Author: Guest

Strong, Weak and Vulnerable At The Same Time

by Kevin These past few months have been quite the experience of being a dad and plenty more unsuspecting roller coaster turns to come I am sure. I have written quite a number of posts relating to the struggles and the coping (lack of) of ET suffering from GERD, but I never actually started from the beginning as such. Have you ever been strong, weak and vulnerable at the same time? Read on to find out, why I felt Read More...

The Two Most Important Decisions Your Child Will Ever Make

by Barry Adkins “It’s just alcohol; at least they are not doing drugs.” How many of us have said this, heard it, or thought it? Often we think that as long as they are “just drinking” our children will be okay. The truth is, most illegal drugs are tried, for the first time, under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol kills more than all illegal drugs combined. Try using Google to search for the term “alcoh Read More...

Mom, Dad or Parent

Anyone who follows the parent blogging world knows the recent addition to the stereotype built against dads. The Huggie’s “Dad Test” ads expose a point of frustration for dads: the idea that dads are not capable to handle the duties that are required of having a kid. Changing diapers, feeding, watching, etc. Being a professional in the marketing and advertising field I completely understand the us Read More...

Sweating a Sex Education Class for Fathers and Sons

Fatherhood continues to amaze, delight and enrich me. I just went to a sex education class with my 11 year-old son, and yes, I was secretly dreading it. My wife signed us up. She was almost giddy from the program’s great reviews she’d heard through her ever-flowing moms’ grapevine. “Everyone says it’s the best… you’ll love it,” she exclaimed. I wasn’t so sure. T Read More...

Tobogganing For Dads: Hill Repeats

If you’ve got kinds under 5, you know that messing around with them is a great workout. You’re running, you’re stretching, you’re lifting 40 pound squirming dumbbells. It doesn’t do much to mold and sculpt your body (Dads have beer guts. It’s from how we hold our kids, we can’t help it.) but at least it’s some physical activity that is challenging different muscle gro Read More...

A Little Girl’s Thoughts on The Grinch

Maybe now that I’m getting older I’m becoming more sentimental. I don’t know why, but over the past few days I’ve really been thinking about the memories that Gavin and Marley will have of their childhood. Especially surrounding Christmas, as this should be a very happy, loving, magical time for kids. I cherish the Christmas memories that I have from when I was younger. Decorating the tree, drinking egg Read More...

Greater than the Sum of our Parts

I recently had a guys’ night out. I went to a sports bar with a good friend and watched college football while our wives hung out with the kids. I had a very good time, and while I was sitting there drinking a beer, I tried to remember the last time that I just hung out with the dudes. Apparently, it was a long time ago because I couldn’t recall it. I used to play golf fairly often with another guy, but that wa Read More...

The Dreaded Binkie

Before you actually become a parent, you do not realize the near mythical importance of the pacifier, also popularly known as the Binkie. The Binkie is not like other baby toys. You buy a mobile, your newborn stares at it for 20 minutes then pulls it down and gives it to the dog. He’ll slobber on a teething ring for a little while, then eat it or try to hide it in his butt. The Binkie is a whole other deal. A Bin Read More...

Birthday Party Gift

Our son Lukas turned 4 a couple of days ago. Being our only child, Mrs. LIAYF and I have each year held a party with a fairly large number of guests. This year, we had hoped to scale down the party to a respectable number, but as it turned out for the 4th year in a row we ended up with a get-together which was larger, and more involved than the ones from previous years. This party, which was a huge success, had a Read More...

A Tall Order

I had one of those nice dad moments the other day while I was driving my son Lukas home from preschool.  Although most often during these drives I have the radio or CD player turned off so I can talk about the day with him, that afternoon I decided I was in the mood to listen to some music. Now, when he was young, I had no problem choosing any number of my favorite bands to listen to while Lukas was in the room. Read More...

Less is more and not following one’s own advice.

This is certainly not news for parents who have older kids, but with kids less is more. I say this premising that I do not follow my own advice. Add that to the long list of parenthood’s hypocrisies. If I see a cool toy car or stickers at the checkout register I just cannot help myself and will get it for my son (and, no doubt, for my inner child). Sure, he loves getting an unexpected present, but most of the tim Read More...

Little Black Fly

I’ve been having a hard time connecting with my daughter lately. She’s two and she’s been sick on and off for the last two weeks and she hasn’t exactly been the most pleasant person to be around. I say that as an observation not as a judgment. It’s not her fault. She might be thinking the same thing about me. Still it’s difficult to take sometimes when she seems to not want to be with me and she’s ask Read More...

#DadStreaking

Despite my title this is not a post about dads who have a few too many hits on the beer bong the night before a big trip to The Home Depot with the fam.  Although it might be more humorous if it was.  Who doesn’t love that Hank the Tank scene? No, actually with the start of baseball season and the recent feel good streak of wins by my hometown 9, the Seattle Mariners – I have been thinking of streaks Read More...

This One’s for All the Bouncers

Big. Big. Monkey Man! And as soon as I start skanking the first chord, my kids instantly recognize the song. They start singing before the lyrics are supposed to begin because they’re only little kids and they have no sense of musical timing—yet. But they know the lyrics, because they’re nonsense lyrics, and they can relate to them. And so they start spouting off at different times and in different keys: Aye, Read More...

Make Every Day Earth Day

Happy Thursday Revolutionaries.  Tomorrow, Friday April 22nd is not only Good Friday, it’s also Earth Day 2011.  What activities do you have planned with your kids to commemorate?  Although there are a lot of activities going on here in Seattle in conjunction with Earth Day, The SeattleDad household will unfortunately not be participating in any of them.  That’s because, as I suspect a lot of you Read More...

A Morning Without the Computer

Our computer is almost never turned off. There it sits on the dining room buffet with its white pulsing light and its quiet hum. It is always there for us when we need it. And when we don’t. It is a laptop and is always accessible. Checking email, browsing the Internet or looking through old photos can be done anywhere in the house at anytime of the day or night. That is the beauty of technology. And the beast. I Read More...

One Day He’ll Read to Me

My bedside table is an interesting case study in failure.  I say this because there are several books sitting on it that I started, but ultimately failed to finish.  The latest is my copy of ‘Washington – A Life’ which, no surprise, is a biography of the life of George Washington. I actually did better on this volume than most of the others in the pile, making it through nearly 500 pages, and t Read More...

Reflections On What Is. . .

As my twins reach the ripe old age of twenty-six months I am reminded that our household is firmly entrenched in what is commonly called the terrible twos. And, while I’d be lying if I said that that phrase wasn’t true for us, I’d also be lying if I didn’t tell you that I’m enjoying the heck out of my kids right now. The things that they do and say on a daily basis never cease to impress me and make me sm Read More...

I’m not your friend!

My son has recently started alternating calling me “Daddy” and using my first name. Uh, excuse me?! I’m not your friend. I’m your father! Maybe when you are in your thirties we can share a beer while grilling and laugh about some of the crazy stunts you pulled on me and your mother, but I still expect you to call me “Dad” or “Pops” or something along the lines of R Read More...

Older Dad Blues

I got a bit of a late start at being a dad.  My amazing son was born at the end of June in 2007,  and barely two months later I turned 40.  We didn’t hold a big party for my 40th birthday party, since Mrs. LIAYF and I were still in sleep deprivation induced shock at the time.  Plus, I’m not sure I would have known how to respond to not only the jokes about being over the hill, but also about how o Read More...