via www.npr.org
In a "down economy" stay at home dads are more popular than ever!
Whatever.
This story from NPR is pretty good though, and it puts a spotlight on what a lot of us are going through. Namely, should I go back to work? Because there's a part of me that does, and a part of me that doesn't. And if I do, how the hell am I going to explain this period of my life on a resumé?
via daddytypes.com
"But is it really George's fault? Or is it the Man in The Yellow Hat's fault for taking an agent of chaos out of the wilderness, and trying against all hope to civilize him?"
If you've ever read any Curious George story to your kids (especially the first story), then watching this is a must.
Greg from DaddyTypes said that this is "the single greatest video I've seen in my six years of dadblogging." It's really hard to disagree.
My other favorite:
"Dingaling. Dingalingaling. George had telephoned the fire station. They thought it was a real fire. "No fire!" exclaimed the fire chief. Only a naughty little monkey. Angered, the firemen take action. In short order, a monkey has bested seven adult men. This should give you a dim view of human potential."
Well, I did the quick calculation this morning, and this is officially the 7th CES I've been to, and while some were fun (the first few) and some were really underwhelming (last year), this year's is proving to be a little better, if only for the fact that I pretty much kicked it off by going to a Lady Gaga press conference at the Polaroid Booth.
You see, she's now a Creative Director at Polaroid for a special line of New Imaging Products or something. In the conference she made it very clear (while she tried her best to hide her face with her bizarre hair-hat), that this wasn't a typical endorsement deal, and that she and "The Haus of Gaga" (I couldn't make that up if I tried) were going to be very involved with new products.
Hey, that's great I suppose, and I know that Polaroid who haven't had anything exciting going on with them in about, oh, twenty years or so, are probably thrilled with the association. But all that stuck out to me during the whole thing was, there's a guy who works for Polaroid, one of the last great brands in photography, up on a platform saying "Lady Gaga" as if it were the most normal thing anyone ever uttered. Maybe I'm old or something, but it was kind of funny to me.
So anyway, if you're interested in my posts about stuff I'm seeing at CES this year, check out my posts over at Babble.com's product blog, Droolicious.
I've bought a lot of hair-brained electronic crap in my life, and so when I told my wife about FakeTV, she just assumed this was another one of those things. And while I can't say for sure that this thing fulfilled it's purpose (and I'm happy about that, believe me), even my wife had to agree that it's a pretty cool little device.
The basic premise behind FakeTV is that burglars won't bother to break into a house that they know is occupied, and the number one way they can tell a house is occupied is the faint glow of a television being watched in the dark. The problem is, if you go away on vacation, most all televisions don't work on traditional power-timers. And leaving a television on for 24 hours while you're away on vacation is not only expensive, it's bad for the TV. That's where FakeTV comes in.
FakeTV is this little box (very little box actually) that you plug in and leave behind a closed curtain or the opposite end of a room from a window. When it gets dark in the room, FakeTV pops on and starts emitting random light patterns that, when viewed through the window from outside your house, makes it look like there's a TV on. It has three settings (on, dusk plus four hours and dusk plus seven hours) and works with low-power LED lights.
I've had one in my house for a month now, and while I can't say it's actually deterred a real life criminal, it turns on and off just like it's supposed to. And from outside my front door, it really does look like someone is watching TV.
Now I just have to hope criminals aren't reading my blog.
Check it out at FakeTV.com
2009 is year-two for me at the ABC Expo, and even though the economy is not what it was last year, you'd hardly know it from attending the show. There seems to be just as many booths and products as last year, and once again I'm trying to blog about all of them.
Well, not all of them exactly. Just the products and companies that have something new or interesting to show. And even then there's absolutely no way I'm going to be able to get to everything. So if you're interested in what I'm writing about, go over to this page at Babble.com's gear blog Droolicious (where I blog about products for parents and children).
And fair warning to companies showing stuff at the show
- if your product has "Mom" or "Mommy" in it's name and it isn't something that ONLY someone female could use, then chances are I'm going to pass you by.
The highlights so far:
A fairly big write up of the new Orbit G2 stroller.
The Bugaboo & (RED) promotion and brand new (RED) Cameleon in black denim.
Jennifer Garner's favorite stroller, the Maclaren Grand LX Custom.
New Paul Frank designs for Clek Olli car booster seats.
An awesome infant bath tub called the Puj Tub.
A genius camera accessory designed to get infants to look up at the camera - the Shutter Buddy.
Enough of the Michael Jackson tributes already. Almost every morning I turn on the Today Show on NBC, and today was the first morning since his death that the news has been at least fifty percent something other than Michael Jackson related. On Saturday morning I even switched over to a business show on Fox News (to get a break from the wall-to-wall "king of pop" coverage on NBC), and what do you suppose they were talking about? Michael Jackson's money.
Sure, I loved (and love) Thriller as much as the next guy, and no one can deny he was the amazing performer everyone says he is. But at what point do we separate the art from the artist? I think it's safe to say that most people believe, including myself, that the guy was a (albeit never convicted) pederast.
And even if you're one of the people who believe he never touched a child in an improper way his entire life, he's the same guy who DANGLED HIS INFANT SON OVER A HOTEL BALCONY. And now I have to listen to Al Sharpton on the Today Show tell me what a devoted and amazing father he was.
Is this the person we need a moment of silence for in Congress?
Even though last week was my kid's spring break from school, I've managed to write about some pretty interesting stuff over at Babble in the last month or so. Some of my favorites are:
The Tauntaun Sleeping Bag. The Empire Strikes Back's favorite beast of burden made into a kid's sleeping bag. And I thought they felt cozy on the outside.
Boy-rettes. Alterna-hipster boys with long hair need something cool to keep their long hair out of their eyes. And while I know I shouldn't have a problem with this, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me that this didn't rub the wrong way.
The Kata 3N1 Camera Bag. Easily the best camera bag for parents I've ever tried. If you've got a DSLR and kids then you need one.
The Snuglette. It's the Snuggie - the blanket with arm holes - for kids. With an equally bizarre television commercial.
Octomom Scultpture (pictured). This is just nuts. And creepy. And funny. And art?
Can someone tell me what exactly is going on with the album art to Morrissey's new album, Years of Refusal? As a childhood devotee of the Smiths (and fan of Morrissey's solo work), the idea of him with a baby is at worst weird and at best kind of funny. And while this was pretty much my initial reaction to the actual image, it got me thinking about whether or not there was some deeper meaning to the whole thing.
Stereogum had a butterfly/caterpillar theory to it (revolving around the apparent jeweled butterfly and "caterpillar" on the baby's head and Morrissey's arm respectively) that was kind of crazy. Mark Beumont at the Guardian's music blog had a fairly well thought-out post about it too.
But I guess what it really comes down to is, "Who the hell knows?" The kid is undoubtedly cute (jeweled butterfly on the forehead and all) and though some might call Morrissey's pose "defiant" I would probably use the word "uncomfortable."
Actually, "defiantly uncomfortable" might just be the best way to describe Morrissey's work yet.
I think it's safe to say that most of us, if not all of us, are a little confused as to just how the hell things got so bad with the economy. Check this video out by Jonathan Jarvis. It does a rather good job of explaining things visually without over simplifying.
The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.
[via perpendum.com via bitterkenny]
Photojojo is one of my favorite photography resources on the Internet. Every now and then I get a great email from them with a cool idea for photographic projects, tips or general inspiration. And one of the more recent emails was all about photo projects for kids.
Face it, if your kid has a cell phone, then chances are he or she has a camera too (and if they don't, then they almost certainly have on one their cell phone). The photo ideas for kids from Photojojo include playing with perspective (as pictured) and my favorite, create a kind of photo time capsule for yourself.
Anyway, it's pretty cool. Check it out at Photojojo.com
File this one under close calls in the Modern Day Dad household. As you can see, this sheet of Disney Princess stickers is clearly recommended for adults 55 and up. Luckily, I was able to grab them from my kids before they finished using them.
A friend of mine sent me this clip from YouTube of a crazy Christian preacher saying that, and I quote, "You call yourself Mr. Mom, God calls you a bum."
I think my friend wanted me to join in her shock and anger, and although I appreciate the sentiment, honestly my first reaction was laughter. And then I kind of got bummed out because there were so many people in the congregation agreeing with him. It's just odd to me (but not surprising) that people actually think this way. And it's funny that someone would preach it.
If choosing to stay with your kids because you can afford it and you'd rather do that then send them to daycare makes me a bum, then feel free to send me a hand-out via PayPal.
Or at least click an ad.
So tomorrow I'm heading out to my sixth (can it really be six?) CES - the consumer electronics gadget extravaganza here in Las Vegas. And like last year I'll be blogging about a lot of what I see over at Babble.com. In fact this year I even got a special "Blogger" pass which, as far as I can tell, gets me free lunch in the blogger lounge (while supplies last), extra attention from exhibitors, and the slightly condescending looks from those holding orange "Press" badges.
Oh, and I got a free bag which, even though it says "CES" all over it, is pretty sweet.
I'll be looking mostly for anything related to children, parents, parenting or (of course) dads. If you've heard about anything that I should check out, please leave a comment and let me know. This show is so massive, it's going to be hard to even get to the stuff I'm planning, let alone find stuff I never even thought of before.
Wish me luck.
[Check out my posts from CES 2009 over at Droolicious on Babble.com]
Welcome again to our annual Christmas "letter." 2008 marks my second effort, and judging by how late it is already, I'm fearing I may have already fallen into a sophomore slump. Then again, judging by how many holiday cards I've received already this year (four as of December 15th), it would seem I'm not the only one who is a little late. Anyway, thanks for opting-in to read the letter this year.
2008 has been a pretty good year for the Fords, which is to say I suppose that it hasn't been a particularly difficult one like it has for so many people. Judy's job is still well and secure, our house hasn't lost as much value as a lot of other homes in Las Vegas, and we've got two healthy and happy kids both is preschool.
Wait. Did you catch that last part? Right now Jane and Sara are both in preschool and while they absolutely love it, I'm not sure who loves it more, them or me. Having my mornings and early afternoons off has been really great - allowing me to expand my writing for Babble.com and pursue another interest in photography. I also managed to get another sommelier certification this year (this one from the Court of Master Sommeliers), and while I began a job search with the intentions of maybe going back to work, the company I was interviewing at had layoffs. So, instead of going back to work in the near future, I'll continue to do what I've been doing for the past four years, namely greasing the wheels of our life so that the time we can all spend together is the best it can be.
As I mentioned, Sara and Jane are both loving preschool. Sara is in Pre-K this year, and in addition to growing like a weed in the past six months, she's also blossoming into quite the young girl. At school she enjoys her dance and computer classes, but particularly she loves being with all the friends she has made. Academically she's also doing incredibly well and (not to brag or anything) a few months ago she started reading small, beginner reading books (the Scholastic "Bob" books series). So every couple of days before bed instead of reading to her, she reads the book to us. Which is pretty awesome.
[Sorry. That was a lie. I was totally bragging.]
Jane in her first year of preschool is a force of nature. Having had the example of her older sister has done wonders for her socially, and she loves school so much she'll barely give me a kiss goodbye when I drop her off. In fact, this morning when we were walking into her classroom she ran in ahead of me, stopped dead in her tracks and announced "I'm here!", to which one of her teachers and at least two kids replied "Jane!" I swear, if she had a barstool and a beer she'd be Norm from Cheers.
Jane's big accomplishment this year (also due in part the the influence of her big sister) is that as of October she's completely potty-trained, And after spending the last two months not having changed even one dirty diaper, I can report that potty-trained at two years and three months is also pretty awesome.
[Again, bragging, but isn't that what these letters are for?]
Judy is the best, and if I'm the grease then she is most definitely the engine of the family. Her biggest challenge this year has been getting used to not having her own car. The lease on her car was up in January of 2008, and instead of getting another vehicle we just decided to see how long we could get along with only one. We live less than a mile from her work, so driving her and picking her up every day isn't really much of a hassle. I'd like to put a big lie in here and say that we did it to reduce our carbon footprint blah blah blah, but really we did it to save money. And once we got used to it we haven't missed having a second car all that much. Of course it also helps to have parents (mine and Judy's mom) who live in the same city, are retired, travel a lot and let their kids borrow their car when they're gone.
So there it is. 2008 in Las Vegas, where the kids are brilliant, the weather is great and I'm still borrowing my mom's car.
Happy Holidays!
Chris
PS. 2008 was, in case you weren't aware, also the year of Facebook, Flickr and all kinds of other internet social networking web sites. So if you're on Facebook and aren't already my "friend" then please "friend me." Judy is not on Facebook, but seeing has she has only this year discovered the convenience of text-messaging, I expect her Facebook page will be up and running sometime in 2012. The links for all the stuff to follow us are below.
PPS. Also, if you managed to read all of this PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT! Even if it's just to say Merry Christmas, we'd love to hear from you.
Facebook: Chris Ford's Facebook Profile
Family Photos: Chris Ford on Flickr.com
Random Thoughts in 140 characters or less: chrisford on Twitter.com
Read my Blog Posts about kids, parenting or other stuff at: Babble.com or Modern Day Dad
XBOX Live (random, but I thought I'd throw it in here): vegasford
My wife was reading a small book based on the Disney movie Dumbo to our two-year-old this evening, and she brought up a good point. If Dumbo's mother's name is "Mrs. Jumbo," then Dumbo's full name is Dumbo Jumbo.
At first I suggested that maybe she never took Dumbo's dad's name, or maybe they were never married. Forgetting the fact that this scenario would be pretty progressive for the story of a Disney movie from 1941, were any of that actually true she'd be "Ms. Jumbo." Nope. His full name is definitely Dumbo Jumbo.
Which leads me to wonder what kind of a mother would name her kid "Dumbo Jumbo?" It has to be at the top of the list of all time worst names. Don't you think a mother who loves her child as much as Mrs. Jumbo obviously does in the movie would have thought it through a little better?
Which further leads me to wonder if the actual writers of this whole Dumbo story even realized that they were naming their lead character "Dumbo Jumbo." I can only imagine they probably liked the name "Dumbo" and then wanted to name the mom something else kind of like it and came up "Mrs. Jumbo." But when you think it through, it's really a terrible choice.
I think I should probably stop thinking it through now.
Of course, if you're interested in watching the movie yourself, you can get Dumbo (Big Top Edition) for $16.49 from Amazon.com. But be forewarned. When Mrs. Jumbo tries to help her son and the animal trainers keep her caged up and tied down, it will probably get to you too.
This year I'm attending for the first time the ABC Kids Expo convention here in Las Vegas. Basically, imagine every baby/toddler/child/parent related product you've ever seen in your whole life, and then imagine all of them in two giant convention hall floors. Today was my first day, and I have to say that after the first few hours it was all a little overwhelming.
I'm there primarily on assignment from Babble.com, where I blog about products and other cool stuff for kids and parents. If you're interested in what I'm writing about, check out my Babble feed (upper right hand corner) or click this link to see all the posts.
[UPDATE: Looking for my favorite iPhone Apps for children and parents? Check out this new feature on Modern Day Dad - iPhone App of the Week. I'll be reviewing and sharing my favorite iPhone and iPad Apps for children and parents.
iPhone App of the Week on Modern Day Dad]
Over at Babble.com I just posted something that I want to promote here too - Ten Best iPhone Apps for Distracting Young Children. Throwing my keys or random pieces of paper in my pocket to quiet a toddler in a shopping cart is nothing new to anyone, but with the new iPhone there are a lot of new and interesting diversions to throw at them. Provided of course you make sure they don't actually throw your phone back at you.
Every now and then someone will offer to send me something to review for the site, and every now and then I accept. My most recent product try-out was something for dads, not for kids, and I have to say I kind of like it. The Schick Quattro TItanium Trimmer is your basic Schick Quattro four blade razor, but on the end of it there's an electric trimmer. Although it has a fully adjustable guard, the trimmer is really only good for mustaches and sideburns (there's no way to tackle a full beard with it), but it does a good job of trimming.
Chances are if you've got facial hair you've already got a decent trimmer, but I used it on my recent vacation and it really worked out well. It also would make a good gym razor (if you typically shower at the gym).
Check the Schick Quattro Titanium Trimmer at SchickQuattro.com. Or check out the new promotional site (where you can put your face in a Schick "movie") at Trimflixx.com.
Looking for some very last minute gift ideas for Father's Day? Here is a quick list of the top things I think that will be perfect for the dad in your life.
Flip Video Camera - The Flip Video Camera is ultra-portable, ultra compact, takes great looking 640x480 resolution video and is under $200. Way under $200 actually. Check out what I wrote about the newest version (the Flip Video Mino) over at Babble.com, or buy the Mino (for $179.99) or the Flip Video Ultra (for $118) at Amazon.com.
The XBOX 360 is a perfect Father's Day gift. Because not only will Dad love to play video games on it, but you can also stream photos, music and videos to it as well. Check out my post about it here, and buy one at Amazon.com.
Canon Digital Rebel XSi - Let me guess. The new baby has arrived (or is arriving soon) and you've been considering a new digital camera, but you're unsure if you need a full-on Digital SLR camera. Well, trust me, you do. The images you'll get out of a great camera, even with little knowledge of what you're doing, will be way better than most point and shoots. Plus, your baby is only going to be a baby for a short time, so invest in a good camera. The Canon Rebel XSi is 12 mega-pixels of awesomeness, and should last you for a while. And trust me, after getting your first few good images from it by accident, you're going to want to learn more about your camera. It's well worth the investment. 
50MM Lens for your Digital SLR Camera - OK. So you've taken my advice and bought a DSLR camera, or you've already bought one, then the next thing you absolutely need is a 50mm lens. Called a "prime" lens because it has no zoom, the 50mm lens is considered the closest lens to what the human eye sees. And on a DSLR camera it's perfect for portraits. All of this adds up to a lens that is great for taking pictures of kids because it's great in low light situations (because of the wide aperture) and it takes pictures very quickly (again, because of the wide aperture). You can get a great one with auto focus for a Canon camera for $325 (my recommendation, pictured) but you can get a really good one with manual focus for just $89.74. Either way, you'll be happy you did. (And if you shoot Nikon instead of Canon, check out this 50MM lens).
Diaper Bag just for Dad - Back when I was a new dad, there were almost no choices for good diaper bags for dads. These days, there are tons of options. You can choose from the Diaper Dude (pictured), a Dad Backpack from Dadgear and even a wearable Diaper Vest from Dadgear. All will probably work just fine and when picking, a lot of it comes down to personal taste. 
A gift card for Father's Day - I know, I know. I promised five. But this sixth one is kind of a cheat anyway. If you can't think of the perfect gift for your Dad (or your kid's dad) this Father's Day, you can always get him a gift card from your favorite store. And if you get him from an online store like Amazon, you can literally get it at the last second and print it out. The card however you'll have to run down to the grocery store for.
My family and I took a trip on Southwest Airlines last weekend, and from the perspective of a parent traveling with small children, it was a big let-down. Gone are the egalitarian days when the first person who showed up got to board the airplane first and a family got to pre-board. Actually, gone is any concern for a family traveling at all.
At first there was just online check-in, so the people who thought to check in on the internet got on the plane first. But I guess they figured they needed to cater to business travelers more, because now there's special pre-boarding group (that you have to pay for I think). And the new rule is families get to board after the first sixty people board the plane (provided the family isn't lucky enough to have group "A" boarding passes). I guess the point was to keep families from taking the seats up front before the people who waited in line for boarding group "A" get a chance. But the point of family boarding is to give the families some more time to get settled. Southwest would rather have the families fight past everyone jockeying for overhead bin space.
And about the changing tables? On one of our flights there was no changing table at all, and on the other the only changing table was in the lavatory at the front of the plane. The problem is you can't wait at the front of the plane anymore (new FCC regulations). So you have to wait until the occupied light goes out, then race down the aisle of the plane, baby in hand, to get to the lavatory before someone who is sitting in one of the seats in front of you decides to get up to do their business.
Flying with kids is difficult enough. If you've got a choice, I would avoid Southwest.
