How do you want to be remembered as a dad?
In years to come you child will inevitably be asked at some point “What was your dad like?” The answer to this question is something that you want to be proud of. You want to be able to stand tall as your son or daughter says, “My dad was the best.”
Put yourself into your childs shoes. What would the answer to that question be today? Now imagine it’s 30 years from now, what do you want the answer to be?
If your …

Do men really have good support for emotional issues, on a regular basis?
When a man reaches a certain age and he’s depressed, he’s struggling with his place in the world, he’s going through family problems or a divorce, or financial and job worries, etc., where can he turn? Add into the mix that he’s a single dad and has no immediate family around and you have my situation, a few years ago.
When my marriage first broke up, I was blessed to find a circle of men that supported and guided …

I know my column is from my personal perspective, and often about my personal life. Yet I feel this topic is more confessional than many others and affects me too often. I take things too personally.
Having this deficiency is truly toxic when you are raising kids or beginning a new marriage, both of which define my present state of affairs.
Let’s give some examples and see how many of you relate to them. Easy ones are when ShortRib (my wife) isn’t smiling, isn’t talking much, or doesn’t respond quickly to an …

What an interesting contemporary question: will our kids ever leave?
I left home at sixteen to go away to college and never returned, except for visits. I stayed close to my parents, and they did help me financially through college, though I worked every summer to supplement my education expenses and pay for my own spending. ShortRib (my wife) and I wonder when will our kids be independent enough to afford to leave?
The other day I talked with a mother who has two teenage daughters. One is graduating from high school …

The journey from child, to teen, to young adult to parent seems to have similar stops along the way for most everyone.
When I was in college, during the “age of stupidity,” as a man I greatly respect refers to the 60’s and early 70’s, as a “love child” and soon-to-be yuppie, I was thoroughly convinced that I would be a different parent to any children I might have than my parents were to me.
Naturally, I had ALL the answers. My parents’ tastes in music, fashion, politics, my Mom’s “helmet” style …