Good-Bye Jerry - I Love You!

I will be out this week. My Uncle Jerry passed away last night of cancer and I am flying out this afternoon, with my sister, for California to help my mother with his affairs and bring her home. Death is never an easy thing on a family, but ironically it is one thing that can bring you closer together.

Know Your Children's Parents

Guest Writer: MJ Smout

Being a single parent I found it important to become friends with the parents of my children’s friends.  No matter how hard a person tries, it is impossible to raise a child entirely alone.  Extended family can be a great help, but friends are also valuable.

The Man Cave: The First Ten

Regular Man Cave readers already know I'm big on spending as much time with kids as possible in order to seize teaching opportunities when they occur. Since it's the kids who choose them they can be tough to predict, but I've found certain moments to be more likely than others.

Especially the first ten.

Schedule Time Together

Aaron and I took off last weekend together.... alone. I bought a Groupon voucher months ago for a buy one, get one night free, to a neighboring city and we finally used it. It was so nice to be away from everything: kids, phones, work, house chores - just out with only the two of us. 

Whether it's a weekend or an hour, scheduling time for each other is really important.

Make A Splash Kid Style

It's hot. You want to cool off. Hmmm.... what to do. I have the answer. Head out to the store and buy one of those cheep little kid pools and fill 'er up. It's amazing how cool you will get just sitting around in one of those babies. It's inexpensive to buy, doesn't take too much water to fill and is perfect.

Go To The Drive-Ins

Remember the days of yester-year, when you would get on your jammies, pile the back seat of the station wagon with pillows and blankets, cram a bag full of popcorn, Jr. Mints and Woppers and head off to the dive in? Create those memories today with your kids.

5 Great Popsicle Recipes

I just got done creating a new office for myself. I am LOVING it. I moved all of my stuff into my dining room and created a smaller eating area in the kitchen. It is suiting our needs much better now that it is just Aaron and I most of the time.

I am sitting here at my computer, in the sunshine. That is the best part of this whole move, it is super open and sunny here in this little spot. It has me craving a Popsicle of all things - who'd have guessed. So, in honor of my craving, here are 10 recipes for you to try.

The Man Cave: My Name is Aaron, and I Was Bullied

I was a scrawny kid. I was a poor kid. I was a kid who wore thrift-store clothes and home-style haircuts. I was also a very smart kid, hand-picked for the school's "gifted program". Until the fifth grade I lived in rural Idaho, where such "flaws" were more easily overlooked. Despite my resume I was well-liked and had many friends. When I was 11 my family moved to a rough neighborhood just south of Seattle.

That's when I became a new kind of kid: a target.

Head Off To The Aquarium

Pack a lunch and head out to visit some of our water friends. Make it more of an adventure by researching some of the animals you will be seeing before you go. It will be more fun for the kids to know a bit about each animal as they watch them.

6 Safety Tips: Kids DO Die In Hot Cars

With us being in the full swing of August, and most of the country having record high temperatures this year, I have been slightly nagged to do a blog post on infant deaths in hot cars. The statistics are staggering, and they are not all cases of neglected kids left for hours in a car while mom is out having a good time. Most involve normal kids from normal families, and could have been prevented with just a few simple safety measures.