Many of us have or are helping our children's grandparents schedule their COVID-19 shots. While we're at it, don't forget to check in to make sure Pop-Pop and Grams are up to date on other vaccines that help keep older adults healthy through their golden years. As we age, our immune systems weaken. Some vaccines received in childhood also lose efficacy. These leave a person, especially one with other health conditions, less able to fend off infections as well as when they were younger and stronger. Bottom line: Seniors and even those of us parents over age 50 are more venerable to … [Read more...]
Generation Nerd: Does Social Ineptitude Matter for our Kids?
You know Chad. Every business in America has one. Chad is the nice-looking, smiley, firm-hand-shaking, future C-level executive-to-be at your office. Chad is smart, but more than that, he has that “it” factor that propels him to the front of any promotion process. When you think about Chad, he seems more accomplished than pragmatically productive. I am no Chad. I tried but have fallen short. I’m OK with it, mostly because after my wife and I started having kids, I realized I could set out to provide some lucky corporation a future Chad of my making. Yes, I’d raise my kids to be witty, … [Read more...]
Kenneth Kellogg Sings Praises of Helping Kids Embrace Their True Selves
Kenneth Kellogg grew up in a gritty Washington, D.C., 'hood, during the city's peak as a major homicide city with addicts, dealers and gun play all around him. So how did he go from there, listening to hip hop and go-go music as he walked through the streets, to singing lead in what was named the "best new opera" in 2020? You'll find out by listening to the latest episode of The Modern Dads Podcast. Kellogg, praised by opera critics for his commanding stage presence and rich, resonant bass, discusses his journey through life, helping children embrace who they are, and what it was … [Read more...]
Children’s Film Festival Debuts Online, Discounts for City Dads Families
If you miss going to the movies as a family, then grab some snacks and gather everyone on the couch: The 2021 New York International Children’s Film Festival is completely online. The film festival for children and teens, formerly held in the New York City boroughs, will make its groundbreaking programming available to families nationwide. As a City Dads member/friend, you can receive a discount on admission. New York International Children’s Film Festival, or NYICFF for short, is one of the largest and most influential family movie events in North America. Now in its third decades, the … [Read more...]
Just Doing Their Job: It’s What True Heroes Do Every Day
I watch my nearly 16-year-old twin sons and their three- or four-hundred fellow students pour out the doors of the high school they attend. My mind goes back to my own high school days a very long time ago. A lot is different. No backpacks back then or phones or cool sweatshirts or yoga pants or these damn masks, but much seems familiar. The laughing and flirting and cajoling and teasing; nice cars and beaters; happy kids, sullen kids. Couples holding hands, couples longing to hold hands. Kids with big instrument cases and large art portfolios and dangling lunch boxes and the … [Read more...]
Shopping at Costco with Kids: We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Cart
Without proper planning, shopping at Costco with kids in tow can bring a parent to his or her knees. Costco and other big-box retailers can be your friend with quality items in bulk at good prices, but without proper information, it can also be your checking account’s worst enemy. Hopefully, these six things I’ve learned over the years of committing many mistakes will be of some help. A shopping list for Costco is a must When I go with my kids to a regular grocery store, they sometimes will talk me into getting them a treat, like a box of Pop Tarts. On these occasions, the kids are happy: … [Read more...]
Conversations Short and Calm Move Child (and Dad) Away from Meltdown
Humans are animals, bound and acted upon by forces of nature that are, at times, far beyond our control. Something rooted deep inside desires a few, core needs to be filled. It’s this natural and unrelenting reality that makes emptying our homes, shoving our priceless memories into questionable cardboard boxes, and piling them into rickety metal rectangles, so wildly dramatic and stressful. It shouldn’t be so stressful. It shouldn’t illicit feelings of being displaced, wayward and lost, but it does. Despite my best efforts, my most recent move sent shockwaves through my family of … [Read more...]
Dad Podcasts that All Parents Should Give a Listen to
Our much-acclaimed Modern Dads Podcast returns Feb. 25 with a new season of episodes covering issues today’s fathers face navigating work, parenthood, relationships and play. If you have a thirst for dad podcasts right this minute, here are a few we think you should check out: The Art of Fatherhood Art Eddy knows dad podcasts. He's produced or hosted them for the Life of Dad social network for years, including the Art of Conversation that focuses on writers who are fathers. His baby these days is the Art of Fatherhood. Here interviews dads from the worlds of entertainment, music and sports … [Read more...]
Help Daughters Develop Strong Voices, Become Confident Women
Do you ever fear your home is too much of a haven from the “real world”? As a former stay-at-home dad of two daughters now approaching young adulthood, I sometimes wonder if our family bubble of gender equity has prepared them adequately for the larger culture’s reduced-but-still-entrenched sexism. Fortunately, What Girls Need, a new book by Marisa Porges, offers tips about how parents can serve as a bridge for their children between home and the larger world. While her tips are focused on raising daughters, many apply to raising sons as well. Her foundational advice is to help each girl … [Read more...]
‘Family Man’ Offers Interactive, Online Parenting Strategies for Fathers
Family Man, a new interactive online parenting strategies course, aims to help parents -- especially fathers -- receive the advice and instruction they are often reluctant to seek in real life. The program has been designed by leading global child behavior experts with assistance from The Movember Foundation, the international organization known for rallying guys to grow mustaches every November to raise awareness about men’s health issues. Family Man offers animated “choose-your-own-adventure” style episodes coaching dads through difficult parenting situations such as a battle at the … [Read more...]
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