Fatherhood

Dan, who writes about his experiences with fatherhood at All That Comes With It, posted a really touching piece that really needs no explanation, have a look for yourself…

fatherhood

There’s a few really important things you should teach your kids how to do.

You can probably think of hundreds more, if you can, leave a comment and we’ll return to this in a later post.

911, kids, emergencies

Heres my top 5 tips on getting kids to eat their Veggies !

My family could quite easily go without meat for at least 4 days of the week.

Do you have any tips?

veggies, kids, dad, fatherhood

Clare’s Dad, visited NYC for the weekend. Last time I went there was pre-Julliani back in 1986 when I was in High School. Its looks so much cleaner.

I see a lot of the NYC skyline every week on CSI, but I know there has really been a big crackdown on crime and litter. Don’t you get a ticket of about a hundred bucks if you put your trash out on the wrong day?

travel, kids, nyc, fatherhood

The UK is gripped at the moment by the story of the McCann Family.

See more about the story from ABC News here

With a young daughter of my own I can only imagine what her parents are going through. I hope she’s found safe, and soon.

Help Find Madeleine at www.findmadeleine.com.

Another PSA from the National Fatherhood Initiative…

dad, light saber duel, fatherhood

When you think about what kind of legacy you want to leave for your kids, why not an established business with a good stream of income. Business has risks, but if you’ve taken most of them already, passing your business on to your children is a great idea.

I worked for my Dad after I left high school, just helping out in the workshop, and driving doing deliveries. While reading through my emails, I happened upon this article from the Sloan brothers on their site startupnation.com. It describes the Ponzi family, who run a winery in the North West.

They offer some great advice on how to get you kids interested in the business in the first place;

Soft Sell. When it comes to getting your children interested in the business, a soft sell is better than a hard sell. Though the Ponzi children worked in the vineyards growing up, they did it by their own choosing. While Dick and Nancy knew their true hope was that the children would one day carry on the legacy she and her husband had created, they stuck to their strategy. “The children had to decide for themselves that they wanted to be a part of it,” Nancy told us. “In our early years, we made some bad agricultural choices, but one thing we did right was giving the kids the choice to do whatever they wanted with their lives. We didn’t force them into the business. There were no expectations.”

You can find the article here.

family business, fatherhood

As the National Fatherhood Initiative states here:

‘It takes a Man to be a Dad!’

fatherhood, national fatherhood initiative, tarzan

Although being a Dad is really what you make of it, there are a few book about fatherhood I’d like to recommend

1. The Haynes Baby Manual: Conception to Two Years by Ian Banks
2. The A-Z of Having a Baby by Jeff Green
3. How to Be a Great Dad by Ian Bruce
4. The New Dad’s Survival Guide: Man-To-Man Advice for First-Time Fathers by Scott Mactavish
5. Ruby Flew Too! by Jonathan Emmett
6. The Bloke’s Guide to Pregnancy by Jon Smith
7. Dadlands: The Alternative Handbook for New Fathers by Daniel Blythe
8. Fatherhood by Bill Cosby

All of these books should be available from your favorite book seller.

fatherhood, books, bill cosby, daniel blythe

Can you really justify the cost of going to the Movies? If you add the cost of Popcorn, parking (if you’re in a City), and tickets you’re looking at a princely sum.

It is almost an unwritten rule that at the climax of the film, or when then have the best scene, your young dates will cry ‘We need the toilet!’.

Also, some kids, including my daughter, wont so much as flinch when some bug or monster comes on the TV screen, but in a theater where said beast is 40 foot tall, she’ll scream her lungs out!

I often let my daughter watch the extended trailers for new films on the Apple Quicktime movie trailers site. They are great quality, and give an idea of the sights and sounds of the films.

So if you can’t wait until the DVD comes out, then just try to be prepared;

Sort out some quiet snacks.
Take another adult so you can take turns for toilet trips.
Some theaters have a family show on Saturday morning, where it’s cheaper to get in.

A couple of films my family are looking forward to are;

Pirates Of The Caribbean - At World’s End - Preview

Ratatouille - Preview

Surf’s Up - Preview

movies, surfs up, ratatouille, pirates of the caribbean

Hobbies can be a great thing. They take up some of your kids time, and can be an outlet from studies. You have a choice whether to encourage your kids to try new things, or stick to hobbies and pastimes you have an interest themselves.

Sometimes, organised sports for kids can be a godsend. They can be great to develop budding talent. But the problems kids face with peer pressure at school can be mirrored on the sports field. A bit of banter is part of a lot of sports, and constitutes much of the mental side of most sports. Kids who struggle to pick up the game, or skills, fall down the pecking order with the other kids.

Sometimes the main issue for some parents is the cost of the equipment. The latest kit can cost from a hundred dollars, and the sky’s the limit. (BTW How much does a Polo pony cost, in £2007 dollars?)

In my next post on sports and hobbies, we’ll look at some ideas on how to save lots of cash on sports equipment.

sports, kids, fatherhood, sports equipment

I’ve just spent the day looking around town for clothes for my 6 year old daughter. What a nightmare!

It seems she is at the point at which the cute kids clothes change to smaller versions of adult fashions. I’m not too happy buying my daughter strappy tops and tunics. She’s a bit of a tom boy, and it doesn’t make good sense if they’ll get ruined in a few wears.

It looks like its another summer in Old Navy t-shirts and Pineapple dance pants for her!

Oh well, at least she has school uniform !

A subject for next time…

clothes, children, pineapple, old navy