News links for a Thursday

Get hip to tips for clueless dads  [Wakefield Observer]
This is a pretty good advice article for new or soon-to-be dads from a random columnist in Massachusetts. Usually when I read these types of articles with headlines that include "clueless dads" I expect to hate it (or at least roll my eyes) but he's got some pretty good advice. Even if the title sucks.

Tubby toon dads square off  [Chicago Tribune]
Why is this show "The Family Guy" all of a sudden in my personal media radar? I'm pretty sure it's been on for a long time. This article is like the third reference to it I've seen or heard in two days. I guess I've got to check it out. Oh yeah, I guess Homer was dissing the Family Guy dad on the Simpsons.

Website gives parents biased advice, lawmaker says  [USA Today]
Wait one minute. A government website put out by the Bush administration and funded by my tax dollars promotes a right-wing agenda to children and parents? That is a news flash. That new pope is Catholic too.

Candy draws kids, car bomber  [San Fransicsco Chronicle]
This time I saved the worst for last. If you haven't heard about this yet, a suicide bomber in Iraq targeted soldiers who were passing out candy to a crowd of kids the other day, killing 27 - mostly children. Just when you think you're desensitized to the amount of evil in the world, shit like this happens.

Meet Mister... oh crap.

Where the hell have I been? I guess enjoying the summer, because as I was settled down last night watching my Red Sox and their American League cohorts beat up on the National League, I saw an ad for what might be (at least from my perspective) the worst show ever - "Meet Mister Mom" on NBC. Then I look it up on the Internet, and I find Dad bloggers already talking about it, so I'm sorry I'm late to the party. Zero Boss Jay wrote about it in Blogging Baby (which is the first result if you search "Meet Mister Mom" in Google I'm happy to say) and he pointed me to Rebel Dad, who wrote some pretty succinct reasons why it's a bad idea. I can't link to his article directly, so I'm just going to re-"print" them here:

I Could Write All Day about what a dumb idea Meet Mr. Mom is, but let me try to break down the dangerous/wrong assumptions that that show seems to make (in 100 words or less):

1. It assumes that raising kids is a terrible job. But most of the working dads I know would see a week alone with their children as a good (if exhausting) opportunity.
2. It assumes that men suck at caregiving. Because if dads are just as good as moms, where's the humor.
3. It assumes that parenting can be judged.
4. It assumes that mothers enjoy seeing their husbands flounder with the kids.
5. It assumes Americans will watch super stereotypical dreck. (Actually, this is probably the only correct assumption. What was it that Mencken said about the intelligence of the American people ...)

Rebel Dad. Friday June 17, 2005.

For me I think it's going to suck the most because for the time the show is on, when I tell people I'm a stay-at-home-dad I'm going to have to hear - "Just like that show huh?" or "What do you think of that show?" or "I saw that Mister Mom show last night and it was hilarious. Is that what your life's like?". All I can hope for is that it's a colossal flop. Either way I'm going to have to watch at least the first episode so I can bash it. Goddamn it.

Kid tracker.

A few months ago I got all weirded out about a company that was putting GPS trackers in school uniforms, but that was a few months ago. My baby can only crawl around now, but even that limited mobility has given me a completely new perspective.

A British company has come up with a pretty simple solution for parents wanting to know exactly where their kids are. They've got a GPS device that kids carry around with them, which will let their parents know where they are within one meter (or "metre" if you're British). The company charges a subscription service to the parents allowing them to track their kids on their personal computers and cellphones. The device also has a panic button, sending a text message to the parent's cellphone when pressed.

This is still kind of creepy to me (I'm glad my parents didn't make me carry GPS around when I was a teenager), but you know, I'm guessing someday soon this stuff will seem really normal.

Sazo GPS Location [via Shiny Shiny]

also on MDD - It's not quite an ankle bracelet. [April 15, 2005]

The perfect float.

One of the benefits of living in the southwest is that lots of people have swimming pools, and the modern day family is no exception. As this was Madame's first summer where she could spend any amount of time outside, I've been looking for the perfect float for her. At first I got this one from Speedo, but she was too small for it and it kept her a little to low in the water. Then I got one that kept her too much up out of the water, which made me afraid she might take a dive into the pool if she got a mind to. But I guess the third time is the charm, because then I found the Swimways Baby Spring Float.

The float is pretty basic - two concentric pockets of air held together by some mesh netting. The baby sits in the middle of it, keeping the water up to about mid-chest level. It's much easier for her to splash in the water, and it easily deflates and collapses into a bag for taking to a friend's house. I definitely recommend it.

Swimways Baby Spring Float. 12.99 at Amazon.com.

Going to t-shirt hell.

I've written about some funny t-shirts and kid's clothes in the past, but I don't think I've found a more crass (some most might say offensive) on-line kid's t-shirt store than this place - T-Shirt Hell. A lot of the shirts are simple bumper-sticker comedy, but a couple of them genuinely provoke a "I can't believe someone actually put that on a kid's t-shirt and I'm laughing" response. I'd never in a million years put this shirt on my kid, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't crack me up when I first saw it. A few of my favorites are the "Are You My Daddy?", "Now that I'm Safe, I'm Pro Choice!" and just in time for Christmas - "Cuter Than Baby Jesus"

T Shirt Hell.com via DaddyTypes.

Search for more kid's T-Shirts and clothing on Modern Day Dad.

London bombing links.

It's hard to think of something dad related to write about this morning with the terrorist attacks in London and everything. The links I've been visiting this morning are:

• Boing Boing has a pretty good wrap up of the blogsphere coverage.
• The Wikipedia page for the attacks is already incredibly informative and useful. Basically what I wanted out of the news networks the five minutes I had to watch this morning.
• The Flickr bomb blasts pool is pretty good. There are lots of photos of televisions for some reason, but more photos of what's happening on the street are coming in.
• Live blogging like at perfect.co.uk and the London Underground Blog also provides a pretty compelling time line from a personal perspective.

I'm going back to the TV to watch CNN with the baby.

News links for a Wednesday

Dads of small babies have a high death risk. [UPI via Washington Times]
A Swedish study reports that parents of children born with a low birth weight are more likely to die early of cardiovascular disease, suggesting a genetic relationship.

Hip-hop parents hide discs from the kids. [Detroit Free Press]
Just because you become a father or mother doesn't mean you still don't like listening to music that's inappropriate for your children to listen to. This is a pretty good article about the first generation of hip-hop parents trying to come to terms with the music they enjoy and want to share with their kids. My question: where's the hip-hop kid's music? Enough with the Dan Zanes and Lisa Loeb already - where's the Busta Rhymes?

British parents spend millions on designer clothes. [QCK.com]
UK parents spent £446 on designer clothes for their babies last year, with 12 percent saying their kids had clothes with the labels like Prada, Versace and Ralph Lauren. They make baby Prada?

The artful dodge of housework. [Christian Science Monitor]
Men still don't do as much housework as women. No big revelation there if you ask me. I'm a SAHD and believe me, I do my fair share of housework, but even so I'd say I'm about even with my wife on the amount I do. My beef is with a guy who writes a book called "The Lazy Husband: How to Get Men to Do More Parenting and Housework." It's one thing to cash in on women who are pissed at their husbands, but selling out your gender in the title is unforgivable.

What I get asked the most about.

I've bought a lot of baby stuff in the last year, and I've blogged about most of it here. A lot of the stuff is either obvious or forgettable, but certain things seem to always keep coming up, whether it's when I'm out with Madame or it's people emailing me . Anyway, it's been a while since I've written about them, so here are the top three dad/baby related things I'm asked the most about.

• Bugaboo Frog, and the Bugaboo Frog cup holder.. This one is kind of obvious, because I'm not only one of those people who bought and are passionate about their kick-ass stroller, I also write about it on the Internet. Not many I don't get a lot of email about it, but I do get asked at least once a week by a stranger about my stroller. And Google searches for "bugaboo cup holder" have to be one of my biggest referrers.
  The requisite Bugaboo Frog post.  [September 28, 2004]
  Bugaboo cup holder. Round one.  [December 28, 2004]
  Bugaboo cup holder. Round one results.  [January 6, 2005]
  Search for more "Bugaboo" stuff on Modern Day Dad.
• Zolo Kushies Stacrobats. My aunt gave Madame this toy for Christmas last year, and I get more questions via email about them than any other item. What can I say? They're soft, magnetic, fun to play with and all-around a great toy - especially because they're one of those toys that grow with the kid.
  Stacrobats. [April 19, 2005]
• Mary Janes by Trumpette. As it turns out, socks are very important for kids. I had no idea before I had one. And apparently shoes aren't the best for young feet, as they learn to walk better in bare or stockinged feet. Socks that look like shoes? No problem. At least one out of five times I'm out with the baby and she's wearing a pair of these, someone will comment on how cute they are.
  Mary Janes.  [September 25, 2004]

Crawling to the oldies.

I mentioned a few weeks ago how puzzled I am about kid's music, and thankfully lots of people left comments with suggestions. I'm still trying out all kinds of stuff, but one thing I figured out was she loves the oldies. Actually my Dad figured it out - he was listening to the oldies station when we were visiting, and Madame immediately started shaking her rump. I'm not really a big fan of the oldies personally, but it's definitely closer to what I like than Raffi.

Then I read in Ideashak how his little girl loves Brian Wilson's Smile and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, and a light bulb went off. What I need to do is find the oldies that I like (and that I already have) and make a play list for Madame. I'm happy to report it's working like a charm. Especially Smile - as soon as it comes on she starts singing along, which is pretty much the cutest thing ever.

Smile by Brian Wilson. $14.99 at Amazon.com.
Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. $9.99 at Amazon.com

Pop up photo ball.

One of my most favorite stores, Organized Living, is going out of business. This bums me out in a huge way, but I suppose they couldn't make it selling drawer organizers and modular shelving. Anyway, life goes on, so I went to the liquidation sale yesterday to see what I couldn't live without. I got some sweet stuff, among which was the Melannco Photo Pop Up Ball.

Like all brand new toddlers I'm guessing, Madame has been really into pictures lately so we've been trying to find a way she can play with them and not destroy them (or the frames). The pop up ball is a plastic 14-sided "ball" with clear pockets on each side that you slide photos into. It's, light enough for her to play with, keeps the pictures safe, and even collapses and pops up as a bonus. If you ask me it's kind of ugly for real life, but for her it's perfect.

Pink, Blue or Black Pop Up Photo Frame only $2.74 on clearance at Amazon.com. Sweet! (If they marketed it to kids maybe it wouldn't be on clearance.)

Dad blog roundup.

After yesterday's Internet creep-fest, I decided to check in with the dad blogs I usually read.

Daddytypes: Greg has lots of great stuff as usual, but my favorite is this short conversation between two little boys at a McDonald's that he found.

Rebeldad: Rebeldad is continuing his comprehensive roundup of the Father's Day articles that appeared online. (It's a lot more comprehensive than my quick roundup).

Ideashak: Paul's little girl is 5 months old already (damn that went by quick) and he's got a list of the baby stuff that's worked out the best for him (including Brian Wilson's Smile and The Beach Boy's Pet Sounds - my Madame loves the oldies too, and these are about the only oldies we can all agree on).

Metrodad: Metrodad found a pretty cool little online tool that maps all the countries you've visited. I'm a little embarrassed to say I've only been to ten. I guess I've got some more traveling to do (apparently Los Angeles doesn't count as a country).

I'm Not A Slacker!: Kevin has updated his "Dumbass Parent of the Day" column. My favorite:

Woman:"Did I do something wrong?"
Sgt. Tyler "Yes, you did."
Woman: "I don't think so."
Sgt Tyler "What about the three children you have in the trunk of the car?"

Digital Dad: DD found an interesting article about how parents are using on demand video on their cell phone to quiet misbehaving children.

The double-edged sword of the Internet.

Some days when trying to think up something to write about, I troll the Internet looking for interesting, funny or even weird dad and kid related things. Sometimes I come across great, bizarre things, and occasionally I come across something that really creeps me out.

My example for the first category - things that are completely bizarre but interesting nonetheless - is a guy I found via Boing Boing who is in the process of making one stuffed animal per day for an entire year. Boing Boing called him an "extreme crafter," and I'm sure I can't give a better description than that. Check out photos of many of his creations here (my favorite is the stuffed book of matches).

The second category - things that creep me out - doesn't actually happen all that often when looking for dad related stuff. But the other day I was looking around and I clicked a Google ads link on a dad blog (one of those "contextual" links), that took me to Diaperstation.com, the "leading supplier of Superior quality Adult Baby items" (sic). If you were also wondering what "adult baby items" are, think adult-sized snapsuits, diapers, rubber pants and even - holy crap - adult-sized cribs. I like to think of myself as a fairly liberal guy, generally leaving each person to their own bizarre fetish (as long as they're not hurting anyone else), but this seriously makes my stomach turn. Now I'm sharing it with you.

Hopefully I'll think of something better to write about tomorrow.

Infantile t-shirts.

I'm not exactly sure where, but last week I came across a new online children's t-shirt boutique called Infantile. Unlike most of these online  children's clothing stores, this one focuses on the designers themselves. As I don't really know much about cutting edge graphic design I can't really comment on the designers, but the site has some pretty cool shirts - all with that NYC-graphic-design-t-shirt-fetish sensibility. My favorites are "Ready Set Grow" (pictured) and "M is for Mosey." At $22 a piece they're not the cheapest, but they're cooler than Carter's. 

DIY wipes.

It's one thing to half-ass a Bugaboo cup holder for your stroller, but this is a level of do-it-yourself that I can't even approach. Apparently some people make their own baby wipes, and one of these people use a table saw to do it. Basically  you cut a roll of paper towels in half, put them in a plastic bin with a soapy water solution and you're done. The guy who came up with it figures he gets the cost of wipes down to about 0.6 cents per wipe. The thing is, even though I wouldn't do it to save the money (especially when you can get a big box of wipes at Costco), but if I had a circular saw lying around the house I'd probably give it a try just so I'd have an excuse to use the power tool.

Actually, no I wouldn't.

Homemade Baby Wipes [via Boing Boing]

Eleventh month developments.

It's been a big month. A really big month actually. Most of the things that I've been waiting for her to do for months, she's now doing - and my job gets harder and harder.

• Crawling. This was the big one we've been waiting for. At the end of last month it she was getting close, but this month she's got it down. She actually started at my parent's house on their hardwood floors. I don't know if it was just that she didn't want to lie down on her belly on the hardwood, but whatever it was she just started crawling. It's great, but now she can get to just about anything and everything she wants to get a hold of - usually the one thing you don't want her to touch.
• Waving. My dad has been trying to get her to do this since she was about 2 months old, and this month she figured she'd finally make him happy. The best thing is she waves at anything - strangers, pictures of people, even her reflection. In the airport she was like a little goodwill ambassador, waving at just about everyone that walked by and getting smiles and waves back from just about everyone. It made me think how funny life would be if adults just indiscriminately waved to each other for no reason.
• Huge naps. Maybe it's because she's really active now, but she starting taking these long 2 hour naps last month. She's still sleeping through the night and going to bed around her usual hour, but she needs more sleep than she did a month a go I guess. It's great if I want to get stuff done around the house obviously, but if I want to go out with her to run an errand, we've got to plan around the Queen of Sheba's beauty rest. I know, I know. I shouldn't complain.
• A fifth tooth and some biting. Like I've mentioned before, she popped her fifth tooth (second upper left incisor) on Father's Day, and now she's figured out that a fun game to play with mom during dinner is bite down on the spoon. Maybe it's the Gerber silicon spoon (I like to use a little bigger spoon), but Madame thinks it's hilarious, much to the annoyance of her mother.
• Who is that? Sometimes I feel dumb making a big deal out of the simplest little things, but this one really blew me away. I had her on my lap a few weeks ago, and we were looking at pictures on the screen of my digital camera. Lots of them are of her, and on one of them I asked her, "Who is that?", not really expecting a response. She looked at me and then pointed to her belly. Woah. Fortunately my dad was a witness and we completely freaked out. I tried it again with some other pictures, and every time there was one of her, she correctly identified herself. I'm sorry, but my daughter is goddamn brilliant.

Leapfrog learning drum.

My designs on not getting Madame any toys that play annoying songs have gone right out the window. She loves anything that plays a song or sings to her, and I'm learning to not be so annoyed. Recently she played with this Leapfrog Learning Drum which, although it's still kind of annoying, I thought was a little better than the rest. It's an electronic drum that, when you hit it, plays songs, single musical notes in a melody, or prompts kids to count or recite the alphabet. It also has a field of red led lights that light up numbers, letters and other shapes to go along with the music - kind of like an old school scrolling message board. What matters is she really enjoyed it, and it's more interactive than just pressing a button.

Leapfrog Learning Drum. $19.99 from Amazon.com

Can I also say, just for the record, what an awesome name "Leap Frog" is for a learning toys company? The guy that came up with that brand deserves a raise (if he wasn't the guy who founded the company in the first place).

The baby and the dog - more in common than I'd like to admit.

My sister (modern day madrina) has been temporarily been living with us the past month or so which has been really great, but the big adjustment for us is she brought her dog, a young pug named Nilla. We're not exactly what you'd call "animal people" but we're (grudgingly) getting better at it all the time. Madame of course absolutely loves the dog. She thinks it's the funniest thing she's ever seen, and there have been more than a couple freak out sessions where it's provided a welcome distraction. But now that the baby is crawling around, I find myself trying to keep her mouth off of the dog's toys, and the dog's mouth off of her toys. This led me to brainstorm all the things they have in common:

• They both move around on the floor on all fours.
• They both love to put stuff in their mouths and chew, including but not limited to:
  • Water bottles
  • Magazines
  • Tissues
  • Small plastic toys
  • Socks
• They hate having their nails clipped.
• They tend to be early risers, getting up about a half hour to an hour before anyone would really want them up.
• They take naps daily.
• They both want to be in the middle of whatever it is you are doing, all the time.
• They will both pause, turn around and look at you, and then continue to do whatever it is they are doing, even though you know in your heart of hearts that they completely understood you when you told them to stop.
• They both like having their bellies rubbed.

Post Father's Day blues.

Well, "my day" (as I was calling it all day yesterday) is over. It was great - we went out to lunch and the modern day mom was extra nice to me all day. Madame woke up at 6:00 AM (about an hour earlier than normal) so I didn't exactly get to sleep-in (even though my wife tried to let me). She did pop her her fifth tooth as a Father's Day gift, which was a nice surprise.

Then this morning we woke up to find one of our cars stolen. It was the lesser of the two autos and not that huge of a deal, but it still sucks. So most of my morning has been talking with the police and insurance companies, and not thinking up clever blog entries.

There was one thing I did hear yesterday on CBS Sunday Morning in a story about Father's Day that's worth sharing. The single day with the most long distance calls made is Mother's Day. What's the single day with the most collect calls made? Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day.

Well, it's Father's Day weekend, and I'm happy to say it's my first. It's pretty sweet getting a new holiday and a reason for someone to make a big deal about you - kind of a bonus for doing what you're supposed to do anyway. Actually now that I think of it, I don't think I'll ever be eligible for a new holiday again. I guess I could always convert to Judaism and pick up Hanukkah or something, but I'm doubting that's going to happen anytime soon.

Anyway, usually I have to dig deep on the Internet to find news articles about dads, but not today. Everyone from CNN to your hometown rag has got some angle on dads today, including some rare articles about stay-at-home dads (of which I am one). Here are some of the stay-at-home dad items I've found:

Brian Sullivan, Stay-at-Home Dad, with Saoirse [New York Metro via Beth G.]
Nice snapshot of a SAHD who's been doing it for a while. Best quote, "...my style is a mix of over-the-hill hipster and midlife crisis." Why does that ring so true?

Daddy's home to stay [USA Today]
This is a good profile of SAHD and every-now-and-then dad blogger Michael Paranzino that was in yesterday's USA Today. If every big media piece about SAHDs was this fair, I'd be happy.

More dads want to be Mr. Mom [CNN.com]
Career Builder.com did a survey that found out that, surprise!, dads who answer Career Builder surveys care about their families. And for the one-millionth time, I hate "Mr. Mom." It's a crap term, pulled from a crap movie, used by lazy headline writers. And anyone that calls you "Mr. Mom" is insulting you. Period.

Metrosexual men happy with bouquets [Belfast Telegraph]
OK. This isn't about SAHDs, but come on. The men of Northern Ireland think it's cool to get flowers on Father's Day? Am I seriously supposed to believe that? It's like I always say, you can never trust a poll run by Interflora.

It's about time to recognize ranks of stay-at-home dads [Houston Chronicle]
I saved the best for last. This is the one I've been waiting for. L.M. Sixel writes a great piece about SAHDs, the bullshit US Census numbers, and this shocking piece of info: Americans will spend 27 percent less on Father's Day than they did on Mother's Day. Equality starts with equal gift-giving America!

Have a happy Father's Day.

Trapped snacks.

Sometime while we were away last weekend my baby turned into a toddler. The problem is, I'm not really up on the toddler gadgets and other stuff, but I did see something cool that I wanted to share. Friends of ours have a 15 month old daughter who had this cool contraption full of Goldfish crackers - the Snack Trap. As you can kind of see from the picture, the lid is perforated so little hands can get in and grab some finger food without spilling all over the floor. Not only does it keep things clean, but it allows kids to feed themselves (which I'm starting to figure out is something important to toddlers). It's probably not news to a lot of you, but I think I'm going to pick up a couple.

The Snack Trap. $4.99 each from Snack Trap.com