Posted in father first, food, ideas, Pokemon on Feb 25th, 2009 No Comments »
No, not for making more kids. For making pancakes. When Sam was little I used to craft Thomas the Tank Engine flapjacks in the pan. These days, Pokemon continues to rule, even for Sylvie, who carries a Pikachu doll with her at all times. Make the batter thin, so you can draw outlines, then fill [...]
Posted in father first, ideas, moments on Feb 3rd, 2009 2 Comments »
Another entry in the growing list of quick & simple ways to focus your papa power. Sick of board games? Desperately keeping the video monster at bay? Sometimes the answer is as simple as a tongue-twister. Begin with a classic: PETER PIPER [audio:http://www.daddyfactory.com/audio/twisters.peterpiper.mp3] Observe how — when a Rubber Baby is applied — the activity [...]
Posted in father first, ideas, parenthacks, Superheroes on Feb 12th, 2008 No Comments »
That’s right, kids: it’s another amazing installment in the big list of brilliant brainstorms and sensational strategies inspired by the philosophical fuel that keeps the DaddyFactory up and running: Father First. I’ve been lying to my kids. I can’t help it. It started when the WB Network, in all its inglorious wisdom, took Krypto the [...]
Posted in ideas, parenthacks, photography on Feb 11th, 2008 No Comments »
Times Square, 34 stories below, as seen through the eyes (and the lens) of a six-year-old. It never ceases to amaze me, the kinds of images that end up on my hard-drive after Sam has commandeered the digital camera for a while. Sure, he’s racked up the megapixels, but storage is cheap, relative to old [...]
Posted in father first, Fatherhood, ideas, parenthacks on Jan 6th, 2008 1 Comment »
Part of the ongoing, online quest for fantastic fatherhood as described through a growing list of (hopefully) clever ideas called: Father First. It doesn’t take much to entertain. And sometimes the simpler ideas and materials yield the better results. Case in point: Look what happens when a six-year-old boy is handed a scarf and a [...]
Posted in Family, father first, Fatherhood, ideas, parenthacks, Parenting on Dec 18th, 2007 3 Comments »
Click this… [audio:http://www.daddyfactory.com/audio/phonemessage1.mp3] If you have kids, you probably find yourself telling humorous or profound stories about what your child said that day or that week. I’ve done it here a hundred times, because even the grandparents are tired of my tales at this point. But the resounding response to most of them is: “You’ve [...]
Posted in father first, Fatherhood, ideas, parenthacks, Parenting on Sep 10th, 2007 8 Comments »
There’s no better way to establish a personal take on the nature vs. nurture debate than to breed your own kids. I recommend at least one of each. True, it’s a highly subjective experiment, but you get to monitor the results 24/7! One interesting result from our family lab (say it like the British: lab-ohr-a-tohry) [...]
Posted in father first, Fatherhood, ideas on Jun 15th, 2007 No Comments »
More happens when you’re on the floor. At least when your kids are 3 and 5, as mine are. Go low, and see what arises. There’s some miraculous transformation that takes place when you are no longer lording on high. You go from being a jungle gym to being a kid, and that feels good. [...]
Posted in Books, father first, Fatherhood, ideas, parenthacks, Parenting on Apr 29th, 2007 1 Comment »
When you read to your kids, remember to create a different voice for every character of the story. And if there aren’t a lot of characters, then make sound effects, like a little doop doop doop for the footsteps of the Nightmare in My Closet, or the crash of the Great Glass Elevator at the [...]
Posted in father first, Fatherhood, ideas, Movies, parenthacks, Parenting on Apr 12th, 2007 3 Comments »
One of the toughest things to do in my house on a Saturday morning is keep the noise to a dull roar so that Dana can catch a few precious minutes of well-deserved sleep. Of course, the day begins around 6:00 a.m. when Sylvie, our in-house rooster, crows from the second floor. One strong cup [...]
