This week our 10 year old daughter began mandatory sex education classes. I wrote about how my wife and I prepared her for that information in a post titled A Father's Worst Fear - Part II. The reality of the information and what she didn't know forced our hand as parents. That got me thinking about the information that we as parents don't know. The biggest gaps in my knowledge as a parent are texting phrases and instant messaging (IM) shortcuts that teens and preteens are using … [Read more...]
April 25, 2012 By 5 Comments
Hilarious Words With Kids
Humorist Art Linkletter is most well known for his popular broadcast program Kids Say the Darndest Things, which ran from the 1940s through the 1960s. However, beyond merely saying the darndest things, sometimes kids DO the darndest things that have no existing description within the English language. How do parents convey these unexplanable antics??? Enter Eric Ruhalter's book The Kid Dictionary - hilarious words to describe the indescribable things kids do. Ruhalter is a father of … [Read more...]
April 24, 2012 By 12 Comments
Is Facebook a Better Parent Than You???
Many people use Facebook to stay in touch with out-of-state family members. For instance, some folks think it's cute to let there kids, who are younger than Facebook's required mimimum age of 13 years old, have a page to communicate back and forth with grandparents. And that's fine if a parent is monitoring the content and establishing appropriate parental blocks. I'm not telling people how to raise their kids, but I will raise awareness regarding some startling Facebook statistics that … [Read more...]
April 23, 2012 By 17 Comments
A Father’s Worst Fear – Part II
Today at school, our 10-year old daughter will begin a week-long health curriculum that will include a wide range of topics including "nocturnal emissions," menstrual cycles and the human reproductive process. My wife and I knew that information of that caliber was likely to spur more questions amongst the kids in class and subsequent mis-information when they're by themselves chatting it up on the playground, bus or at the lunch table. Additionally, this information flow is one of the … [Read more...]
April 21, 2012 By 4 Comments
A Tribute to Moms….
I don't usually like being manipulated by commercials, but this one is pretty incredible. The folks at Proctor & Gamble have woven together a two minute tapestry that includes the heart strings of patriotism, perseverance and motherhood. … [Read more...]
April 20, 2012 By 36 Comments
A Father’s Worst Fear is Looming…
Our oldest daughter is 10 years old and in the fifth grade. She plays the violin, is a voracious reader, loves playing with her cats and playing American Girl dolls with her sister. She's possibly the kindest and most considerate person I know. She makes me want to be a better father, a better husband and a better man. I love her desperately. I'll always see her as the little girl in the picture above - I can't help it. But that's all changing during the next several … [Read more...]
April 18, 2012 By 18 Comments
Feeding Your Kid’s Dream or Delusion
This is a new article I wrote for Technorati.com: I loathe the show American Idol – mainly because of the cattle call auditions where the program travels from city-to-city in search of contestants. Conversely, millions of viewers love those auditions because the majority of the wannabe performers are so pitifully pitch deaf that they’re akin to an auditory car crash. People can’t turn away from a car crash – they have to ogle it. In the case of Idol’s auditions, the … [Read more...]
April 12, 2012 By 5 Comments
Why Loving Your Kids Is NOT Enough…
Today I've got an article featured on the Lifestyle: Family section of Technorati. I'm thrilled to be a contributor for them after being rejected by them in the past! Here's an excerpt from my piece Loving Your Kids is Not Enough: … [Read more...]
April 11, 2012 By 5 Comments
Our Pregnancy Update – Week 30
The arrival of our new baby boy is approximately 10 weeks away and we’re thrilled as the due date draws near. Our son continues to grow and seems to have some sort of 24/7 dance party going on in my wife's uterus because he is constantly moving! Perhaps he's piping in dance tracks from some international-techno- rave party DJ such as Armin van Burren or Teisto! Regardless, he'd give that creepy dancing baby from Ally McBeal a run for the money. Here’s the latest developmental … [Read more...]
