42. Gabriel

Live from Waterloo

It's been a few months since Gabriel left his first comment on this blog. He's commented here a few times since then, and I did the same on his blog. I commented on many posts, none of them I can find right now... Like the one he wrote about his son de-friending him on Facebook. Come on... I have to find it... There you go.

But with months of me visiting his blog, today was actually the first time I read his About section, which is actually a Frank Capra-esque 10-part story of a man struggling to keep the promises he's made to his family as he faces brutal reality.

Those ten posts are a great introduction to the blog, although, like me, you can get in at any time and find accessible, friendly, and honest writing.

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My Red Line

I took my boy to a friend of mine who has a 7-year-old girl. I don't know if all 7-year-old girls look at a 2-year-old boy as if he's a fun cabbage patch toy, but this one did. Her mom asked her to bring out some of her toys, so she ran upstairs and came back with her arms full.

When she gave my boy some cars to play with, I was happy.

When she gave him some ribbons to put in his hair, I thought, "This could be a learning experience."

When she gave him a toy brush to use on her unicorns, I thought, "Why Not?"

When she asked him how he'd like to dress her barbies, I thought, "Well, he looks like he's having fun."

But when she took his hand, walked him to the kitchen, pointed at her collection of mermaid fridge magnets, and asked, "Which mermaid would you like to be?" I dragged him back to the toy cars.

41. Martin

Xbox4NappyRash

There can't be a better time to finally mention Xbox4NappyRash. For months and years, his blog has been on other bloggers' blogrolls under the heading "Fathers," because Martin and his wife were trying so hard to have a baby. He was an honorary father, because we all knew that while we were complaining about sleepless nights, about the cost of diapers, about our kids throwing food on the floor, spitting, puking, crying, hitting, and even hating, Martin would have accepted it all with joy for the opportunity to have a child.

With great, honest writing, the blog had moved reader from hope to despair every month. We were there with him when he decided to have a baby, we were there when it didn't quite work, and we stayed when he tried again and again.

Well, we weren't really THERE. But he told us about it.

And then we were there when hope didn't make way for despair. Carefully, we stayed there, thinking that maybe this time, good things would happen to good people.

Earlier today, nearly three years after her parents had made the decision to have a baby, Sanne was born.

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Forty Blogging Fathers

Following my first twenty featured blogging fathers, I wrote a post thanking those fathers. As I have now written about twenty more fathers' blogs, it's time for another recap/Thank You post.

I'm still not sure what I'm doing here, but I know I enjoy it, and hopefully other people enjoy it as well. I do get positive feedback from some of you, and of course, the best feedback is reading people's comments.

After writing the first twenty posts, I've changed things here a bit by writing non-review posts as well as featuring fathers' blogs. Some of the non-review posts have been controversial, like the recent one I wrote about spanking, the one I wrote about cord-blood banking, or the one about parents who refer to their kids' ages in months after they turn two... Well, that one wasn't that controversial... And I also wrote about spending a night without my baby.

I've tried to mention some companies and organizations that still don't understand parenting is not just about mothers, like 1-800-Flowers, which honors Stay at Home Dads on Mother's Day by calling them "Mr. Mom." I wrote about the way Playtex described their sippy cups as "Designed for Mom." And I wrote about the librarians who give fathers lessons in parenting.


And I also included some short posts with videos and audio related to fathers, like Colbert's take on the danger of Stay at Home Dads, a short post about Edward's Toys, Jon Lajoie's "Stay at Home Dad" song, and Garrison Keillor's song about Stay at Home Fathers.

Thanks again, to everyone who has commented here or is still waiting for an opportunity to say Hi. IT'S NEVER TOO LATE, you know.

And thanks to the previous twenty blogging fathers featured here:

DC Urban Dad, Fighting Monsters with Rubber Swords, Attachment Parenting Blog, Dads and Daughters, DadCentric, Luke, I Am Your Father, Looky, Daddy!, Always Home and Uncool, The Napkin Dad Daily, Building Camelot, Nordquist Blog, Cynical Dad, Bill and Jill, Daddy Forever, Zoë's Dad, Spain Dad, Out-Numbered, Child's Play x2, Dad Gone Mad, Creative-Type Dad.

40. Creative-Type Dad

Creative-Type Dad

Creative-Type Dad has a 4-year-old daughter, a pregnant wife, and an amazing ability to draw Lionel Richie. He started blogging (by accident) soon after his daughter was born. I guess he had the silly idea we all have, that blogging would help him understand his daughter and the meaning of fatherhood...

It's a really fun blog, full of love and laughs, and original coloring books masterpieces.

As a father who will soon have a second child, I share CTD's anxiety. It was hard enough the first time, after all. But I also know this anxiety will disappear as soon as we hear our new babies cry for the first time. We'll remember again, that it's all worth it.

Good luck.

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