Friday, December 12, 2008

Vegas Dad

iVegas Family
A year and a half ago I met some distant relatives who lived in Vegas. They loved it. They got to see great shows, and it was always sunny, and they had a pool in the back, and the city was always expanding, and they even loved their corrupt mayor. My pregnant wife and I looked at each other and thought the same thing... "But is it a place to raise a baby?"

We don't live there now, but that's not because of the sin-full Vegas; it has more to do with inertia that keeps us in our beloved, but always insane Baltimore. All it takes is one crazy winter and we'll be gone, forever suntanning, forever winning on Blackjack (for the college fund, obviously).

Vegas Dad, writing in iVegas Family, has other things on his mind. Once he manages to ignore people like me who can't help but ask, "But is it a place for children?" he frees himself to ask the real questions we all ask, and proves the universal nature of this fatherhood business.

And I'm not just talking about To Cut, or Not to Cut. I'm talking about our role, about our need to define ourselves as the best fathers history has created at the same time we try to preserve our individuality and our space. Should we get a Master's Degree? Or were they all correct in saying our lives were officially over?

Things aren't that different in Vegas, after all.

iVegas Family

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Jeff

Daddy's Toolbox review
That whole parenting thing is very confusing. The fact that babies don't come with manuals was a cliche even before Britney Spears' mother used that as an excuse, but it's one cliche that happens to be true. What makes it worse is that everyone with a 2-week-old baby offers advice to the parent of a one-week-old.

And the advice contradicts an advice from another parent. Not to mention well-meaning grandparents. And not to mention an unhealthy obsession with milestones.

When it comes down to it, all we can do is our best, while hoping for the best.

Jeff, of Daddy's Toolbox, is searching for advice on the best way to make his son wear a coat. He wants to be a hip daddy. He wants to be a fulfilled individual while dedicating as much time as he can to his kids.

Parenting is not easy, and even if it did come with a manual, who'd have time to read it? We improvise, and sometimes we make mistakes. And sometimes great things happen.

Unspoken Excitement

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Jeremy

discovering dad
Man, how do people come up with stuff? I mean, this design takes blogging a few steps forward. Three columns of text could be borderline unreadable, but Discovering Dad is absolutely beautiful. On the left are the posts (the top one changes around every few seconds), the narrow middle column is for whatevers, like polls and a few ads, and a random blog "Surprise Me" button which I have to get, and on the right are pictures, comments, and videos. I'm so jealous.

The guy is serious. With this blog and with another blog (Husbands and Dads), Jeremy stays true to his wish to promote the "interactive nature of blogs, so it will always be a focal point of the site."

discovering dad

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Doodaddy

doodaddyYou know what? I'm sure if I dug enough I would have found his real name. But for now it will remain Doodaddy. He is married to Working Mom. They have a daughter called Boobaby, and another one on the way, with the working title Blueberry.

By the way, if you want to be the one responsible for the great success of this new baby, you have about 11 days to suggest a name (or bid for one).

What else? The best use of Twitter I've seen so far, writing what Boobaby does:
Sung: "Grandma POOPS! Grandma POOPS! Grandma poops all day!" 2 days ago
And a list of her imaginary friends (the girl, not the pooping grandma).

Add to your Reader now.

Boobaby

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Jared

A Blogger and a Father: DadThing
The community is expanding, and obviously it's time to read Jared's DadThing.com

Here's what's going on: It used to be that women were the only caretakers, and over time society automatically adjusted itself to create links between mothers. What am I trying to say...? That even though society has changed, it's still relatively easy for a mother to connect with other mothers to compare, contrast, whine and dine. Even virtual communities of mothers are much bigger and ubiquitous than communities of fathers.

But we're not going to take it anymore! Proud fathers will not stay by the sidelines and let the mothers take all the credit! Parenting is a dad thing, too!

So the community is expanding, and Jared is one of the proud fathers leading the way. Pictures, videos, polls, and guest posts--we're getting bigger.

A Blogger and a Father: DadThing

Monday, September 8, 2008

Chris

dad of divas
None of us really knows what this whole blogging thing is about. We write about our lives and the rest pretty much takes care of itself. Like the creation of a blogging community. One day you write about your fears about being a new father, and the next, someone you've never met before, another first-time father, writes a comment, saying he feels the same. Suddenly you're not alone. A community of fathers has been created.

Chris, writing at Dad of Divas, is a relatively new blogger, but through his involvement in the community of blogging fathers, he helps expand the definition of blogging.

He writes, with the help of other fathers he interviews, instructive posts about the effect moving has on children, he participates in a 365 Flickr projects, he tries to trade up his stuff until he gets a minivan, and he even finds time to write for Discovering Dad.

And living with two daughters and a wife, he tries to make sense of it all. It can't be easy. We're on your side.

dad of divas

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Phil

A Family Runs Through It
Phil, over at A Family Runs Through It, writes about parenting, homeschooling, and life in North Idaho. A typical non-Idahoan (Idahohan?) might not know what's so special about the Northern area of Idaho. I can only guess.

Maybe it's so far out there, that the ills of society are easier to ignore and overcome?

This could be the reason his writing, even the smallest, seemingly insignificant sentence, can mean so much. Like,
Why buy expensive water toys when the kids are perfectly content rolling around on a log they find on the beach?
or
Today was my first day of homeschooling BOTH of my kids.

Neither of them was enthusiastic about school starting again. They've enjoyed a carefree summer with nothing on the schedule beyond playtime and daydreaming. Just like most kids, they wanted an endless summer.
And isn't it great to find a father who pushes his kids to daydream?

(Oh, and he has a lot of guest posts from many blogging parents, which adds a variety of voices to the blog and makes it much more of a community blog. A great find).

A Family Runs Through It

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Brandon

Down With PantsDown With Pants is a little different. In an effort to maintain his pre-fatherhood masculinity, Brandon identifies himself as a "dude" rather than calling himself "a father." Of course, this is a losing battle. Once you're a dad, there's not much you can do to regain the glory of your youth. You can fight it by going to Home Depot and by buying state of the art grills on Craig's List, but your Flickr page says it all--the pizza pictures/baby pictures ratio tells me you're pretty happy letting go and giving in to this girl.

Down With Pants

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Dan

Dan is a stay-at-home dad who likes writing and daddying (Firefox spellchecker, get with it). In his own words, he has "recently moved into the profession of making those privileged Caucasian-American babies everyone loves so much these days ("this millennium's Beanie Babies!!!"), and I am merely waiting for that investment to mature in spades."

Great humor and honest writing. At times it's straightforward copying of his kids' pearls of wisdom, while at other times he uses subtle humor, where the punchline is hiding in a footnote.

Give it a read. Subscribe. Enjoy.

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