• Cowboys and Indians is no longer politically correct.  We frown on kids playing with toy guns.  Seen a cap gun lately?  We decided that kids will play this sort of violence no matter what.  Today it takes the form of nerf dart guns and super soakers and that is just fine with us.
• Collecting stamps, coins, baseball cards, etc.  We agreed that these activities were pretty boring.  We understand why kids don’t do them any more.
• Backyard Sports.  Kids are in so many activities now.  These activities are all structured with adults (referees) telling them what to do.  What happened to kick the can, kickball, touch football and the like?  This is one we would like to bring back.  Not only is it exercise, but kids learn to work things out amongst themselves.
• Frisbee – John’s family loves this.  We need to do more of this.
• Pen Pals – We had a short discussion on the demise of snail mail in a world of texting, instagram and facebook.
• Boxes – we all swear by them.  Matt’s facebook pics are full of fantastic box fort creations (couch cushions, blankets and air mattresses too).  This art is alive an well in all the Owens’ homes. Is it alive in yours?

It was good to get back in the swing of things and catch up with my bros.  Thanks for listening! Mark

• It is great to set a consistent time (hopefully weekly).  This is hard, but if you can pull it off (John does) it is great!
• Babysitters are key – cultivate good ones.  Ask neighbors, etc.
• Matt is young and has a social life so he and Mary also do stuff with friends.  This is good, but not as good as a date night.
• If you are desperate, you can have date night at home.  Just feed the kids early and whack them on the head with a rubber mallet at bedtime.  Then you and your wife can have a nice dinner and talk or watch a movie.
• John suggested going out to ‘watch the stars’.  You can bring your food and just sit out in the car somewhere and talk and munch.

All this and more.  Mark even added a live song at the end that just might make you cry.

Mark

• Going to a public bathroom on their own – I suppose this depends on where the bathroom is.  A bathroom at the airport – no way!  At you favorite restaurant with you standing outside?  Maybe.  I suppose this is in the age of 6-10 yrs
• Staying home alone – They need to know your cell number and be able to use the phone certainly.  Also, there is a difference between leaving them for an hour in the afternoon and leaving them alone at night.  I think we pegged this one at 10-12 yrs.
• Babysitting – It is easier if they are simply watching a younger sibling.  They are in their own house and they know the routine.  Watching another person’s child is a whole different ball game.  We found references to children as young as 11 babysitting.  The Red Cross class is open to kids starting at age 12.  I think age 12 is too young.  Maybe 13-14 is a good age to start under favorable circumstances.
• Staying in the car while you run into a store – This is tough one.  Matt had a situation with a sleeping baby.  We all know you are never supposed to wake a sleeping baby.  We had differing views on this one, but we all decided that society definitely frowns on young children left in a car.  We all agreed that it should be locked and the keys should not be in it.  The controversy came up when mark read some guidelines on the internet that said it was illegal to leave children under the age of 16 in a motor vehicle.  This seemed ridiculous to all of us.  If a child is old enough to babysit another human being, they should be able to sit in a car safely.

So there you go.  Three real life dads giving another wise opinion on something they know very little about.  Independence is good for a child.  If you shelter them too much they will have no idea how to act when they leave the nest.  This is why kids have so much trouble going off to college if they have never had any independence before.  No one wants to take risks, but at some point you need to trust your child. Moments are include but no rants.  We will bring them back soon though. Enjoy! Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 45

As dads it all seems simple.  Make them go outside and dont let them eat too much much.  It all comes down to this – ‘Be the Parent!’

We are oversimplifying of course.  Families are busier today than ever and both parents work in a lot of families.  It takes effort to make a real meal every night and even more effort to get kids away from video games or the Disney Channel.

Here are our big points to ponder.  Most of these seem obvious:

• Make them go outside
• Minimize eating out
• Dont let them drink huge sodas
• Be reasonable about the food you keep in the house
• Fruits and vegetables – make them eat at least some
• Excercise doesnt have to mean a routine at the gym – get them involved in sports, go on walks, play kickball!

In other news

• Mark is in St Louis – The arch is cool!
• Matt wants the new xbox
• We are all jealous of John’s basement
• We are going to bring rants back – repeats welcome

Thanks for listening!

Mark

Have I got your attention now?  Who does the dishes in your house?  How about the laundry?  Who cleans the toilets?  Do men do as much of the dirty work as the wee womenfolk do?  All this and more in our Household Chores episode.

Some interesting facts from the lives of three brothers

• Linda does an extra fine job of taking care of her cats.  She doesn’t want to give John an excuse to kill them.
• Matt and Mary just ‘synergize’ the chores.  Its like they are both part of the ‘Borg’.  Have Jack, Emily and Andrew been assimilated?
• Mark just does as he is told.  Is that so wrong!
• In each of our houses, the man is the ‘IT’ department

We agreed that the traditionally male chores (fixing things, breaking things, lawn) probably take up less time than the traditionally female chores (cook, clean, laundry, dishes, etc.).  This was a fine division of labor many years back when the man was the sole breadwinner (think of the Cleavers), but in todays age it is not a fair division.  However, in all of our cases, we (the O Bros) have kept the traditionally male chores, but also jumped in on some of the traditionally female ones.  In others words, it is all working out pretty fair.  Our wives still probably do more than we do, but that the women probably still do more than men, but the difference is far less than it was a generation ago.

Here’s to hoping that all of your listeners have reached ‘synergy’ in your families.  Please don’t forget the Amazon Banner on the right side of the screen.  Also, dont be afraid to comment!  We would love a guest rant.

Mark Out

• Gun Control – Matt and John are pro gun and therefore anti gun control.  Mark hates guns, but realizes that the laws are pretty dumb and will never achieve anything
• Death Penalty – John and Mark are pro.  Matt wasnt sure.
• Family/Child Support/Adoption – Matt started us off by saying our adoption rules cause potential couples to adopt children from other countries rather than here.  Mark agreed – Parental rights are important, but we go too far.  The child has rights too.  John took it more as a child support therefore a govt support issue and you KNOW how he feels about that…
• Immigration – We all agreed that we should just let more people in.  As for amnesty, we were all against.  Let more people in but only legal immigration.
• Gay Marriage – Why does anyone care?  Two people love each other and pay their taxes, their gender shouldnt matter.  John says marriage can be defined as a union of a man and a woman but only by religion, not by the government.
• Foreign Policy – Why do we give money to so many other countries.  We all agreed that this did not achieve much.  Matt did not want military bases around the globe but Mark and John disagreed.  We all felt that the recent wars in the middle east are/were unwinnable.
• Abortion – We are all against in our hearts of course.  Mark felt it was murder.  We all agreed however that any law forbidding abortion would cause more trouble than good.  John did not feel that the government should pay for it.
• Marijuana – No brainer.  It is no worse than alcohol – make it legal.  So much effort goes into enforcement, so many people arrested and so much potential tax revenue wasted.

We actually agreed for almost everything.  Go figure.  It was a great time.  Also moments and a great opening parody song.

Thanks for listening,

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 42

Dr. Cook’s take on the issue of women in science and engineering was an eye opener.  He started by reminding us that in the later part of the 20th century, we (the USA) were building GREAT things like nuclear power plants, interstate highways, and bridges.  There was also the space race.  These were inspiring projects that drove a lot of people into technical fields.  He suggested a few inspiring projects that might reignite the spark and drive new engineers of both genders back to school.  He best idea (I thought) was an underwater city.  Sort of like a moon colony, but somewhere in (under?) the Pacific.  Dr. Cook also suggested that the way we teach science pre college might be a factor.  He suggested more ‘hands on’ learning in the technical fields such as experiments and field trips.

We also talked a lot about ‘Nature vs. Nurture.’  This is an age old question.  Bob was more on the side of nurture, suggesting that part of the problem was that we hand our daughters dolls right away and dress them in pink.  Certainly this is a factor, but Mark and Matt felt that mother nature’s influence was stronger.  We have both seen boy children gravitate to cars and hammers while girls will gravitate towards dolls and kitchens.  This is simply based on observation of my own children and their friends.  Certainly these are not hard and fast rules, just gender statistical tendencies.  To be on the safe side though, you might want to give your daughter a calculator to go along with that ‘polly pocket’.

Then Mark went to nsf.gov (http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/2013/digest/theme4.cfm) and read off some statistics.  Women made up a huge percentage nurses, dietitions and teachers and an incredibly small percentage of engineers.  This is the heart of the issue.  How do we fix this?  Is it really a problem or just indicative of gender differences?  Matt felt that any sort of strong manipulation (read – affirmative action) was simply social engineering.  Mark agreed.  John was smart and stayed silent.  I think we could all agree that:

• There certainly should not be any barriers to women in technical fields. We need to make SURE of that
• We as a country (and a race) need to get our act together and start building some cool, inspiring stuff!
• Pre college teaching methods for math and science could use some help.

Regardless, it was a GREAT episode and fun was had by all.  Thanks to Dr. Cook for joining us.  Thanks to YOU for downloading.  Thanks for subscribing. Thanks for giving us 5 stars on iTunes, but MOST OF ALL – Thanks for spending an hour with us!

TTFN

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 41

Dr. Bob with the grandkids – Alex, Molly and Luke

Getting them to sleep:

• Some children (John’s) needed background noise such as running water.
• Letting the kids into your bed can be fun (and snuggly) as a treat, but we don’t recommend ever letting it happen two nights in a row.  Then the habit sets in and you will have to fight to change it back.
• Please include bedtime reading for just SO many reasons.
• Don’t listen to websites/magazines full of obvious advice.  Do you really need someone to tell you not to give you kid caffeine before bedtime?
• The Ferber Method is a good compromise between you and your wife if simply letting them ‘cry it out’ seems to harsh.  With this method you are still letting them cry it out but you are doing it with science!

Keeping them asleep:

• No super ideas here other than ‘be firm’.
• John likened this to weight loss – you know what you need to do but that doesn’t make it easy.
• Matt emphasized that it is really hard to make good decisions when sleep deprived!

Waking them up:

• Try being nice first – if that doesn’t work steal the blankets and turn on the light.
• As early as they can take it, make it the KIDS responsibility to get up on time.  If they are late for school, they will have to go to the office – not you!

In other news, after all my complaining, Luke slept right through the night in his own bed last night.  Apparently the solution to getting him to sleep is to talk about it on a podcast!

Amazon – You saw the banner.  Most of our purchases have been marked as ‘ineligible’.  Oh well.  You can listen to my rant, but the bottom line is that Amazon still rocks.  However I am not happy about their policy of using a ‘proprietary model’ to determine eligibility.  C’mon Amazon it is 2013!  Secret algorithms are soooo 2007 (financial crisis).

No rants this episode and I think we kept it to under an hour!  See you next episode!!!!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 40

Then we covered birthday parties.  Matt is going to have a house party!  This is an awesome way to go.  All families should do this at least once.  It will probably be a real pain, but they will always have the fun memories.  Mark had some of these in the past and said they were fun, but they were worth it in their way.  So… Go Matt!  I hope the Jackster has a great time!  We decided that gift bags were ‘too much’.  When they are young and the classes are small, it is appropriate to invite the whole class, but when they get older (elementary school) it is probably too much.  Mark does ‘sleepover parties’ with the older kids and that seems to make the kids happy while still keeping within budget/hassle limits.

That is all.  We are working to make some improvements in 2013.  Mark vows to get more guests and to find better music.  Matt will round up the listeners.

So there you go.  Another fine episode of Engineering Fatherhood.  Have a great week!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 39

I am trying to set this up so that we can support EF with all our Amazon purchases.  This is a hot topic for WordPress blogs because Wordpress does not allow merchant websites, but I found the following text on their Affliliate links Support Page (http://en.support.wordpress.com/affiliate-links/)

There are exceptions to this policy. Amazon.com and other select affiliate links are permitted so long as they are not the primary content of the blog in question. Other exceptions are made on a case-by-case basis.

Obviously the primary purpose of this blog is to support the awesome Podcast – Engineering Fatherhood.  The Amazon Banner is just a side thingy that might (at best) help us to pay for the WordPress annual hosting fees.

So……………………………………………….

If you buy stuff from Amazon (we know you do!) and you want to support EF, just click through the banner on the right before making your purchase.  Its as easy as that!  Thanks Amazon. I wish I had done this before xmas!

THANKS!!!!!

Also, listen to our moments and rants.

We Owens Brothers thank you for listening all year and wish you a very dorky Christmas.

Mark

Three Brothers

Sibling rivalry is not simply when your children are competitive, it is when they bug each other senselessly and thus argue and thus annoying you, the parent.  We listened to some funny examples of this!  Of course they are only funny in retrospect.  Rivalry is a real pain, especially for parents of children close together in age.  Here are the solutions we came up with:

• Let them work it out – If you can stand it, this is a good option (ear plugs are cheap).
• Separate them – This is not always possible, but when you can it is nice.
• Watch secretly so you can see who the instigator is – The instigator will likely get all lawyer on you and say ‘I was only waving my arms near her’.  Stick with the intent and not the law.  If one child was essentially starting the whole thing, they should get in trouble.
• Let kids keep ownership of their possessions – This is a touchy one.  The fighting commonly occurs when one child has something the other wants.  Still, if one child ‘owns’ the desired toy, you have to let them judge whether to share.  (Here you can listen to John moan about his boss mustang hot wheels car that Mark ruined…)

As always, we did not solve all the problems relating to sibling rivalry, but we worked through it and gave some good advice I think.

Rants, moments, etc.  And lots of fun was had by all,

Thanks for listening – give us a like on facebook (Engineering Fatherhood) or subscribe on iTunes.  Also – send us a guest rant.  We love those…

Mark

Mark chimed in with some goofy stuff from parenting.com and we had three weeks of rants to share.

Tune in and check it out!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 36

We also talk about how Mary is about to pop and John’s injury prone weekend.  All this was comedy gold when Justin got ahold of it.  Seriously, if there is one episode to listen to, this is the one. We recommend wearing a diaper (we all have them, right?) cuz you are gonna pee your pants!

Highlights –

• Matt and the the 38 minutes (conception or delivery – I’ll bet you can guess…)
• Justin is prime for the Hunger Games with mad arrow making (fletching?) skills
• John makes actuarial calculations of california traffic gun violence
• Mark gripes about cutlery cleanliness.

Justin (Husband, Father, Jerk), is the host of The Dad Podcast.  Astute listeners might realize that Mark was a guest on his show a few weeks back.  Therefore we got him to join us, exchange student style (without the language barrier).

Jason splits his time between being Mr. Mom and being a traveling funny man.  In some odd way that seems a perfect fit.  Hopefully he is coming to a city near you. A native of Modesto, California, Justin has been performing comedy in front of live audiences for over 15 years. In addition to performing in comedy clubs all over the country, teaching improv and hosting numerous live events, Justin was featured on Showtime’s Comics Without Borders with Russell Peters. Both of Justin’s albums, Paternally Challenged and Justin Worsham: I’m a Good Husband can be heard daily on Blue Collar Radio on SiriusXM Satellite Radio.

Check him out at justinworsham.com.  There you can find out about his podcasts, his comedy albums and even check out his schedule to find out when he will be in your part of the country.

This is a pretty long episode.  Just another way you get more from your money here at Engineering Fatherhood.  Still, you might want to bring an extra diaper.

Thanks Justin!

Mark Owens
EF Intern
EF Headquarters
Somewhere on the internet

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 35

justinworsham.com

There are several major problems with video games

• They cost a lot of money (Here at EF we are nothing if not frugal…)
• They are usually antisocial activities.
• They can contain serious violence
• They can cause an addiction

A lot of this is obvious but here are the suggestions that Matt, Mark and John came up with to raise a well adjusted child in the age of video games:

• Sit down and play with them! – Obviously we do this because we are nerds and we like to play, but it is necessary even if you are a non gamer
• Set Time limits (this enables reward/punishment)
• Understand the types of games (strategy vs ‘twitch’) Some game are good for learning!
• Use the purchase of games as a money management tool (incentive for saving)
• Talk to your kids about the games.  Nothing too serious, but it will get a shy kid talking for sure…
• The gaming should take place in a public part of the house.  Consoles/computers in the kids rooms are a bad idea!

All this wise advice is free of charge!  And you get rants and moments too!

App/game of the week – Bad Piggies (sequel to angry birds).

Tune in next week for a very special guest!

Signing off…

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 34

We learn how to avoid over drama.  Why we don’t let our daughters get tattoos and that iPhones can be left out in the rain.

Good times are had by all!  John rants about banning sugary beverages in NYC.  Matt rants about impatience at the baggage claim and Mark rants about stupid political adds…

Secret bonus rant by Mark – you cannot really gag a person by putting duct tape over their mouth.  YET IT IS IN SO MANY MOVIES!!!

Also – secret hermit crab tip of the week.  You have to listen to hear it.  It will blow your mind!!!

All that and moments!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 33

Closing song – Rosalita by Bruce Springsteen

This was a great discussion and although we don’t give any real deep financial advice on how to get your kid through college, we sure had a great time.  It was fun to be back together to hit this hot topic.  John had recent experience with Zack (very successful!) and Matt and I are struggling on whether and how to save.  Hopefully we hit on all the issues an ‘engineering father’ would want to hear.

Oh and we went through a list of the highest paying undergraduate degrees and SEVEN OF THEM had the word ENGINEERING in them.  Go nerds!

Rants

John – Diversity.  We all want diversity, but are we willing to choose employees, prospective students, etc. based on this?  We all think that is a bad idea.  Diversity is just another word for affirmative action which is another word for racism.

Matt – Motor Cycles in the HOV lane.

Mark – Crumbs in the butter and police fundraising calls.

All that and MOMENTS too.  Tune in if you want to hear the scary story about poor little Emily!

Thanks,

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 32

Give us a listen for an update on the EF Summer activities.  Mark’s list of beer selling gimmicks.  What beer makes cold mountains turn blue?  What beer has a ‘specially lined can?’  Answers to these and other universal questions in this episode.

Plus: Double rants!  That’s right, we have been saving them up.

Matt – Motorcycles are too loud and too dangerous!  The bread bag inside the bread bag is annoying!

John – Buses even in summer.  You miss the bus, you walk.  It’s that simple.  [I forget his second one]

Mark – Tangled earbuds, tip jars at fast food restaurants.

All this, moments of the week and more!!!

The boys are back!!!!!!

Mark

Top ten reasons why we havent recorded lately

(from the home office in Richmond, VA)

10 – Summer Power Outages

9 – Too darn hot!

8 – Zombie ant apocalypse at Mark’s House

7 – Fine for ‘potty mouth’ from the FCC

6 – Matt was busy buying pickles and ice cream for Mary (due in October)

5 – Our sister Kris came by and stole all of our podcasting toys

4 – Just too darn hot

3 – Matt deep in door handle debrassification (Nearly Complete!)

2 – Summer pool time!

and the number one reason why we have been totally lame and havent recorded is:

1 – John’s ‘bunker’ invaded by goonies

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 31

She Couldn’t Change Me by Montgomery Gentry

• Cars
• Lion King
• Finding Nemo
• Incredibles
• How to Train Your Dragon
• Monster’s Inc.  (Dory Rocks!)
• Alladin (the Genie Rocks!)

We also mentioned some classics:

• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• Mary Poppins
• Bedknobs and broomsticks
• Watership Down
• Herbie the love bug
• Lady and the Tramp

We also noted that parents die a lot in kids movies.  How sad.

Great rants this week

• John – People who want top dollar for junk at a garage sale
• Matt – Too much AC such that you need to wear a jacket when companies are trying to be green ***
• Mark – Gas gauge inaccuracy

*** – Denotes winner of the coveted weekly rant award

Moments and more!

Oh and we ended with the pi song!  Dedicated to my delightfully weird son Alex.  Great fun!  I wanted to belatedly give credit to the folks who adapted the pi song (their lyrics, Don MacLean’s tune) – Ken Ferrier and Antoni Chan!

Mark Out

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 30

• how to wash their hair
• never to run to the convenience store while they are in the tub
• newborns are slippery
• Pee Pee is supposed to be sterile, Poopie means you have to decon the tub.
• At what age is it creepy for your son and daughter to bathe together?

All this together with rants and moments.  Pete wins the rant-off contest with his rant about toy product packaging.  That stuff is the bane of fathers everywhere.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 29

Endless Summer by Aaron Lewis

Tonight’s discussion – Kids sleeping in YOUR bed!

Do your kids wangle their way into your bed?  Aren’t they cozy?  Have you ever tried to get them out of your bed after?  Getting them back in their own bed isn’t so easy is it?

Matt’s single night rule – Never let them sleep in your bed two nights running (this worked with girls in college too).  This is a great rule.  It allows the exception for things like being sick, a bad T-Storm, etc., but hopefully isnt habit forming without the second night.  This is a rule to live by.

John has a weird situation because the are grandchildren (man is he OLD).  They are only their on weekends and no one seems bothered by it.  Not sure what they do when the are back at home, but the rule we came up with is:  If you choose this lifestyle, more power to you.  If you dont want them there and just ‘cant’ get them to sleep in your own bed, you are being bullied by your kids!  Remember, you are bigger than they are!  Man up and put them back in their own bed!

We also agreed that at some point, this becomes a bit creepy.  We could not agree on an exact age, but if your kid is past puberty, they are too old to sleep in your bed.

Rants

Matt wins a second week in a row.  He had a slew of them.  Huge receipts that are more like junk mail mixed with your receipt.  He complained about automatic check out lanes, but didn’t get a lot of support.  Then he brought up overpriced professional photography and hit the jackpot.  I think the receipts one was the weekly winner

John complained about ‘press 1 for English’ and we all agreed that that was dumb.

Mark complained about purchasing eyeglasses, the mall, and brick and mortar stores in general.

All in all it was a very fun episode.  This week only, you may download it for FREE.

Remember, we can always use a review on iTunes.  Also, guest rants and all comments are accepted.

Signing off,

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 28

Going Through Hell by Rodney Atkins

• Matt and Mark both cry at the end of ‘Guess How Much I Love You’
• John likes Barney books.  Blech!
• The Lorax is environmental repercussion goodness!
• Finding something on each page is fun.
• Curious George sends a weird message.
• Arthur is cool and Twilight sucks!
• Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Hunger Games and Alex Rider totally rock.
• If dads recommend the books they won’t like them.  Bribe one of their friends to recommend your favorite books.
• Matt played too many video games.  Bards Tale and MIght and Magic told stories too!

Rant of the Week – Graham cracker packaging sucks!

Moments and a great ending song.  Download nowwwwwwwwwww!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 27

Sounds Like Life to Me by Darryl Worley

Special guest, Dad Owens shares his thoughts as we discuss garages of our past, garage destruction techniques, clutter and storage systems.  Does your garage look like this?

Then you are not alone.  Here is your best plan for a make over:

We also have a guest rant from a listener (Kelle Belle!) and great moments of the week.  Tune in and enjoy!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 26

Hot Rod Lincoln by Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen

Have you ever considered taking a job in another country?  What impact would it have on your family?  My good friend Antonio Medina joins us all the way from Sao Paulo, Brazil to tell us the pros and cons of ‘taking the family international’.  He has a wonderful wife and three super smart kiddoes.  On the plus side your kids become multilingual (three languages in his case) and get exposed to other cultures.  You also get to watch gogo girls at school functions!  On the minus side you are far from your extended family and have to travel a lot.

Antonio shares some wisdom and some great stories of living in Brazil.  We even learn a bit about Sao Paulo apparently has a larger GNP/Population than Poland!  As engineers and professionals, overseas jobs come up from time to time and we have all thought about it.

As always, we have rants and moments.

• John changes a diaper – oh the humanity!
• Matt is a celebrity when he returns from work
• Mark’s lil guy Luke washes his own hair
• Antonio’s Francisco locks himself in the bathroom and needs rescuing by his manly father!

We also talk about guns and politics as usual.

Have a great week!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 25

World War Z by Max Brooks audiobook

John brings up a good topic this week relating to grandparents and rules.  What about ‘what happens at grandma’s house stays at grandma’s house?’  Should grandparents be like Vegas?  Or does that go too far.  We came to the conclusion that when kids are with both grandparents and parents, parents rules should govern.

Matt brought up spider killing.  Mark (onsite in Enid Oklahoma) did not have a topic – Tighten up Mark!

Rants about stuff people did in our houses before we bought them and clutter.  Oh clutter you make me shudder!

Great moments and fun was had by all!

See you next week,

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 24

Two Pink Lines by Eric Church

The Hacker iOS game

What if Jesus was Irish?  Guiness as the blood of Christ?  Ok so we got a bit irreverent…

Matt talks about baby names.  Mark talks about ‘letting kids be kids’ and John did a combined topic/rant about takers/givers.  There were laughs all around in this Easter episode.  I (Mark) was actually visiting EF HQ in Maryland.  It was nice to see Matt ‘work the magic’.  For the record, he made it look easy.

Matt rants about hotel internet and rental car gas.  My rant must have sucked because I cant remember it.

Moments, Easter eggs and general holiday fun was had by all!

Happy Easter,

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 23

Topics

• Mark – spending quality (individual) time with each kids
• Matt – Cool stories about how you found out your wife was cooking a bun
• John – Food Stamps.  We give people free money for food.  However, supplementing isnt enough – we need to support them completely.  Oh the injustice.  (this may have been his rant – I get mixed up).

Rants and moments as always.  We may even have stayed under an hour (nope).  Seriously folks, you have to tune in and hear Matt’s news…

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 22

Grown Men Don’t Cry by Tim McGraw

• Officially Trisomy 21 – An extra copy of the 21st chromosome.  Hence the date 3-21.
• Most common genetic disorder.  1 in ~700 births.
• Children with DS have higher incidence of certain medical disorders and mild to moderate cognitive delay.
• Over the years many of the medical challenges have been overcome and people with DS live longer, more normal lives.
• Better therapy methods including early intervention have drastically improved the outlook for children with DS.
• Exciting new research may produce drugs capable of addressing some of the cognitive delay!
• Research is WAYYY underfunded compared to other genetic disorders.  We pimp the DSRTF!

Mark and Jason share stories about Luke and Dexter (photos below) while John and Matt give the layman’s perspective.  Here are some links to get more info:

• http://www.worlddownsyndromeday.org/
• http://downrightawesome.com/
• http://www.dsrtf.org/ (Down Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation)
• http://www.ndss.org/ (National Down Syndrome Society)

Final thoughts from Mark and Jason went something like

Having a child with DS does set you up for some extra work (therapy) and possibly some medical issues, but in the end they will be just as weird and wonderful as any other kid.

We conclude with rants and moments as always.  Jason had been saving up rants for 20 episodes so we let him vent a little extra.  If anyone has any additional rants to share, just add a comment on this page and we will read it on the air.

Thanks for listening,

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 21

Scramble with Friends for iOS

I Saw God Today by George Strait

Dexter with big sister Eloise!

Luke Reading the Hobbit!

A score of episodes?  Can you believe it?  We debunk all the gender myths about raising children.  Yes, boys and girls ARE different and we tell it straight.

• Girls – More helpful and loving.  Easier when young, alien life forms in the teenage years.  Way more common sense.  They need a lot of overt love to help with confidence
• Boys – More physical, but lazy if you can believe it.  Video game addiction is a danger!  We are going to go ahead and say it ‘gasp’ generally better at math.  As teenagers, they generally don’t tell you their problems.  Best to pick a hobby (even a video game) to share so you can have common ground.

We also found out that John has a LOT of girl differences to share – not that there is anything wrong with that!

In a hilarious coincidence (?), we have all been sent by our wives to get our hearing tested.  All passed with flying colors.  HA!!!!!

Good moments, good rants.  All the fun is there.  Have fun listening!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 20

Drop 7 for iOS — Matt’s Game of the Week.

• John is not afraid of angry engineers.
• Matt is fixing real satellites in a bunny suit which is pretty darn cool!
• Mark gets a ‘Keystolope’.  (did I spell that right John?)

We talk about minivans and how awesome they are.  The stigma about a real man owning a minivan seems to be fading.  Matt’s wife Mary seems to be easily picked up by minivan salesman.  Maybe he was gone too long or perhaps he did not look so good in the bunny suit.

We also talk about engineer stereotypes.  Whether they are true or not, they sure are funny.  Dilbert rocks!

Everybody is healthy.  Mark can handle being Mr. Mom, and he can handle big projects at work, but both at the same time?  Well it was a close call.

Stay tuned for the super special song at the end.  It is performed by our very own John Owens and is really pretty awesome!

Next week will be Episode #20.  Can you believe it?

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 19

Eighteen episodes: our podcast is old enough to vote now!  Some quick notes for Episode #18

• Matt makes an excellent Mr. Mom
• Things are going well in John’s house.  The man is a machine.
• Ben (living in Mark’s house) starts his job tomorrow (tomorrow for the podcase, today as I write this)
• In our opinion the education is not the fault for the failing students.  They need better support from home.  This is the big issue the media ignores because it is  a hard truth
• There are less people in science and engineering.  That is unfortunate.  Market forces will swing it back in to balance, but the fill ins will likely come from other countries.  That is good for America in that many of those folks will stay, but what about the folks with unmarketable skills?  Where will they go?
•  Yes that IS mark playing the intro song.  Forgot to mention that last week.  Eat my dust Tom Petty!
• Passwords are a pain! (they make be angry, very very angry)

There was more fun stuff that I cannot recall off of the top of my head.  Luke woke up crying near the end of the episode and I had to bail.  Like we say, ‘Real dads, real brothers, real problems…’

Have a great week!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 18

Junk Jack LE Game of the Week

Mr. Mom by Lonestar

• Valentine’s Day roundup
• Advice from the ‘grammarnerd’
• Do we buy our kids too much crap?
• Spend more time with your children!  Of course, but what exactly will they remember?
• Should the government control our kids lunches.  Hell no!
• Success Story, Mark’s little brother Ben gets a job!
• More advice than you ever wanted about lawn tractors!

All the standard bits are there too from rants to moments to game updates.  Have fun and thanks for listening!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 17

Closing song: Something to be proud of By Montgomery Gentry

Game of the week: TripleTown iOS game

Join Matt, Mark and John along with subject matter expert Matt W as we discuss the fun filled world of twins!  Matt W (other brother Matt) has twin boys aged 3.  We ask him also sorts of questions about his fun and busy life.  C’mon, I know all you dads were secretly hoping for twins.  Well Matt W hit the jackpot.  His pearls of wisdom include:

• Keep them on exactly the same schedule.  If one wakes up early, you have to bite the bullet and wake the other one.
• Be on the lookout in case one becomes over dominant.  In that case you might need to let them do more stuff separately.
• Plan special times with each one.
• Interchangeable clothes are a perk!

We also keep you up to date with rants, moments, and the all important video update.

Thanks Matt W for joining us!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 16

Below are some links to the music and games that we mention/play:

Opening Song: Stories We Could Tell Live (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)

Closing Song: My Evil Twin (They Might Be Giants)

Skyrim:Elder Scrolls V  XBox360/PS3/PC Game

The Williams Family

Just a quick update to let you know that Luke totally bounced back Thursday and was almost his old self by the time I came back from work.  I just got a text from Matt saying Emily is doing well too. 

Just thought we might have worried some folks…

Mark

P.S. remember – no matter how many germs we have in our houses, you cannot get sick from listeing to EF

A good gift requires prior planning and thoughfulness.  Here are our suggestions

• Mail the valentines card in advance so she gets it in the mail.  This is brilliant (John’s idea)
• Have flowers delivered to her at her place of work.  This makes the gift public for extra points.  (another John special)
• Bring home something from work (chocolates perhaps – cliche but tasty!) (John again)
• Specially selected conversation hearts placed where she can find them (cheezy but cheap – this one from Mark)
• YOU plan the babysitter.  Dont leave it to her. (Mark again)

We also have a lot more discussion about poop than you ever want to hear, but some of it is funny of course.  Rants and video game updates as always.  Can you believe it?  We for got moments of the week.  Shame on us.

This is the Official EF Cherub Mark, telling you to do your Vday planning now!

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 15

Below are some links to the music and games that we mention/play:

Opening Song: Stories We Could Tell Live (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)

Closing Song: Another Side of You (Joe Nichols)

Dungeon Raid Lite (aka free) / Dungeon Raid (paid) iOS Game

Mark

There may be folks among you that like the show, but do not have iTunes installed or have it installed but do not know how to use it.  It is perfectly reasonable to listen to the show by coming here to these show notes and simply clicking on the link.  However, there are some benefits to using iTunes.  Some benefits for you and some for us.

iTunes is a media player.  It also ‘syncs’ music, podcasts, etc. with your iPod/iPhone.  The benefit here is that you can ‘subscribe’ to the podcast (or other media).  When you subscribe, iTunes will periodically check for updated content.  Not only will it be available for play in iTunes itself, it will be automatically transferred to your player.  I personally am subscribed to a number of podcasts that I like so new episodes just ‘show up’ on my iPod when I sync.

The other benefit is to us.  iTunes is a clearinghouse where you can search for and find media such as podcasts about a huge range of topics.  Hopefully some people will find our podcast in this manner.  That is where the rating comes in.  If we have more subscribers and more positive reviews, we will appear higher on the list!

So if you want the benefits of subscribing or you just wand to help us out, here’s how to do it:

1. Download and install iTunes (www.itunes.com)
2. It will require you to set up an account with a credit card.  Dont worry, Engineering Fatherhood is free and always will be.
3. When you load it up, it will have a list of categories on the left.  One of them is iTunes store.  Click on that
4. There is a lot of different types of media on the store (songs, tv shows, etc.).  Most of it has a cost.  Podcasts are free.  Click on podcasts.
5. Search on Engineering Fatherhood.  The results page will come up that shows all the matches.  Unless a movie comes out with the same name, there should only be one match.  This is what confused our illustrious SafetyNerd.  You need to click one more time on Engineering Fatherhood to bring up our actual page. 
6. Our actual page contains all the episodes.  Click ‘subscribe’ – This will tell iTunes you want it to download all new episodes automatically.  Click on the stars to indicate how many stars you would like to rate us (hint – five is good).  If you are so inclined, you could even write us a review.  That would be awesome!
7. Then you are good to go.  You can either use your iPod or the iTunes program to listen and it will always be up to date.  And Engineering Fatherhood will rocket to the top of the ‘Kids andFamily’ category!

Thanks for listening!

Mark

If I can risk summing up his advice it would be: ‘Let your kids do more own their own, dont worry so much, and definitely make them go outside!’

There you have it from the man himself.   We had a lot of laughs this episode as we stepped through the early years the nerd brothers.

We had rants and moments as always.  I was ‘on location’ (work travel) in Pennsylvania so I apologize for poor skype quality.  John had to use his plow, but otherwise all is well in the central NY bunker.  Matt gave us another video game update – Hero Academy on iOS.  Check it out!

If you like the show, please consider going in to iTunes and giving us a review.  Leave us a comment and we will mention your name on the air.

Have a great week,

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 14

Mark brings up some stories about special needs activists whose issues have gone viral.  Here are the links for the issues Mark was talking about:

http://noahsdad.com/target-down-syndrome/

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/health/organ-transplant-child/index.html?iref=allsearch

Rants, moments and stories are included as usual.  Zack joined us all the way from Portland, ME to give us an update on his life.  We kept him on through the entire show and then forgot to give you the sports update.  That is how much fun we were having!  Don’t forget to tune in next week for our special guest!

Happy Engineering,

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 13

P.S I found this funny picture while I was scouting around for something else and thought it was pretty funny and relevant to rants and engineering and all that…

In case you thought we were putting you on, here is a pic of the entire Shields Clan.

Enjoy,

Mark

Guest expert Pete Shields enlightens us on the joys of having a large family.  He has eight children!  How do they do it?  He tells us some funny stories, explains the logistics and gives us a few sanity tips for coping with kids when they outnumber you.  My favorite was the part about 21 grandchildren sleeping at grandma’s for Christmas.  Her house must have looked like ‘who-ville’ from the Grinch! Pete is a great guest.  I guess you cant have that many children without a great sense of humor.  This was a really fun episode.

Twelve episodes, can you believe it?  Please feel free to post ideas for new episodes as comments and dont forget to subscribe on iTunes.

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 12

See you next week!

WaterNerd signing off!

Mark

• John talks about issues with our higher education system (why is their xmas break so long?).  College costs an arm and a leg, at the very least, they could make the semesters full length.  We need more for our money
• Matt discusses issues with emergency itching and the Owens Family affliction – TRex Arm Syndrome (short humorous – come on, that is funny)
• Mark keeps it real by discussing joyful nagging. It’s not really nagging, it is shepherding your kids (to bed, to school, etc.) and it really shouldn’t be that hard, but it is.  Kim took down some tips from the guru (Mother Owens) who has over half a century of experience.  We share all, but there arent any easy solutions on this one.

Funny stories, rock band microphones, children crying, cats everywhere.  This episode was absolute mayhem.  We even give a video game update.

In other news:

• No ‘respond to comment’ section.  How sad.  Can someone please leave us a comment or an iTunes review?  Heloooo?  Is this thing even on?
• We finally got a picture up under ‘Owens Brothers’
• Oh and listen to the song at the end.  I picked it out.

Here is to a safe, happy and prosperous 2012!

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 11

Hopefully you are downloading this on the new iPod you got for christmas.  Congratulations.  We hope you enjoy our tenth episode!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!!!  If you dont want to hear the whole sticker saga, just FF to 10:36 (just kidding, Matt)

John had a great Christmas with lots of fun family events but is a bit tired.  Believe it or not, he had neither a topic nor a rant.

Matt also had a great Christmas and threw out some wisdom on discipline which is important during the holidays with all the sugar and excitement.  His rant had to do with getting old which is funny because he is the youngest.  Wrong crowd for that complaint, Matt.  Bring that sort of thing to ‘JustinBeaverCast’.

Mark also had a great Christmas and added to our previous toy extravaganza episode.  Trampoline and microphone stand were the toys of Christmas.  Nintendo’s 3DS was also pretty good.  In Matt’s family it was the Imaginext Landfill.  What is funny about that?  Well, it IS a landfill and that is also where it will wind up (hopefully not too soony).  Oh the paradox!  John was just happy about his new gun case.  Some people are strange that way I guess.

We also learned that sometimes you really need a corded power tool.  Batteries are great, but is is nice to be able to pull out the big guns on a tough job.  Oh, and dont hold up a stage coach if John is driving (and they still have those where he lives, but is is pulled by a skidoo).

It was a great Christmas all around with a minimum of stress and fun family times had by all.  We are all traveling to the old homestead this week and will actually see each other in person!  Holy schnikies.  Let the stories, beer, chips and stickers fly!

We would like to reiteraterate our sincerest holiday wishes to all on this our tenth episode (!)

Thanks for listening,

Matt, Mark, and John, the EF DORK TRIO

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 10

The microphone was a big hit

 

A very festive show.  We all go through our xmas preparations, discuss how to pick a good gift for your wife, talk about how Amazon.com has become a christmas staple and generally have a good time.

John really needs some Christmas spirit, so send him your positive vibes if you can.  He actually buys gifts for himself and wraps them.  Sounds sad here, but its funny on the cast.  We played carols and the clip of my three year old saying ‘ho ho ho’, but I am not sure it worked.

Thanks to cmorz and Glen Bush for the 5-star reviews.

Seriously folks, from our families to yours, have a safe and happy Christmas and remember, it’s all about the kids!

Peace,

Mark

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 9

Another fun filled episode.  Stuff to make you laugh, stuff to make you cry, stuff to make you puke.  You might even kill the cat.  Can I press the plunger next Papa John. 

This is a seriously funny episode.  If you dont laugh, we will send you your money back…

Just to balance things out, we ended on a sad note, discussing the loss of a family friend, Dan Keefe.  He was a wonderful man and he will be missed. 

Sorry, no funny pics this week folks. Want to get that episode out hot off the presses.

Engineering Fatherhood Episode 8

Mark

Hey all,

Go to the fridge, get a beer and sit back for another fun filled episode with the safetynerd, the spacenerd and the waternerd. 

• John talks about kids not cleaning their plates (people are starving in Ethiopia)

• Matt regales us about buying a sequoia to use as a christmas tree in their new house; and

• Mark tells us of the benefits for wrestling with your kids.  (but beating them is still frowned upon apparently)

New segment – Video Games worthy of a busy dad’s time by Matt

Kudos and good luck to Zack in his new job!

Here is the file –Engineering Fatherhood Episode 7

Happy listening,

Mark