Did You See The One About The Girl Taking Singing Lessons?

My sister in Florida is a music teacher and as a treat sent some CD's for Allie and Avery to practice with. Without further ado, I give you Avery and the Octave Jumping Eyebrows...

Special thanks to Hugh Weber, founder of Dude to Dad, who made this video possible. Thanks, Hugh!

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They Make The Mistakes So You Don't Have To: DadLabs

As a new father ten years ago I underestimated a number of finer points involved in the pregnancy and birth of a child: I had a habit of putting diapers on backwards (diaper dyslexia), my second son required forceps in order to be pulled out of his mother (She’s four-foot something, and I almost threw up seeing those things jammed way up in her.), and I went to the wrong entrance at the hospital when number three came along. (The main entry was closed for repairs, and momma delivered fifteen minutes after getting into bed. Whew!) My point being, I would’ve been a prime candidate for the book DadLabs: Guide to Fatherhood.

Sure there were hundreds of other titles out their like the What to Expect series, but they contained a laborious (pun unintended) amount of information and were geared to mothers. (Every time it said “you” in conjunction with body secretions I became squeamish.) DadLabs is quite the opposite in this respect. Written by four fathers, Clay Nichols, Brad Powell, Troy Lanier and Owen Egerton, the book gets right to the point and targets men as the primary audience. It’s all about pregnancy and babies for a real man’s man complete with beer, cussing and humor – lots of humor. (My personal favorites were the “Dad Rants.”)

Even though DadLabs is formatted in a guy-friendly package with short paragraphs, diagrams and bullet points, it does not gloss over subject matter. The content thoroughly covers everything involved in the birth of a child from the pregnancy test to the baby’s developmental milestones over the first year. And don’t misinterpret the book’s slapstick approach; these dads were not afraid to tackle sobering issues like medical complications and post-partum depression. Significant others will appreciate that the writers also educated men as to the mother’s feelings through the entire process. (That one of the guys suited up as “Prego-man” wearing an empathy belly and drinking Ipecac for twenty-four hours speaks volumes.)

The mantra for DadLabs is, “We screwed up so you don’t have to,” and they continue to educate fathers on their website DadLabs.com where they share additional tips through articles and videos. But one of the best things about both the book and their site pertains to their timeliness. I may have burped my three boys after feedings and rocked them to sleep, but I still fell into the Dad 1.0 category – involved yet clueless. Today, however, fathers are even more active in child-care duties, especially those who, for one reason or another, are stay-at-home dads. In this context, DadLabs is perfect in upgrading these fathers to the Dad 2.0 level.

DadLabs is a fun read. It made me laugh; it made me think, and it made me wonder how I didn’t injure or maim my own children as a young father.

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10 Reasons Being A Stay-At-Home Dad Has Made My Wife A Man

Currently I've been reading Jeremy Adam Smith's new book, The Daddy Shift: How Stay-at-Home Dads, Breadwinning Moms, and Shared Parenting Are Transforming the American Family. As you can probably already guess from the title, the general thrust of the book deals with the shifting roles between fathers and mothers as parents. I'll probably deal with the subject matter more in depth at a later date, but for now I would like to comment on the matter of a parent's reversal in tendencies that can occur when dad takes care of the kids and mom takes care of business.

Having been a stay-at-home dad (SAHD) for just over a year, I can certainly attest to changes in the behaviors exhibited by Ashley and me. In fact, after giving it more thought, I was able to jot down a list of specifics to share with others. And here they are.

Ten Reasons Being A SAHD Has Made My Wife A Man...

10. She leaves the toilet seat up

9. Regularly uses quotes from All in the Family and anything with Will Ferrell in it (just noticed that she used the credit card to buy Season 1 of The Man Show).

8. Would rather pop open a beer and watch Sportcenter than talk to me about her day

7. Drinks from the carton then leaves the empty container in the fridge

6. Has to be reminded to take out the trash

5. She wants to buy a motorcycle (she hasn't said anything, but I've found the brochures in her nightstand)

4. Her subscription to Playboy (also discovered in the nightstand)

3. She's started playing golf (Saturday mornings are now "her time")

2. She's not embarrassed to purchase condoms, but gets red-faced in front of the checkout clerk when she has to get feminine hygiene products

And the number one reason...

1. You can't see it, but that black eye I'm sporting - I've been telling people I ran into a door, but really it's because I burnt dinner... again.

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