By Dad News March 9th, 2010

UN Says Mother-Child HIV Can Be Eliminated By 2015 “It estimates that between $13-20 billion are needed for the period 2011-2013.” (AP)

Kids Born Via IVF Mostly Faring Well Into Adulthood “Because those earliest stages are different for children conceived through IVF, that could, in theory, result in differences in disease risks.” (Reuters)

Jailed For Taking Kids To Jury Duty How else will our children learn how the legal system works? (NYTimes)

Fake Nostalgia For A Pre-Therapy Past Are kids better off figuring out all their problems by themselves? (NYTimes)

Bully For You, Chilly For Me How should kids deal with a bully? How about parents? (Dadcentric)

Tags: bully, hiv, in vitro, jury duty, nostalgia, therapy
Posted in Health, News, School

By Daddy Clay March 8th, 2010

In Theory: Don’t play the “Mom’s Away” Card. Dad taking care of the kids when mom is out of town should be a non-event. Because dads are now equal co-parents, it would be absurd and demeaning for a dad to ask for some kind of accommodation or special consideration just because mom is out of town.

In Practice: Overheard within twelve hours of mom’s departure — “You see, coach, My Wife Is Out of Town, so I couldn’t find Ri-ri’s soccer uniform. Or her water. Or her ball.”

In Theory: Don’t gender daily housework or routines, especially with your daughter. Model for her your ability to handle even those “girly” tasks like putting hair in ponytails.

In Practice: The bathroom door slams in my face when I ask if I can help with the hair situation. Her struggles continue all he way onto the sideline of her brother’s soccer game. She adamantly shrugs off my attempts to help. A mom on the sideline asks, “Can I help you with that?” and before I can warn her off, Ri-ri has handed over the brush and has backed in for service.

In Theory: Do not lose the children.

In Practice: It’s my second lap around the elementary school, panic rising. Ri-ri is on the field playing soccer, so she’s accounted for, but Coop has vanished from the playscape while I was spectating. He’s not on any of the fields, not on a second playscape, not in any of the bathrooms. All the other doors are locked. In desperation, I shout his name at the dense thicket that abuts the school property. It shouts back, “Dad! We found a creek!”

In Theory: Cook for the children, observing the same nutritional guidelines the family would normally follow. Dads are as competent in the grocery aisle and the kitchen as moms are. To depend on takeout and processed food reduces your standing and has negative impact on the kids’ health.

In Practice: Marinated and grilled pork tenderloin, pesto pasta, salad, apple slices, that the kids lavish with such patronizing praise that I’m serving frozen pizza for the rest of the week.

In Theory: Keep the kids healthy! Observing routines will help, but if a child does grow ill, dads are just as capable as moms of being patient and nurturing. Male nurses are more and more common, after all. Get in touch with your inner Florence Nightingale.

In Practice: As the stars parade across Oscar’s red carpet, I’m loading vomit-soaked sheets into the washing machine. For the second time. Because as any good parent knows, the last thing you want to do when a child throws up all over his room is strip the bed and put on the only other clean sheets, then deliver a stern lecture on nutrition because the child went on a Smart Food binge while you were chatting with an old college buddy on the soccer sideline because the child will promptly boot again, this time all over the pillows, comforter, stuffed animals, curtains, carpet and bookshelves, leaving you without any clean sheets so you will have to make a humiliating call to your spouse admitting that you not only allowed the child to become sick, but also that you don’t know if you can put the comforter and Wally the Panda in the washing machine.

In Theory: Parenting experts.

In Practice: We screw up so you don’t have to.

Tags: barf, cleaning, cooking, home, sick kids, single dad
Posted in Fatherhood, Health, Marriage, Travel

By Daddy Clay March 5th, 2010

My head snapped around, and I had the same sickening feeling I get in my “walked into the DadLabs World HQ in the buff” dreams.

I had just inadvertently burst into the ladies room and I knew exactly who was to blame. Daddy Troy. It’s the Gear Daddy’s fault because he’s such a big fan of those bathroom door icons that are so “witty” that you have to stand in the hallway for twenty minutes until you finally puzzle out if you are a “Pointer” or a “Setter.”
Read More

Tags: bathroom, changing, diapers, fathers, men's room, new dad, poopy, public, wipes
Posted in Potty Training

By Dad News March 4th, 2010

Jailing a Woman for a Miscarriage? Should the government create a law that will tell you how to act during pregnancy? Should the woman be criminally charged for causing her own miscarriage? Utah thinks so. (NYTimes)

85 Million African Children To Be Immunized Against Polio Polio might be a disease of the past in America but it’s still an epidemic in Africa. (AFP)

Rule #64: Send Your Kid to Mafia Training Camp 100% of kids get picked on at some point in their childhood yet few are trained to deal with it. That’s where Mafia Training Camp comes in. (ReallyBadParentingAdvice)

FDA Warns Nestle, Others For Misleading Food Claims So sugary chocolate wrapped up in other chemicals isn’t good for you?! (Reuters)

Having a Child to Save Another How far would you go to save your child? Is having a child to save a child ethically and morally wrong? (NYTimes)

Tags: candy, immunization, mafia, miscarriage, polio, preimplantation genetic diagnosis
Posted in Eating, Health, News, Pregnancy