When your 15-year-old is on spring break with another family for a week, the last click-bait you want to see on your phone is “Tornado Watch from Florida to South Carolina.” What are the odds, I fretted, as my thumbs speed-texted “U ok? Just heard about tornado watch for sarasota?” My daughter replied like King Kong casually batting away a helicopter parent: “yeah we r good.” Despite her nonchalance, shortly after her return home she admitted that my message had, in fact, alerted them to a coming storm, much to her amazement. Begrudgingly, she gave me credit for helping them take … [Read more...]
Christmas Present and the Gift of Hope Beyond the Holidays
“What would you like for Christmas?” It was a simple question, sitting in a text message, timestamped and marked as read. I didn’t have a simple answer. Peace on Earth would be nice, but I would settle for a government that cares for its people. Cures to everything: disease, hunger and otherwise? That would be a Christmas miracle. Financial security might help me sleep at night, but a job would do me wonders. “Nothing,” I replied, because those are the things I would like forever. + + + I was in middle school when my mother’s parents died, both in the same year. I … [Read more...]
Create a ‘Hall of Fame’ to Preserve Family Memories for Your Kids
When my youngest daughter turned 9, she told me she wanted to replace the poster of puppies-in-sneakers on her bedroom wall. When I asked what would be on next poster, she replied: “Usher, of course! Do you even know me?” As her stay-at-home father for many years, I actually knew her quite well, or so I thought. But as we thumbed through posters at a music store, her words surprised me again: “When I get it, I want to put red crayon on his lips so I can kiss him all day!” Whoa. Hello, tweenhood and another milestone. Flash forward a few years to our new house. Now my youngest's teen … [Read more...]
Dove Men+Care Helps City Dads Celebrate Grandparents’ Day
Disclosure: We are proud to partner with Dove Men+Care in its #ThereToCare campaign. City Dads Group members around the nation marked Grandparents' Day Sunday with a lot of love and a little help from our organization's frequent partner, Dove Men+Care. The grooming products company generously sent a few dozen of our fathers framed photos of the dads, their kids, and one of their grandfathers along with a shaving kit filled with Dove Men+Care goodies for the father who helped conceive these last two generations. Our fathers used #ThereToCare across multiple social media platforms to talk … [Read more...]
Rolling on the River: Life Lessons in Family Travel
By the time you read this I’ll most likely be dry, but at the time of this writing that is not the case. I am something less than wet, having been soaked hours ago, still slightly more than damp. The moisture is a mix of sweat and river water, having spent hours today atop a raft in hot weather and rushing rapids, hours more in a car on roads long and winding. My family is equally saturated, even the youngest — who used the last few moments of the day to dunk himself in the calm, rapids-adjacent waters, disappointed as he was that the boat didn’t flip. However, his skinny body dries faster … [Read more...]
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