onr “I feel important.” That was my younger daughter’s surprising answer to a mundane question. I had been wondering why she liked her job as a hostess at a busy restaurant so much, especially since it was her first “real” job as a teenager beyond watching kids or walking dogs. Frankly, I had expected the job would not appeal to her. I was wrong. But shortly after she announced this surge of self-esteem, I remembered my own first real job as a teenager beyond mowing lawns or shoveling snow. My employment history began one summer at a grocery store in my hometown where I bagged … [Read more...]
Jogging Helps This Father Manage Busy Parenting Life on the Run
Jogging for a good, hard 35 minutes around my neighborhood in southeastern Jerusalem is no different than dropping acid except for the lack of hallucinations, flashbacks and induced schizophrenia. Running simplifies life as it clarifies thought, dousing everyday trivialities in strong, bright colors whose pleasing afterglow continues for hours. There’s not much more to jogging than putting one foot after the other, heel-toe, heel-toe. But these steps, run in a pair of worn-out L.A. Gear sneakers, create the mental callouses I need to weather life’s little tempests. When I begin my run, … [Read more...]
Fun Times Slip Like Sand Through the Parenting Hourglass
I used to be a lot more fun. There was a time, it feels like years ago, when every free moment was seemingly spent amusing my kids (and myself in the process). But lately, that isn’t the case. Granted, these days there is far less free time to speak of; plus, the boys no longer consider me their primary source of entertainment. Both factors render my services more or less unnecessary, which is a justifiable excuse for the dulling of my comedic timing, but it’s more than that. I often feel like I’m actively avoiding fun. To be fair, some of the blame can be placed upon our family’s … [Read more...]
Working from Home with Children in Tow Takes Organization, Planning
Working from home -- especially when you have children around to also care for -- requires a certain self-discipline, but even the most organized and motivated of us can falter at certain times of the year like the winter holidays or the summertime. I speak from personal experience. Since I left my old office job to become a full-time dad who works from home, optimizing time has become essential. I've found the best hours to work are in the morning when the boys have school and at night after they go to sleep. Today's smartphones work almost as well as laptops do so I sometimes squeeze in … [Read more...]
Bobby Barzi Promotes Fatherhood, Positive Change Through Clothing
Bobby Barzi is a businessman with a purpose: create a better world for our children by investing in communities and efforts that inspire positive change. It starts with promoting the importance of being an active and engaged father, the initial basis for the creation of his successful clothing company, Fodada. Barzi discusses these ideas as well as other programs he and his company have backed in the season finale of the Modern Dads Podcast. Barzi started the clothing line in 2012 as a socially aware business. It focused initially on celebrating, promoting and supporting the idea … [Read more...]
Toronto Dads Open First International Chapter of City Dads Group
City Dads Group has gone international, opening its first chapter beyond the U.S. borders in Toronto, Canada. Toronto Dads Group is being led by Amar Lohana, a stay-at-home dad to two young children and a filmmaker. His involvement in starting the group is a story many City Dads members know very well. "I left my Wall Street career in New York to move to Toronto and be a stay-at-home father. It was a big change and I didn't know anyone in Toronto. I was alone with the kids in a new city," he said. "While I found moms to groups to be tolerant of my presence, I didn't seem to be able … [Read more...]
Why I’m OK with My Children’s Ridiculous Bedtime Routine
We have three children ranging in age from 3 to 7. The bedtime routine in our house is simple. First, my wife takes the youngest upstairs while I stay downstairs to get the older two into pajamas and ready for bed. On her way upstairs with the little one, my wife pauses at the top to say good night and wave to the two older children below. If you’re having trouble picturing this, think of the classic party scene from The Sound of Music when the Von Trapp children sing their good night song and wave good night from the upstairs balcony and the adoring party-goers shuffle to one side in mass … [Read more...]
Time Flies, Parents: Spend More of it Wisely with Your Kids
It should be the easiest thing in the world for me to do. As an at-home dad, you’d think all I did was hang out with my kid, right? Yes and no. It’s complicated. While my 2-year-old son comes first, I do work. Real estate doesn’t sell itself (well, kinda, but that’s not the point). I also oversee events, social media and more for the Anchorage Dads Group; I’m on the board of a nonprofit, and I have to jam in time for my wife as well. Life is busy. My son, and his associated care, consumes a lot of time and takes priority over everything during the day. Everything revolves around his … [Read more...]
Turn ‘Disorders’ into Gifts that Create Stronger Children, Parents
I remember sitting in my therapist’s office after I learned I was going to be a father. I had overwhelming feelings of fear, wonder, powerlessness, joy, fearfulness, gratitude and defensiveness. As I discussed these emotions with my therapist, I couldn’t help but think about the struggles the men in my life have had being fathers. Alcoholism. Sex addiction. Unfaithfulness. Abuse. Anger. Divorce. Brokenness. The examples I had around me as fathers were men who said things but didn’t follow through. They meant well but their actions showed something different. My therapist then shared … [Read more...]
ADHD, Dyslexia Helped Jonathan Oliver be a Better Dad, Man
When life throws you curve balls ... well, you learn to smack 'em out of the park. That seems to be a key to success for Jonathan Oliver has found in his journey from college where, after graduating high school with honors, he learned he had dyslexia to his current status as a personal development coach, motivational speaker, author and at-home dad. Oliver, also known as "J.O.," joins this latest edition of The Modern Dads Podcast to talk about marriage, at-home fatherhood, and his new book, To the Little Boy in Me: Learning with Dyslexia & ADHD. In the conversation, he discusses the … [Read more...]
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