October 5, 2011 - why you hate doing the housework your amazing wife asks you to do?
I should have seen this coming immediately. Thanks, Honey! I'll get right on those dishes.
November 10, 2011 - your hobbies, that keep you sane when you have a bad day with the kids
I have a few hobbies that I have alluded to during the life of this blog. I enjoy playing guitar, playing bass guitar, and singing. In the past, I have been into aquariums, Texas Hold 'em, and fantasy football. Lately, I have found myself wanting to learn more practical hobbies. I have been gardening for while now, but I haven't learned how to can things or make jelly. I want to learn that for sure. The most recent practical hobby I have discovered is making cigar box guitars. They are super cool, 3-string blues guitars. Here is one I just made for a friend. Yup, that is Hello Kitty on a cigar box guitar.
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| Oh hai! Wha's dis ting u made? |
November 26, 2011 - embarrassing baby moments
I write about these quite often. There was that one time my kid pooped in the tub. Then there was the time she found a favorite shape in an interesting place. The time she stuck an apple up her nose. Or how she sometimes says things that a borderline racist. So, read up.
November 27, 2011 - How can I get my husband to go to the convention?
I assume that you are asking about the National At-Home Dad Convention. There are any number of ways to accomplish this. You could just leave him little notes all around the house. You could bring it up every single day until he finally caves in. You could have him call me, and I could probably convince him to go. But the easiest way would probably be to withhold sex until he signs up to go. I'm not saying it's the best way; I'm just saying it would be the fastest way.
December 21, 2011 - things every child does, like balance the light switch between on and off
What? Who does that? Even if I were to write about things that every child does, I'm not sure that "balancing the light switch between on and off" would be the first thing that came to my mind. Pooping, throwing food, and whining all seem to be at the top of my list of things that every child does. Even if I exhausted that list and somehow managed to get to the part of the list with "balance the light switch between on and off," I'm not sure how I would write about it. "Hey, my kind balances the light switch between on and off, isn't that funny? The End." Not really sure where else to go with that. Sorry.
June 15, 2012 - self publishing
I think you have my blog confused with something else. Have you ready my "About" page? Have you read anything on this site? By the way, it's all self-published. Confused yet? You should be.
July 18, 2012 - fake crying
This is actually very funny. When you realize that your child is fake crying, it's such a "light bulb" moment. YOU WIN as a parent when you can recognize this. Unfortunately, this was such a brief phase for my daughter that it did not get written about. Maybe some day, when I have time, I can finally write something up.
August 5, 2012 - You seem to be an exceptionla dad. I have grand child who have fahtered a # of children after thier births. Can you write about how you can be a postive influence on dad's or how to pick a guy that will be a a responsible dad based on what you do?for those kids who's Dad's only pay 45 cents a month or less as child support, how can you write so they will know that every dad doesn't treat their kids like crap?
Thank you for the comments, first of all. Wow, where do I start with this one. First of all, it breaks my heart to hear about dead-beat dads. I just want to shake them and be like, "Dude, you don't get this time back. This is your legacy. This is why you were placed on this earth."
The first question is "How can we be a more positive influence on dads?" This is a great question. There are so many levels that this problem can be addressed on, but the number one place that it starts is in the home. We become good fathers when we have good fathers (or father figures). When dads are absent, I believe that a mentoring relationship - such as a coach, a pastor, or an uncle - can be just as valuable. One of my goals is to get involved in a prison outreach as well so that dads can learn about parenting while they are in prison in hopes that they will be better fathers when they get out. Secondly, our society has to do a better job of including dads in the childbirth process. Once they are educated about what their child needs, they are then equipped to be a better parent. Lastly, women need to expect more of their men. Don't let them off the hook. Expect them to be better.
The second question is "How can you pick a guy that will be a responsible dad?" I might sound a little old fashioned here, but you can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats his family. Secondly, I am a big advocate of abstinence until marriage. When we cheapen love to just sex, we set off a chain reaction that cheapens family to just a hook up. We cheapen a real relationship to just something casual that meets a physical need. We have to educate young men to respect women and be leaders. Again, a strong, positive, male influence will go a long way in this situation.
The last question is, and forgive me if I am interpreting this incorrectly, "How can you write so that dead-beat dads know that their behavior is unacceptable?" Unfortunately, the only way for a dead-beat dad to understand what his role as a father is would be for him to have a good father or father figure. You can preach at him all day, but until he has a clear example of what that love looks like, he will continue to be lost. That's why I love the work that The Mentoring Project does with getting young men access to mentors that will guide them through the difficulties we face in life. See if there is a church in your area that is offering mentoring services. Unfortunately, once they are grown, it is difficult to get a man to change his behavior without some sort of consequence of his negative behavior (jail, loss of custody, loss of job, family consequences, etc.). I try to encourage women to expect more from the fathers of their children, and I try to challenge dads to expect more of themselves, and I hope that this message always comes through in my writing.
August 24, 2012 - How can you cure erectile dysfunction?
Seriously? No, this was not my wife again. How does any American not know how to solve ED by now? How many Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra commercials have to air before everyone knows? Talk to your doctor, people!
September 30, 2012 - How can I make my son listen to me? He listens to his dad, but not to me.
Do you find yourself giving in when he whines? Do you find that you avoid correcting him because you don't want him to feel negatively about you? These are just a few of the reasons that a child may not listen to one parent (usually mom). If dad is successful in getting Jr. to listen, you should be asking dad what he is doing that works - then get on the same page. Discipline works best when both parents are on the same page. My wife and I use time-outs and spanking. We made a list of the few things that we believe deserve a spanking, and we agreed to use time-out for the rest. We also check in with each other by talking about whether or not she has been behaving lately. Did she go to time out? Why did she go to time out? The correction from both parents is consistent; therefore, our daughter does not play one of us against the other. There are many schools of thought on discipline, but you will probably be more successful if you communicate with your husband and aim for consistency.
You can't say I never wrote about what you asked for! Feel free to use the friendly little Qualaroo survey box to communicate anything to me that you would like to see me write about. Or, you can always click my chicklets at the top right to follow me on Facebook or Twitter (or yes, even G+).
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