Like most Americans, I experienced the trauma of September 11, 2001, through my television. My wife, 1-year-old daughter Lauren, and I had just moved to the Cleveland, Ohio area, and I was a stay-at-home dad. That morning I was in my living room while Lauren watched a children’s show. Our landline phone rang, and my brother-in-law said: “Turn on the news.” I changed the channel over Lauren’s protest. Smoke billowed out of the first tower. Watching a national tragedy unfold in the presence of a 1-year-old made an already surreal experience even more bizarre. I was unsure what to do … [Read more...]
Bringing Children into Post-9/11 World a Bet on a Better Future
Others can give you a more riveting account of that day. What they saw. What they felt. What they smelled. Stories that are breath-taking and heartbreaking in the same sentence. Someone living out a surreal real-life action movie. Nothing extraordinary happened to me that day – Sept. 11, 2001. I was just one of the millions of spectators. But as I cut through Union Square in Manhattan on my way to St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village to give blood, I do recall one lightning bolt of a thought flash across my mind. There is no way I’m bringing a child into this world. I was … [Read more...]
An Open Letter to the Day After Midterms
Dear Tomorrow, Hi, it’s Tuesday. It’s relatively early now, and the midterms won’t end for a handful of hours, but I wanted you to know that I’m thinking of you. I know, I know, we are all tomorrow, and we are always a day away. Annie nailed it. Wednesday just seems so full of finality, nothing personal. And yet, everything is personal, isn’t it, Wednesday? I wonder what is decided tomorrow, if anything, in terms of terms and the politics of it all. I wonder if the results are in. Are concessions closed? There were children in the polling place today. Every single one. They are the … [Read more...]
Mental Health, Masculinity, Hearings and Cookies
“Come here,” I said. “You need to see this.” My oldest boy walked toward me, his hands bright and swollen in mismatched oven gloves, one of which complimented the apron. He knew what it was that he needed to see, or at least the gist of it. I had been calling him to my side of the kitchen island for the better part of an hour, skipping from video to video, Twitter to Facebook and back again. “Watch this one,” I said. This one featured a man twisted as a pretzel. He was stale, salty and, apparently, wanting for beer. My son watched in silence for a moment, the words screaming … [Read more...]
Oregon Leader 1st Gay Father to Lead National At-Home Dad Network
Josh Bellish of Beaverton, Ore., hit the internet shortly after the birth of his son three years ago in search of others in a similar situation to his own -- an at-home father looking for a way to combat the isolation that sometimes comes with full-time parenting. Just three years later Bellish has become a leader in two of those groups he found online: co-organizer of our 550-member Portland (PDX) Dads Group and, as of this month, the president of the nonprofit National At-Home Dad Network. That latest title is of significant note. Bellish's election a few weeks ago at the HomeDadCon … [Read more...]
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