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 charity [...]
“It’s ten o’clock… do you know where your children are?”  In the days before mobile phones and text messaging, that was a line in a [...]
As parents we are many things. At times we are the masters, at times we are the mentors. We have to be both teacher and [...]
want to be a full time dad through the thick and thin, through the love and hate, the good times and bad. Don’t mistake me: there will probably be times where I truly will hate my children and question what demon-spawn I have birthed. Sure as I am writing this I have felt that same way for my parents at times. I know that regardless of what issue lies in front of us I will love and adore my children always and hold them above anyone else. That is what my parents do and have done.
For many years, I’ve seen my two sons only on alternate weekends. I’ve hated the separation, but somehow that’s the hand life deals; you do [...]
Yes, I am writing yet another “5 Tips” post. This is unintentionally becoming a series (coming soon: “5 Posts About 5 Tips….”) but let’s [...]
Remember Patty Hearst? She was a socialite heiress, captured by the Symbionese Liberation Army, and rapidly brainwashed into becoming a bank robber. What was rarely, if ever, mentioned, is that the techniques used to affect that radical transformation began with her captors establishing themselves in parental roles.
The most important question any of us can ask [...]
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 [...]
The ten most important things divorced fathers should realize as they transition parentally from “Husband and Father” to “One-and-Only Dad”…
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 [...]
Lots of parents worry about their legacy. The legacy they leave through their children is often the way we worry about it most. [...]
Friday was my middle son’s birthday. He turned 19, so “having a party” was not the concern it once was when he and his siblings [...]
Those souls wishing to question the power of praise, should try it out on any random group of children.
The following scene is set at the preschool my wife and I ran together until the final week of last December.
One dozen children are sitting around a long oval table, waiting for delivery of their wedges of [...]
Rapid evolution is sweeping the planet, pushing us faster and farther than ever before. Communication is now nearly as instant as thought. It is those who weild the sharpest skills to clearly communicate who will be the ones to mine the most from the future’s rewards.
This isn’t handed down. Skilled communication isn’t innate, it is [...]
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.
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 [...]
Ahhh, the ubiquitous mobile phone… the blessing and curse of our modern society.  As a parent, it is a blessing since we can always have [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
   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 creating [...]
My 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 [...]
