October brings a steady flow of holidays—religious, appreciative, controversial—and it’s astounding how fast our calendars fill up with family fun and festivities. One minute the baseball playoffs are starting, the next you’re skimming Butterfingers from your kid’s Halloween candy. #notanad
And then. Then! Thanks to all that is sweet and merciful, Election Day will (we hope) end this unconscionably miserable 19-month election cycle, and the Vice President-Elect will be either “America’s Stepdad” or “America’s Father-in-Law.”
Is either characterization all that flattering? Not particularly. But we can’t really disagree.
If you’re as exhausted by this Protracted Presidential Pander-monium as we are, you might find solace in the massive effort, across the entire political spectrum, to get people registered to vote. This election will likely blow voter turnout records to bits, but we’re still looking pathetic compared to most developed countries. So if you’re eligible, don’t be That Guy. Registration is as easy as a couple of clicks, and after you’ve done your civic duty on November 8, your kids can have fun with Grandpa!
IN THE NEWS
The 21st National At-Home Dad Convention takes place this weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina. If you’re headed there, be sure to say hello to this subjectively handsome gent, who’ll be at the Sunday Expo to discuss divorce, co-parenting, single fatherhood, and how to survive all three. (Spoiler alert: You totally can.)
If you’ve been paying attention to the Presidential campaign, you’ve heard a lot about implicit bias. And the Yale School of Medicine believes it may help explain high preschool expulsion rates among black children.
Armin Brott, a/k/a Mr. Dad, writes about how dads get post-natal depression, too.
Fifteen years after he broke his neck, Glen Dick became a father. He and his daughter have shared a lot of adventures, which he chronicles in his new book, We Can Go Anywhere: My Adventures On Daddy’s Chair.
Are you a known oversharenter? Isn’t it time the kids have a say in what their parents post on the internet?
Because Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya says being a dad is the hardest job he’s ever had, all 2,000 full-time employees of the yogurt company can take up to six weeks of paid parental leave starting in 2017.
Even though we may want to “fix” our kids’ emotions, KJ Dell’Antonia says we should let things play out in “Teaching Your Child Emotional Agility.”
You too can hold your newborn baby for just $39.95, but that’s not all! Yes, some hospitals are actually charging parents for the opportunity to hold their newborn baby.
On @NPR: @JoshLevs and @Papa_Preaches on the need for paid family leave, and the side effects of life without it. https://t.co/owfZrkD5lz
— Dad 2.0 Summit (@dad2summit) October 6, 2016
Dear parents of millennials: Put. The. Helicopter. Down. Let your grown kids go to work all by their big-pants selves.
Dear parents of younger kids: Tired of people nagging you about you nagging your kids about screen time? Welcome to the circle of online life.
Are your kids on social media during the angry season? Whit Honea writes about the social distortion (not the band) of children on Facebook and the racist relatives they may meet.
Sometimes kids do mean things, and parents need to address the situation. Or do they? How do we measure meanness and the appropriate parental response?
The @manwhohasitall, brilliant satirist of nonsense double standards, has a new book. Read it during your “me-time.” https://t.co/kD6kvAlFYu
— Dad 2.0 Summit (@dad2summit) October 5, 2016
Want your kids to start thinking outside their own heads? “Behavioral economics” could be the answer. That’s behavior you can bank on!
Remember when it was cool to want to be President? According to Highlights magazine, two-thirds of kids ages 6-12 have no interest in the Presidency as a career goal.
The statistics of sexual abuse among kids under 18 are appalling. Here are some ways to talk with children about prevention and care.
A California teenager has invented an app called “Sit With Us” that helps lonely and/or shy kids sit together at lunch. The future is bright, people.
After 13 years, FluMist has been pulled from shelves. This winter, tell your kids to roll up their sleeves.
Tired of the old stressful way of disciplining your kids? Try this new relaxed approach, man.
PORCHLIGHT POSTS
- Nicholas Casey of The Faithful Geek, discusses kids and gun culture in “The Violence Trap Part 1: An Anecdote.”
- The Unfit Father’s Richard Black is nothing if not consistent in “A Tradition of Food Poisoning.”
- Jason Greene is One Good Dad, and he says if you want to raise your fist, then raise it. It doesn’t matter what color it is.
- Who needs the Farmers’ Almanac when we can read “True Summer’s End” by Thirsty Daddy’s Jeremy Barnes?
- At Sobriety and Fatherhood, Joshua shares his tale “Finding Love in Sobriety.”
Who doesn’t love a good obstacle course? Thanks to shows like American Ninja Warrior, the idea of running, jumping, climbing and whatnot has taken the country by storm. Gavin MacCall’s 5-year-old daughter loves them as much as anyone, so he created a course for her in their backyard. She’s a natural:
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