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Last Minute Shopping Tips

Contributor — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:00:29 +0000

Don’t Cry or Pout. Last Minute Shopping Doesn’t Have to Stress You Out

The holidays can be a wonderful time or togetherness and celebration and it can also be a time of stress and anxiety. Don’t let the rush and excitement of the season allow you to overspend or be careless with your money and purchases. Here are a few last minute shopping tips to help you keep your sanity.

Stocking Stuffers

Don’t forget stocking stuffers – when creating your holiday budget, stocking stuffers are usually not in the budget. To avoid blowing your bank account at the last minute, look at the dollar store for trinkets. Another great place to look are the dollar shelves at your local retailer.

The Power Struggle Continues

Bill Bounds — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:33:16 +0000

If your child is anything like my little girl, they’re clamoring to find where their lines are drawn and how much control over anything they have. This often manifests itself in rather loud ways and bitter arguments between you and your child. (If your child isn’t like mine, they probably will be soon.)

Lately, our girl has begun making very spur-of-the moment decisions about what she is and isn’t going to with respect to things like going out to dinner or going to the store with us. As my wife and I are getting ready to leave, she will just say, “Daddy, I’m not going. I’m going to stay here by myself.”

Dads taking over as carpool kings

Contributor — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 16:51:31 +0000

I'm surprised this appears to be a national trend, but it sure is true at our house. My wife works at a traditional job downtown (with no parking). I work at home and supposedly have lots of time to take breaks and drive kids all over town to the doctor, soccer, and assorted playdates. I have to say it's a part of parenting that is the least ennobling to me. I know some moms and dads say it's a special time where they actually get to talk to their kids, and maybe I'll feel that way when they are teens and I'm glad for any time I have to plug into what they are doing. But right now, it feels like underpaid taxi work

It sounds like Hell!

Paul Banas — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:26:00 +0000

My little boy, age "almost 6" heard the sound of Spring rain on our windows this morning and announced, "It sounds like Hell." Well, maybe it did to a boy who would have to walk four blocks from where we park the car to get to his urban school. We are ending the days of his malapropisms, though, and when they come I want to pick him up and hug all of his little boy-ness, since very shortly, I won't be able to pick him up at all.

Why you should NOT raise a reader

Paul Banas — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:25:52 +0000

Image via Wikipedia Everyone tells you to raise a reader. Read to them when they are babies, read them stories every night, model reading behavior. A great, or even good dad, will devote hours in slavish devotion to this idea. Well, here’s one dad who will tell you what the evil publishing scientists and lobbyists won’t: [...]

Piling on – Air controller dad loses job when kids do his

Paul Banas — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:25:25 +0000

An air traffic controller's stunt in letting his 9-year-old twins direct planes has landed with a thud - on the kids. The brother and sister are blaming themselves because their father has been suspended for bringing them to work at Kennedy Airport, a relative said Thursday.

...My knee-jerk opinion was "mountain out of molehill," but have come to agree with Ray LaHood that this is more than just bad judgment on the dad's part. It wasn't a case of him just bending the rules a little, and while nothing the kids did put anyone in danger, it showed a carelessness that could creep in if higher standards of security aren't kept. ... There are lots of professions where this wouldn't be an issue, but in these cases, kids need to get a simulated lesson on what daddy does at work, rather than bring them to really sit in.

Sex after pregnancy – a national magazine wants to know!

Paul Banas — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:43:44 +0000

I would like to hear from moms with newborns (as well as moms with older children, for comparison) about how they feel or felt about sex for the first year or two after childbirth.

...Did you realize that couples who have sex less than 10 times a year are considered to be in "sexless marriages" (which would mean many postpartum couples are indeed in sexless marriages)? If you find yourself with a baby and little or no sexual desire, when (if ever) would you seek help? ... Moms with older children are invited to weigh in with their wisdom/experiences, particularly if they experienced a sexual lull but have managed to overcome it.

...Otherwise, all involved continue to have different expectations of what is "normal" for other couples in their evolution from adolescents to adults to parents.

Your best tooth fairy strategies and stories?

Paul Banas — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 08:40:58 +0000

My son woke up yesterday morning, despondent that the tooth fairy had missed him. This was only his second tooth, so he has illusions of hitting the lottery with a take that would keep him in new Lego sets from here until his next birthday. His faith was unbending on the existence of said fairy, but he needed a reason for her non-appearance. Like any dad trying to keep the magic of mystical creatures, including Santa, alive, I had to think quickly. Quizzing him, I discovered that he had been up since dawn waiting for a little flying creature to appear bearing banknotes to exchange for his “lost” tooth. The solution was easy. As man has done for millennia, the trick to maintaining faith in whatever is to embellish the story to make up for every exception. Faith isn’t created by belief, it’s created by the desire to believe. All I had to do was suggest that the Fairy only comes at dawn and would never appear if he/she knew that a little boy was sitting wide-eyed waiting for the guest appearance. With a quick “OK,” I bought myself another day. This time, I had my cash ready and I surveyed the position of the tooth before sleep so I could get at it early. Within 15 minutes after my little boy went to sleep, the fairy arrived. His existence was secured. And all was right with the world. If you have a child with at least two lost teeth, I bet you already have a tooth fairy story. Let’s hear ‘em! Share on Facebook

[A DAD'S POINT-OF-VIEW] Is Envy a Good Thing?

TheFatherLife.com — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:54:41 +0000

A recent visit to an old friend’s beautiful new home triggered a brief moment of envy for me. While I was extremely happy and proud of his accomplishment in creating such a lovely home with so much care and detail, I also found myself longing for something similar in my life instead of the present [...]

All Have Won, and All Will Have Prizes?: The Challenges of Youth Sports

TheFatherLife.com — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:52:13 +0000

See Jimmy pitch the ball. See Dick hit the ball. See Dick run to first base. See Dick get called out. See Dick’s parents yell at the umpire. See other parents join in. See Dick walk back to the bench and hide his head in his hands. See Dick’s dad yell to Dick telling him [...]