I’m gonna break character here and tell y'all something. Normally, I try to remain positive and affirmative and gentle, bordering on Pollyannaish, but some days I feel different, discordant … broken. The something I want to tell you seems obvious to me. These are dark fucking times. You may quote me. The news, honestly, breaks me often. The pain and suffering. The jingoism and economic imbalance. Pleas for money so our kids can fucking eat. Campaigns that say nothing of weight or promise and only attack with a ferocity that shears my soul. I go on Facebook -- the only social network I … [Read more...]
Jenga Game an Adapt Metaphor for Handling for Pandemic Schooling
I loved playing video games while growing up, but my dad was never into them. Instead we would usually play board games like checkers or backgammon together . On occasion, when we would visit relatives in Queens, N.Y., we'd break out group games like Monopoly and Trouble. One fateful evening when I was around 10 or 11 years old, we played a very memorable round of the block tower building game, Jenga. Jenga can be just as riveting to observe as it is to play: Watching others carefully choose the right or wrong block and edge toward a rousing victory or an embarrassing defeat that ends in … [Read more...]
Integrity at Stake as People Revolt Against Bad Hands Dealt by Life
Hey, my teenage sons -- it’s time for your old man to give you a little more unwanted advice. I know the two of you are soon to start your sophomore year of high school and don’t really care for “words of wisdom” and that sort of crap; I can dig that. I also know that you are built on strong moral and intellectual foundations – cool. You are trusted and respected by the adults around you and in your peer group – well done. However … You have been thrown into the most manic of maelstroms and the weirdest of worlds teenagers have faced in a very long time. Nothing is even close to the way it … [Read more...]
Fatherhood Conferences to Go Virtual in 2020 Because of Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic claimed two more victims recently -- two major annual fatherhood conferences. However, both will be resurrected in an online "virtual" format. Organizers of HomeDadCon, a gathering of at-home fathers, and Dad 2.o, a more marketing/branding oriented event, called off in-person events scheduled for this October. However, each group has decided to pivot to digital versions of their fatherhood conferences where participants can watch and listen to presentations and socialize via video conferencing. (DISCLOSURE: City Dads Group has been a long-time sponsor and partner … [Read more...]
‘Mind the Gap’ Pandemic Creates to Reframe Your Kids’ Lives
I first heard (and read) the phrase “mind the gap” back in college, when I was lucky enough to study abroad in London. It was written on the subway platforms to warn riders to be careful as they step over the small gap between the edge of the platform and the floor of the train. That “gap” is an apt metaphor for the unavoidable (dis)location we’ve all fallen into now. Even for the still healthy and employed, the COVID-19 pandemic is a gap writ large, more like a canyon between our “before” lives on the platform and whatever comes “after” we arrive in a post-pandemic world. As we continue to … [Read more...]