Are You Married to a Bad Dad?

To answer the question we must first define “bad.” Are we talking Alec Baldwin bad, Jon Gosselin bad, Mel Gibson bad or “Slumdog Millionaire” dad bad? Or, do you lump your child’s co-parent into the “bad” category due to his lack of participation in the daily upbringing of the child he clearly participated in conceiving? If you selected the latter, then you might be interested in the results of a new study that examines the gap between genders when it comes to “unpaid economy” or what us lay folk refer to as the daily grind of housework and childcare. The … Continue reading

Reluctant Parents?

The other day I was dashing through the aisles of the grocery store desperately trying to find peanut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, yet highly nutritional individually wrapped snacks, which tasted good enough that the kids in my daughter’s first grade class would actually eat them. I narrowed my search to the Fruit Roll-Up/Gushers/Fruit by the Foot aisle and stood alongside a little boy who was busily scaling shelves. His parents were no where in sight. After five minuets of watching the kid scatter fruit snack boxes around like they were mini cardboard blocks I softly asked him if he knew where his … Continue reading

Mom Robs Bank for Kids

Well, something like that. How many times have you considered robbing a bank in order to score some fast cash? Most of us joke about committing the federal offense at some time or another, especially during tough economic times. Of course, a joke is just that; something to laugh about. I’m sure most people don’t actually make serious plans to carry out the risky and illegal job. That goes double for parents. After all, parents are supposed to be role models for their kids and what kind of example are you setting if you are rotting in a jail cell … Continue reading

The Empty Highlighter

In one of the classes that I teach (acting) I used to have the students participate in an exercise I call the “highlighter game.” It was meant teach the students something about specificity, imagination, and simplicity regarding objects. One by one each of the students would draw an attribute from a hat filled with small pieces of paper and imbue the highlighter with that attribute from point A to point B. Simple. I’ve kept that relatively unused highlighter ever since as a simple reminder of how simple learning can be with the right idea. Earlier this week, however, something happened … Continue reading

Dumb Move By Dad Makes International Headlines

It went from bring your kid to work day, to have your kid do your work day, to you may not have a job to work at day. I’m referring to the mega controversial incident involving air traffic controller, Glenn Duffy, who allowed his 9-year-old twins to direct planes at one of the nation’s busiest airports. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard the recordings of Duffy’s questionable stunt at Kennedy Airport. According to news reports, the 48-year-old dad allowed his two children to relay instructions to pilots on two separate days. Duffy brought his son to … Continue reading

Maybe Fathers Should Not Punish Their Daughters

After reading Extreme Punishments by Michelle Cheplic I wondered to myself, maybe fathers should not dole out punishments to daughters at all. When dealing with correcting daughters, fathers tend to make one of two fatal mistakes. 1. They let the daughter get away with everything in an effort to be the good or fun parent. In this case, the girl learns that men are pushovers and spends her life trying to manipulate men. 2. They not only break her out of bad habits but they also break her will. In this case, the daughter learns that men can be cruel … Continue reading

Extreme Punishments

Note to angry parents: Shaving off your kid’s hair to punish her for shoplifting is NOT a good idea. Just ask Ajpacaja-Ajiataz. The Florida dad claims he lost it when he heard that his tween daughter stole jewelry from the local Wal-Mart, and then used a Game Boy without permission, so he did what any angry parent would do… first he hit her with a belt and then he shaved off all her hair. For the record, the 34-year-old father denies using a belt on his 11-year-old daughter, though he did admit that he cut off her locks in a … Continue reading

Not So Bad Dad

With guys like Jon Gosselin, Alec Baldwin, Mel Gibson and the jerk who poisoned his kids for cash, still living and breathing, it’s easy to see why dads get dissed a lot in the media. But, not all dads are bad. In fact, some are down right nice. Just ask Joe Girardi’s daughters. New York Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi is the father of three children, and knows the importance of keeping the bond between child and parent strong. Girardi made headlines recently when he modified rules that put restrictions on players’ kids having access to their dads in the clubhouse. … Continue reading

Another Real Bad Dad

Move over Alec Baldwin, Mel Gibson, Jon Gosselin, “Slumdog” star pop, and the rest of you so-called “bad dads,” the feds have declared a new winner in the race for the world’s worst father. U.S. Marshals maintain that when it comes to pathetic parents Byron Perkins takes the cake. In 2005, the 40-year-old father pleaded guilty to drug and weapons charges in federal court. Perkins was sentenced to jail and remained there until last year when his young son became deathly ill and needed a kidney transplant to survive. Perkins begged a judge to release him on bond so he … Continue reading

Angry Dad Uses Pizza to Punish Kid

A father in Florida may never look at pizza the same way again. Ditto for his kid. When the Domino’s guy shows up at your home with a half-pepperoni, half-sausage pizza, I’m pretty sure he’s not thinking his delivery is going to be used as a weapon. Ditto for the rest of the world. Not so much for a father from Florida. According to reports, a 38-year-old Gainesville dad was recently arrested for hitting his daughter with a pizza slice. (Yes, a slice of pizza!) Police say the man was charged with one count of child abuse without great harm, … Continue reading