Category: Uncategorized

Dad Memories

I visited the town I grew up on this past weekend. It’s a small town in NEPA that North East PA. It’s funny how small and old things seem compared to when I was a child. I drove by my old house and I drove by my dad’s old office. It turns out my dad lives three blocks from where he practiced medicine for fifteen years before he sold his practice. He moved back to the area after fifteen years in the so Read More...

Not funny, not today.

This post isn’t going to be funny or cute.  I thought about ways I could make it amusing (Quippy dialogue with the 8-year-old!  Playfully snarky remarks from the wife!  Stories where I’m an idiot!  Pictures of puppies wearing hats!) but that’s not happening today.  And I need to tread carefully, because I’m about to talk about a situation that’s currently under scrutiny where I li Read More...

A Girl and her Dog. (Not.)

My daughter the Mini-Pirate came into my office the other day while I was working.  She stood in the doorway, watching me while I typed.  I sensed she was gauging me for… something. “Did you spill something?” I asked without looking up from my monitor. “No.” “Break something?  Mark up something?  Burn something?” “No.” “Then what’s up?” She stepped into the room and laid her hand, like a Read More...

Put away the sensitivity drum. Come here instead.

This is my first post on Dad Revolution. On my own blog, The Didactic Pirate, I mainly write about parenting and teaching, the two endeavors that fill my days.   My wife and I have an 8-year-old daughter, a precocious Mini-Pirate who entertains, frustrates, confounds, and enchants me every damn day.  (We actually decided to have a child so that, if I ever decided to started blogging, I’d have stuff to write ab Read More...

Turning Off the Tube

It was just the other day that my son, who just turned three, and I were at a local library. “Look Daddy. Look what I found. It’s a duck. I’ll call it Duck Duck.” at which point he held up a medium sized stuffed Big Bird toy. Such is the life of a toddler raised without television. Anyone who reads my personal blog Luke, I am Your Father should know that we gave up tv before our son was bor Read More...

My brother-in-law Qualifies

We went to dinner with my sister and brother-in-law (BNL) last night. I’ve known for a while now that my sister is pregnant and I’m very excited because my kids will finally have cousins. We were on our way home from dinner and I was riding with them and my mom. Side note if you are ever in Atlanta and need to eat your full of southern food it’s worth the 1 hr ride north to The Smith House in Dahl Read More...

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen? Teaching Your Children to Love the Art of Cooking!

As a man, many people would make the assumption that the only type of cooking that I like to do is on the grill. For me, this is as far from the truth as possible. I love trying new things and making new concoctions, the problem for me is that I simply don’t have a lot of time to be able to do a lot of cooking with working full time, so J-Mom tends to do most of the cooking around the house (even though she is no Read More...

Teaching My Son What Is Cool

There are a lot of lessons a dad can teach a son–sports, fixing things, impressing girls, getting a job, how to drive, etc.  Some lessons can be quite serious such as the value of hard work or how to run a business.  There are also fun lessons like how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, how to do an ollie on a skateboard or how to play football.  My son is only three years old so obviously he is n Read More...

Post Father’s Day Reflection

So yesterday was Father’s Day. And a good one at that. My family and I went to a pool party to celebrate. There were families everywhere, cooking, drinking, swimming, playing games. At one point I stopped and just slowly looked around to take it all in. What I saw were dads engaged with their kids. Baseball, games, swimming—you name it they were doing it with their kids. Keep in mind this was happening during a Read More...

Throwing Caution (and pee pee) to the Wind

(Stopping to take in a view of the city.) My son will be 3 years old next month. Thankfully, he is nearly fully potty trained. As those readers with older kids know the whole potty training process can be quite an ordeal as you and the child are going through it day after day, month after month. Instilling in a little person the importance of being mentally aware of when and where they have to do their busines Read More...

Go do something already…Oh, and don’t forget your family!

I live in a bedroom community. What does that mean? It essentially means that everyone commutes to work for an average of 1.5 to 2 hours to work, works all day and returns with another 1.5 to 2 hours drive home. We have neighbors, friends, members of our church community and such that have children the same age, but the amount of time we spend getting from one place to the next leaves little time for our families Read More...

Tips for summer outings with a baby or toddler

The first official day of summer is June 21st which is exactly a month from today. The beautiful, warm weather means you and your little ones can start spending more time outdoors. Young kids love being outside, whether it be in the back yard, downtown doing errands, the park or pretty much any place where they don’t have to sit still and be quiet. However, leaving the house with a baby or toddler is no sm Read More...

The Time Equation

Am I, as a father, giving my son the correct combination of my time and resources to present him the best shot at enjoying a happy and successful future? I find myself wondering about this question often these days. There are obviously many trade offs in raising children.  Arguably one of the most important of these involves how you spend your time.  Time is the most valuable of commodities any individual has at Read More...

Milk, milk and not a drop to drink

This is the closest image I could find that illustrates the actual mess. I’ve been thinking about change. I remember this one time when my daughter, Sage, was a month or so old. She was fussy, crying and unable to settle in to her normal schedule.  Megan was out and I felt a need to get her to calm down, so I had a grand idea: food. I had a bottle ready, so I fed her. I was under the impression that babies ate Read More...