My Life as a Dad

Because I write about parenting, I often get asked questions by parents unsure how to handle various situations with their own kids. While I would never claim to be a parenting expert, mainly because I’ve only actually been a parent for 4 ½ years, I’m flattered when asked for advice. That being said, advice is a slippery slope so I tend to give answers based on my experiences and let the questioners figure things out based on their unique family situations.

I’m happy to tell you which car seats, pacifiers and diaper bags I like best, if you ask, but those are my opinions. My parenting experience is different from yours, your neighbors and a random Eskimo in the Yukon’s.  Just as no two snowflakes are alike, just ask that Eskimo, no two kids or family situations are either. What I do love to share is stories about my experiences with my kids. The wins and losses, highs and lows, trophies and boo-boos – the meat of parenting. 

Because of this, I was excited to learn recently about a new parenting show called “My Life as a Dad” (MLAAD). On it, Robert “Daddy” Nickell, the man behind Daddy Scrubs, interviews well-known men, who also happen to be fathers, who discuss their takes on parenting. Did I mention that Daddy Nickell has 6 kids of his own? The man knows his way around a nursery.  

MLAAD is fascinating because while the public knows how great of a basketball player LA Clippers star Chris Paul is, he is much less known for how he regrets missing his own son’s basketball games while traveling during the NBA season. There’s a common misconception that celebrities lives are easier than “regular” people’s because they might have more money or cars or bigger houses.  MLAAD pulls back the celebrity curtain to reveal the human side of athletes, actors and other famous dudes.

So why am I telling you all this? Beyond the fact that it’s a really enjoyable series that debuts new episodes on their YouTube channel every week, I was asked to be a guest on the show.

Me.

The Dude of the House.

Can you believe it?

Mid-interview, me and Robert Nickell

I’m (at least slightly) less famous than former NFL star Eddie George, despite the fact that he and I took an Economics class together at The Ohio State University shortly after he won the Heisman Trophy.  But as you’ll see on the show, we are both dedicated fathers who are passionate about being good parents and role models for our kids.

My episodes of MLAAD were just released and I want to share them with you first. I’ll call it The Dude’s 

broadcast debut. In the 4 video clips, you’ll hear about my experiences with potty training, the challenges caused by letting my boys watch TV and movies and more.

It’s not advice unless you want to take it that way. I consider it to be reflections on how I’ve chosen to parent my family. Sometimes the decisions work out great and often they are disastrous, but I have to keep trying. With 4 ½ years down and hopefully dozens more to go, that’s My Life as a Dad.

The Dude On Work & Family

The Dude on Kids and TV

The Dude on Potty Training

The Dude on Teaching Moments

Note: I was not compensated for my appearance on MLAAD, though I was given this rad Camo Daddy Diaper Pack filled with sweet Daddy & Co. gear for me and my boys. 

Subscribe here to the My Life as a Dad YouTube channel to keep up with their latest videos.


Hey, I'm all about Instagram these days.
Come hang with me there: @DudeOfTheHouse

The First Last

I’m often nostalgic around this time of year because June is a memorable month for me for many reasons. June contains Mrs. Dude’s birthday, my brother’s birthday, my mother’s birthday and Father’s Day. And that’s just the first two weeks. But there’s two other dates that also always stand out in my memory: June 11 and 12.

Each of those two dates changed my life in a similar but very different way. June 11^th was the day I graduated from college and June 12^th was the day I graduated from high school. Only someone with a partial photographic memory (used most frequently to recall old completely random info) would remember those specific dates so many years after they occurred. For while the dates may have been insignificant relative to what happened on them, they stick in my mind as placeholders.

June 12, 1994 is a far more notorious date than just because I graduated from high school on that day. That date will live in infamy as the date O.J. Simpson allegedly murdered his ex-wife. But that event is obviously only part of what makes it memorable to me. It also marked my final time spent at the Richfield Coliseum, (where my school’s commencement was held), which closed a few months later. I’d spent countless great nights among my first 18 years at the Coliseum attending concerts, sporting events, and even an NHL exhibition game that had to be canceled midway through because the ice melted.  My final trip to the Coliseum marked one end of my childhood and a new beginning as I moved on to college a few months later.

A month after graduation I went to a Grateful Dead concert, one of many I attended over the years. This particular outdoor show was marred by a huge rainstorm that dampened the crowd, both figuratively and literally. But there was one moment in the second set that has stuck with me through the years. When the band played Saint of Circumstance and got to these lyrics: “Sure don’t know what I’m going for, but I’m gonna go for it, for sure,” I knew college, and the future in general, was going to be a mystery and an adventure. 

June 11, 1999 marked the culmination of my formal education and the official first steps of the rest of my life. At lunch after my graduation ceremony that afternoon, I told my family of my intention to move to Los Angeles later that summer. I didn’t know exactly what I would do when I arrived, but I figured I could wing it. I was young, smart and eager to get started on whatever I’d be doing next.

Cut to almost 14 years later and I’m still trying to figure out what I’m going for. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. Every choice I’ve made since then has led me to today. Some decisions have been great and some not so great. Obviously one great one was marrying Mrs. Dude, who collaborated with me to produce both Junior Dudes.

This year on June 12^th, I was daydreaming in the car while cruising on another sunny L.A. day, and reflecting on my high school graduation that occurred so long ago and so far away on that date.  Though my ride wasn’t long, I had a lot of time to think about all I’ve done since then. And when I reached my destination, I parked the car, and then ascended a staircase I’d climbed a hundred times before and picked up my Little Dude from the last day of his first year of school. His journey is just beginning. 

Leaving Room 5 for the final time. . .

Do Real Dudes Wear Pink?

For the Little Dude’s 2nd birthday party, we hired a guy in an Elmo costume to entertain the kids for an hour.  As part of his shtick Elmo made balloon animals for the kids.  Since it was his birthday, the Little Dude got first choice and was very excited when he saw the rainbow of options laid out before him in cheap latex.  There were myriad options: blue, red, yellow, orange, green, pink, purple, and pretty much every other color on George Clinton's head.  If it were me, my first choice would always be blue. My son picked pink.  My heart sank.

George "Crayola" Clinton

The following week, at one of his friend’s birthday party, one of the goodie bag items was a bottle of Mr. Bubble pink foamy bubble bath. Seems harmless enough, right? After we introduced it to his bath routine a few days later, every night he was clamoring for “Mas Pinky!” (Side note: he uses “Mas”, which means “more” in Spanish, more than the actual English word “more” for some reason.)  When that bottle ran out, we replaced it with a bottle of blue Mister Bubble foam which he now refers to as “Blue Pinky!”

There have been a few more instances like this over the last few months, which made me start drilling down on this. What’s the problem, you ask?  I guess the manly man section of my psyche yearns for my son to be a manly man, too, and choose blue instead of pink.  Is it my “fault” that he likes pink? Did I do something wrong? Should I have covered him in fresh animal pelts as an infant instead of a soft silky blanket?

I did some research to find out why we associate blue with boys and pink with girls. I figured the tradition dated back hundreds of years and had a purpose-driven origin. I was quite surprised to learn it’s only been since WWII and that pink was originally associated with baby boys, because it was recognized as a stronger color. Light blue was seen as better for baby girls because it was “softer”.  Whatever that means.

As a Dude who grew up in the 1980s, you might think I would like pink.  Most of the movies I grew up watching featured either a very cool or very wicked male character (usually Andrew McCarthy or Rob Lowe) who was invariably dressed in a Preppy pink polo shirt.  But the Preppy style died down when the ‘80s ended and Grunge styling took over. I don’t remember Nirvana wearing much pink flannel during the early ‘90s.

Do you think John Locke isn't a Dude?

So should I be bothered that my son would pick a “girlie” color, if given the option?  At first, I was frustrated. I want him to like the things that I like. A big part of parenthood is teaching our offspring. That’s why I play him the music I like and why he has Ohio State memorabilia all over his room. It’s not that I don’t like pink. It’s just that it’s not blue, which is my favorite color*.

The Little Dude’s affinity for pink is merely that: something that is pleasing to his senses. Does it make him  any less of a Dude? Not at all. I don’t understand why he would ever choose to eat 3 plain rice cakes instead of pizza, but I don’t think that makes him any less of a Dude either. 

After thinking about all of these factors, I think it really just means he’s more creative for looking outside of the box. He is very artistic in many ways so this is probably just an extension of how his unique mind works.  I don’t want him to be a conformist anyway, so I give him credit for blazing a Dudely new trail. Even if it leaves pink dust behind it.

I tried to think of things that I like that are pink and came up with a short list:

Pink Ribbons: Enough said. 

Pink Floyd: If you don’t eat your meat, how can you have any pudding?
Pink Panther: Not the crappy Steve Martin version, though.

Pink Lemonade: Though I have yet to encounter a pink lemon...
Pink’s Hot Dogs: Though their lines are always atrocious, the dogs are top notch.   
Pink Houses:  Ain’t that America? 

What pink things do you like? Leave a comment below with your favorites.

*=Is it strange for a grown man to have a favorite color? Or just to admit it?

I'm linking up with the amazing Yeah Write crew again this week.
Go check out some great blogs
and vote for your faves on Thursday.

Two-Line Tuesday: Model in Training

Where's the camera crew? 

I don't have all day.

How would you caption this photo?

Rockin' Friday: Hang On Sloopy

This week's Rockin' Friday tune dates back almost 5 decades, yet the song is still played regularly.  Especially in my home state. "Hang on Sloopy" was written in 1964 and made famous by The McCoys. 

Built with a basic rock and roll chord structure, easy to remember lyrics and topped off with 17-year old Rick Derringer’s shredding guitar solo at the end, it quickly became a #1 hit. It was eventually knocked out of that position by The Beatles’ “Yesterday”, so it stands in good company.

So why is this song still so popular in my home state of Ohio? Because it’s the state’s official Rock & Roll song! Does your state have one? Nah, it’s probably not cool enough.

And how did H.O.S. become the state song?  It goes back to Fall 1965, when an Ohio State band member begged the director to let the band play it at one of their football games. He did, they did, and it’s a tradition that’s still around today, before the 4^th quarter of every Buckeyes game. 

Since the Buckeyes’ men’s basketball team is playing in the Final Four this weekend, I thought it would be a great tune to share with all of you.  After months of listening to it in his rotation, when the Little Dude hears someone say “Hang on Sloopy”, he knows to reply “Sloopy, Hang on!” I think these are the types of lessons we are obligated to teach our children.

Enjoy this version, and not only because it contains some of the worst/best fake keyboard and drum playing you’ll ever see.

And here's another version if you would like to experience some Buckeye Pride: