who passed away rather young while …

Continue reading The Living Years

As advertisers climb over one another to suggest Father’s Day gifts, it is wise to consider Emily Dickenson’s poem, A Book. There is no frigate like a book To take us lands away, Nor any coursers like a page Of prancing poetry. This traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of toll; How frugal is …

Continue reading The gift of a Book

Getting Distracted Earlier tonight, I set out to write a blog here for Dad-O-Matic with a suggestion for how to handle a crying child and found myself writing about distractions in the context of life. Ironic how that happened, being distracted by my own inspiration to write! Anyway, upon finishing that up and posting on …

Continue reading A Technique To Quell Crying

Over at my primary online home, I have the tagline that “Life’s better when you have the right words.” I truly believe this. I think the right syllables strung together can stick with us for our own personal eternity. In celebration of Father’s Day tomorrow, I thought it would be nice to list a small …

Continue reading A Handful of Father's Day Quotes

Sunday is Father’s Day. It may seem a bit rude for me, a mommy, to ask you guys to self-reflect (god forbid), but I know you can handle it. Dad-o-Matic Dads aren’t afraid of a little reality check now-and-then, right? Don’t worry, the self-reflection homework doesn’t come until the end.  Painless, I promise!  😉 First …

Continue reading Father's Day Homework

I travel a lot lately, and one thing I’m asked quite often is how I recharge or how I maintain my life balance. Let me start by saying that I haven’t really figured out a great balance for my life, but I can say that I am doing lots to keep it all juggled. I …

Continue reading Recharging and Life Balance

This post is for all those parents still swimming through the tar of toilet training. Here are 5 quick tips to help your hurdle the pitfalls of potty training. 1) Make toilet training as comfortable for your toddler as possible. Getting them their own potty chair can be a messy, scary experience for them. Try …

Continue reading 5 Quick Tips for Potty Training

Smile!  You’re on not-so-candid camera!  As parents it is our god given right to document the lives of our children. It is more than a right, it is an obligation.  Actually, for many it is more than a obligation, it is an obsession!  From the moment of our child’s birth we are compelled to capture …

Continue reading Parents or Paparazzi???

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.” …

Continue reading Great Guesses and Remarkable Memory

I just watched the last hour of Invincible, the story of Vince Papali, who is played by Mark (y) Wahlberg. That was a good simple story. The entire movie built up to the first win of the season for the Eagles that year. And it ended without the usual montage of “fast-forwarding through all the …

Continue reading Where Is Our Inspiration?

The good folks at Griffin Technology have partnered with Dad-o-matic for a special Father’s Day series of giveaways featuring some of their best products. For the next four weeks, starting on May 24, 2009, someone will win a Griffin Prize Package that includes all of these cool prizes. Simplifi Powerjolt SE SmartShare USB AirCurve NuForm …

Continue reading Father's Day Giveaway from Griffin

Spring has sprung, and dads everywhere are dusting seats, tightening bolts, lubricating chains and pumping air into the tires of the family bicycles. Riding a bike is something I love to do, and something I cannot help but equate to fond memories of both childhood and fatherhood. As a kid, there were few things as …

Continue reading Go Ride A Bike!

Got a question? Ask BloggerDad! Welcome to the second edition of Ask Blogger Dad, your one stop spot for bad advice! Thanks for the warm response to my debut column last week. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the reaction, it’s that I should REALLY be charging you people for access to my wisdom. …

Continue reading Ask Blogger Dad – May 16, 2009 Ignored wives, bad movies and why men don't clean

I’m all for positive nuclear family images in kid films, even the “hit-you-over-the head-with-a-mallet” kind (see: Spy Kids). What makes me uncomfortable is when divorce is superfluously depicted to kids as the end of the world. The obvious inference to real-life children of divorce (of which there are roughly one million a year): Your family is broken. Happy ending for us; stinks to be you.

Continue reading Why Must Kid Films Demonize Divorce?

It’s the age-old problem.  Your wife’s libido doesn’t match yours.  You’ve heard “I’m tired” so many times you can’t tell if your wife is speaking for herself or her Honda. I’m going to be kicked out of the girls’ club for this, but I’m going to break it down for you gentlemen.  Man up now, …

Continue reading 5 Ways to Get More Sex from Your Wife

Got a question? Ask BloggerDad! When the good folks at Dad-O-Matic asked me to write for them, I had to a) make sure they didn’t mean to send the email to somebody else and b) think up something to write about. So I figured, why not write an advice column? First, a bit of an …

Continue reading Ask BloggerDad

I bet many of you moms and dads had collections when you were children. Some of you collected dolls, some trading cards. Did you realize at the time though how much that activity added to your life? As parents today, one of the best activities we can encourage in our children is hobby collecting. Collecting …

Continue reading Children, Collections, and You

We are always looking for ways to do new things with the kids that will also serve as learning experiences.  When I was young, we gardened.  I had a huge strawberry patch, some tomatoes and beans, and a lot of fun working with my mom to plant, care for, and harvest them.  The other day …

Continue reading In Search of the Great Pumpkin

Ziggy Marley‘s new “FAMILY TIME” CD hits stores on May 5th! In honor of his first album featuring songs for children and the family, we are announcing an exciting little contest with several prizes. All you have to do is: 1. Subscribe to Dad-O-Matic 2. Share this post on Twitter 3. Leave your contact info …

Continue reading New Ziggy Marley CD Give-Away

You don’t have to deserve your mother’s love.  You have to deserve your father’s.  He is more particular…. The father is always a Republican towards his son, and his mother’s always a Democrat. ~Robert Frost The Mystery My husband, “Jay”, had this crazy idea that my children obey my every command, that my toddler doesn’t …

Continue reading "The Mommy" Mystery

Traveling for work I often find my kids a bit unruly when I return.  They are always excited to see me and can turn an already hectic time (dinner) into something even more chaotic.  If my wife is working when I come home I am often left to fend for myself while three hungry boys …

Continue reading Breakfast + Supper = Bupper!

Last week, my son and twin daughters each received either first place or runner-up awards for their fourth and first grade read-a-thons. Sure, they’ve won ribbons and certificates before, but those “awards” were simply for showing up and following directions. These read-a-thon awards were my kids’ first wins for concerted effort in competition. When I heard the news, I was excited, and pressed the kids for details…

Continue reading Why Am I More Competitive Than My Kids?

This month marked a milestone for us. My oldest daughter, Brin, received her driving learner permit. It was also memorable for another reason: We tried seven times to get it. You might think that the poor dear had difficulty passing the test, but that wasn’t where the problem lied. She passed the test with one …

Continue reading Seventh Time's the Charm?

Open the trunk of my car and in about three seconds you’ll know. Inside are a gigantic mesh bag of soccer balls, boxes of spare uniforms, and scads of orange cones, air pumps, roster sheets, and all the other impedimenta of youth soccer.   Yes, I am a soccer coach. Twice over, actually, as I …

Continue reading Lessons learned on the pitch

Hi, I’m Hugh from Dude to Dad, and I need your help on the greatest Mother’s Day project I’ve ever been a part of. Now I’ve been a part of some epic Mother’s Day projects, but what I’m about to share with you leaves all of them in the dust. Check it out to see what I mean (and see how you can help a fanstastic cause).

Continue reading Mrs Dude's Boob Fund – The Ultimate Mother's Day Project

Even though I’m sure Martina McBride’s wonderful “In My Daughter’s Eyes” is really meant to be a song for moms and daughters, I think dads can totally appreciate the beautiful sentiment behind it. I know I sure do. I love this song and totally understand what it’s all about. It can just as easily be …

Continue reading My Daughter’s Eyes

Family Traditions come in all shapes and sizes.  Some traditions involve special places.  Some traditions involve special foods.  Many traditions involve special people.  My family traditions involve jokes.  I come from a long line of practical jokers. My grandfather was famous (well, infamous) for placing a rubber rat in the oven, on top of a …

Continue reading An April Foolish Tradition

As parents, we have to make big decisions on our children’s behalf and sometimes we have to make those decisions in moments of crisis, with incomplete information, and contradictory or ambiguous advice from experienced professionals. This post is about making the decision to give a troubled child powerful drugs when no one can assure you …

Continue reading Giving Your Kid Drugs

Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Cinderella” is a strong contender for record of the year at this year’s Dove Awards on 4/23/2009 which is the Christian world’s equivalent to the Grammy Awards. It’s a poignant and extremely touching reminder for all us dads on how quickly our precious little cinderellas grow up. In the blink of an …

Continue reading Cinderella

Welcome to my (semi) 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! It’s a minor miracle of sorts at the Marshall household – the …

Continue reading Worst of the Week: Spring Cleaning

I found myself staring at my six kids as they milled around the breakfast table yesterday. It brought a smile to my face. So I said, “I love you guys.” They each turned their heads and smiled. It was a nice moment. Then my 8-year-old son said, “Where are you going?” Where am I going? …

Continue reading Hit And Run Affection

Curses!  It is clear that our society has become more and more accepting of what was once considered “foul language” (not to be confused with “gobble, gobble” or “tweet, tweet” which is a different kind of “fowl language”).  Words that were strictly verboten when I was a kid are now regularly spoken (and thus heard) …

Continue reading Curses! Soap Tastes Like $#*%!

Last night I came across my daughter’s swaddle blanket as I was cleaning up. It brought back some great memories, especially because my friend Brad and his wife are expecting their first born any minute. I remembered that my son’s blanket was identical, and it got me thinking. I was inspired enough to put a …

Continue reading Swaddle Blanket Conspiracy?

I just returned from a family vacation that included two days at Disney World.  Our oldest daughter Carly, turned six in February, and this was our present to her.  Like most parents of six-year-olds, we are trying to teach her the value of a dollar, and appreciation for the things people do for her and …

Continue reading The Place "Where Dreams Come True"

No, I am NOT talking about Kentucky Fried Chicken!  Instead of poultry I am here to talk about dentistry!  At South By Southwest last week (SXSW for those who prefer acronyms) I was talking with Dad-O-Matic founder Chris Brogan and he mentioned that he was having trouble getting his young son to embrace the concept …

Continue reading Finger Licking Good!

My eldest daughter has Shirley Temple golden curls and a winsome smile. She’s the kind that often garners comments from strangers like, “You have such a beautiful daughter.” And of course, as a father, I glow with delight. But that glowing has gotten me thinking. What do I want most for my daughter? And what …

Continue reading What matters most?

I had a blast tonight showing my two sons some of the old toys and games me and my brothers played with when we were kids. They included G.I. Joe, Matt Mason astronauts and The Thing Maker which let you create creepy crawlers, bugs and other fun things. I was startled when my oldest asked, …

Continue reading Boys and their Toys

I just came across a post from LifeHacker a couple of days ago on a YouTube player for children called Kideo. I always cringe when I play a video to my 2 and 3 year olds. You never know when something terrible might appear in a video. I’m really impressed with the ones I’ve seen …

Continue reading YouTube Safe For Kids

Thanks to the annual wonders of Daylight Savings Time it is still dark out when I wake up at 5:30 in the morning.  The start of day routines take on a quiet and almost eerie feeling with the misty morning moonlight casting it’s glare as I walk the dogs, rub my eyes and text my …

Continue reading When The Bus Stop Stops…

Transparency is a hot topic among investors, whether talking about the financial well-being of public companies, investment funds, or executive compensation.  But have you thought about how transparency factors into your personal financial life? Most of us have suffered significant financial setbacks, ranging from investment holdings to the equity in our homes.  There’s not much …

Continue reading Personal Finance Transparency

Rick Springfield is best known for hits like “Jesse’s Girl” but one of my favorite songs that he did was his tribute to his dad called “My Father’s Chair”. It’s such a personal song about the painful impact the family experienced when Rick’s father passed away just as Rick was about to explode with massive …

Continue reading My Father’s Chair

The alternate title for this piece could have been, “Be Careful What You Wish For” because it’s all about how we shouldn’t ever look forward to a future when we’ll have time for ourselves again once the kids grow up and leave the nest. If we do that we’ll learn the harsh and painful truth …

Continue reading Then They Do

Sunday is traditionally the day of rest, but it’s usually spent catching up on all those projects we promised to get to over the weekend. The kids can’t stay up late, so there’s a tighter Sunday night bedtime for most folks, and you can’t stay up late because you probably have work to get to …

Continue reading Making Time Is Not Wasting Time

If you have been reading the articles I have written for Dad-O-Matic over the past 5 months or so you may have gleaned that I am divorced and that my three kids, who are now 20, 18 and 17, live with me.  I am not sure I have ever directly stated that in my writing, …

Continue reading Divorce Is Funny…

“Dad, I was in an accident…”  As I listened to my son’s voice cracking, holding back tears, a thousand thoughts shot through my mind, none of them very encouraging… many of them more like prayers than thoughts.  It was 6:15 am, and Zach had just left the house to drive to school a few minutes …

Continue reading The Dreaded Phone Call

I drive carpool most mornings lately. I do it because it gets me out of the house and on my way to the gym. It works. And we have a very specific routine in the mornings. That routine includes what streets we take to get to the school. It’s all very predictable. We never deviate …

Continue reading Don't Be Afraid Of Change!

In my first article for Dadomatic I talked about recognizing the signs of autism, and in my second I talked about dealing with the diagnosis.  Well, this is my third in, shall we call it a trilogy (sounds both pretentious and cool, not unlike myself….) about the disorder my son has, autism. We are very …

Continue reading Autism: Advocating For Your Kid

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! Regular readers will know that I’ve been blogging about the school consolidation the …

Continue reading Worst of the Week: Bloomfield Hills Schools – The Final Exam

I travel. Lots. I will travel more in 2009 than I have in my life to date. And yet, I have to maintain a relationship with my wife, my daughter, and my son. It requires every bit as much planning as it would for your business meetings. Here’s what I do for re-entry. Make it …

Continue reading Re-Entry After a Long Trip

Welcome to the world of Freakatars, a place designed to inspire your imagination and expand your creativity. Whether you’re three or thirty, creating and collecting Freakatars is freakishly fun! Read more about Freakatars Kid’s love to create. It’s built into us, and when we are young, it’s clear. We draw, paint, play. We make up …

Continue reading Freakatars Review: Dr. Frankenstein Meets Henson

Ever parent has special moments, sayings, or routines that they do with their child.  I have several in place with my daughter, Danni.  These instances are fun and make you smile internally and externally.  Then one day you turn around and the little baby is a toddler and your turn around again and she is …

Continue reading TWSS: Proper Grammar

Thanks to everyone that entered the first Dad-o-matic giveaway which featured Flowers from ProFlowers. All of the entries were dropped into a hat and the following five names were pulled out randomly. The winners will need to contact me before midnight Tuesday night to claim their prize (Paisano@Dadomatic.com). In the event that a winner fails …

Continue reading Winners of the ProFlowers Giveaway!

Quite a bit has been written about the risks of our children being a bit too transparent with their lives online.  Horror stories abound about the perils of kids posting embarrassing or incriminating pictures on their MySpace and Facebook pages.  Primetime news shows are giving significant air time to controversial trends such as tweens and …

Continue reading TransPARENTcy!

In Dad’s Life Lessons On The Wall, I shared an easy and loving way to teach your child important life lessons. Perhaps one of my lessons is one of yours? Rule #2: Negative thoughts eat away at your brain. Don’t let this happen. On seven-year-old Zachary’s wall is a picture of an acidifying apple. A …

Continue reading Dad's Life Lessons: Rule #2

Health isn’t a goal, it’s an ongoing work. You can’t just eat healthy once. Running a few laps won’t put muscles on your legs. It’s just not that easy. Oh if only it were. Lots of dads and moms out there are all about getting healthy these days. They forget those few simple truths above. …

Continue reading Work in progress

As I walked out of the gym this morning, I passed a woman walking 15-20 feet in front of her toddler. He was young, probably 2 1/2 at most. He had a pacifier in his mouth and he was happily distracted by some flowers. The Mother turned and said: “Hurry up! Your going to make …

Continue reading I'm Talking To Myself

It seems every father of a daughter, when she is born, has some joke about never letting her date until she’s 30 years old. Whether it involves standing on the front porch with a shotgun to keep boys away or sending our little girl to a convent when she turns 13, the urge to protect our …

Continue reading The Dating Game

Gordon Ramsay, watch out!  Zachary Sass is going to win HELL’S KITCHEN one day.  I mean it!  He is already my favorite chef in Hollywood (ok, Hollywood, Florida…). ITS THEIR DREAM, NOT YOURS Last night I had the pleasure of dining at the Terra Bite Cafe, in Hollywood, Florida where my 20 year old son, …

Continue reading Cooking Up A Dream!

A couple of weeks ago, we had to buy some shoes for Danni.  Danni is now old enough that she wants to pick her own shoes.  She is HUGE fan of the Disney Princesses and Tinkerbell.  Target had some Disney Princess and Dora shoes in her size on clearance.  She went with the Disney Princess …

Continue reading TWSS: Disney would be proud

Ahhh, technology!  As a geek dad I am proud to be totally on top of the tech toys my kids are growing up with as their default accessories.  In fact, what us older gadget guys consider “toys” are hardly noticed as anything special by our kids.  They don’t know of anything but a world filled …

Continue reading Txting Words Of Encouragement

I was scanning Twitter last night as I often do when there is nothing much to watch on the idiot box.  As I was scrolling through the main stream of all the people I follow I came across an absolute gem. Robb Vaules – @infobahn, shared a quote from his son – “Quote of the …

Continue reading A Hero To Squirrels

OK, my brothers. When you was solo and needed to get some, you knew the drill. High rep light curls at the gym. New shirt and shave. Slap on some smellgood. Aaawwwww, yeeeaaa. Wassat? Things have changed? The old tricks don’t inspire business time the way they used to, you say? Well pull up a …

Continue reading The Married Man's Aphrodisiac

The Bush twins wrote a beautiful letter for the Obama girls filled with wonderful advice on how to make the most of their childhood in the Whitehouse and most of all to always remember who their dad really is. Right now everything is incredibly positive and everyone loves their daddy but there will be rough …

Continue reading Still Just a Dad

Now why would Dad-o-matic cover something called the Mom Song? Well, first, because it’s a hilarious and spot-on look at the work that our better half does on a daily basis. Of course, many fathers are Mr. Moms so they can really relate to this song too. I think it’s also applicable to the job …

Continue reading The Mom Song Video

My wife and I have five children. None are adopted, none are from other marriages, none are the products of multiple births. Just five kids, each born separately to us over the space of about 13 years. In the time and place where I grew up (suburban Cleveland in the 1970s and 80s), this would …

Continue reading Having a Large Family

I should explain. Firstly, please permit me to introduce Beetle, 9 weeks old and the latest arrival at Dungeekin Towers. Now, I have a game I play with Dungeekin Minor when he stays with us at weekends – with much growling, I tell him I’m going to ‘eat his ears’. Cue screaming, laughter and chasing …

Continue reading Quote of the Month

A couple of months ago, Danni started retaining information.  This does not seem like a big deal but it is.  This went beyond her name and age.  Danni can hold conversations.  Although sometimes she has a little attitude attached with it. A common question Danni gets is her name and age.  Most of the time, …

Continue reading TWSS: Day After Inauguration

Rodney Atkins’ “I’ve Been Watching You” is one of my favorite songs for many reasons. One of them is because my six year-old loves singing it at the top of his lungs while watching the video with me. The other reason is because it’s a wonderful song for parents because it brings home the message …

Continue reading Monkey See, Monkey Do

A few months ago, I took some artistic license with a popular online video to create “Dude to Dad (Changing More Than Just Diapers) feat. Barack Obama.” For me, it was a rally cry for a new generation of dads. My hope was was that it might lead to “change” and I thought that was …

Continue reading Dude to Dad in Chief

I don’t know about you, but the older I get the harder it is for me to keep my mouth shut.  It seems I have an opinion about everything and I almost always feel compelled to share it.  I may be able to chalk it up to being older and wiser, but it still doesn’t …

Continue reading Learning To Bite Your Tongue

I’ve heard recently about a couple I know who are having some difficulties, the main cause is that they never take breaks away from their kids. I am the world’s number one fan of my little ones, they seriously rock. They are also 2 and 3 (11.5 months apart), so they can be a touch …

Continue reading Take A Break

This has been bugging me for quite a while now. I figure the best place for me to air it out would be this forum. Now, my wife and I are repeatedly told that our children (Maddie is 10 and Joey is 7) are well behaved, polite, and fun to have around when ever they …

Continue reading Why do parents judge?

I learned a few days ago that a good friend of mine did something for his son that almost moved me to tears, on the spot. As an infant, he got him his own GMail account. Of what use is such a thing to persons lacking control of basic bodily functions, you ask? Well, my …

Continue reading Why Your Infant Needs GMail

In our house hold, Danni has started telling us what she wants to do.  She has been doing it for awhile but it has become more urgent. “Who wants to go to school?” “I do, I do, I do” is how Danni responds to everything. “Who loves Mommy?” “I do, I do, I do” You …

Continue reading TWSS: I do, I do, I do

The Government are frequently heard to proclaim that ‘families’ are the most important thing in life. We all know that a stable family environment is good for the development of happy children. We also know the statistics – that children in Local Authority Care tend to perform less well in school, garner fewer qualifications and …

Continue reading Too Fat to Love?

If you are a parent, you have probably experienced some variation of “take your child to work day” – you know, the one where your son or daughter tags along to the office and you plop them down in front of a computer and hope and pray they will be able to occupy themselves with …

Continue reading Bring Your Work To Kids Day!

What do people do when you have an older kid and a younger kid in the house, and the older kid wants to consume media that messes with the younger kid? That’s the issue at hand in the Star Wars Dilemma. I’m wondering if you’ve had this happen at your house. My daughter is 6.5 …

Continue reading The Star Wars Dilemma

As any parent can tell you, once your kid starts walking and talking, you get little to no privacy.  This is especially true when it comes to bathroom breaks.  My wife tells me that she has not taken a bathroom break with the door closed in 2 years. The other day Chelsea went to the …

Continue reading TWSS: Let Me Ask You A Question

My kids like television… a lot.  Sometimes I worry (as do many of you) about the amount of TV that they consume.  I especially become concerned when their little eyes glaze over as the hypnotic TV trance brainwashes them into encouraging me to purchase Aquaglobes or Debbie Meyer Green Bags, or they reenact entire seasons …

Continue reading Imagination Day

I just came back from having a few drinks with a close friend.  We didn’t know each other five years ago – we met when our oldest children were in kindergarten together – and have managed to build a strong friendship since then.  It always amazes me how difficult it is to form close friendships …

Continue reading Is My Marriage Solid?

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 Dad

Image 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 Conversations

Great 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 …

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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 Attic

Guess 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 …

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As 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 …

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This 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 lost

Tis 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. Holidays

Carl 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 Child

As 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 …

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Sorry 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: Santa

OK, 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 Guide

I 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 Renting

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 …

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How 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 Christmas

Buying 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 Teens

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 Doghouse

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 Famous

Phone 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!

This 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 …

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My 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 Memory

As 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 Grow

     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 Didj

There 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 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 Boys

Adjustafresh 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 Books

The 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 Youth

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! I mentioned last week that Erin (6) was not motivated while participating in …

Continue reading Worst of the Week: Homework Time

When 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 Now

I 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 Son

I’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 Blogs

I’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!

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 Advice

It’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"

Inspired 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 free