It’s not easy being a single dad with three active kids, even if I get time off each week. Still, on a typical week I only get a few nights off, so it’s a wonderful thing when I can escape for a much needed breather, and when five-star Colorado hotel The Broadmoor invited my girlfriend and I to preview their splendid Valentine’s Day romantic getaway package, we jumped at the chance! The experience was even…Read More
Wandering Eye: Problem or Just Part of Being a Guy?
A reader writes… Hi Dave. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving me your thoughts on men staring and making other women feel special by asking them questions, complimenting them, and giving them lots of attention when they are married. My husband does this and it has been an ongoing struggle and source of deep pain for me that is ultimately eroding our marriage. He seems to justify it by saying he is not…Read More
My Kids Didn’t Give Me Presents…
I want to start out by saying I’m not complaining. Really. I’m just contemplating the holidays… For the first time in many years, I took my three kids to Los Angeles to celebrate Hanukkah with my Dad and have a bit of a collective holiday. We had a good time, though the last few days my son G- got sick, which was a drag. Still, visits to the beach, Dana Point and the always terrific…Read More
A Dress Code for School Events
It’s buried in the email from the administration, a message about the dress code for the performers in the upcoming holiday concert: Please note that girls are now required to wear dress pants for concerts (no leggings, skinny jeans, etc.). What they aren’t saying there is that this isn’t about “leggings” or “skinny jeans” but about dresses and skirts that are too short. Not only are the musician students often on a raised platform, many…Read More
Hey Jours Apre Lunes: Lingerie is not appropriate for pre-teens!
I realize that French women are known for being sensual and that the finest lingerie and some of the best fashions originate in France, but being unable to differentiate between adults and children seems to me another marker on the gradual loss of all morality in western society and it’s frankly disgusting. I’ve written about this before, in an article appropriately titled Who buys this stuff for their kids? so perhaps I shouldn’t be shocked…Read More
I survived my Boulder County court date and speeding ticket
It was about two weeks ago I was driving to meet up with my children’s doctor: G-, my 11yo, had a very painful ear infection and he was supposed to get on a plane the following day to fly from Colorado to Germany with his Mom. She wasn’t being very sympathetic and I’d pushed aggressively for him to have more medical treatment. The result: our doc was coming into her office on her day off…Read More
Allowing Dads to Be Their Best
This is a guest post by Bethany Cousins, who writes the Mommy Rantings Blog… Maybe it’s my natural born insecurities or the fact that he grew up in a pack of 8 children, versus the compact family that I grew up in, with only one sibling. It could be the fact that he was born with a patience level that far exceeds my own. Or it might just be the fact that I allow him…Read More
Only women know what it takes to be a good dad?
Okay, this just tripped my bogus-meter rather big time. A PR pitch from a book author that says: “When Kevin [Renner] asked himself “What does a good father look like?” and no answer came to mind, he decided to find out. He interviewed 50 women from around the world for his new book In Search of Fatherhood: A Mother Lode of Wisdom from the World of Daughterhood (May 2011).” Okay, so Kevin, if you want…Read More
When did I become so slovenly?
I was talking with a good friend a few days ago, she’d just come back from ten days in Paris (yeah, she has a tough life. Then again, she’s a single Mom to three, the oldest of whom is 5, so it’s not an easy journey either) and she commented that she had to “up her game” while she was there because everyone dresses more nicely than here in Colorado. “I really liked the skinny…Read More
Who is the World’s Greatest TV Dad?
There’s a pretty interesting discussion happening at Man of the House around the topic of who is the World’s Best TV Dad and it’s gotten me thinking about the topic quite a bit. As I’ve written about before, I believe that modern culture does a disservice to us Dads by portraying us as clueless morons who want to avoid anything that might be domestic work or responsibility, while still having our pin-up sex partners. Watch…Read More
I need help with “The Rise (or Fall) of Dads Online”
I’m a fan of the National Fatherhood Initiative and its dynamite leader, Roland Warren. I’ve written for their blog and was recently invited to contribute to their research publication Father Facts. Quite an honor, particularly since it’s something they describe as “a go-to resource for policymakers, the press, fatherhood practitioners, and anyone interested in supporting responsible fatherhood. Copies are given out to every member of the Senate and House, state governors, and key media contacts.”…Read More
Since when is masculine inherently bad?
Is it just the community I live in, or is this a more prevailing perspective on masculine/feminine and male/female: “The Ego and its masculine surrogates who dominate the economic, political and cultural institutions of our society continue a patriarchal system that diminishes access to divine love which is intrinsically based in the feminine side of each person. In this playshop, [the instructor] will demonstrate how Astrology reveals the depth of the “mother” wound we may…Read More
Parenting tip: Kids need Dads too…
I got this email from a reader this morning: “I just wanted to write you and tell you I just came across your site as I was searching for Attachment Parenting groups in Boulder, and am thrilled to have found a voice of a single dad who takes the time to write about his kids and all the quirks that go along with being a parent with an attachment parenting framework…. As a single mother…Read More
Aeropostale perpetuating the waif ideal with “skinny” jeans
My 13yo daughter A- has a new obsession: the national clothing chain Aeropostale. Their clothes are cute enough, but why people are willing to shop at a store where 90% of the merchandise are billboards for the brand is a bit beyond me. Shows how deeply brand identification is part of modern culture, I suppose. Still, there we were looking for some shorts and I noticed the labels for their jeans: Can you see that?…Read More
Parenting as we wished our parents had done
I was chatting with a friend last night and the conversation shifted into how we are with children versus how our parents were with us when we were kids. It struck me that I make decisions on how to father my children with that very idea in mind: when my son wants to do something that’s out of my comfort range, do I say “yes” or “no”, and why? There’s a deeper thought underlying this…Read More
Traveling with my son: restaurant choices
Okay, tonight was a great test of my ability to stay focused on the important things and practice that zen-like calm I try to have when things get frustrating. I managed it, but not without a tiny cry of despair inside… I’ve brought my 10yo son G- to Chicago for a week’s holiday with me, we’ve been to the amazing Museum of Science and Industry, the very cool Field Museum, tomorrow we’re off to Navy…Read More
A Very Personal Walking Tour of Boulder…
I seem to drive everywhere, so I’m making a concerted effort to walk more and to take the bus when I feel like it’s too far from point A to point B. This morning I was going to jump on the bus downtown so I could spend the morning working, but just started walking instead. As I walked, I thought about how what you see on foot, when you have time to process information rather…Read More
The problem with hiring a chauffeur for your kids
Yeah, kind of an odd title I admit, but this weekend I attended an Internet marketing event and there were a couple of high-powered “motivational speakers” (I use quotes because I didn’t find them very motivating, personally), one of whom made a very interesting comment… To set this up, the guy, cut from the Tony Robbins Type-A mold, had spent the previous hour on stage telling us how successful he was, how much money he…Read More
Dad + daughter’s hair: an inherent disaster?
I’m lucky, I know. I’m a single dad to two girls, 12 and 5, and while it’d be a bit odd for the tween to be asking me for help with the latest hair style, it’s a miracle that my 5yo daughter can do her own hair and never asks me for more than finding those darn hair bands. Most dads don’t have it that easy, and there’s little more intimidating than a little girl…Read More
The challenge of finding appropriate girls Halloween costumes
I might have missed the memo, but when did Halloween turn into a holiday focused on girls showing off their, um, feminine charms? I’m astonished that there are more and more costume shops that pop up in my area each year, and when you go in all the costumes for girls over about eight seem to suggest that they’re college co-eds hoping to get laid that night. I mean, really, have you gone into one…Read More
President Obama’s address: are your kids going to listen?
I’m a bit confused by the reaction to the upcoming speech that President Obama is planning on delivering to school children on September 8th, encouraging them to stay in school and, no doubt, mirroring JFK’s “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” According to the Department of Education, “the president will speak directly to the nation’s children and youth about persisting and succeeding in school….Read More