Postmark: Jerusalem, Israel; August 2 Dear Sheila, How’s Chi-Town? The girls can’t wait to spend a whole two weeks with you. And I can't wait to receive the hourly updates about all they’ll be seeing and doing during their upcoming adventure. Danielle and I also look forward to our daughters returning to our home in Israel with Chicago accents and attitudes. Jerusalem is such a mad, mad mix of people, languages and backgrounds. Two little girls jabbering about "Da Bears," drinking "pop" (instead of "Coke") and riding ‘The L" will add a bit more spice to the city’s delightful stew of … [Read more...]
‘The Sex Talk’ and 6 Things Most Dads Get Wrong About It
It’s critical for dads to have the sex talk with their children early and to get it right. It’s not OK to leave the big talk to mom or to assume the teachers at school will take care of it. Think about it this way: the teenage brain is hard-wired to care about sex, so when you talk about it your teen will listen closely to anything you say. Don’t miss that opportunity! I’ve noticed a few things dads get wrong when they try to have a sex talk with their teenagers. Are you making any of these common mistakes? 1. Don’t Avoid Your Own Sex Life It can be awkward to talk to your teenager about … [Read more...]
Art, Like Life, is Not Limited By Gender Roles, Stereotypes
A teacher my son had said this to him about the art project he had just completed. A teacher who was supposed to bring out the best in him. A teacher whose very job is to inspire and empower all students. And so, his mind began to turn, "Was it really good or just good for a boy's effort? I am a middle school art teacher. When you train to for this profession, you are told that there are thousands of ways to praise. There is no room in art to undermine the creation, revision, polishing, and perseverance it takes to express oneself in art. In a subject where we think outside of the box, … [Read more...]
Goodbye is What Good Parenting Should Eventually Lead to
I’ve heard parenting described as a vocation where the goal is to work yourself out of a job. Seems pretty accurate to me. As a longtime stay-at-home parent, I see myself doing it all the time. In fact, as I write, the washing machine is spinning noisily and the dryer is droning away, and I didn’t start either of them. My 14-year-old twin sons are doing their laundry today, a job I did for them for years. I showed them the ropes a few months ago and now, begrudgingly and with a bit of prompting from me, they’ve been doing it on their own. Late last week, I found one of them riding the … [Read more...]
Coaching Your Own Child in Sports Requires Patience, Planning
Growing up, there was the constant pop of a baseball hitting a mitt, both mine and my father's, coming from our backyard during the spring and summer. Many times we'd lay bases on the green grass as if to recreate the plays of an actual game. I can recall many a Game 7 of the World Series being won by either striking out the final batter with a high fastball or by the ever elusive walk-off grand slam.
My father coached me from T-ball up through high school, except for one year. It was a source of much frustration for him because, … [Read more...]
First Job for Teens Brings Many Benefits Beyond Paycheck
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...]
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