Episode 046: Soft Touch Schneider

This week’s episode covers some of the awesome stories written by other fathers around the internets for the week leading up to February 17th, 2013: Why You Should Sign The Amazon Mom Petition / Two New Reports Find Dads Are… Cool

Check out the audio only version of this episode above.

When my wife and I first found out that we were going to have a kid, we instantly became aware of the “parenting class” industry that had existed in our community for years without ever attracting our attention. Suddenly, there were all of these flyers, newspapers ads, and emails, offering us practical parenting instruction in friendly classroom settings.

And, as new parents-to-be, we were game for them. Almost immediately, we signed up for the childbirth class, the baby care and CPR class, the “how to install a car seat” class, the breastfeeding class, you name it.

(The only classes I remember us opting out of were the “baby massage” class and the “parenting for dads” class, which I found more than a little insulting.)

Republican U.S. Senator Rob Portman, a dude that was firmly opposed to gay marriage, has now reconsidered his stance after learning that his son is gay.

“It allowed me to think of this issue from a new perspective,” Portman told reporters, “and that’s of a Dad who loves his son a lot and wants him to have the same opportunities that his brother and sister would have — to have a relationship like Jane and I have had for over 26 years.”

Portman is the first Senate Republican to back gay marriage.

It’s any day of the week. My wife is dragging another bin of laundry in the door from the garage, and I’m charging through the hallway with a screwdriver. Moments later, my wife is holding the handle of a knob while I tighten it, and then I’m putting laundry away alongside of her. Moments after that, I’m cooking dinner while my wife puts dishes in the dishwasher. Later tonight, I’ll probably empty the dishwasher and she’ll load it again.

My wife and I never have conversations about the division of labor around the house. Things just get done. We both do things we dislike doing, and sometimes we kick and scream before putting our heads down and getting them done. I’m not trying to suggest that we’re great worker bees or that our house is always clean. But I’m suggesting that my wife and I are a great team and we love each other. And surprisingly, in this age of studies and stats, love goes a long way.

There’s been a lot of talk recently about a woman’s “second shift” as an extension of the “have it all” discussion that went on a couple of years ago. The 30-years-ago-old-world role of women was in the home, but women are still finding that after they come home from their jobs, they’re still doing more chores than their husbands. Fair enough. The numbers don’t lie, right?

There’s a great article up on Wired by-and-about the dad who hacked Donkey Kong so that his daughter could play as Pauline, relegating Mario to the position of captured love interest.

Mike Mika wasn’t thinking about feminist agendas or affronts to the patriarchy when he made Pauline a playable character for his 3 year old daughter. They had just come off of a Super Mario Bros. 2 binge and Mika’s daughter loved using Princess Toadstool. The duo also had watched the gamer classic The King of Kong, so Donkey Kong was on the playlist. But Mika’s daughter wanted to know why she couldn’t play as a female character in Donkey Kong.

Episode 045: No More Mouse Cursor

This week’s episode covers some of the awesome stories written by other fathers around the internets for the week leading up to February 10th, 2013: Kids Challenging Gender Barriers, One Pair of Batman Undies at a Time / Am I A Helicopter Parent?

The video does have a special ending. Check out the audio only version of this episode above.

Also we missed an s-bomb around 10:45 so, you know, HIDE YO KIDS.

A two-month old baby was killed by what many people would think is the most unlikely of causes – his father’s kiss. The story from last year is just hitting the news now, and can’t be more heartbreaking.

The father, 28 year old Carl Maclaren, was described by his wife Marrie-Claire as “the perfect father.” But that doesn’t help his heavy heart after a cold sore in his mouth carrying the herpes simplex virus led to his five-week premature son, Kaiden, being hospitalized and dying last May.