Warn your children that you have placed their towel at the base of the tub and that is the towel they are using, whether soaked or bone-dry.  We implemented it a few days ago and magically the splashing has stopped.

As you might have read in the V-Day post, during my last yearly check-up I told my doctor that I thought I might have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is classified as a disorder that occurs when a person’s breathing is interrupted during sleep. My wife suggested that I speak with my doctor because there have been many nights where she would hear me gasping for breath and wondered if I would start breathing again.

Initial Consult – Primary Physician

My doctor asked me some questions about why I thought I might have sleep apnea, including; after waking up do I still feel tired [yes], do I have trouble falling asleep [no]. I explained that I am often tired, but I have a long commute, I get up at 5:30 to exercise in the morning, and have young children, so I am not sure if I would be refreshed even if I slept well, he laughed. I also explained that my wife hears me gasping for breath while I sleep, that sealed the deal, I got a referral to an Ear Nose & Throat doctor. And some preliminary things to try to do to help the apnea abate – exercise and lose weight, avoid alcohol and sleeping pills, change sleeping positions (avoid sleeping on your back). I told him I was exercising and losing weight at that point I had lost 10 lbs already, I drink in moderation and I sleep on my stomach and my side.

Secondary Consult – Ear Nose & Throat (ENT) Doctor

My ENT and I went through some of the similar questions and then he did a physical exam of my nose and throat and took my height and weight (6’4, 230). He mentioned that the first thing I needed to do is keep working on losing the weight, the more weight you carry, especially on your throat and face, the easier it is for your throat to close as it naturally relaxes while you sleep. He also told me that the structure of my mouth may be a factor in why apnea would present in me, my mouth is somewhat narrow and crowded and the top of my mouth (palate) runs far back. I also told him about what my wife had reported and I got referred to take a sleep study at our local hospital and spoke about the potential next steps that we could try after the results came back from the study, which were the following:

• Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) – this is mask that you wear while you sleep. The mask is hooked up to a machine that delivers a continuous flow of air, this helps keep the airways open so that your breathing is not impaired.
• Uvulopalatopharngoplasty (UPPP) – this is a procedure that removes soft tissue on the back of the throat and palate, increasing the width of the airway at the throat opening.

First Sleep Study

I went for my first part of my study at my local hospital, I arrived at 9:30, I was not allowed to have any coffee after noon that day, not a habit for me, but every once in a while I like a nice cup of coffee in the afternoon, I also needed to shower and shave so that the electrodes would be able to stick easily. The technician asked me to change into my sleepwear and then began the process of putting the electrodes on my chest, legs, head, and neck. I needed to lay on my back and try to fall asleep, I will admit I had a hard time, I am a side or stomach sleeper. I felt funny and limited in my motion with the electrodes on, but I was able to fall asleep, eventually. I woke up in the morning and I’ll be honest I felt awful, I thought I had slept for all of about 5 minutes, I was flat out exhausted.

I got the results about 7 days later, the doctor let me know that the minimum number of incidents per hour one needs to be classified with sleep apnea is 5 per hour (a incident is classified as being woken up for 10 or more seconds), my number is 42. Basically I was waking up (not physically) once every 75 seconds. The apnea was not allowing me to get into REM sleep, or true rest. Needless to say I was not surprised, especially after the way I felt the morning after the study. The doctor asked how I wanted to proceed, I asked if he could consult with my ENT, but I wanted to try the CPAP mask first rather than the surgery, and after conferring with my ENT they both agreed. I was scheduled for a follow-up study with the CPAP mask the next week.

Second Sleep Study & Mask Fitting

I went through the routine like I had for the first study, but this time I was fitted with the CPAP mask and lied down to sleep. It was somewhat strange to have something on my face as I tried to fall asleep and the machine makes has a steady hum to it, but after a while I got used to the mask and the rhythmic sound of my breathing started to put me into a sleep. I again was on my back, but this time I didn’t feel nearly as constrained for some reason and I woke up without an alarm at 5:30 am (that never happens) refreshed and ready to get my day going.

The morning after the study, I had another follow-up with my ENT. He commended me on my weight loss, I am down to 220 and encouraged me to stay on the exercise and diet plan, another post for that one, and we spoke about next steps. I would get the formal results of the follow-up study in 7 to 10 days and at that time I would also get the physical machine that creates the airflow to the mask as I sleep. My doctors hoped that after a few more months of diet and exercise and better sleep with the mask, the apnea incidents will be reduced, at that point we will have another follow-up study done to confirm is the apnea has been reduced and we can start to discuss if a surgery can help reduce the number of incidents even further.

In my next post I will give you the update on getting the mask and machine at home, what my wife thought of sleeping next to Darth Vader, and a progress report.

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Remember back in your day if you disobeyed your parents you’d most likely get a smack on the posterior with a wooden spoon?  Heck, I remember clearly the principal of my elementary school proudly displaying “the strap” on his wall. I once nearly experienced the strap myself, it was my first taste of “one person’s word against another’s” when I stepped in to break up a fight but ended up being falsely thought of as a participant by the teacher.  I must have been pretty convincing, or my principal was bluffing but I wound up with just a warning.

I don’t like striking my children, and I’m not going to try and say I haven’t ever done so.  I personally think it teaches them that in order to get their way, they need to use physical violence. I’d find myself to be a hypocrit if I struck my child, but then chastised them for hitting a sibling or classmate who was acting poorly toward them.

It’s been a while since I have punished my children with a spank because now they are getting older and I can reason with them in other ways.  The funny thing I noticed is I can scream my head off at my kids and they barely flinch; an act that when my father had done it to me would have set me off in tears.  I think its because for a time I really feared my father, although he never abused me, he would give me a corrective “smack” just after the raised voice. Pavlovian tears.

The way my wife and I reason with our children is multi-faceted. the first technique is a points system, the second is time-out.

The Points System

The points system is a daily list of points you keep.  Each kid starts out the day with 10 points.  There is a goal they need to reach in order to receive a “prize”.  After several days, if their remaining points surpasses the goal, they get the prize.  For instance, let’s set the goal to 150 points and the prize will be a trip to the toy store where they can pick out a $10-$15 toy.

Tape this up on the wall where your child can see it, I suggest near the dinner table where bad behavior tends to lurk

1..2..3

The way the points system work is like this.  Your child is exhibiting some type of behavior which is undesirable. You get their attention, and say “On the count of three, you’ll stop that behavior or you are loosing a point 1..2..”  If your child doesn’t stop you repeat the phrase but the amount of points coming off doubles and they are reminded of the prize which is at stake.  If they continue their bad behavior, double the amount of points again, if they have a sibling who’d not engaged in the bad behavior and has a better points standing you can remind the ill behaving child what it will feel like when the sibling receives the prize but they don’t. [side note: Our kids, although only four and six have a really good understanding of negative numbers ]

The point system can also be used to promote good behavior.  A child should know that when they are at a point deficit they can always regain a few points by helping clear the table after dinner, or picking up their toys.

Criticism of this approach is it promotes your child to only doing things to attain something in return.  Well, I have news for you, this is how the world, and specifically the workforce works.  The only reason you work is to collect a paycheque so you can buy a house, a TiVO a car, food, etc…  Ever hear the saying “you get back what you put in”?

Time-Outs

Time outs are a pretty effective way of punishing your child, at least in my experience. If you are not familiar with timeouts, essentially it goes like this: your child is or has engaged in some bad behavior.

Ways into Time-Out

There are a few ways a child enters time-out.

• They engaged in a very-bad behavior (i.e. hitting their sibling, a pet or yourself) they immediately go into time-out.
• They’ve done something mildly bad but refuse to apologize for it or they talk back to you.
• They are doing something ill-behaved and you count to three.  If they don’t stop, they go into timeout.

We use a “two minute” timeout, if they are acting up, kicking things, etc, then you double the amount of time.  The key to timeout is to ignore your child.  They have to learn that they don’t deserve your attention when they act poorly.  Really drill into them that the bad behavior is disrespectful, especially if they continued to do it even after being told to stop.  If you talk to your child, or respond to them when they tell you how much they hate time-out or how unfair it is, then you might as well not bother.  The key is to deprive them of your attention.

Getting out of Time-Out

When it’s nearing the time to be released from time-out have them count.  This is really good for younger children, I think it’s the reason my son can count so well   So say “after you count to twenty you can come out of timeout”, and just keep upping the number they count to as they get better at it.

Conclusion

These are some techniques which my wife and I have implemented to curb bad behavior, give them a try for yourself.  Consistency, consistency consistency… The key is to follow through on any punishment you implement.  If you don’t, the little ones learn very quickly that there are no consequences when they act poorly and no incentive to behave.

Recently we were contacted by a reader named Kevin Griffin who pointed us to a song he recorded about his daughter Cici and wondered if it warranted a blog post on FunctionalFather.com. Well, we like to reward people who are outgoing and we really have no limitations on what we blog about, and getting to know how other Dads balance their lives is part of our mission. So without further background, here is an online Q&A session with singer, songwriter, and dad, Kevin Griffin.

Q: In your song “Cici“, the chorus revolves around your daughter’s “shimmy” – can you describe her shimmy?

Kevin Griffin: Cici’s shimmy started at about 18 months. It starts in her shoulders and she pulls her arms close to her sides. But what it’s really about is that she really likes music and as a singer/song writer, that meant a lot to me. Not to mention, it was hilarious to watch her shake her shoulders and wiggle her hips.

Click here to listen to “Cici” on Amazon.com

Q: While there are numerous joys of fatherhood that would compel someone to write a song about their children, what specifically inspired you to sit down and write a song about your daughter?

KG: I think I’m just that kind of songwriter. I don’t travel too far. The one rule I’ve always stuck to in songwriting is to never preach. And I guess that has sort of translated in to taking from my life and building stories or songs out of who I know, what I’ve done and the people that inspire me. And Cici definitely inspires me.

Q: Does your daughter like the song?

KG: Yeah, she does and that’s kind of cool in itself.

Q: How long have you been writing, performing, playing music?

KG: I’ve been playing guitar for almost 20 years and playing out for the last 10 or so.

Q: Who are some of the musicians or bands that you listen to and draw inspiration from when you write your music?

KG: I kind of joke that I want to write songs like Paul Simon, sing like Marvin Gaye and be cool like Johnny Cash.

Q: How do you juggle your responsibilities in life and find time to pursue music composition, practicing, performing, etc.?

KG: It’s hard. I play out a lot less than I did before I started a family. But I never plan on stopping. It just becomes a part of the bigger picture. I also have a full time day job like most working artists. It’s tough to sustain a family, mortgage and heath insurance on a folk singer salary.

Q: What was the most surprising aspect of parenthood?

KG: I think the most surprising thing is how much fun you can have with your kids. Cici is a little person. And I’ve watched her get through her first 3 and half years. She cracks me up. She’s also brave. Shy. Dramatic. She’s just so Cici.

Q: What is the most challenging aspect of parenthood?

KG: Parenthood should change you. And sometimes that change is really scary. I can’t just tell my boss where he can shove his job. I can’t just take off to Vegas and blow a week’s pay. I can make new music. It just takes longer. Parenthood sometimes feels claustrophobic. And you don’t really know that until you get here.

Q: What is the most rewarding part of parenthood?

KG: Cici said to my wife, “Mom, when I go to sleep, my heart thinks about your heart.” I mean, come on.

Q: Do you plan to write more songs about your children?

KG: I know that my wife and kids will always be in my songs. I just don’t really know how. And now that my second daughter Siena is here, I’m pretty sure I’ll be working on that song soon.

Q: Where are you based and where do you typically perform live?

KG: I’m born and raised in the Greater Boston Area. I play mostly in Boston and across the river in Cambridge, MA (Harvard, and MIT area). But I’ve played in New York and around New England.

Kevin Griffin

About Kevin Griffin

Kev picked up the guitar when was 21. He needed 2 credits to graduate college so he took a guitar lesson. And he’s done a heck of a lot more with that class than he did with Chaucer. Kev tells stories. As simply as possible. He’s been told he sounds like Dylan, but he doesn’t. Or Springsteen but not really. He thinks he sounds like Paul Simon and Johnny Cash sitting around a campfire playing each others’ songs. But he could be wrong about that too. At his best, Kev pretty much sounds like Kev, warm, friendly, fired up and self-deprecating.

With two small daughters at home, Kev plays in and around New England but don’t be surprised if you see him in a couple of the singer songwriter clubs in NYC.

To find out more about Kevin Griffin:

• Visit his website – www.tricycle-music.com
• Follow him on Facebook
• Download his CD at:
  • iTunes
  • CDBaby.com
  • Amazon.com

As reported by most news outlets today, Abbott Labs issued a major recall of Similac powder baby formula, citing the possibility of the powder containing beetles.

This immediately caught the attention of my wife and I because we feed our 5-month-old daughter Similac powdered formula (although we also mix in the liquid version as well).  When I got home from work I took our 3 Similac containers down to the computer (2 were open and actively used, 1 was still sealed), went to the Similac recall website, typed in the product lot numbers on the bottom of the box, and much to our disappointment, all containers were matches.

At the time of this post, I’m not overly concerned with my daughter’s health – she’s seemed fine through all bottles that have included this formula (both containers were about half-way used) and the FDA has indicated that the symptoms would not be too terrible (stomach irritation, loss of appetite, etc).

We are going to move over to the liquid Similac product for now and I’ve started the process of sending the recalled products to Abbott Labs for a refund.

Overall, this is an unfortunate incident, but Abbott has handled it well with very detailed directions and descriptions on their website, a lookup tool to type in the product lot numbers to determine recall status, and they also appeared to purchase a sponsored link for the Google search phrase “Similac Recall.”  All well intentioned ways to help concerned parents.  My complaint so far is that their hotline for parents to call has been busy for over an hour.

We’ll see what the next few days bring with my daughter’s health and the responsiveness of Abbott with returning the recalled formula.

When I was growing up, Friday night was Pizza Night in our house.  We would usually order 2 pies from the local pizza joint, pick them up and head on home. As my kids have gotten older, my wife and I have carried on this tradition in a different form.

After realizing, 1) We both really enjoy cooking and 2) Pizzas for a family of 4 can be really expensive, we decided to experiment and try to make our own pizzas.  You’ll see that with a small investment in equipment you can have a fun family night that saves you money and tastes good.

Materials list:

• Pizza Stone – we bought our Pizza Stone Kit from amazon.com for $25, the Kit comes with a Stone, a Peel, a Holder, and a Cutter – if you aren’t interested in buying a kit you can use baking sheet (like the kind you make cookies on).
• Dough – When we first started, we bought the dough from either the pizza place (yes some will sell it to you), or from Costco, or the local Supermarket. Now we make our own – Tyler Florence from Food Network has a great Pizza dough recipe.
• Red Sauce – You can use any store bought sauce or if you have a family recipe feel free, or if you would like don’t use any red sauce at all (more on that later)
• Toppings – This is where you can get creative, use any of your favorites, or whatever you have in the house.

Preparation:

• If you bought the Dough from a store – make sure you take it out of the refrigerator and let it come up to room temperature (about 1 hour, longer if it was in the freezer).
• Pre-heat the oven with the Pizza Stone (or baking sheet) in the oven – I put the oven to 475 degrees
• Pick your Toppings
• Get the dough into a quasi circle – the thing that made me nervous when I started making pizza was “throwing” the dough like they do in the pizza shop, and in fact after a year I still can’t, but in the end we have found that it doesn’t matter. The pizzas you will be making will be smaller than the traditional ones you get from a pizza shop, so throwing the dough isn’t as important as getting the dough flat and in a quasi-circle. Important Tip – you are making this at home and while presentation is always important you are making a rustic pizza – so you will more than likely not get a perfect circle – no worries. I have had the dough break, not stretch, stretch too much, heck I have even had to use a rolling pin to get the dough flat – it is all good – you know why…

Pizza is easy to make and will taste good even if you can’t “throw the dough”.

We make 2 pizza’s on Friday’s one for the kids (usually a plain Mozzarella Cheese with Red Sauce) and one for my wife and I, our toppings will vary depending on what we have in the house and what we feel like. The whole process is a family affair, my wife or I take care of the oven, and then we work with our kids in getting the toppings, cheese, and sauce ready. Once the dough is flat and on the board, we let the kids build their pizza – putting the sauce on, then the cheese and whatever topping they would want. Then my wife or I will put the pizza in the over for about 12-14 minutes (make sure the bottom of the pizza is brown and the cheese is melted).

Once our kid’s pizzas are in the over, my wife and I make ours, we have made a bunch of regular pizzas as well as some with our favorite toppings including:

• Caramelized Onions, Sweet Italian Sausage, Gorgonzola Cheese, and Mozzarella Cheese (No Red Sauce)
• Sautéed Spinach, Sautéed Mushrooms, Kalamata Olives, and Mozzarella Cheese (No Red Sauce)

We enjoy making our pizzas, it allows us to enjoy good family time where we can catch-up on what has happened during the week, it keeps our children engaged and introduces them to the joy of cooking that my wife and I share, we control what goes into our food, it saves us money (once you buy the stone the cost of a pizza will drop from $16 to about $4-6 if you buy the dough in the store and depending on the toppings.

I highly suggest giving it a try, see how it tastes and if you like it make Friday Night – Pizza Night.

…Continued from Vasectomy Diary – Part I

Without further delay, the conclusion to one Dad’s vasectomy adventure.

11:00 – I am called and walk in to the hospital room, the nurse goes over some last minute things, reiterating that the procedure is to be considered “non-reversible”, asks me to sign some more forms and then tells me to disrobe and place a blanket over me, the doctor will be in shortly. Time passes slowly when you are alone in a hospital room facing a scalpel – very slowly. 15 minutes go by and the nurse comes in again, she apologies, the doctor has had an emergency but that he is almost finished and will be in shortly.  I am slow to react – what type of emergency? what procedure did the person have? Time moves even slower.

11:30 - The doctor comes in and apologies, but we are ready to go. I look at the clock, my wife might be coming through the door if we don’t get this show on the road soon. The doctor starts by disinfecting the area, I am not sure what the substance was, I think it was iodine, then he tells me that I will feel a pinch as he injects the anesthetic, and while I will be numb I may feel some discomfort in the lower abdomen.  Ah, check and check.

The first incision is made in the scrotum; I only know this because in between the stories of fantasy football and baseball he is describing what he is doing – I am not watching. I tell him I can feel a little more than pressure at some point and I am given more anesthetic.

The procedure involves cutting the scrotum and pulling the vas deferens through the incision to cut and cauterize them.  ”One down,” he says. We share more stories about where we grew up, went to college, and vacation spots, and the next thing I know we are finished, stitches and all – 12:05pm.

He packs the area with gauze and helps me put on my jock strap and gives me directions: antibiotics to reduce the chance of infection, Advil and Tylenol for the pain, ice for the swelling, rest, no sex for a week (I must have made a funny face because sex was the last thing I was thinking about, but he said you would be surprised), and no heavy lifting for a week.  With that I am at the desk to schedule my follow-up visit in 2-3 weeks.

I meet my wife out in the parking lot (yes, she did come into the office while I was in there – they told her that we were delayed in our start), she looks nervous, but I am giddy, cracking jokes and everything. I walk out of the office and proclaim “Honey, I am packing” referring to all the gauze in the jock strap.  I think it is the release of the nerves, plus I can’t feel anything at all that makes me so jovial. She asks how it went and I give her the blow by blow, we chat on the way to the pharmacy to pick up my script for the antibiotics. We get home and she and the kids are off quickly – she was nice enough to set-up a play-date for the kids at the neighbors so I will be able to get some rest with my feet up for the afternoon – good stuff.

4pm – I have been dutifully following directions, feet-up, ice pack, Tylenol & Advil, but the anesthetic has worn off at this point and I am starting to feel things – nothing really bad, more like a dull pain and I am very limited in my movements.

5pm – I have to urinate and I’ll admit, I am somewhat hesitant to go. Off to the bathroom I trudge, pull down my sweatpants and my boxer briefs and finally the jockstrap and gauze – I am amazed at how swollen and black and blue everything is. I know enough about the human body to know what is connected to what, but looking at the stitches, in the back of my mind I am worried about urinating and having the stitches break.  Not to worry though – all is well and I am relieved again. That is the routine for the rest of the night and on Saturday the hardest thing is having my two children around and them wanting to jump on my lap – I put a throw pillow over my groin and that keeps everything clear.

Sunday – My son has soccer Sunday morning. I grab the tailgate chair (you know the blue nylon ones with the cup holder), cup of coffee and head to the field. My daughter and I sit on the far away sidelines and watch, it is nice to be outside, but it takes some effort and by the end of the game I am tired, back to the couch for a nap and more ice.

Monday – Back to work, I am slower than normal, and I played it off at work that I twisted my knee over the weekend, so I am a little gimpy; no one seems the wiser. The first day is the worst, no ice in the office and I am tired at the end of the day, but all-in-all I am ok.  I ice when I get home.

Tuesday-Friday – Each day I am getting stronger and the swelling and black & blue is reducing. I notice that I have some pressure in my lower abdomen and I originally worry that I might have a hernia, but a call into the Doctor confirms that this is normal, just blood that needs to dissipate.  By Friday of that week the stitches from the incision sites fall out and the site has healed.

The Following week – By the second week, I have forgotten about the procedure, some slight movements remind me, but nothing major and I am not in pain, time for the follow-up visit.

My follow-up visit is a quick one, the doctor does a physical exam and we speak about things, he says all seems normal, reminds me to continue to use birth control and gives me the instructions on the 3 month analysis to see if my swimmers are still swimming.

June 15th – I follow the instructions and drop off the specimen to the doctor, and a few days later I get a call from my doctor that all is well.

Overall, I am happy with our decision to have the procedure done.  Yes, there was some pain and discomfort, but it was very bearable and I was able to have some laughs along the way. The pluses outweighed the negatives for my wife and I, and I would recommend the procedure to anyone that was curious about it, just remember the procedure name when you get to the doctor.

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I have to admit, the primary motivation behind writing this post was due to Google analytics. For months, one of the most popular search strings entered as a referral for our site has been “why is spanking functional?” So, I figured, what the hell, let’s write an article about that so we rank higher on the search results and gain more visitors. Shameless, I know.

So, without further background, here is my explanation of why spanking is functional.

I’ll confess, I’ve spanked my oldest daughter. I started around when she turned 2 and I can’t help but need to spank her at least once per week. It’s not my fault – she just doesn’t listen. The most recent offense is telling her mother and I to, “Go away!” We tried a few retorts to this insult. First, we attempted reasoning – “that’s not nice!” “don’t say that!” Next, I actually left the room or house upon her command, to which she would instantly start crying for my return, “No, Daddy. Sorry, Daddy.” That kind of worked, but not really, she still continued to tell us to leave. Last resort – spanking.

But what’s a father to do? Simplistically, if all other means fail to drive change, then you need to resort to an action that will provide solutions. That’s the functional thing to do, and that’s why spanking is functional.

I’ll confess, I was tempted to just end the post right here, but that’s a bit cheap, since, to reiterate, I’ve composed this article strictly for search engine optimization. So let me discuss the popular, modern-day treatment for disobeying toddlers, “The Timeout.”

I am a fan of the timeout, but I’m only a fan if it will deliver results. At first, timeouts seemed to work. We would yell at our daughter for acting fresh or attempting to slap me in the face or kicking the cat, and then place her in the corner of the room and exclaim, “Don’t turn around.” We’d wait 30 seconds or so and then ask her to discuss what she did wrong. Over time she’s become very perceptive about identifying her offense, the problem started enjoying the timeouts.

Maybe she’s proud that she can identify her wrongdoing or that it gives her more attention, but after placing her in the corner, she started to turn around and smile during the timeouts, which only makes her mother and I more frustrated.

So, again, what’s a Dad to do?

Time to introduce the spank-enhanced timeout. Now, when my daughter stands on the couch after her mother and I instruct her otherwise 8 straight times, or when she sits in her newborn sister’s bouncy chair after numerous verbal scoldings, or starts to bite the rim of the garbage can (again), she gets a few warnings, then I pick her up, walk towards the corner, give her a light, swift smack on the cooly and place her down facing the wall. This seems to sink in a bit more.

Without spanking, timeouts would just be another mind game for your kids to manipulate you and mess with your head.

Just another reason why spanking (within reason) is functional. If you’re spanking your kid because they wake up too early or spill their juice or won’t retrieve you a beer from the fridge, well then that’s not functional. Enough said.

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Big news in our household this week was the announcement that the Nick Jr. special “Let’s Hear it for the Laurie Berkner Band” is getting released on DVD on September 28th, 2010.  The special first aired in July of 2009 and my daughter was already an avid Laurie Berkner fan – a product of Laurie’s frequent appearances on Jack’s Big Music Show.  We recorded the special on our DVR and  delayed upgrading the DVR twice because we would risk losing it. My daughter watches this 2-3 times per week. Definitely going to purchase this.

As I’m writing this post we are getting packed and ready to go see Laurie Berkner live in concert, so the whole family is really excited.  I plan to write a full, formal post about Laurie Berkner at some point, but I felt it necessary to share the news right here.

Preparing for your wife’s delivery day is a big responsibility for Dads. There are obvious things to pack and prepare (like a birth announcement email), but I wanted to share something that proved to be a great keepsake – a white t-shirt with my newborn daughter’s footprints on it.

This task does not really take much preparation – what I did was wear a white undershirt on the day we were headed to the hospital. Once we were all set in the delivery room I told the nurse that when the time came, I wanted to have the baby’s footprints marked on my undershirt – this would happen right after the nurse marks the baby’s footprints on the birth paperwork.

You should bring an extra shirt to change into after the footprints are imprinted on your original shirt – you’ll want to take it off the new souvenir and put it in a safe place, preferably somewhere it won’t get brushed or erased.

Once you get home and things start to settle down, I recommend buying a picture frame, cutting out the area of the t-shirt with the footprints and placing the fabric swatch in the picture frame.

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