DISCLOSURE: This post is sponsored by Huggies whose “No Baby Unhugged” program is offering $10,000 grants to eligible hospitals to launch a new volunteer hugging program or support an existing one. In this story, NYC Dads Group member Jason Greene recalls his daughter’s birth which resulted in an extended stay in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) where he witnessed and received needed hugs. My purple and limp daughter was placed upon my wife’s chest briefly before chaos ensued. While my wife was going through post-delivery checks, I inched toward my infant daughter’s body as … [Read more...]
About Jason Greene
Try These 5 Things to Become a Better Parent
Chances are you have taken classes to help make you a better parent. Or you have read books and taken advice from your own parents and people you trust. You might also scour Facebook and Twitter for blogs and articles that will help you have a clue about how to navigate parenthood without completely wrecking our kids. I have been a stay-at-home dad for almost 11 years now and there are some things that I have learned along the way that aren’t often mentioned in discussions of “How to be a great parent.” Here are five things that have not only helped saved my sanity as a parent, but have … [Read more...]
Bowl Over Your Kids for Free This Summer
I learned about Kids Bowl Free last summer and I am excited to begin another sweltering season knocking down some pins with my kids in some air-conditioned lanes. Here’s how it works: Parents must sign their kids up through www.KidsBowlFree.com. With participating locations all over the United States, chances are you will be able to find a bowling alley near you. Once you sign up, tickets will be emailed to you. Each kid will be able to play two free games of bowling each day. The only thing you’ll have to pay for is the shoe rental. My 3-year-old bowls with a ramp while my 8- and … [Read more...]
Braff’s “Daddy Diaries” Hits Close to Home
Joshua Braff’s novel The Daddy Diaries will be shelved with the parenting books instead of in the fiction section of my personal library. And by library, I mean the bookshelves next to my piano. Don’t get me wrong -- it is a novelization of family life, but it hits so close to my own life that at times I felt like I was reading non-fiction, and I bet that it would seem very real to many men who read this book. The Daddy Diaries tells the story of Jay, a writer turned househusband, (see why I connected?) after he uproots his children and wife from San Francisco to St. Petersburg, Fla. … [Read more...]
My Wife Let Me Learn, Love to be a Parent
The best thing my wife ever did for me after my son was born was nothing. Let me explain. Babies were a mystery to me when my son was born. Lamaze classes are great, but once you’re holding that squirming and peeing baby, everything goes out the window. The only thing I was confident doing when my son was born was changing diapers. I used to work with developmentally disabled adults and had changed thousands of diapers, so I had diapering down. Everything else? Clueless. Clueless, but fearless. I was completely confident that I was going to “get it.” And I was determined to do … [Read more...]