Owner: Discovering Dad URL:http://discoveringdad.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2008 11:57:03 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: A blog for Dads and about Dads. The joy of parenthood from a father's perspective. Articles of interest to parents. Fatherly thoughts on life as DAD.
Site statistics:Click here
Discovering Dad - Friday Round-up, March 7th 2008-03-07 19:54:00 It was a busy week here at Discovering Dad. I'm thankful for all of the exciting things happening with the kids, work and this site.Chani finally got back in school, after missing two weeks due to her step-grandfather passing away and having to travel across the country for the funeral. She got to see family and friends, but a death in the family is always hard to accept. She, and her other little brother, got sick the day they returned home. She got a virus, but more seriously, her brother had to be hospitalized for asthma and severe chest congestion.Chani went back to school on Monday, and her teachers were very understanding about the unfortunate series of events. Since she's moved across the country with her mom and stepfather last summer, it's been hard on me adjusting to a more limit Read more:Friday
, March
Five Decisions Expectant Fathers Tend to Avoid 2008-03-06 14:09:00 Expectant fathers have a lot of decisions to make when getting ready for the arrival of their first or new child. Many people create checklists to try and help them prepare, but it is impossible to make ready for every situation or need. There are many decisions during the pregnancy that dads really care about expressing an opinion but some are avoided at all costs.Here are Five Decisions
Expectant Fathers
Tend to Avoid
:1. Choice of doctor or hospital - we're not the ones who need to feel comfortable being poked, probed and examined, so why should our opinion matter?2. Room decor or bedding set - dads want kids to have cool rooms, but the only things we really care about when it comes to decor are how much it costs and the amount of work it will be for us to paint and set-up all of the fur
MyBabyOurBaby Converts to Free Service 2008-03-05 10:23:00 MyBabyOurBaby is a service that allows parents to create an online book of their child's life. The company launched a few weeks ago, and I originally reviewed the site here. I was impressed at the quick response from founders Ray Hernandez and Beau Lebens, particularly with regard to some of the suggestions made.Here's an excerpt: "...I'd like to see different subscription levels. It appears that you get 21 days of FREE service, but then you have to pay anywhere from $8 per month to $68 per year. To me, it would seem to make better sense to offer premium services... for a fee; and, then, allow for a basic complimentary membership..."Initially, Ray and Beau were generous enough to offer readers of Discovering Dad a coupon for an additional month FREE, which was greatly appreciated; however. Read more:Converts
, Service
Connecting Dads Around the World 2008-03-04 23:17:00 It doesn't matter if you live in London, Washington DC or Wellington, NZ, fathers face the same types of challenges and issues around the world. Dads are still viewed as the "second" parent, and even though the stereotypes of parental roles are slowly changing, it still has a ways to go to 'separate yet equal' with Mommy.Dads are not very well connected with each other in their own communities, let alone across the continents. So, when Scott from DIYFather contacted me about a potential content sharing arrangement with Discovering Dad, it immediately piqued my curiosity. I jumped on their site and was pleasantly surprised to find lots of great content and a solid network of contributing writers from other popular Dad sites.DIYFather.com was founded by Wellington-based dads Scott Lancaster, Read more:Connecting
, World
Board Games are Great Family Fun 2008-03-04 18:50:00 Board games are a good way to bring families together and enjoy each other's company.When I was growing up in the '70s and '80s, my family loved to play board games. I learned how to play checkers, chess and carrom at a very young age. One of the only things that my grandfather truly enjoyed doing with me was playing carrom before dinner. My other grandfather loved card games. When I was a young man, he used to tease me saying, "I had to work really hard at letting you win all those times, just to have a good reason to give you five dollars!"My teenage daughter Chani loves to play board games. She's got a couple dozen of them in the closet downstairs. It's not like when I was a kid. We had about five to choose from, but we found ways to combine games and make it seem like we had ten. Chani Read more:Board
, Games
, Great
, Family
Can Winter Be Over, Please! 2008-03-03 10:47:00 Some people absolutely love winter. I'm not one of them. Summer is my favorite season. My wife says that I'm the only person she knows who likes to sweat. Ninety degrees outside is perfect for me, even if it's a little humid.Spring and fall are nice times of year as well. I always feel a sense of hope in the spring - it's a time of renewal. Fall is a great time for families and reminiscing...and football. The mild days and brisk nights bring out those warm, fuzzy feelings.Then, there's winter. Yeah, yeah. Snow. Skiing. Sledding. I hear it from friends all the time how great it is to go dashing through the snow in a winter wonderland, or something like that. For me, though, it's just boring. I don't like the cold or getting wet or shoveling the driveway. As you can see from the photo, we're Read more:Please
They Might Be Giants from Indie Pop to Kids Bop 2008-03-02 01:22:00 They Might Be Giants
is an eclectic pop music band that I remember from my high school days as part of the New Wave/Indie
movement. Don't Lets Start was a fun favorite of me and my friends. Needless to say, I was a little surprised to learn that the guys have morphed from Indie Pop to Kids Bop on their latest album Here Comes the 123s.My son Ty loves the songs, so I thought I'd share one of their podcasts here:And, then, here's how I remember them from 1986:You can view more They Might Be Giants podcasts here.
Children's Day Celebrated in New Zealand 2008-03-01 14:22:00 Sunday, March 2, 2008, is Children
's Day in New Zealand
. How cool is that?Eric at DIYFather.com wrote a post announcing this special occasion to their readers, and it really got me thinking that I wish every community would have an official "Children's Day."The Children's Day NZ site describes the event as follows:"Why not do something special with children on that day? You could be proactive and plan an event/celebration for your family, school or wider community... Or you could attend a Children's Day event, or simply do something special at home with your children.It does not matter how big or small your celebration is, as long as it emphasises the most important gift an adult can give to a child – ‘giving time'."The time we spend with our children is extremely important to their gr Read more:New Zealand
Pick My Fantasy Baseball Keepers - Batters Only 2008-02-29 17:20:00 Alright Dads, I need your help. It's almost time for Fantasy Baseball
, and I've got some tough decisions to make this year. I play in two leagues, one of which is a Keeper format.It's a 10 team league, and each team gets to keep 3 batters. We're changing things up this year and having a separate, reverse-order draft for entire pitching staffs, so it will be interesting to see how that unfolds. As you can imagine, with only 10 teams in the league, everyone has a "good" team on paper. This league rewards batters heavily with very negative points (only strikeouts), whereas pitchers get penalized for everything under the sun. I'll update you with scoring after we have our annual conference call later in March.The keys to winning in the past have been Keepers and Sleepers.So, I need your help!
We Are the Ones - Obama Stands for All People 2008-02-29 11:29:00 In a previous post, I announced my support for Barack Obama
for President of the United States. Soapboxmom turned me on to the Yes We Can video by Will.I.Am. Here's his follow-up video called We Are The Ones:As parents, we are the ones who must be looking out for our children's future and that includes who our next president will be by casting our votes.No matter who you vote for president, remember to vote!Related Posts: I Finally Got Inspired to Endorse Obama
Discovering Dad Blog Carnival - March 2008 Issue 2008-02-27 13:40:00 Welcome to the March
2008 edition of Discovering Dad Blog Carnival
.The Discovering Dad Blog Carnival
is a monthly carnival that includes fun and informative posts about unique experiences, perspectives and challenges of being a dad. It also includes posts that talk about the impact of dads on the lives of children, spouses and family members.Whether you're a dad, mom, grandparent or soon-to-be-parent, this carnival has a variety of interesting and evocative topics for your reading pleasure. Enjoy discovering some great new blogs about dads!Alex Landis presents Fight Club & Fatherless Men posted at AlexLandis.com, saying, "A blog about the men in Fight Club who grew up without fathers." Sol Smith presents In Defense of Fatherhood and The Breastfeeding Father posted at How to be a Badas
MyBabyOurBaby Responds Quickly to Feedback 2008-02-24 22:52:00 A quick response is a great sign of excellent customer service, so I was very impressed when Ray Hernandez one of the founders of MyBabyOurBaby took the time to reply to some feedback suggested in my previous article the day after it was posted.Here's an excerpt of what he had to say:"I really like your PDF idea, but wanted to let you know about a feature we have that gets the same job done. Your friends and family that you have invited to your child's book will recieve an email everytime a new story is written. So if you write growth chart about your child, I (being in your family) would recieve an email saying that you just created a story called this...So we keep everyone updated when you update. This is optional and you can change your preferences if you don't want to receive emails, Read more:Feedback
A Birthday Wish for My Wife 2008-02-23 22:36:00 Today was my wife Lori's birthday, and we had a fun time hanging out with family. I thought she was 32 years young today, but she informed me that my math was a little generous. Either way, I'm lucky to have a wonderful wife who continues to age beautifully!Can you believe that she is almost 6 months pregnant!?! You look beautiful honey! Are you sure that you're not 23? It looks like that's what it says on the apple pie.Here's a shot of the awesome fruit tart we had for dessert as well:Happy Birthday
Mommy!
Create an eBook of Your Child at MyBabyOurBaby 2008-02-22 19:03:00 MyBabyOurBaby is a website that offers parents the ability to create an online book of a child's life. The cool thing about the site is that you can invite and grant permission for friends and family members to help you create this unique keepsake.Even though the idea for the site was conceived in 2006, according to the About Us section of the site, it appears that the official launch happened this past February 14, 2008, or Valentine's Day.After you register for the site, it takes you through a simple process of creating the foundation for your eBook
. Once you get the basic profile items input and pick a theme, then you can begin creating lots of cool custom entries, like "Recording a First" or updating the "Growth Chart."The control panel is easy to navigate, and all of the themes seem
How to Prevent a Meltdown in Your Child 2008-02-20 15:16:00 If you're a parent of a toddler, then dealing with temper tantrums or meltdowns are probably a daily occurrence. Young kids who are still learning how to talk and express themselves are easily frustrated. They want something, but they don't know how to say (or get) it. As a result, they resort to screaming, crying, throwing themselves on the floor, whining, pitching a hissy fit, or worse yet, having a complete meltdown.Getting your kids to listen during these episodes is not an easy task, so it may also be common for you as a parent or caregiver to get frustrated at the same time. As a Dad, I have a particularly hard time dealing with meltdowns. I hate whining, and I would rather ignore bad behavior than validate it with a sympathetic response. Toddlers require a little more patience and u Read more:Meltdown
History of the Teddy Bear 2008-02-17 22:53:00 Teddy Bears are loved and adored worldwide. Children of all nations, creeds and faiths cling to these cuddly companions, which make them feel safe and secure. The Teddy Bear may be second only to a child's blanket when it comes to must-have items for travelling or bedtime. While this furry little icon has become a ubiquitous gift and heirloom, few realize the true origins and history of the "Teddy" Bear. In honor of Presidents Day in the U.S., I thought it would be nice to pay tribute to a great American president - Theodore Roosevelt - who inspired its' creation.Theodore Roosevelt was the twenty-sixth President of the United States. He was famous for being one of the commanding officers of the 1st U.S. Volunteer Calvary Regiment, or Rough Riders, which fought bravely in the Spanish-Americ Read more:History
I have the Cutest Kids - FMB Contest Post 2008-02-16 20:47:00 Kevin from FuelMyBlog sent a note about a contest they are running this month called The Cute Kid.Since I am a fair and loving father, it would be impossible for me to choose which of my two kids - Chani or Ty - are the cutest, so I hope this post serves to nominate both of them for the competition.My son Ty 'the tank' is a little ball of personality. He's 20-months-old, and he likes to dress-up in his dragon costume and ride his trusty zebra:He's also quite the little athlete, and he love's to spike the football after scoring a touchdown:He thinks it's funny to play tricks on Dad:My daughter Chani is my angel, and she's 13-years-old. She is a smart and beautiful kid, who is growing up way too fast:She is a teenager though, so she tends to take a lot of things very seriously:Most of the ti Read more:Contest
Happy Birthday Dad 2008-02-16 18:04:00 Today is my father's birthday, so I wanted to take a moment to say, "HappyBirthday
!"My dad is an awesome man, and I've learned a lot from him. He consistently demonstrates many qualities in life that I try to emulate, including compassion, honesty, strength of character and commitment to excellence. My dad is an extremely dedicated husband, father and leader, and I have the utmost respect and admiration for him.I'm very fortunate to come from a family that has stuck together through thick-and-thin. I feel blessed to have parents whose relationship with eachother and their kids have withstood the test of time. My dad is role model for both me and my brother.Today, my dad is celebrating his 55th birthday by working a closing shift as a manager of a large grocery store. He doesn't complain a Read more:Happy Birthday
Pingu is a Cheeky Little Penguin 2008-02-14 21:29:00 Pingu is a popular claymation kids' show on the Sprout network. As an adult, when I first saw this show, I thought to myself, "Why would any kid like to watch this? They don't even talk!" Well, it just goes to show you what I know. My son Ty loves it.Every time this cheeky little penguin laughs or gets into trouble, Ty giggles hysterically. He also likes the seal, Robbie, and the baby, Pinga. Apparently this show has been around since the mid-80s, but somehow Pingu has remained 5-years-old.I have to admit that once I gave the show a chance it did get better. I actually stayed interested throughout an entire episode about Pingu and Robbie playing with a fish. The claymation is well-done, and the stories seem to be simple for kids to follow. I guess that's why it's been around for so long!Pi Read more:Cheeky
, Penguin
What Is Love? Haddaway Lives 2008-02-13 17:01:00 For those of you who only know the song "What is Love" from the comedy film Night at the Roxbury, here is the original video from Haddaway for the song:Happy Valentines Day! Enjoy!
Read more:Lives
The Smallest Things Mean a Lot 2008-02-12 18:08:00 My daughter Chani means the world to me. She is My Angel! I'm very proud of many things that she does, and it's exciting for me to see her explore the world and try to figure out her place in it. She's very smart and creative, and we share a lot of common interests, including writing.Here's a poem that we wrote together today:We share laughs, hugs & wishes.Late nights playing Sims or Clue.We eat ice cream in the sunshine,We always find something fun to do.We love with all our hearts -Our bond cannot be broken.He's my hero, she's my angel,these words are often spoken.That's as far as we got for now. I hope that she continues to enjoy writing!
I Finally Got Inspired to Endorse Obama 2008-02-11 10:01:00 The 2008 Presidential election is one that will greatly impact the future of our country. Over the past 20 years, we have had either a Bush or a Clinton in the White House, and there have been many highs and lows from each of them. Even though I am a registered Democrat, I am a moderate who votes for the person who I believe has the best leadership potential and whose values most closely align with my own.So far, during this election cycle, I have been largely uninspired by any candidate from any party. There are things I like, and things I dislike, about every candidate in the race. If there was a way to pick and choose all of the good things and put them into one candidate, then I would pledge my loyalty to that uber-Leader.In spite of my initial skepticisms, I have found myself draw Read more:Obama
, Finally
, Inspired
Thank Goodness My Wife Loves Me Day 2008-02-10 19:31:00 Some people call this Thursday Valentine's Day, but I think a better name for it should be "ThankGoodness
My Wife Loves Me" Day! Between me and the kids, she has got her hands full for a very long time. I'm thankful that she not only puts up with us - she actually loves spending time with us!Here's some things that I really appreciate about my wife Lori (other than she loves me):1. She loves my daughter Chani like she was her own. Lori is an outstanding stepmom, kind of like Julia Roberts in that movie the Stepmom. Her family has also treated Chani like the first grandchild or niece of the family too! It's really amazing.2. She completes me (stop laughing right now). Lori and I are similar in some very important ways (drive, determination, clean freaks), but we are also extremely
Huckabee Talks About Homeschooling 2008-02-10 00:19:00 I've read many comments and blog posts recently about the issue of homeschooling versus traditional schooling of children. This is a subject which 2008 presidential candidate Mike Huckabee
has a pretty clear position.Personally, I do not feel qualified to homeschool my own children, although I understand why some see the value in it. My mom has been an educator her entire career, and I've always respected her efforts to create a healthy learning environment for kids in the public school system. My daughter has gone to both public and private schools, each with their own benefits. No matter how you look at it, there are pros and cons to any learning environment.The positions that our next President take on education will impact parents and kids across the country, no matter what type of Read more:Homeschooling
Five Things Modern Dads Should Not Take for Granted 2008-02-08 10:35:00 It's easy to take modern conveniences for granted. Ever thought what parenting would be like without having the following five things:1. Car Seat - it wasn't that long ago that babies or toddlers were simply held. Can you imagine having to go somewhere with the kids alone? Dangerous and impossible!2. Television/DVD/On-Demand - what if you could never get a 20 minute break? Granted, this is probably something overused to entertain instead of interact, but still, how else can you watch the kids and clean or cook or make an important phone call without having them wanting to be right at your feet? Maybe, it's just me.3. Portable DVD or Built-in DVD player for car - I know, I know. I'm terrible about this stuff, but seriously, can you imagine driving more than an hour without some way Read more:Modern
A father's take on raising bilingual or multilingual children 2008-03-12 10:01:00 This post is from Stefan Korn from DIYFather, A Father's Guide to Parenting. He talks about a very important issue that faces many families in the world today - multilingual households and parenting strategies.We are in a somewhat unique situation (I guess) in that we've got 3 generations in 1 house, cover 3 languages between us and run a language school. Our mix of Spanglemanish (Spanish, German and English) makes for some great conversation in the house and many hilarious moments of being lost in translation. With our latest addition to the family of course the question came up of how we will bring him language wise. My wife has a teaching degree in Spanish and English Philology (language and culture) which I'm hoping will come in really handy when our son goes to school. But when do yo
Fantasy Baseball Fun Activity for Dads 2008-03-11 21:58:00 I want to thank everyone who participated in the poll to Pick My Fantasy Baseball
Keepers - Batters Only. The winning picks were Carolos Lee, OF Houston Astros, and Russell Martin, C, LA Dodgers. These two excellent players, along with my obvious choice of Hanley Ramirez, SS, Florida Marlins will certainly get me off to a good start.I was a little surprised when the commissioner asked for our Keepers at our annual meeting to review the rules this evening. I thought we were going to build suspense and save it for the week before the draft. It makes sense to get it out of the way now, though, so that teams can begin to prepare a draft strategy. I have to admit that I got some ribbing for keeping a catcher, but I stuck with what was voted on in the poll.We changed a ton of things around this Read more:Activity
Roughhousing with Dad 2008-03-10 21:58:00 I love to roughhouse with my kids. It's a fun way to connect and let them know that I care about them. Chasing, tackling, tickling and safely tossing them around never fails to get a laugh.My wife Lori thinks that it gets the kids too riled up. I think she just wants to make sure nothing gets broken, including me or the kids.I have to admit there have been a few times with both Chani and Ty things got out of hand. There was one time I accidentally tossed Chani into a garbage can. It didn't hurt her, but it sure did make me feel like a horrible dad at the time!Now that Chani is a teenager, it's not as "cool" to wrestle around with dad. Every once in a while, though, I have to show her that I can lift her above my head or tickle her off of the cell phone. Roughhousing with Chani has evolved
10 Fun Group Activities for Dads and Kids 2008-03-08 16:37:00 Dads tend to be more solitary parents, seemingly preferring to do things alone with the kids rather than going out in groups. It's not very often that you hear about 'Daddy Play Group
s' or SAHD gatherings, although they do exist.So, why is it that dads don't do many group activities with each other and their kids? Because they don't like to sit around talking (gossiping) for hours, and kids don't enjoy hearing conversations about politics, money or sports. Dads like to do things, not talk about them. Here's 10 Fun Group Activities for Dads and Kids:1. Swimming - it can be group lessons or just meeting up at the pool. Kids love the water, and there are many things dads can do with the kids in between short conversations with other fathers. It's fun to watch kids learn how to swim, overcome
Discovering Dad - Friday Round-up, March 14 2008-03-14 16:46:00 As a parent, it's hard to get caught up on everything that needs to get done each week. Between work, kids, eating and sleeping, there isn't much time left to accomplish extra projects. I had a lot on my plate this week, so I decided to squeeze as many tasks as possible into every day. I sacrificed sleep and other personal activities in favor of knocking things off my 'to do' list.My daughter Chani is flying in this evening, so I am very excited about seeing her. It's really tough not having your child with you for weeks at a time. We make the best of things, but I wish she lived closer and was able to come more often. We're still trying to get used to a modified visitation schedule, since she moved across the country with her mother and stepfather last summer.One of the projects I've b Read more:March
, Friday
Recommend Site To A Friend
