This post is inspired by Shot@Life, an initiative of the United Nations Foundation. During the month of August–Blogust–31 bloggers are writing about moments that matter. For every comment on this post and the 30 other posts, Walgreens will donate a vaccine (up to 50,000 vaccines). A child dies every 20 seconds from a vaccine-preventable disease. We can change this …
Continue reading “23 Skidoo” (and Comment for a Cause)Health
I recently started a fitness training program and post regular updates on my website. I wrote this post to give my reason why I am getting fit. I think being a parent comes with many responsibilities and one is to teach our children how to live a healthy lifestyle. I thought this might be motivation …
Continue reading Being Pro-FitLast month I wrote about a very different type of Digital Reader from Intel. Â The Intel Reader is designed to help people with dyslexia and other visual impairments by easily scanning and then “reading” (via text-to-speech technology) virtually any written words that can be photographed by the portable device. Â I had the chance to play …
Continue reading Test Driving The Intel ReaderI have always struggled with my weight and grew up convinced that one of my genetic gifts was “big bones.”  Always on the chubby side as a kid, I became accustomed to shopping in Husky Hell and nicknames like “whale” and “bubbles.”  Although at one time or another I have probably tried almost every diet fad, I …
Continue reading The Weight Is Over: 5 Tips For Family Fitness(Note: If you and/or anyone in your family is dyslexic or suffers from any vision impairment, please read on for a chance to test an Intel Reader in your home for one month…Â Â Disclaimer: Product links below are Amazon Affiliate links. Â I am part of the “Intel Insider” program and am compensated and/or receive other value …
Continue reading Get Your Hands On A Digital Reader That Says It All: The Intel ReaderIn this show the Cast of Dads regroup to recap our respective Father’s Day activities, but as usual we can’t possibly stay focused on one topic.  Before long we jump from discussing a dad’s happiest day, to a day many dads fear: V-Day! (with “V” standing for Vasectomy!)  Want to know which of the Cast of …
Continue reading Cast of Dads #24: From Father’s Day to “Vâ€-DayI am NOT suggesting that being a parent and raising our kids is anything at all like training a dog. Really, I am NOT.  However… I once hired a dog trainer who focused almost exclusively on training a puppy by giving it, in his words, “plenty of praise.”  Giving our kids plenty of praise is also a …
Continue reading Training Your Kids (And 3 Things That Are Worthy Of Praise)(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?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 ProjectIt is November 15. Two weeks ago I introduced you to my hairy situation, having decided to grow a moustache this month in support of Movember and the goal of raising awareness and funds for prostate and testicular cancer research. While overall the Movember movement is doing an awesome job raising funds around he world, …
Continue reading Mid-Movember (Upper) Lip ServiceThere is no doubt we live in a digital world. You wouldn’t be reading this blog if we didn’t. As a “Digital Dad” (hat tip to CC Chapman) I have written here before about the impact of text messaging and mobile phones on family life, especially if you have older kids, as I do, who …
Continue reading Digital Tattletales and the Case of the Taken TahiniToday is November 1, and I just had a close shave.  No, I didn’t avoid an accident.  I actually had a close shave… with a razor and some shaving cream, and at least for my upper lip, that will be my last close shave this month.  November is “Movember,” with the “Mo” standing for “Moustache.” …
Continue reading The Gang’s All Hair! Grow A ‘Stache For Charity Cash!Thanks to the pandemic spread of Swine Flu, we’re dealing with an especially scary flu season at home and at work. While we’re all familiar with the basics of how to reduce our risks of exposure to germs that lead to getting sick, there are still plenty of things we can do to help make …
Continue reading How to Protect Yourself from Germs at Home and at WorkI was sick and I didn’t want to get up. In fact, all I wanted was a little love and a lot of sleep. But the love wasn’t coming. Mary had been self-raised in the school of, “I don’t believe in being sick, so I don’t get sick”. To her, my fever was a choice …
Continue reading Making Miracles: A Quick Guide to Shaping Your Kid's RealityHere’s a visual aid that might help you teach a 5-7yo why they shouldn’t fill up on sweets before dinner. All you need is a sponge…
Continue reading Spare the Sponge, Spoil the ChildThe 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 ChildrenVasectomy. There, I said it. If you are like most guys you are probably squirming around in your seat as you read this. If you are on the bus and people are starting to look at you funny, I’m sorry, you might want to come back and read this article later, because it’s all about …
Continue reading The V-Word: Everything You Never Wanted to Know about VasectomiesHealth 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