Category: SeattleDad

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...

#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...

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...

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...

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...

For Reading Out Loud!

I know this is not exactly timely coming a day after the actual event, but I thought it worth mentioning that yesterday, March 9th 2011 was World Read Out Loud Day.  Read Out Day is a concept of LitWorld, and as described on their event home page is: about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people. World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to Read More...

Old Haunts

It’s that time of year for me at work. It seems it’s always that time of year, but I suppose that is an altogether separate discussion. And, with that time of year, comes the requisite stress of too many things to do, and not enough time to do them. Throw in a few unreasonable deadlines, and it all adds up to longer hours, a high stress level for Daddy, and more than the normal amounts of work ma Read More...

Family Style Dining.

I just returned from helping to get my 3 year old son Lukas ready for sleep.  My wife, Mrs. LIAYF, is now reading finishing up reading stories with him in bed.  It is all a part of the evening routine around here, which includes cleaning up, brushing teeth, and going to the bathroom.  I’m sure you all know the drill quite well.  I bet we could all do it in our sleep.  And probably have on occasion.  Ho Read More...

Cat’s in The City

Readers, I sense an uneasiness in the air. A feeling that many of you may be concerned for the state of Dad Blogging.  After all 2010, proclaimed far and wide as The Year of the Dad Blogger, is quickly drawing to a close.  In fact, at the time this post is published, there will only be one short day remaining before all Dad Bloggers from Seattle to Shanghai unceremoniously turn back into pumpkins only to be d Read More...

Smells Like Fatherhood

My 3 year old son Lukas and I were driving home from work the other day chatting about our respective days. Having had a long one, and yearning for his touch I reached back and held out my hand. His tiny hand grabbed my fingers, and held them for a brief fleeting moment. Then, he called out “Daddy, I am transferring my power through my hand, into your arm, through your other arm, down the steering wheel and i Read More...

Ill Informed

I, SeattleDad, will admit it.  I once was a junkie. A news junkie that is.  I just couldn’t get enough of the stuff. When I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s on our small dairy farm the local news was almost always on. At 6:00 AM, 5:00 PM and again at 11:00 PM I would learn which storms were on their way, who was robbed,  injured, or killed in the big city – and most importantly how our Read More...

Be Smart With Your Praise

Wow, you're doing great! ***************************************************************** I left a comment on a post by a fellow dad blogger the other day in which I mentioned that Mrs. LIAYF and I try to avoid praising our 3yo son for being smart.  I can’t find the comment now, so I am not sure what I specifically said, but he responded to me on twitter to ask what the logic was behind our position. At th Read More...

THEY Were Right

I suspect like many readers, or wives of readers have done, just before she became Mrs. LIAYF, my lovely soon-to-be bride pulled me aside to have a talk with me. Yes, it was that talk. “One last time honey” She began. “You are certain that you want to have kids? Because if you don’t, now is the time to let me know.” “Yes, of course I do.” I replied in a resolute manner, und Read More...

The Presidential Interview

Chris Ballew, front man of the popular alternative rock group The Presidents of the United States of America is not only a talented musician and lyricist, he is also a father.  And, given the signature quirky style which he employed to make The Presidents such a huge hit, it doesn’t surprise many people I talk to to find out that he is now also making music targeted specifically towards kids. Over on my Read More...

Smiling Eyes: They’re Watching You

It often happens subtly.  In most cases, they don’t even know that I am witnessing their reaction.  But these small, genuine moments take place nearly every day. These moments, as short as they are, serve as a reinforcement to Mrs. LIAYF and I that this period of time is unfortunately all too fleeting in the grand scheme of our lives.  And, that we shouldn’t for one moment take it for granted. Whe Read More...

Memories I’ll Remember

My son is only three years old, and something strange occurred to me recently.  I can’t really remember how I spent most of my free time before I was a dad. It’s odd because I must have had tons of it. Free time that is. I mean if I think of it, back then I didn’t have to do all the extra maintenance that comes from having a 3 year old boy. Like the extra laundry and dishes and food prep.  Read More...

Lucky Boy

“He’s a lucky boy.” Mrs. LIAYF said to me, as we both were glancing over at our son who was animatedly ‘putting out a fire’ in his play area. It was one of those grounding moments.  You know, the kind that makes you take pause and recalibrate your mindset once again. I, as I suspect most people do, need that every so often.  That’s because as much as I get caught up in the da Read More...

Behind Every Revolutionary Dad

“Buddy, I said come out of there.” I repeated for the second time, my voice getting a bit louder. “You need to listen to Daddy!” We were both tired, my three year old son and I,  as well as a bit cranky stemming from the very recent transition we were making. No longer was he staying home all day with Mom, but rather I was getting him up early each morning to take him to preschool. I Read More...

Music: To Kid or Not to Kid

I have never been a big fan of the idea of kid music.  Of course that was mostly before I had a kid myself and thus was exposed to the genre.  But like most aspect of my life after procreation, the times they are a changin.   For instance, yesterday, on my blog Luke, I am Your Father, I posted a review and giveaway of the latest studio album release by the legendary folk artist Pete Seeger. Pete, who earned a Read More...