Childhood is tough. We all have suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune as kids, whether it was a years of ongoing bullying and hassle from other kids or whether it was a string of sleights that grew over time into A Big Deal. I’ve seen all three of my children have to wrestle with one of the great challenges of adolescence time and again: exclusion. This doesn’t go away as an adult, of…Read More
Kate Chisholm, the headteacher of Skerne Park Academy in Darlington England is under attack for asking the parents of her primary school children to ensure that they dress appropriately for the weather when dropping off their children in the morning. Skerne Park is a non-profit primary school, so we’re talking children that are in 1st thru 5th grades, and apparently the parents are dropping off their children while wearing pajamas, robes and slippers, even as their…Read More
This has to go into the “what the hell?” category: According to popular English Web site Channel Mum, 3D printed fetuses based on the data from ultrasound scans is the most popular trend in parenting for 2016 based on their extensive member survey. In fact, there are now multiple companies that offer the service both in the UK and here in the United States too. It’s simple enough, the companies take multiple ultrasound photos and convert…Read More
$1.3 billion dollars later, it appears that the Los Angeles Unified School District‘s Common Core Technology Project (aka “iPads-for-all”) is a bust, a massive waste of taxpayer money and a boondoggle of massive proportions. It was a sweet contract for Apple, no question, when one of the largest school districts in the United States signed a contract to purchase 700,000 iPads through money raised through a popular Bond issue. But it didn’t quite work out…Read More
I’m a staunch believer in voting and the importance of our individual voices in the political system here in the United States. In fact, I believe that deciding not to vote invalidates your opinion: if you don’t like the system, work on improving it, and that starts by voting out the people you don’t like and voting for those you do. Does each vote count? Well, it depends on the size of the race, doesn’t…Read More
Sometimes the information that comes across the transom is surprisingly cool, and as my son is an avid basketball fan and player, I’m particularly interested in hearing about basketball. In particular, about professional basketball players who are doing well, giving back to their community and really stepping up their game to serve as a positive role model for children like mine. There are other athletes who seem to act more like overgrown children, earning millions but…Read More
According to the Center for Economic Policy & Research, the United States of America is the only so-called advanced economy in the world that doesn’t gaurantee employees paid vacation. The report says: European countries establish legal rights to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year, with legal requirements of 25 and even 30 or more days in some countries. Australia and New Zealand both require employers to grant at least 20 vacation days per…Read More
It’s a common complaint from all parents, and likely one that my own parents would have shared with me had I have been listening at the time: why aren’t you more grateful for what we give you? I believe that gratitude is an emotion in short supply across our culture, but where I most notice it is with children. Not just my own, though there’s no question that I’d be happy to see my children…Read More
This post brought to you by Walmart and Walmart Foundation. All opinions are 100% mine. I think there’s a mythic woman who surfaces on Mother’s Day every year in our national consciousness, the Norman Rockwell-esque stay at home mom who has fresh treats ready for when the kids get home from school, wears a cute 50s frock, keeps the house immaculate and is ready with a kiss and a hot, balanced dinner for when Dad…Read More
Disclaimer: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Dad Central for the Cord Blood Registry. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation. It’s something every parent wants to avoid thinking about, that nagging worry about “what if?” You know what I mean. What if my child gets into a terrible accident? What if they contract a dread illness? What if the magical mix of genes that you and your spouse…Read More
I was recently interviewed by the team at Mint.com about my views on finances, money and how technology will change our perception of everything in this realm. Here’s the link: Dave Taylor on How Technology is Changing Money Oh, and to whet your appetite, here’s one of the Q&A’s there: Do you think that banking apps are the real future of banking? How do you think these apps will change things in the next decade?…Read More
This is pretty sweet: Dad’s Club, a spin-off of the National Fatherhood Initiative, picked me as their Dad of the Month (I guess that’s what it’s called) and I’m in the Member Spotlight. If you haven’t heard of the National Fatherhood Initiative, I urge you to check it out. It’s a DC-based group that’s trying to do something about the alarming lack of fathers in our children’s lives. It’s a staggering problem: over 30% of…Read More
This is great fun if you haven’t seen it: Honestly, what health insurance company produces a video not just about zombies, but about how to kill zombies? Watch it even though it’s about zombies, and kudos to Rocky Mountain Health Plans for its Zombie Health Plans promo campaign, for doing something different to promote a product that is kinda hard to sell. Like this: ALREADY A ZOMBIE? YOU’RE COVERED! If you have ANY pre-existing condition…Read More
A friend of mine was telling me about an interesting situation his 7th grade daughter’s gotten him into…. Seems her best friend lives with her Dad every other week even though they have a schedule problem: he works in Denver and has to leave by 7:00am to get to work on time, but school doesn’t start until 8:30am. She can, of course, get up, get ready for school and bike the about 2mi without a…Read More
I lucked out with military service. My Dad was in the Royal Air Force, my sister was in the US Army and then the Army Reserves, my uncles, my grandfathers, my brother-in-law, lots of military service in my extended family, but while I have thought about it a few times, that wasn’t the path I took. I now live in a famously liberal community, Boulder Colorado, and to be candid, somehow people in my area…Read More
Some days I look around me at the Rocky Mountains, the creeks and streams, the rolling green hills, the big sky and fantastical cloud formations and really feel grateful that I can live in such a beautiful area. Boulder, Colorado, surely one of the prettiest towns in one of the most majestic states in the USA. But it’s not just here that’s pretty, it’s our planet. Really, if you take a deep breath, slow down…Read More
This is the second time that Doug French and John Pacini have marshaled forces to co-host the Dad 2.0 Summit, and the second time I’ve had the pleasure of not just attending, but speaking at the event. And it’s amazing to be at an event with so many men who are passionate about being fathers and about making the world a better place for children and parents both. There are Dads that blog about cooking,…Read More
Sometimes being a highly visible single dad blogging about children, parenting and divorce has some unexpected benefits. For one, I get really interesting email messages from people located all over the planet. Groups that are doing great work and that I’m happy to help gain visibility. That’s the case with the following letter from Amy Gridley from La Asociacion Nuestros Ahijados. Read on, see what you think… Dave, I have been sifting through many, many, MANY…Read More
There was a lot to see at Blogworld Expo last week, and a ton of great people to meet and catch up with. A good social conference! One of my favorite people from the event was Heather Solos and one reason was because she shared with me the Cooking with the Troops project she’s involved with. Cooking With the Troops: Let’s Make Dinner! image from blackfive.net Here’s the problem: if you’re in the military, you’re…Read More
Based on my own experience, along with much of what I’ve read in the last few decades, it’s clear to me that one of the greatest challenges we face in life is how to know if you’re doing the right thing at a given moment or not. What does “the right thing” even mean? It’s something that’s baffled people for a long time and is the basis of many philosophies, religions and codes of conduct….Read More
I constantly get queries from academics asking if I can help them disseminate information about a survey they’re doing on some subject or the other, often without indicating critical things like the topic of the survey or — for those of you that understand the nuances of research — the source of their funding. This is another in that vein, a research project from the University of Connecticut exploring the impact of multimedia books. “The…Read More