R-E-S-P-E-C-T

I am hoping, perhaps naively, that we can avoid with Finn some of the unwelcome, yet common, behavioral phases most kids go through. Right now I am most concerned about avoiding the No! No! No!s, the Gimme! Gimme!s and the the Mine!s.

My strategy is simple: display the behaviors that I expect of Finn and treat him respectfully. Weird. I actually heard someone out there snicker...

Compassion is the basis of all morality

I'm about to drop some heavy on you. If you want light, go to YouTube and search for "sneezing puppy".

This blog post will contain ellipses, colons, semicolons, liberal (and correct) comma usage and artistically rendered incomplete sentences...

Also, the thinly veiled political nature of this post is intentional. That is the political nature is intentional, not the thin veil.

You've been warned

Thanks for the unexpected

I was going to spend today's blog  anonymously flaming a couple of parents I keep running into at the local kiddo hangout. But I have decided not to... at least not today. Instead I am going to end my week on a high note. Because I am that kind of guy. I am. Yes, I am.

Feelgoodness after the jump...

The cost of playing football

I played soccer, hockey and baseball as a kid. I told my mom I wanted to play football when I was in middle school. She just flat said no. I get it now. She didn't want me to get hurt. And while I did play hockey, which is a full contacy sport, there are far fewer per capita injuries to hockey players than to football players.

More bad news about football injuries after the jump.

Wake up!

A fun way for a dad to wake up his lazy-bones son circa 1990. Thanks for sharing this Kayla. I wonder if the son got the reference?

Upgrade your life: Dads, dump the diaper bag

When we were expecting Finn, I had a hard time caring about all the baby shower hoopla. We needed SO MUCH STUFF, but registering for it was an exercise in tedium. Which color bottle warmer do you want?; What should the theme for the nursery be?; I honestly don't give a crap. My clothes barely ever match and when they do I walk out of the house looking like one of those little green army men dressed head to toe in slightly faded shades of drab green.

What is your brand of diapers? We have not met him yet... so I have no idea. What kind of bottles do you want? There's more than one type? You guys are killing me with the questions.

Not to mention, baby shower are for women. They are. Yes, they are.

More on this, and my pick for the best daddy diaper bag after the jump...

Music Monday

Finn is finally at the age where NPR is not cool. That means every car ride is filled with the music of his choice. Even when I get him good and saturated with radio pop, and try to make a subtle switch to Science Friday, he starts squawking and whining. A man can only take so much Rafi! So, since I control the CD player, I control the music. Luckily Finn and I have a few albums we can both agree are great.

Pappa Dadda picks music after the jump.

Vegetarianism

I am a vegetarian, yes I am. But my kid is not. Nor should he be. And while my wife (a velociraptor at heart) and I have had a few discussions about what this means for Finn, they might not be the discussions you think they are.

We both agree that Finn should eat meat. It is easier for his body to build muscles as well as the thousands of enzymes, proteins, organelles and other cell structures if he has a consistent source of animal protein (which provides a reliable source of all essential amino acids) and fat. If he will actually eat it is a different story... but we try.

Hot Sauce Mom

Is using hot sauce and cold showers to discipline a lying child a fair punishment or child abuse? That's what an Alaska court will have to decide in the coming weeks (watch the ABC news coverage here).

My first thought was that this isn't such a big deal. Kids in many cultures eat hot pepper laden foods. An anthropologist friend of mine who did research in Wahaca, Mexico told me he often saw very young kids huffing and puffing to cool the spicy burn in their mouths while eating family meals. No one would arrest a parent for letting their child try a spicy curry, right? True, not all hot sauces are the same, but it appears in the video that the hot sauce that was used was similar to Tabasco sauce.

What really gets me in the video is the anger the mother is expressing. Was this a punishment or payback? The parent is supposed to be the rational, level-headed Jedi to his/her immature padawan.

Which leads to a more important discussion about discipline.

The Forward-Facing Car Seat Debate and an Endorsement

Learning that the American Academy of Pediatrics changed its recommendation for when children can face forward while riding in a car from one years old to two years old was kind of a blow. We found out a few weeks before Finn's first birthday. He was still riding backwards and so doesn't know the difference.

I'm a stay at home dad

Why does that feel like a dirty thing to admit?

Partially it's because I just earned my doctorate; it feels like a bit of a waste to have spent so many years in school only to do something I could have done without graduating high school. And partially it's because this wasn't our family plan. I was never going to stay at home with our 1 year old, Finn. In contrast, Danielle was looking for an opportunity to do so. I was supposed to be the career hot shot. "Say bye-bye to Daddy! You'll see him on Friday!" This isn't to say Danielle is chopped liver--she is an important, integral part of her office and has had solid bites from prospective employers in her job search. It is to say however, that THIS WASN'T THE PLAN!