Wednesday, April 30, 2014

My (Winning) #LatteRomeo #StarbucksVia Video

This is a sponsored post, in conjunction with Starbucks and Life of Dad, LLC. I was provided with samples packets of Starbucks VIA® Latte, and received compensation for participating in this promotion.



Starbucks Via Latte
I wanted to join the Life of Dad people's Mother's Day promotion of the Starbucks Via, but by the time I got around to take the Instagram video, my wife was away for work in Seattle. So I figured that unlike other #LatteRomeo entries from other bloggers, my coffee will be handed virtually to my wife. And anyway, I'm the big coffee drinker in this family.

Luckily, although I don't have my wife in the video, my kids are really cute, and my daughter's idea of serving her mom Banana Pants for Mother's Day will surely win the day.

Because this is a contest, see, and you can get in on it too. You can get all the details on the Life of Dad site, as well as watch your potential competitors' videos: Starbucks VIA® Latte #LatteRomeo Mother's Day Video Contest. Your winning Instagram video can get you a $500 Starbucks card, which would literally last you YEARS. Here's my video. And remember, Banana Pants!

Monday, April 7, 2014

Working Dads, Stay at Home Dads, and Bus Stop Pajamas: Weekly Fatherhood Newsletter

This week's roundup includes stories about working dads, stay-at-home dads, a warning about the biggest threat facing America: bus-stop pajamas, and more.

Please subscribe here to get these weekly newsletter posts in your email. Let me know if I've missed anything good, and I'll be sure to include it next week. Thanks for reading!




Bus Stop Pajamas

Bus Stop Pajamas
Evil is rising, and this time, it's coming in the form of bus stop pajamas. My friend Aaron from the blog Daddy Files has been wearing pajamas to the bus stop with his kid. Some people think it's OK. Others, like me, know this is the beginning of the end for our planet.

Here's Aaron's original post: Would You Wear Pajamas at the Bus Stop?

And here's a worthy response from the blog Daddy's in Charge?: Bus Stop Pajamas





Hiking

Hiking
I always thought there were hiking people and non-hiking people, like me, so finding out I actually liked hiking was quite an identity crisis. (Being a Hiking Person)










Kids and Money

Kids and Money
An article on Men's Health gives some great tips about raising kids who know money doesn't grow on trees. Starting with 3-year-old kids handing money to cashiers, and continuing until the late teens, with young adults setting up a budget, this short article has many good tips. (Make Your Toddler a Financial Tycoon)




Kids and Music

Kids and Music
Kids listen to terrible music, but is it really that tragic? Didn't we listen to bad music when we were kids? (They Don't Make Music like They Used to (and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves Because We're Afraid of Becoming Irrelevant))







Paternity Leave

Paternity Leave
Sports radio personalities(?) Boomer & Carton, as well as Mike Francesa have had a lot to say about paternity leave last week. They were specifically upset about a Mets second baseman not playing two games because his wife was giving birth and he wanted to be with his newborn for the first few days of his life. The radio clowns insisted Daniel Murphy's wife should have had an early c-section to make sure her husband could play, and that, "You're a major league baseball player. You can hire a nurse!"

It's sad that these people have a platform, and it's sad that some people still think like that, but the reaction has been great, and it seems like the majority of people stand behind Murphy and are in favor of dads who want to be with their newborn kids. Here are some of the reactions:

CNN's Josh Levs: Open letter to Boomer & Carton and Mike Francesa, who slammed paternity leave and Daniel Murphy for taking it

Scott Behson on Wall Street Journal: The Good News From the Daniel Murphy Paternity Leave Uproar

And on ESPN, a reaction from Murphy himself: Daniel Murphy: Right to take leave



Stay-At-Home Dads

Stay-At-Home Dads
I wrote this post about parenting on auto-pilot a year ago, and it's still pretty much the same. It's not always easy to stay home with kids, but it's definitely rewarding. (The Auto-Pilot: Pros and Cons of Staying Home With the Kids)






Working Dads

Working Dads
It's not always easy, but I also know I'm very fortunate to be able to stay home with the kids, and be there when they need me. Carter from the blog Dad Scribe had to go to work and miss his kid's field trip, which made him ask a lot of tough question. (The Field Trip)





Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Being a Hiking Person


It’s funny how we all grow up with certain ideas about ourselves and about the world. These ideas often have no basis in reality, but we assume they’re real, because they’re convenient and simple. For example, I’m not a hiking person. Ask anyone--ask me, if you want, and I’ll tell you some people are hiking people, and some people, like me, are not.

If you’re not a hiking person, and you tell someone you’re about to go with the family on a 3 mile hike up a hill, their answer will always be the same: “You?!”

Because you’ve created this identity, and your identity makes sense. And this identity you’ve created helps you and others make sense of the world.

But what if it’s not true? What if you suddenly discover that climbing up a hill while holding your kids’ hands makes total sense to you? What if you love nothing more than letting your girl choose the paths you will all use on the hike, and your boy navigate the trail with a map?

hiking with kids

Maybe an identity crisis can be a positive thing.

Now, I don’t know if we’ll end up hiking once a week this spring/summer, like we said we would when winter started. Sometimes it's too easy to stay home and say, “It’s OK. We’re not hiking people anyway.” But we’ll try again soon. It's good for the soul, this whole nature thing.

hiking kids


hiking girl

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