Growing up in a highly opinionated, and comedic laden, Latin household you would think that new jokes would present themselves often and we would all, in a sense, “TEST” our new material out on each other in the house but then sometimes you get caught up with your “big hit.”

My dad…he’s the classic “greatest hits” joke teller–you know what I mean by greatest hits joke teller, the joke your pop tells you EVERY-TIME he sees you and laughs like it was just crafted? My pop seems to think it always works because we all laugh but the fact of the matter is…no, it’s not at all funny anymore. The joke has lost it’s luster but nobody wants to hurt a dad’s feelings by telling him, “Dude, you need new jokes.” So us sons and daughters let it slide and just chuckle with him…all the while deep inside we’re cringing and goosebumps are running up and down our body.

The “Oath”

As a new dad myself, I vowed to NEVER catch myself in this dad cycle of stale jokedom. I have made a solemn oath to myself to NEVER recycle the stale and consistently exercise the noodle to come up with new and cutting edge zingers. The last thing I need, for my ego, is my daughter looking at me like she would rather watch grass grow or tell her friends (or me for that matter) how embarrassed I make her because my jokes NEVER change.

Think Change Or Else…

So, how do I plan to change this? I don’t really know yet but I would think that I should strip it down to the bare essentials. Here’s what I came up with to start:

1. I can’t over think it, I need to explore the joke-o-sphere.
2. Bomb, but bomb with grace or fail big all together and laugh at myself. A new idea may present itself just in that. Failure equals success right? Can’t have hits without misses.
3. Limit myself when I get a reaction to the “Hit” joke and learn from it, build and file away mentally why it worked.

Let’s be honest, we’re all going to be jokesters with our families but it’s up to us to be the cool cutting edge joke dad so our kids will think to themselves, “How does this guy think of this stuff?” A dad’s mission is to keep the family on their toes and alert. Got any additional ideas dads?

This is today’s Trials of Being Dad!

PS: Dad, please don’t be mad, I DO love your jokes! Kisses & Hugs.

Michael J. Carrasquillo is a NYC musician, filmmaker, speaker, organizer of NYC Media Makers & new father. He blogs at Issue De ‘Quillo and produces a podcast called “The Trials of Being Mike” and an upcoming podcast called “moments”. You can follow him on Twitter @mjcarrasquillo.

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He Said, She Said

Recently, I had my first experience with a “digital tattletale,” when one of my sons used a picture sent from his iPhone to “tell” on his sister. I had to laugh when I received an email message with the subject, “Look what Olivia did…” along with the picture above…

Hummus A Song, Will Ya?

Let me explain. As you may know if you have followed me here, FOOD is very important in my family. We often buy a particular Hummus that comes with a big wad of Tahini in the middle. Apparently, my son came home to find my daughter had scooped out and eaten all the Tahini, leaving just the plain hummus around the edges for the rest of us. My son was so appalled he felt compelled to send me the picture of the Hummus with the “missing” Tahini. I’m not sure what he expected me to do… I certainly was not going to punish my daughter for pulling a Houdini on the Tahini. If she wanted to make it disappear (into her mouth) so be it. After all. food is meant to be eaten.

Have your kids ever been “digital tattletales? What is the most unusual digital message you’ve received from one of your kids? So far, for me, this one takes the cake (or the Tahini as the case may be.)

Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 21, Ethan, 19 and Olivia, 17).  He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast.  You can see more of Jeff’s writing at Sassholes! and Social Networking Rehab.

UPDATE ON MOVEMBER:

If you read my post last week you know I am supporting MOVEMBER and am growing a moustache to raise awareness and funds  for Prostate and Testicular cancer research.  So far the progress of my moustache is far outweighing the progress of support for the cause at my donation page.  If you are so inclined, I encourage you to please lend your support at any level you are comfortable with.  If you’ve enjoyed my contributions here at Dad-o-matic, I’d enjoy it if you could help me support this important effort to improve men’s health. Thank you!

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Photo credit i eated a cookie (candy drawer) via Flickr

I find myself in the beginning of November with a slight problem.  I have a ton of candy and I am on a diet.  I asked around the office and I am not the only one.  Some of you might have tried to eat all of it and can’t bring yourself to do it.  Maybe your kids have separated out all the “good stuff.” Perhaps, not enough trick or treaters showed up.  Here are a couple ways to get rid of the candy.

You could cook or bake with it.  Check out this 5 Yummy Recipes. Take it work.  I took a bunch of candy (mainly chocolate) and brought it to meetings.  People love free candy.  I was discussing what to do with Halloween Candy when people started telling me about Operation Gratitude.

You can provide Halloween Candy for the Operation Gratitude Care Packages. The troops will love it–for themselves and also to give out to the children in the communities they patrol.  All types of candy are acceptable, including chocolate this time of year.

You can also find dentists within your community who may be participating in a Halloween Candy Buy-Back program, or to encourage your own dentist to participate.

Check with your child’s school, they might be collecting.  My kid’s school is.  If you are going to send the candy yourself, be sure and ship your candy  by December 5 to:

Operation Gratitude/California Army National Guard
17330 Victory Boulevard
Van Nuys, CA 91406
Attn: Charlie Othold

Some tips about donating you candy according to Operation Gratitude:

• Feel free to use any size cartons–whatever you have on hand or can easily find.
• Please use the most economical method from your location.  You can check the websites of the various shippers (UPS, USPS, Fed-Ex, DHL) and get their respective prices based on weight and size of package.  Some of these outlets are allowed to offer discounts, as they are owned as franchises.
• You might also check with local moving or freight companies–they might be willing to add your donation to their load for very little money (or for free) if they are heading this way anyway.

Buck blogs almost daily at BuckDaddyBlog.com where he blogs about being a dad, sprinkled with some product reviews and giveaways, with humor and self deprecation.

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KidsEatFree

Right now, you can access lists generated for several big cities. However, this does not mean you can’t use their service if your city isn’t listed. You can still enter your zip code and see which places offer free grub for kids in your vicinity. Obviously, this comes in handy when you’re traveling and don’t know the area as well as your own neighborhood.

Here’s a look at the slick calendar view of establishments in the Atlanta area:

Another nice thing is that the service allows all parents to contribute to their ever-growing database by submitting new places that let kids eat for free.

You can follow them on Twitter: http://twitter.com/kidseatfor
You can also join their Facebook page

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What is Movember? It’s the laziest charity in the world! No walking, no running, you don’t even shave!

Movember, the month formerly known as November, is a global charity event where men lose their facial hair inhibitions and commit to grow and groom a “Mo” (Aussie slang for moustache) for the entire month while building teams to support their Mo-growth efforts.  Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, or uniting around a pink ribbon, now men have a hairy ribbon of their own to mobilize around and change the face (literally) of men’s health.

The funds we raise during our Moustache journey go to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG).

What many people don’t know is that 1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and that testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men aged 18-35.

While I am fortunate to say I have not had anyone experience prostate cancer in my family, my dad is a colon cancer survivor (as he likes to say, he is now a semi-colon).  All cancer is bad, and I encourage you to help me support this effort of fund-raising by hair-raising.

I made a short video to introduce my Movember team, which I hope you will join.  You can contribute by donating, and you can also do “mo” by growing your own Mo!  If you send me pictures of you and your Mo (in it’s varying stages of growth) I will include your pictures in my video updates here on Dad-O-Matic.

To join my Movember team called “Dad-O-Moustache” go to www.dad-o-moustache.com or www.dadomoustache.com to register and make a donation.

Please help and get growing as part of my Movember team.  If you too decide to “grow a Mo” please email me update pictures of you and your growth along the way, and I will include YOU in my update posts during the month of Movember!

Learn more about Movember by watching the mofficial Intro Video at http://us.movember.com

Together we can change the face of men’s health!

Prostate and Testicular Cancer Facts:

• Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men and it will strike one in six men in their lifetime
• The death rate has fallen 40% compared to what was once projected; however the number of new cases is expected to grow with the aging of “baby boomers,” with the potential to reach 300,000 per year by 2015
• More than 192,000 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2009.  More than 27,000 will die from the disease
• Testicular cancer is the most common cancer afflicting men aged 18-35. The message is clear: more research is needed
• Within the next decade, cancer is likely to replace heart disease as the leading cause of death in the US. It is already the biggest killer of those under the age of 85

Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 21, Ethan, 19 and Olivia, 17).  He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast.  You can see more of Jeff’s writing at Sassholes! and Social Networking Rehab.

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If you are in the mood to have someone tell you a story… I just posted a podcast of a story on my own website.  That story involves fatherhood – and some deep issues.  It goes too far, as many horror stories do, but without any real graphic content…and I think it’s pretty powerful.  I also think dads, in particular, will appreciate it…

That story is ETCHED DEEP – let me know what you think.

And finally…for here, another short story … a scary story about a boy whose mother made the wrong choice in a husband – more lessons for fathers here, I think – and again, not very graphic, but I’d say older kids only…maybe fourteen or so?  Like I said in the title…this is for the dads.  Happy Halloween.

To Dream of Dragons

by David Niall Wilson (First published in 365 Scary Stories)

The moonlight cut through the blinds in Nick’s room, striping the walls eerily. He had the covers pulled up as far as they would come and wrapped tightly around his feet.  Above him on the wall, three clowns kept watch over the room.  Two were smiling, but the third – the frowning clown, was the one Nick never forgot.  It watched him.  His skin felt clammy and he needed to pee, but he stayed put.
There was a soft scratching noise, and the lid of his toy box raised ever-so-slightly. Nick gripped the blankets so tightly that his fingers hurt. He watched in terrified silence.
He hated the dragon. Stan “The Man” had given it to him, “Big Stan,” his Mom’s boyfriend, back when he’d been Nicky Nicastro — right after his dad had died.  Nick hated it when anyone but his dad called him Nicky, so of course Stan latched onto it, and his mother lent her support.

Then it got worse.  Stan sauntered into the house one evening, planted  himself as if he belonged, and sat grinning down at Nicky with one hand held behind his back.
“Know what I got for you, Nicky boy?” Stan asked.
Knowing it was expected, Nick had answered, “No, sir,” with a shake of his head.
Stan swung his arm around quickly, proudly displaying a stuffed green dragon with the golden letters SVU emblazoned across its chest. San Valencez University.
“Hadn’t been for my bum knee, Nicky’ boy,” Stan rattled on, “I’d be playin’ in the pro’s now. I used to be a hell of a lineman for the Dragons. I thought you might want to have this, you know? Since I’m stayin’ here now.”
Nicky’s mother had been making shushing, negating signs with her hands, but it was too late. The secret was out, the thing Nicky had dreaded most.  “Stan the Man” wasn’t leaving.  Ever.  Stan turned his grin on Nick’s mother and winked.

“Why don’ t you go out for a bit and leave us “guys” here to talk?” he said.

“Stan…” his mother’s voice trailed off, and she tried again.  “Stan, I don’t know…”

Stan’s grin faded, and the glare that replaced it sent Nick’s mom backing toward the door.

Tears had threatened to flow at that moment, branding him a wuss, so Nick took the dragon to his room and buried his face in it, wishing himself far, far away.  While his eyes were covered, and all that existed was sound, the fight began, and his nightmare was complete.

He remembered screaming voices, his mother, Stan, his mother again.  There were tears, more screaming, and then, very loud and final, the slamming of the door. He remembered the sound of footsteps beneath his window, running toward the road, the sound of a car’s horn blaring, the sound of a scream… the silence.

After that, he remembered Stan’s words, emotionless and void of truth.
“It was an accident, boy. Don’t forget that.”
Nick hadn’t forgotten, and yet, despite keeping the secret, the dragon didn’t trust him. It crawled out of the box every night as he watched, trying to coax him into a cry, or a scream. If he gave in, Stan would appear in the doorway, his hair wild and his eyes mean.
The dragon’s claws scrabbled over the edge of the box; its long, serpentine nose followed.  With a sickening thump, it slid over the edge and dropped to the floor. Heart slamming, Nick pulled his knees to his chest and fought the scream that begged for release. The wet, slithering sound of the creature’s progress across his floor drove him beneath the covers, where he bit down as hard as he could on his lip to distract himself. If Stan appeared. the dragon disappeared. That was how it worked.
He held his breath, and, after a few moments, he noticed that the sounds were growing softer.  Screwing up his courage, he risked another peek. Maybe it was going back in the box. Maybe it was running out of whatever supernatural power fueled it and it was just a stuffed animal again, resting in a heap on the floor.

No such luck.  Nick was just in time to see a scaled tail disappear around the corner of the door to his room and into the hall beyond. As quietly as he could, he slid from his bed and followed. He was scared, but he’d never managed to keep silent so long, and he had to know what the thing was going to do.
He reached his door and peered around the corner, but it was nowhere to be seen. He heard Stan’s heavy, steady breathing, and took a deep breath of his own, then slipped into the hall and across to the big man’s door.
He saw the tail of the dragon draped across the footboard of the bed, and with his heart in his throat, he crawled a few feet closer. It was poised above Stan like a snake,  claws extended and eyes glowing.
‘Stan,” it hissed. “Stan, I’m here… I’m back.”
The voice was strange, but familiar, and Nick cowered back against the wall. He wanted to run and call the police, to dive beneath the covers of his bed and stay there until the world came back to normal, but it was too late. The dragon spoke with a warped, sibilant version of his mother’s voice, and as Nick watched in fascination, it fell silent and struck. Nick ran, then, but the image was stuck in his mind, strobing alternately with a different image, a pair of scissors, his mother’s scissors, protruding from the pasty white flesh of Stan’s neck.., his own fingers closed on the scissors.
When he reached his bed, the toy box was closed. He fell asleep almost immediately — dreaming of dragons.

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Since tomorrow is Halloween, and it’s a Saturday, a lot of you will be carving your pumpkins.  Please, don’t carve a boring one.  We’re Dad-o-matic dads.  We don’t carve boring pumpkins.  You may think it is difficult to carve a cool pumpkin, but it’s not.  Like most things, all you need are the right set of tools, and the instructions.

Today, it’s really easy to find both.  You can usually pick up a pumpkin carving kit like this one at your grocery store.  I like the Pumpkin Masters one (No FTC, I wasn’t compensated to say that), but any booklet of templates with these basic tools will do.

There are tips about how to pick the pumpkin, store it, and great tips about carving one with the provided templates.  Read the tips and try it.  They rate the templates on difficulty, and I suggest starting with an easy one.  Any of them will be better than the triangle eyed one you may have had in mind.

If you have small children, you can find templates of their favorite characters on-line for free.  Just type pumpkin+template+[insert character name here] into Google.  That’s how I found this Dora template.  Nick Jr’s website has Dora, Backyardigans, and others, free for the printing.

I really want you to try this, so here is how to do it.

First, print out the template and gut your pumpkin.  You may have to adjust the size of the template depending on the size of your pumpkin. If you have an all-in-one printer, you can do this easily by making a copy and reducing the size.

Then you tape the template onto the pumpkin.  I find if I get the paper wet, it makes it easier to tape, but be careful when you do this.

Then you transfer the pattern to the pumpkin.  Take the little tool that looks like a fan, and poke little holes along the lines.  The middle spike is longer than the others, and this makes it easier to do the tight spots.

When your done with this, remove the template and you are ready to carve.

To make the pattern easier to see, I suggest you sprinkle some flour onto your pumpkin.  Spread it around and wipe it off.  The flour fills all the tiny holes and leaves you with a pattern that you can see.

Cut away the pieces from the center, out.  Remove large parts in sections.  Use a sawing motion and don’t try to do too much in one pass.  Small cuts is what you are looking for.  When you are done, you get something that you can barely tell is your pattern, like this.

When you put a candle in there though, everything becomes clear.  You will get something like this.

A few tips that will make your experience easier.

1. Cut the pattern from the center, out.
2. Don’t try to cut out and remove big pieces at once.  Cut them out in sections.
3. It is easier to push the cut away pieces into the pumpkin than remove them outward.
4. HAVE FUN

Leave yourself about an hour, especially if you have never done it before.  Believe me, you can do this.  The impress factor far outweighs the effort on this one.  Whether you use a pattern from the book or download one from the Internet, definitely get the carving tools.

So no more boring pumpkins!  Your kids will be so happy you did this, and you will be too.

Ian is the father of two young daughters  (6, and 22 months old).  He  has a podcast and blogs about starting a business while raising young children at Startup Daddy.

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She wears the costume for every party and trick or treat event we go to.
We live near both sets of grandparents.  We go to both their neighborhoods.  She also wears it to school and around or neighborhood. Times costume used = 4

It doubles as a coat.
Halloween is usually cold.  The tiger costume works well as a coat or a full body jump suit.  Add in the hood and it is perfect protection.  We attend college football games into December.  The tiger costume works for game day.  It doe not matter if we go to the game or if we simply go watch the game somewhere.  For added effect, we throw a cheer leading outfit on top of it and instant tiger cheerleader. Time costume used = 4 or 5

Pajamas
As it gets colder and colder, the tiger costume makes great PJs.  My daughter loves wearing the costume to bed so this works out well.  In years past it has been a one piece but this year it is a separate jacket and pants.   Time costume used = 5 or 6

Total times the costume is used = at least 13 times.

This will probably be the last time that I get to decide what she is.  I think princess costumes are on deck for next year.

Buck blogs almost daily at BuckDaddyBlog.com where he blogs about being a dad, sprinkled with some product reviews and giveaways, with a whole lot humor and self deprecation.

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What a drag.

The only thing worse than having to buy your own candy is getting the lame candy that some people enjoy handing out on Halloween. Here’s my top five worst Halloween treats of all time:

3 Musketeers. A Snickers bar without the good stuff. Even Milky Way manages to throw in some caramel. My wife and I have heated disagreements about this one, but I wish 3 Musketeers would keep its nougat to itself. (I’m pretty sure “nougat” is French for “cheap filler.”)

Almond Joy and Mounds. Almond Joy would be a whole lot more joyful without the coconut, thank you very much. Don’t even get me started on Mounds.

Circus Peanuts. Jerry Seinfeld once referred to them as door stops. I think he was being too kind. They’re too small to serve a purpose that useful.

Popcorn Balls. Not a candy, per se. Not even sure if it’s a food, to be honest. Not good, that’s for sure.

Black Licorice. Everybody knows that a bowl with nothing but black jelly beans means that somebody ate all the jelly beans. Black licorice anything is bad news. It was developed by witches and labeled “candy” as a way to poison little children through trickery. It’s true. Look it up.

Now, this is a pretty diverse crowd, and I’m aware that one person’s cause for dry heaving is another’s taste of heaven. So tell me, where have I gone wrong? Where do you stand? What’s YOUR least favorite Halloween candy?

Jason Kotecki is a dad who also moonlights as an artist, author, and professional speaker. Jason and his wife Kim (a former kindergarten teacher) make it their mission in life to fight Adultitis and help people use strategies from childhood to create lives with less stress and more fun. Stop by www.KimandJason.com and follow them on Twitter @kimandjason

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Rule #3: Are you proud of who you were today?

The photo of Zachary with Rule #3 on his bedroom wall.

So you blew it today.

That wasn’t a smart thing to say. Your friend is mad at you. You fought with your sister. You got caught in a lie and got punished. Today was not a good day.

Rule #3 is simple. Ask, “Am I proud of who I was today?”

If the answer is ‘yes,’ congratulations! What did you like about your behavior today? Is it something you can repeat tomorrow?

If the answer is ‘no,’ why? Can you do something differently tomorrow? Can you apologize or do something to make someone else feel better?

The point of Rule #3

Nothing’s permanent. You have another chance tomorrow. Don’t beat yourself up about a bad choice you may have made.

If there’s something you didn’t like about today, do better tomorrow.

What are your life lessons?
I’ve come up with a dozen or so, some I discovered in the last two years. What are some lessons you’d impart on your kids? Perhaps something you’d be willing to share here?

…

Good luck from a fellow Dad,
:: Joe Hage ::

P.S. 7,000 kids in America die from sudden cardiac arrest each year. I donated an AED defibrillator to protect my kids at school. Consider doing the same for yours. Email me for details at joe@joehageonline.com. Thanks.

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But standing proudly onstage next to an 8-year-old boy squirting blood from his eyeballs and a 12-year-old bloody zombie bride, I thought, “Whatever happened to pirates and hobos?”

My personal favorite Halloween outfit was a 1976 Superman costume — basically a shapeless plastic body apron and short vinyl cape. It had none of the super-sculpted muscles or soft cloth you see in every Superman costume now, even the ones for toddlers and pets. My costume also inexplicably came with a red Lone Ranger-style plastic mask. I wore it gamely, because what was a 1970s Halloween costume without some sharp piece of plastic cutting painfully into your skin?

Just as puzzling: Many costumes for little children are based on movies the Motion Picture Association says “may be inappropriate for children under 13″ — Wiggles-free flicks such as The Dark Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars III, Star Trek, Transformers, and two of the last three Harry Potter movies.

If a costume of The Dark Knight’s homicidal maniac The Joker is too tame for your child, never fear! There’s a kids costume for Michael Myers, the sadistic serial killer of the R-rated Halloween movies.

Putting an R rating on those movies is like putting a Surgeon General’s warning on heroin.

There’s also a Leatherface costume for kids based on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Oh come on, you might say, isn’t Leatherface more or less Bob the Builder with an attitude?

Other inappropriate costumes include:

“Pinhead” from Hellraiser
“Jason” from Friday the 13th
“Freddy Krueger” from A Nightmare on Elm Street
“The Joker” from The Dark Knight

I have nothing against horror — in fact, I love it. In 1980, my mother, a devout fan of the genre, made one of the most dubious parenting decisions since Joan Crawford shared with her little girl a certain distaste for dry-cleaning hangers. She brought her two young children to see The Shining. My brother and I begged to see it, then screamed and hid our faces like kids trapped in a hell-bent roller coaster. Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy this was not.

Scarred by that experience, I could have grown into the kind of kid other children hide their pets from, but I simply inherited my mother’s taste for good scares. I knew I was hooked when, as a movie usher in 1984, I was so mesmerized by the new Wes Craven film A Nightmare on Elm Street that I volunteered for ticket-ripping duty just to be close to the poster.

When my son came home one day expressing enthusiasm for a series of spooky kid stories called Goosebumps, I was thrilled. “I really enjoy horror fiction,” he said in his “I’m smart, see?” voice. But this doesn’t mean I’m buying him the SAW V mangled victim costume anytime soon. He’s better off carving pumpkins with dull knives, gathering gobs of candy, and pulling Halloween inspiration more from R.L. and J.K. than from my coveted nightmares.

That said, I am clearing room in my 2016 event calendar for some appropriate father-son fright night bonding if he’s game. The Grudge 8? The Peoria Witch Project? The Hills Have Ears, Too? Bring it on.

###

The author of the acclaimed collection “The 40-Year-Old Version: Humoirs of a Divorced Dad”, Schwartzberg is an award-winning essayist and screenwriter. His work can also be read in the new anthology “The Good Men Project“

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If you can’t see the video click here.

Some day soon (less than 2 years), I’ll have my life back to where I can spend a lot more direct time with my kids. Right now, we’re still making time for each other, and staying connected and loving. You can do anything, if you work hard enough at it, and if the entire family aligns around the goals.

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Times have certainly changed.  My wife and I struggle with how to give our kids the same kind of Halloween we experienced as kids.  The Halloween of our childhood has sadly passed us by.  Instead,  the mall offers trick or treating, we cart the kids around to relatives houses, and we keep some candy in the house.

A church down the street from us has introduced a new way of trick or treating- they bring it to the church parking lot. Trick or trunk!

Yup, you heard me right.  You bring your bags of candy, your kids, trick or treat bags and pop open your trunk.  Halloween in a parking lot.  The kids walk from car to car collecting candy from fellow parishioners.  If you ask me it’s a great way to give the Halloween experience to your children, spend some quality time with friends, and stay safe.

What do you think of trick or trunk?  Do you do something similar on Halloween?

Photo credit: uploaded to Flickr by PumpkinWayne

Benjamin Strong is the Director of Marketing for the United States Coast Guard Amver search and rescue program.  He is the father of three boys, the oldest with Down syndrome.  You can follow his professional exploits on the Amver blog or on Twitter.  His personal thoughts are here.

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The adventures of Max and his wild, woolly friends has always been a favorite of mine. The unique visual style of Maurice Sendak’s images mesmerized me as a child, and again as I frequently read WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE to my own kids, living vicariously through them my own fond memories of Max’s inspired fantasies. As an adult, I have also been a fan of filmmaker Spike Jonze and his brilliant executions of Charlie Kaufman’s quirky BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and ADAPTATION. Thus, the matching of Jonze and Sendak seemed a perfect storm of powerful creative forces and I eagerly awaited the film’s release last week. And stormy it was.

Let The Wild Rumpus Start!

I did not see the movie with my kids so I don’t have their young adult point of view. I found the film visually striking and emotionally engaging. The seemingly muted color palate made the oddly sized and shaped creatures all the more real, and their expressions and personalities were believable, as was their engagement with their newly anointed King, Max. What surprised me about the Jonze version of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE was the intense anger and frustration pent up and bursting forth from almost all the characters, from Max, to his Mom, to the creature Carol and his quirky cohorts. It was at times unsettling, but that may have been the point.

Divorcing The Film From The Book

Whereas my recollection of the book WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is of a young boy’s wild imagination bringing on a world of fantasy and adventure, the film struck me with perhaps a deeper meaning. To me, it seemed a major character in the film was one who never appeared – Max’s father. It felt that Max, his Mom, and even his briefly appearing sister are all reacting to and, in their own awkward ways, responding to a change in their lives perhaps brought on by divorce. As a child, by definition Max has limited control over his own life, and he sees the others who are supposedly in control slipping further and further away. His dad, who is not there. His sister, who is off with her friends.  His mom, who is entertaining a new man in her life. Like the furry and often furious Carol, Max can’t help but feel the people he cares about, who should be caring about him, have all gone away and left him to his own destructive devices.

The Boy Who Would Be King

Max seems ever desperate to be master of his own domain. Whether it is his cleverly crafted igloo, a bedside fortress built of blankets, or as King of  “where the wild things are,” Max thrives on being in control of the chaos, and for King Max, in all his worlds, chaos reigns supreme. Of course it is that same chaos that breaks down Max’s kingdom(s).  When he finally faces Carol’s world (which is also Max’s world) falling apart – literally and figuratively – only then is he able to recognize that connection and not chaos is the only way he can regain control and and a sense of normalcy in his real life. We are left hopeful that Max’s visit to “Where The Wild Things Are” has tamed the wild beast in him.

Let The Wild Conversation Start!

Have you seen the film? You can see the Trailer for the film here.  Please share your own thoughts in the comments. Do you agree with how I saw it? Is this a film for your kids? What did they think? It would be great to share some different points of view, from different age perspectives. Let the Wild discussion start!

Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 21, Ethan, 19 and Olivia, 18).  He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast.  You can see more of Jeff’s writing at Sassholes! and Social Networking Rehab.

DISCLOSURE: I paid to see the movie.  I did not buy any popcorn.  The links in this post to Books and DVD’s are Amazon Affiliate Links.  I have yet to earn enough to pay for a cup of coffee from such links, but I like coffee so I will keep trying.

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Hi, my name is Buck and I don’t have parent guilt.  I probably should start from the beginning.  I travel for my work rarely.  I have started going to conferences for blogging and social media.  I want to be a better blogger.  I have attended a couple locally.  I have traveled to a couple.  In fact, I am writing this and I leave for Las Vegas in a few hours for Blog World Expo.

Moms Have It:

Having gone to a couple of these, I hear from the moms that they feel guilty leaving their kids behind.  This baffles me.  Does that make me a bad parent or an uncaring father.  Nope!  I am not trying to be sexist or paint broad strokes but I think its a woman thing.  My wife feels guilt if we leave our child with a babysitter to go see a movie.

Why I Don’t Feel It:

I am a working dad.  I get up every morning and go to a desk job.  Until recently, I would leave there and go to a retail job.  I would work a different job on the weekend.  I didn’t see our child very often.  I got used to it.

How I Deal With It:

The “You’re Home” moment.  It doesn’t matter if I go to Florida for the weekend or if I go to the grocery store when I come through the door it happens.  The sound of little feet running across the hard wood floors.  The shriek of excitement.  “YOU’RE HOME!” and the biggest hug.  This is how I am greeted by my child.  I lean down, scoop her up, and tell her I love her and missed her.  That is how I deal with it.  That moment makes me want to leave and come back more often.

That's my kid running to meet after a long trip

Do you have guilt when you leave your child? Since I don’t does that make me a bad person?

Buck blogs almost daily at BuckDaddyBlog.com where he blogs about being a dad, sprinkled with some product reviews and giveaways, with a whole lot humor and self deprecation.

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“Words, words, words.”
- William Shakespeare (HAMLET)

I love words. I love to read and write. I was an English Major in college. Thus, as a word loving self proclaimed gadget geek it should be no surprise that I have been an eBook aficionado for nearly a decade. I started buying and reading eBooks on my Palm Pilots and continued to read them on my Palm Treo phones. Somewhere in the bowels of a closet, in my forgotten box of obsolete gadgets, there is an RCA Rocketbook, one of the first dedicated eBook readers. Although it pre-dated e-ink and our current wireless technology, the Rocketbook did not require a computer and allowed you to purchase and download books by connecting a phone line to its internal modem. Cool! I am also the owner of an Amazon Kindle2 and use it to read daily.

All In The Family

Given my own predisposition to love an eBook Reader and in keeping with the spirit of the Sony DigiDad Project, when Sony sent me their Reader Pocket Edition (on loan, Mr. FTC) I decided to enlist my 19 year old son Ethan as a “tester.” Of all my kids, Ethan is the one I am most likely to find with a book in his hand (and he happened to be around) so he got the job as the reader using the Reader. Sony provided two coupons to download a free book, so I asked Ethan to choose something he would like to read. Much to my surprise (and pleasure) out of the blue he chose the Oscar Wilde classic, “The Picture Of Dorian Gray.” Inspired by his book choice, we made a short video of the Sony Reader experience. More thoughts about the Reader are below the video.

The Sony Reader

As a device, we really liked the Sony Reader Pocket Edition. The form factor is really nice. Small, yet solid and functional. The screen resolution is terrific and the whiter background (as compared to the Kindle’s grayish hue) makes the e-ink words sharp, clear and easy to read. Navigation is simple and a dedicated “bookmark” button is a nice convenience.  Battery life is fantastic.  We have still only charged it once, when it first arrived.  As a simple, relatively inexpensive basic eBook reader the Sony Reader Pocket Edition is a great device.  It lacks some of the features of a higher end reader such as wireless access to books, more choices for font sizes, a keyboard for notes and annotating, etc.  However, Sony’s approach is to introduce a whole line of reader products, with the Pocket Edition being the entry level model.  Other models, including the Touch Edition and Daily Edition seem to include many of the add-ons and features that may be lacking in the Pocket Edition, but we have only had hands on experience with the Pocket Edition.

What’s In Store?

When it comes to getting books for your Sony Reader there is good and there is bad.  The good is that Sony has gone out of their way to make their Reader series of products compatible with the widest possible range of electronic books including multiple book stores, public libraries, and Google’s library of public domain works.  This open approach to content availability is great and the right approach.  The bad news is that the Sony Store itself, and the user experience of actually getting the book(s) you want onto the Reader leaves a LOT to be desired, especially if, like me, you have already been spoiled by Amazon’s outstanding store and purchasing experience with the Kindle.  Finding what you want and getting it onto your Reader can be a challenge, but once you have your books onboard, reading with the Reader is a great experience.

Have you tried getting your kids to use an eBook reader (Sony or other)?  As parents, anything we can do to entice our kids to read more is a step in the right direction, and watching my son enjoy reading a classic such as Oscar Wilde’s “The Picture Of Dorian Gray” made this a picture perfect project for me.

Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 21, Ethan, 19 and Olivia, 18).  He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast.  You can see more of Jeff’s writing at Sassholes! and Social Networking Rehab.

This post is part of series called the “Sony DigiDads Project” by Sony Electronics where a group of dads, including C.C. Chapman, Jeffrey Sass, Max Kalehoff, Michael Sheehan, and Brad Powell, have been given the opportunity to test and review Sony gear.  If you want to know more about this project visit the Sony Electronics Community.

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Thanks to the pandemic spread of Swine Flu, we’re dealing with an especially scary flu season at home and at work. While we’re all familiar with the basics of how to reduce our risks of exposure to germs that lead to getting sick, there are still plenty of things we can do to help make our environments and ourselves more safe. Perhaps this information can help you develop battle plans to combat all of the germs that assault us at home and at the workplace.

Soap and Water

Let’s begin with the basics that we know about but few of us actually do correctly or even at all. The most important thing being washing our hands as often and as thoroughly as possible. According to the CDC, Hands should be scrubbed together with soap for at least 20 seconds (the CDC recommended minimum) under warm water (New studies show that cold water is just as affective as hot water so warm is fine). It sounds basic, but many people just rinse with water or wash their fingertips instead of the whole hand, which doesn’t get the l job done when it comes to removing germs. Here’s an excellent resource from the CDC called “Hand Hygiene Saves Lives” which includes video demonstration and tutorial material.

Antibacterial Protection

Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at the University of Arizona, counted bacteria on workplace surfaces for a study sponsored by The Clorox Co., makers of Clorox bleach. The results were shocking, to say the least. Office toilet seats had 49 germs per square inch, he found. But desktops had almost 21,000 germs per square inch. Phones were worse — more than 25,000 germs per square inch! Yes, you read that correctly. Our desks, computer keyboards, mice and phones are much dirtier than toilet seats!

This should only emphasize the extreme importance of hand washing (for more than 20 seconds with warm soapy water) as well as using alcohol-based antibacterial solutions such as hand wipes and gels. While there have been some debate over the level of benefits of antibacterial soaps, there hasn’t been as much disagreement on the values of alcohol-based antibacterial solutions. The CDC recommends hand washing as primary method of prevention and alcohol-based antibacterial wipes and gels as a secondary solution when you can’t wash your hands for some reason.

Quick tip: Another common mistake most of us make after washing our hands in a restroom is touching the door handle while exiting. Even those few that take the time to wash their hands for more than 20 seconds in warm soapy water recontaminate their hands by touching this highly infected area. The best thing to do is use a paper towel to open the door. Some workplaces are placing trash cans near the door for proper disposal of these paper towels.

8-Hour Protection: The downside to washing hands and the antibacterial methods is that they only provide a few seconds worth of protection. The moment you touch something that is contaminated, then so are you. Well, there’s a new antibacterial solution that claims to provide 8 hours of protection against germs. One of the better known offerings is called SkinWear which states it is an FDA approved, safe and natural way to protect yourself for 8 hours against 99.9 % of germs.

Note: Also, any employees whose job descriptions require them to touch other employee’s computer equipment such as members of IT, should also be required to use antibacterial wipes or gels before and after touching anyone’s equipment. The same goes for all other office equipment such as phones, typewriters, etc.

water coolers vs water fountains

Another recent study conducted on the Food Network’s “Food Detectives”  revealed some shocking results involving common every day office fixtures such as the office water cooler and water fountains.While not as exhaustive as a clinical study, the tests they conducted revealed that the number of germs found on water coolers where were tremendously higher than the number found on public and private water fountains.

One explanation involved the benefits of water fountain’s angel of trajectory which prevents germs from contaminating the spout. Conversely, the vertical alignment of the water cooler’s spout makes it susceptible to easy contamination by people’s hands and used cups and water bottles.

So what’s the answer? Drinking from water fountains and refilling your bottle there? I’m afraid not as doing so would contaminate the water fountain spout the same way it does for the water cooler. Yes, washing your mug or water bottle and the spouts before each use would help matter greatly, but let’s face it, most people will not take the time or make the effort. So, perhaps its safest to just bring in your own bottle water and avoid refilling for everyone’s health sake.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=8668820

Weapons of Choice Against Catching or Spreading Germs

Here’s a simple checklist of what you can do in your fight against these microscopic enemies.

1. Wash your hands as often as possible for at least 20 seconds in warm, soapy water
2. If you can’t wash your hands then use alcohol-based antibacterial wipes or gels (Try to keep a portable container with you no matter where you, especially when traveling).
3. Resist touching your eyes and mouth as much as possible throughout the day
4. Never sneeze into the open air, even if you think you’re alone in an area. Sneeze into your arm if you do not have a tissue available.
5. Stay home at least 24 hours after your fever breaks. Returning to work too soon can infect many other employees. The same is true for not taking a sick day early enough.

image credit Tatiana Sapateiro, abananagrl77, Clearly Ambiguous

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Dressing up. Getting candy. Having fun. What more could a kid ask for?

Unfortunately, a small segment of Adultitis-ridden do-gooders continue their assault on Halloween. It’s been said that misery loves company. That must be the reason why grown-ups suffering from full-blown cases of Adultitis are working so hard to ruin Halloween for kids.

This post might make a few people angry, but I’m willing to take the slings and arrows. I’m doing this for the kids. So without further ado, here are three groups of adults who are ruing everything:

The Holy Rollers.
I am a Christian. I went to Catholic School. My faith is very important to me. But I’ve never seen Halloween as a gateway to turn to the dark side.

Some folks associate Halloween with all things evil, treating it as an assault on all things holy. As much as I hate the over-commercialization of Christmas, I believe this is one instance where it has served us well. Sure, Halloween has some nefarious origins (and some pretty benign ones as well), but it really has become an amalgamation (what a fun word!) of many traditions. It is really more of a fantastical fairy tale, starring smiling pumpkins, dancing skeletons, and Frankenstien. A melting pot of a variety of sources and traditions, our modern Halloween has become its own unique and rich experience that offers a fun escape from the day-to-day.

Some of these people encourage kids to dress up like their favorite saint for Halloween. I’m sorry, but I’ve always thought this was lame. And I like saints! (St. Lucy is a particularly good one.)

Don’t get me wrong, if a kid really has a strong affinity for St. Maximilian Kolbe, let him go crazy with it. But let’s stop taking ourselves so seriously and start realizing that God isn’t going to send a kid to Hell for dressing up like a ballerina and ringing a few doorbells.

The Health Nuts.
Another group of people get cold sweats when they think of all the candy kids are consuming. Apparently, thanks to Halloween, kids instantly balloon into marshmallows and millions of teeth rot and fall out. Their solution is to hand out alternatives to candy. Things like sliced apples, toothbrushes, and even acorns — acorns!

Here’s a hint to keep your house from getting egged by all the little “devil worshippers”: If you plan on giving out toothbrushes or acorns this Halloween, do all the kids of the world a favor and just keep your house dark instead.

When I was a little shaver, my dad made us a snack every night. Usually it consisted of some combination of oranges, raisins, bananas, and yes, even sliced apples. But when Halloween rolled around, it was all about the sugar. We would binge on candy for a week and it was wonderful.

It was wonderful because it only happened once a year. Childhood obesity is a big problem these days, but it’s not because of Halloween. It’s because too many parents can’t say no to their kids, are too busy to prepare much else but fast food, and appease their children with chocolate and sugar.

If you can’t consume ten pounds of candy in one sitting with no ill effects when you’re a kid, when can you?

Politically Correct Wimps.
Then there are the folks who are scared of offending anyone and would rest easier if Halloween was cancelled. A couple of years ago, the Madison School District superintendent said that they don’t encourage schools to have costume parties. “Some cultures don’t look at dressing up in costumes the same way as others,” she said.

When my wife was teaching kindergarten, she ran into this every October. There was a very small contingency that wanted to do away with Halloween altogether, for fear that someone, somewhere, would be offended.

I don’t know about you, but every time I see a five-year-old dressed up like Spiderman with a bag full of Milk Duds and Milky Ways, my blood just boils.

Why have we lost our perspective? Why have we become so over-sensitive about everything? These days, political correctness might just be a fancy way for an Adultitis-stricken grown-up to say, “I’m angry, miserable, and afraid, and I hate seeing other people happy.”

My secret dream would be for Freddy Krueger to give them all wedgies in their sleep.

In the eyes of children, Halloween is a national holiday. Dressing up like Princess Leia or Darth Vader and eating some Hershey bars is not going to hurt anyone. Grown-ups, please, get some perspective, get some help for your Adultitis, and quit ruining everything.

Jason Kotecki is a dad who also moonlights as an artist, author, and professional speaker. Jason and his wife Kim (a former kindergarten teacher) make it their mission in life to fight Adultitis and help people use strategies from childhood to create lives with less stress and more fun. Stop by www.KimandJason.com and follow them on Twitter @kimandjason

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The Candid On The Camera(s)

The pictures above were taken by me and my children using both the A330 and the CyberShot.   I never used a Digital SLR before and I have really enjoyed using the Sony A330.  It takes beautiful pictures, easily and reliably in a variety of lighting conditions.  It feels great in my hands, and the professional air it carries (at least for a DSLR newbie like me) makes the experience of taking photos very enjoyable.  Controls are well placed and easy to use, and the LCD viewfinder folds out in different directions, giving you lots of flexibility for creative camera positions and angles.  It also cleverly has slots for both standard SD cards as well as Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick format, which is a big plus if you are upgrading from a non-Sony camera and already have an ample supply of SD cards.  The A330 is a camera I would love to own myself, and it is a great introduction to DSLR photography.

A CyberShot In The Arm

This sleek and slim camera is physically svelte and stylish, and for it’s small stature it is loaded with features.  The 10.2 MP still camera also shoots 720p HD video which is all quite impressive in such a small package.  However, the camera is so light and thin I found it difficult to hold steady at times, something that was more a problem for shooting video than still pictures.  The camera also boasts a beautiful and large 3 inch LCD touch screen display, which makes it very easy to change settings and modes at any time.  By far the most impressive (and cool) feature the camera has is the Panorama mode.  This allows you to seamlessly create ultra wide angle panorama views by simply moving the camera from left to right.  The CyberShot “automagically” digitally combines your movement into a single panoramic view (see below).  It takes a few times to get used to the motion in order to properly fill a complete panoramic shot, but once you get the hang of it the feature is very neat.

While I enjoyed playing with the CyberShot there were a few things that I found to be problematic with it.  For one, while the large touch screen LCD is beautiful indoors, I found it virtually unusable in bright sunlight, leaving me to be shooting “blind” for the most part when outside in the Florida sun.  I had to “point and shoot” without the benefit of really seeing what was in the frame, as the bright sun completely washed out the viewfinder.  I also found the zoom control to be too small for making a steady move without shaking the camera.  Lastly, the CyberShot has an unusual “Multi Connector Cable” which is used to both connect the camera to a PC or to a TV.  The “Multi Cable” has a proprietary connection to the camera at one end, and both a USB connection and Audio/Video connections at the other end.  Personally, as I doubt I would ever connect the camera direct to a TV I would much prefer being able to connect the CyberShot to a PC with a standard mini or micro USB cable.  Unfortunately, the only connection to the camera is the odd multi connector so you must use that cable, with all its tentacles, whether you need them or not.  All things considered, while it is slim and feature packed (I am only touching the surface of what it is capable of), from a pure “point and shoot” point of view, I found the thin feel and the inability to see the LCD in sunlight to be non-starters for me.

Of course, it is not just the camera that makes the photographer, and I had a great time spending time taking pictures of and with my kids.  For that, I am glad Sony gave me a CyberShot in the arm to go out and do so!  How about you?  Was your summer full of digital photography?

Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 21, Ethan, 19 and Olivia, 18).  He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast.  You can see more of Jeff’s writing at Sassholes! and Social Networking Rehab.

This post is part of series called the “Sony DigiDads Project” by Sony Electronics where a group of dads, including C.C. Chapman, Jeffrey Sass, Max Kalehoff, Michael Sheehan, and Brad Powell, have been given the opportunity to test and review Sony gear.  If you want to know more about this project visit the Sony Electronics Community.

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I use Twitter for that. Here’re some Tweet-worthy comments from my boys.

Seven-year-old Zachary

My Beautiful Zachary

7yo Zachary tried “delivering newspapers” today, tossing a paper from his bike. Fell. Scraped. Said “I’m never going to be a newspaper boy.”

“Every time I watch Tom & Jerry it makes me want to eat cheese.”

Zach: “Dad, your esculum is showing!” Dad: Do you mean “epidermis”? Zach: “Oh. Right. Yes.”

“Thank you God that I’m alive and that I came to this family.”

Watching The Flintstones with Zach: “Did they really have cars like that back then?”

7yo friend over, tattles: “Zachary hit Lucas!” Zachary: “It’s true. I’m going to my room now.”

Dad: “Lucas, what’s that on your face?” Zachary: “Maybe it’s a disease!”

Oh my. Zach just said, “Lucas! You don’t have to be so argumentative!” We’re in trouble.

Zachary discovered Daddy’s Wharton Follies video + can’t stop saying “Cheerios Sucks” http://budurl.com/CheeriosSucks

Five-year-old Lucas

Lukey's big catch

Involving my 5yo in problem solving. What should we do? “We should punish him if he doesn’t do it my way.”

5yo Lucas: “Honey? Honey? Beth? Mom! Momma? Excuse me, Momma! Mom! Mom! Dad?”

Dad: You’re talking nonsense. 5yo Lucas: “No. Kindergartners do good talking stuff.”

On my way to #Gnomedex. 5yo Lucas: “Don’t go, you big AnnoyingHead!”

5yo Lucas: “I just want to be big. Big people get to drive cars. Little people just get to drive tractor stuff.”

Great moments in Hage history. 5yo Lucas: “Daddy, I can spell my second name! H-A-G-E!”

Zach hit Luke in the crotch with a ball. Lucas: “Zachary! You almost broke my penis!”

5yo Lucas: “I don’t like getting punished and I hate it!”

5yo Lucas: “I cleaned up. Can I have $20.” No. Why don’t u pay me $20 for making ur sandwiches? “I don’t have money. Get it from Mom.”

5yo Lucas: “What did I look like when you and Momma buyed me?”

5yo Lucas: “Daddy, how do doggies get maked?”

5yo Lukey: “Daddy, did you know ‘gluteus maximus’ is another way to say a potty-talk word? It means butt.”

5yo Lucas eating cookies: “Dad, can I have the three-ith one?”

5yo Lucas under a blanket: “Daddy, I’m naked.” Dad: “Why?” Lucas: “Because I love myself naked.”

Guest post from Luke’s friend’s mouth:
Mother, “Mason, did you speak to God at church today?” 5yo Mason, “No, but at the end, the other people ate him.”

Have some kid gems? Leave them in the comments!

P.S. 7,000 kids in America die from sudden cardiac arrest each year. I donated an AED defibrillator to protect my kids at school. Consider doing the same for yours. Email me for details at joe@joehageonline.com. Thanks.

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