Mommy's Pen

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Soccer Dad

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The first Tuesday of the month is Parent Council night at Nora’s school. Did I mention I am the proud Parent Council Representative for the Cherry Blossom Kindergarten?  I can’t imagine you are surprised.

This means Ben and Nora are on their own that night.  I take off after dinner and they play, have stories and bedtime.  This last Tuesday, Nora wanted to go in the backyard and kick the soccer ball around.

Though I had a productive weekend and paid a neighbor kid to mow the front yard, the back yard is still overgrown (stupid rain brought the grass back to life). 

As I was getting ready to leave, I looked out a back window and saw this:

Ben had carved a soccer field out of the wilderness and painted lines.  It’s not exactly regulation, but it’s not just “kicking a ball around.”

Dads are so damn cool.

What Matters to Moms…Dads

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Here’s what I love about dads: One day, Nora was feeding me fake soup. I told her it was delicious and made lots of “Mmmm, mmmmm,” noises. Then she gave her daddy a taste. He immediately spit it out crying, “Blech, blech!” Nora cracked up laughing and so did I.

When I got pregnant and we started reading every available book and magazine on the subject fo parenting, we were appalled at the lack of positive dad images. Nearly every magazine was directly marketed to mothers, with plenty of articles about how to deal with an inadequate husband/father. It got to the point where if we did see a picture of a dad one of us would shout, “Look out! Get that guy away from that baby!”

There are so many men these days who are engaged with their children like never before. The media is way behind on this one and it’s not doing anyone any good.

Check out this babycenter article about great books actually geared toward dads; what a concept!

Of all the parenting magazines, I think Wondertime does the best job of being dad inclusive. Lots of great articles by fathers, for everyone.