Dear Dad, You’re Doing It All Wrong (A Letter to Myself)

Kelly Flanagan daddy-o

Stop trying to seize every moment. Stop trying to make your children’s lives extraordinary. Instead, allow every ordinary moment to seize you. Your kids’ lives are unfolding one moment at a time, and the thing they want most is also the thing they need most.

The Day the Sprinklers Made Me Hot

Sunshine Dad daddy-o

I've been thinking a lot about that day and how I've been so quick to become frustrated with them lately. I don't like it. I'm going to make a conscientious effort to be more patient and kind with them and to remember that they are just little guys

Brothers

Joseph Medler daddy-o

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Renovation Time

Jeffrey Dotts daddy-o

My kids don’t teach me; they are me.  They are the reflection of me that I don’t or won’t or can’t see in the moment when they are behaving badly – when they’re the ones taking stuff from other kids. 

Dad + Saturday = Dadderday

Brian Anderson daddy-o

My wife, Kristin, works weekends. It’s a 24 hour shift starting Friday evening and ending Saturday evening. Everything in between is called Dadderday (Dad + Saturday).

We’re Both Still Growing Up

Jeff Bogle daddy-o

I apologized for getting so angry with her 8 hours prior and asked her if we can each try to not get so worked up over such things as crayons boxes, pieces of tape, and 30 seconds on either side of any single minute, 7:46 A.M. or otherwise. 

Dad, Am I Pretty?

John Kinnear daddy-o

You’re pretty when you ask questions. You’re pretty when I answer, and then you ask another question. You’re pretty when you squint in disbelief and say, “Is that real or are you just joking?”

To The Woman And Child Who Sat At Table Nine…

Tony Posnanski daddy-o

“Do you know what it is like to have a child with Autism?” You were not rude when you asked the question. In fact, you were quite sincere. Your daughter could not have been more than five years old. She was beautiful and looked scared that I was at the table. She looked like she thought she was in trouble.

Fleeting Moments

Aaron Brock daddy-o

Each Valentine’s Day, my daughters and I put our finest clothes on for the Father-Daughter Dance at our local YMCA.