I’m gonna break character here and tell y'all something. Normally, I try to remain positive and affirmative and gentle, bordering on Pollyannaish, but some days I feel different, discordant … broken. The something I want to tell you seems obvious to me. These are dark fucking times. You may quote me. The news, honestly, breaks me often. The pain and suffering. The jingoism and economic imbalance. Pleas for money so our kids can fucking eat. Campaigns that say nothing of weight or promise and only attack with a ferocity that shears my soul. I go on Facebook -- the only social network I … [Read more...]
Meditation Helps Parents, Children Maintain Relaxed State of Mind, Body
EDITOR’S NOTE: City Dads Group is working with longtime partner Dove Men+Care to create “how to” videos for the grooming products company’s “Dads Care” campaign. We will be featuring the videos and scripts our members appear in. This one features Devon Bandison of our NYC Dads Group, with a little help from his son, talking about how to teach kids to meditate. My son and I have been meditating for about two years. We started doing about five minutes every day or every other day and then we've moved up to 15 minutes each morning. We find meditation is a great way to start our day. It helps … [Read more...]
Clean Up the World This Weekend for a Better Future for Your Kids
As parents, we spend a lot of time worrying about our children's future and the future of the world they will live in -- the world we will leave them. That's why City Dads Group is encouraging all parents and their children to get involved with Clean Up the World Weekend, Sept. 18-20, 2020, a global effort to preserve the environment and Earth for the next generation and beyond. The annual Clean Up the World event is a not-for-profit, non-government apolitical movement, started in Sydney, Australia, in 1993, with a goal of uniting communities with a common focus to protect the environment. … [Read more...]
New Baby Warms Dads’ Hearts and Their Water
All the dads of my group gather round as one pulls out his wallet. His smile is huge and, even though he would never admit it, there is a tear in his eye as he pulls out the little photograph. “That’s just precious,” one says. “Hey, congrats man,” another says. The picture is well-worn, and you can tell that he has shown it hundreds of times in the last two days alone. To his parents, his friends, even to strangers on the street. He can’t help himself because none of us can. He’s trying to be humble but there is pride in his voice every time he talks about her. “It was a rough go … [Read more...]
Observe Life Through Fresh Eyes, Parents, Just Like Young Children Do
Did you know that what we call the “fall colors” of leaves are actually their glorious “true” colors? The leaves don’t change to new colors in autumn, but instead revert to their original colors. I learned this years ago when my oldest daughter asked why the leaves change color. As a way to bond (and hide my ignorance), I suggested we search the internet together for information. We found that, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “the four primary pigments that produce color within a leaf are chlorophyll (green); xanthophyllis (yellow); carotenoids (orange); … [Read more...]
Reading Routine a Habit Parents Can Help Children Form
EDITOR’S NOTE: City Dads Group is working with longtime partner Dove Men+Care to create “how to” videos for the grooming products company’s “Dads Care” campaign. We will be featuring the videos and scripts our members appear in. This one features Drew Bennett of BenSpark Family Adventures and our Boston Dads Group with a little help from his children talking about how to set up a reading routine. Reading is such an important activity for our family. My wife and I read to our children when they were small every night, and it has paid great dividends. My daughter, Eva, for example, is now a … [Read more...]
Jenga Game an Adapt Metaphor for Handling for Pandemic Schooling
I loved playing video games while growing up, but my dad was never into them. Instead we would usually play board games like checkers or backgammon together . On occasion, when we would visit relatives in Queens, N.Y., we'd break out group games like Monopoly and Trouble. One fateful evening when I was around 10 or 11 years old, we played a very memorable round of the block tower building game, Jenga. Jenga can be just as riveting to observe as it is to play: Watching others carefully choose the right or wrong block and edge toward a rousing victory or an embarrassing defeat that ends in … [Read more...]
Back-to-School Tips to Make it More Fun, Less Stressful for All
Back-to-school tips: we need them now more than ever, right? COVID-19 concerns. Distance learning struggles. Hybrid-learning model hiccups. Screen time worries. Balancing working from home with a child schooling from home. It all adds up to more pressure on you and your family. To help with some of these issues you may be encountering, City Dads Group has been working with longtime partner Dove Men+Care to create a series of “how to” videos to deal with various parenting issues. The videos are all part of the grooming products company’s 2020 “Dads Care” campaign. Here's some … [Read more...]
Family Stories, True or Exaggerated, Create Legends, Legacies for Kids
My family has a lot of stories. Happy, sad and funny stories. Whether they’re true, apocryphal or greatly exaggerated, I’m sure a lot of families have their stories that come up when everyone gets together. My Uncle Steve always used to refer to the “Spaghetti Incident” as something hilarious that happened when my mom was a teenager. One of my favorites from when I was a child is how my brother and I, along with all our little friends, would easily and regularly climb up on the elementary school roof. There were concrete blocks sticking out about ½ inch in intervals that looked like a … [Read more...]
Get Your Children to Play Outside More Often with These Tips
EDITOR’S NOTE: City Dads Group is working with longtime partner Dove Men+Care to create “how to” videos for the grooming products company’s “Dads Care” campaign. We will be featuring the videos and scripts our members appear in. This one features Jason Greene and his son, Corbin, of our NYC Dads Group talking about how to get your children to play outside. With much of the country social distancing (or they should be), kids have become accustomed to staying inside instead of enjoying the outdoors, even during the summer. And parents, since we’re still trying to work from home and manage the … [Read more...]
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