The morning is a very busy time for me. I get up early to ride my bike so I can be back home in time to shower and get dressed before my twin 19 month-olds wake up. The morning provides […]
Big Brown Eyes Looking Up At Me
The Good SAHD’s Guide
Oft-distributed guideline for 1950s housewives re-written for at-home dads If you’re a parent, there’s a good chance you’ve been emailed or passed along a copy of “The good wife’s guide.” The list is supposedly plucked from an issue of Housekeeping […]
Teaching the value of giving… through prom!
Passing good values on to our children is something we strive for as parents. You want your kids to see the intrinsic worth in people regardless of appearance or belief. You want your kids to understand the importance of helping […]
My Son Got a Tattoo
The title of this column probably brings shivers to parents of toddlers and kids under the age of 12. Many parents do not like or appreciate tattoos or any so-called “Body Art.” I am one of them, plus it is […]
A Dad Strikes Out
I took my twin ten-year-old sons to a couple of Angels games this week, and I was shocked—shocked!—to discover just how little they knew about baseball. I don’t mean to criticize my sons. They know an awful lot about things […]
What’s the international equivalent of the chicken nugget?
Even picky eaters generally gobble up chicken nuggets. That’s been my experience. Though, my parenting has been confined to the continental U.S. I wondered recently what’s the “go-to” kid’s meal in other countries. I reached out to Emily Koziarski, a […]
Let Your Kids PLAY This Summer
All of our well-meaning attempts to fill up our children’s summer with enriching activities may actually be harming them. Here is why we need to back off a little and let them just be kids. If you’re like many parents, […]
Graduating Into Life
My son graduated from high school this year. In the fall, he’s going to college. For some reason, I did not grasp the significance of his high school graduation during the event itself. Maybe it was the intense crowds and […]
The Novel of Having Kids
What’s your favorite novel? Do you like Grisham? Prefer historical fiction? Romance? Epics? I’ve loved a lot of the great epic novels such as Herman Wouk’s WWII books, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. I also liked great […]
Coach Ludwig
A lousy youth baseball player finds himself as a cheerleading teeball coach I have no business being a coach. I was never much of an athlete. I have no sporting skills to impart. And yet, I earned the title of […]
Father’s Day: Things I’ve Loved and Learned as a Dad
Now that my first-born is going to college, passed his 18th birthday milestone, and I’ve been a dad for nearly two decades, it’s time with this Father’s Day to reflect on some highs and lows of my dad-journey! Without a […]
A Father’s Day Challenge
As we head into Father’s Day weekend, I’d like to challenge you as a dad with something my wife and I were discussing last night. How is your emotional relationship with each of your children? Huh?! I had to give […]
So you’re gonna be a dad…
Must-have advice for the first-time dad-to-be Congratulations! You’re about to become a dad. From now until the minute you snip the cord on your little bundle of joy, a lot of changes are coming your way. While moms-to-be get lots […]
A Family Downsizing
No, I’m not referring to an economic downturn, though there are aspects of that to this story. This is about a family of seven that is becoming a family of four. One year ago our family consisted of my wife […]
[NEW DADS] Avoid these five new-dad mistakes
About the time my wife and I learned we were pregnant with our third child, I realized that my pregnancy threat level—or how panicked I felt internally about having additional children—was only canary yellow instead of Creamsicle® orange. (Or was […]