DIYFather.com - It's great to be a dad!

Help your kids develop - use playdough

stefan — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:06:57 +0000

Most kids love playing with playdough but we recently found out that this activity is also a fantastic way to develop and enhance fine motor skills. Playing with playdough is particularly useful for toddlers and preschoolers to develop skills which will help them with writing and drawing. When the kids are a little older, get them to make letters and write their name with dough! Great fun and the perfect educational activity! So get stuck into playdough! Here's a super simple recipe to make your own playdough:

What you need:

2 cups of baking soda
1 1/2 cup of water
1 cup of corn starch
food coloring (if you want to give your dough some color)

What to do:
1. Mix the ingredients with a fork or whisk
2. Pour into a pot and boil until the mixture congeals (should take only a few minutes)

Done!

Enjoy,

Sef

A dad's point of view - habits, routines and rituals

community — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:10:28 +0000

What are you fondest memories from your childhood? I suspect they are things that your family did that were ritualistic in nature. They may also have been the better family vacations. Family rituals are touchstones in your life and the lives of your children. Just as habits and routines become comforting, so do the rituals you establish in your family.

There are numerous examples of these sorts of rituals, often centered on holidays and religion, depending on whether your family is observant. During the just passed Christmas and New Year’s period, there are so many rituals we have all participated in and/or watched in movies and on television. The dropping of the ball in Times Square is one of them. Watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Miracle on 34th Street” may be another.

The most underrated kids and grown-ups film ever

stefan — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 06:56:42 +0000

If you have children aged 3 years and up and you haven't seen Barnyard yet - go get it out on DVD. It's one of the most underrated movie for kids and adults. The one thing that sets this film apart from most other animated feature films is that it's actually just really funny for kids AND adults. The film really operates on two levels - the kids level (which they love) and the adults level (which is just really really funny). Every now and then the two levels come together for an all-of-family humour moment. Just pure class ... Kevin James, Courteney Cox, Danny Glover, and Wanda Sykes on vocals (among others). The film just sort of slipped through (don't think it was on general release in many countries). Anyway - every DVD rental place would hopefully have a copy or if not just buy one ... well worth it.

SALT LICK!

-Stef

ps.: No we haven't received any perks to write this post ... the movie is just that good.

A dad's point of view - what will I leave my boys?

stefan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:15:37 +0000

The recent death of Steve Jobs was yet another stark reminder of the fragility of life. No matter how rich or famous you are, the grim reaper does not care. While I won’t admit how close in age Jobs and I are, I will admit that I fully recognize that my life could end any moment, though I pray it doesn’t. There is still too much to do, see, and too much work left to do.

But, as we never know, I’d like to leave some takeaways for my boys. Some call this sort of thing, “a living will.” Why do we only leave our loved ones our money and our things? Why not leave them something much more precious: our beliefs and whatever wisdom we may have learned on our journey of life?

So, herewith, are my takeaways for my two boys, who are now 15 and 18. They are full of life, full of promise, full of hormones and teenage cockiness. I hope I’m around to watch their journey, but just in case…

Tikkun Olam – Repair the World

Dads, remember Ferris?

stefan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:27:56 +0000

The childhood hero of all 35+ dads is back ... Ferris Bueller! YAY.

What does it take to get Paramount to make a sequel of Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Maybe the Superbowl will do it. Some storyline ideas for Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Work):

In 2012 Ferris is a mid-forty Richard Branson-like billionaire entrepreneur. He never married Sloane Peterson and enjoys life as America's most eligible bachelor. He's got 100m Facebook friends but realises that his life has become full of 'isms. So he decides to call in a sicky and teams up with his sister's husband (Charlie Sheen) to reconnect with high school buddies ...

Whatever happened to Jennifer Grey and Alan Ruck, eh?

-Stef

Born to fish

stefan — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:07:25 +0000

Loving these billboards ... totally random

BTW "Okuma" is the Okuma Fishing Tackle Corporation.

Enjoy,

stef

Dad's Guide to Pregnancy - from clueless to awesomeness

stefan — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:14:47 +0000

The team at DIYFather.com is proud to announce the publication "Dad's Guide to Pregnancy For Dummies". The 170-page book contains the latest information, resources and cheats to help new dads master dadhood. This book is the closest to a manual for babies you'll ever get your hands on! It's also the most compact book on pregnancy info for dads - you can easily read the entire book in less than 2h! From clueless to awesomeness in 2h ... it doesn't get much better than that! The book is available in all high street and online book stores from 1 February 2012 for only $19.95 (!)

Ladies - this is the perfect gift for you man! Wouldn't you want an involved father who knows what he's doing look after your child? Yeah - well it's a small gift for dads but a huge gift to mankind! Let's face it ... this book is probably the only credible baby related present you can get away with for Valentine's Day anyway - so go get one!

For those who want to know more - here's a quick overview

#1 parenting secret revealed for new dads

stefan — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:54:30 +0000

What is the #1 most important parenting rule in the world ever? Most of us experienced dads know this but some new dads might not be aware of the unwritten law of parenting. Revealed here on DIYFather.com for the first time in the history of dadkind:

NEVER GIVE ADVICE TO PARENTS WITH CHILDREN OLDER THAN YOURS

That's it ... nothing else matters. There's a few variations to this rule though (depending on your profession)

Consultants: Don't give advice to other parents with older children unless you are getting paid for it
Software Developers: If lastname(parent(B).child) = "Dotcom" exit();
else if get_age(this.child) > get_age(parent(B).child) do dump_advice();
Plastic Surgeons: Don't give advice to other parents with children prettier than yours

A dad's point of view - value, money, our kids and the real world

stefan — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:34:08 +0000

There is a reason that money is on that short list of things that couples argue about most. What are the other things? Sex, and the kids, of course. With the state of our worldwide economy being in such flux, money is a more pressing issue for couples and families than any other time in my life. Financial literacy for our kids and for us parents is more important than ever before!

As a baby-boomer, it's my unequivocal opinion that the only good thing 'My Generation' produced was some pretty terrific music. I blame our generation for the deterioration of the family unit; the decline in actual honest discourse at our campuses, and raising the most spoiled generation of children in human history. Oh, we're also responsible for tearing down many pillars of society, ruining the planet through resource overuse and creating a generation of over-30-year-olds who have never grown up and still behave like toddlers in tantrums during meetings at work.

Threats to Our Lifestyle

Inspire your kids with sky lanterns

stefan — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:00:30 +0000

On a recent trip to Thailand I picked up a "Sky Lantern" (mini hot air balloon / make a wish balloon) which is used as part of the new moon festival (Loy Krathong). During the festival the Thai sky is filled with millions of these sky lanterns - quite an impressive sight (see video below). But they are also quite impressive even when you just launch a single sky lantern with your kids from the backyard.
We lit up our sky lantern to Celebrate Chinese New Year ... but you can really do this on any day (as long as there's no wind). Most lantern are super easy to make (tissue paper, wire and a candle or rolled wax paper for fuel).

Check out the following video clips for instructions on how to make your own sky lantern, how to light one and where to get them from in the US / Canada.

DIYFather.com - It's great to be a dad!

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