The End of the Barbecue Season

It's coming on to the end of the barbecue season, and I've barely even started!  I need to squeeze in some more barbecuing!  And I have just the tools to make it so.

A couple of weeks ago, Dove Men+Care asked me if they could send me a gift.  I said sure!  (Because, truthfully, I can't think of the last time I said no to a gift. And even though my birthday is not until October, what the heck.)

Apparently  they were sending some of their favorite family/dad bloggers stuff, with the hopes that they could use them to help make family time fun time.  (and write about it of course)  I'm happy to oblige, because I think Dove Men+Care is a great brand (I've written about them many times before)  I feel like they are genuinely committed to dad's issues, men's issues, and as I wrote in my summary of the last Dad 2.0 conference, I feel that they are on the side of the angels. So consider that the official disclosure:  I received some free products from Dove in hopes I would write about them.  And I am.

  I know that some other bloggers got different things. I ended up with something that worked out just right for me-- a barbecue set!   A set of very professional tools, an apron, and most importantly, an electronic/wireless thermometer, something I'd been eying for a while.  (A friend of mine who is turning his penchant for smoked meats from an avocation to a vocation showed me his, and I coveted.  Now I have one!)

In addition to the barbecue set, they also sent me some hair care products, and asked me to tell them how the haircare products make my life better.

The top of my head.  Now you know why
I often wear a hat.

Now, as most of you know, I have plenty of hair, just most of it has migrated from the top of my head to my back and chest. And I've still got some product that they gave me from a previous promotion!  So I donated the product they gave me to my favorite local charity (Care For Real).  Because realistically, I don't have enough hair to use styling gel (well I do, but am not interested in styling my back hair!)

I trust that the hair care products they sent (including the very cool sounding Oxygen Charge Shampoo) are making somebody's life a lot cleaner.  Who knows, that donation may have helped somebody clean up to get a job, and build the economy.  Or maybe not.

Either way, the world is still a cleaner, better place, and it's thanks to Dove Men+ Care.

I am Already a Winner! (Dove Men+ Care edition)

Last month at the Dad 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, something remarkable happened to me.

I didn't have an epiphany that I should give it all up and join the circus (no, that happened years earlier-- if anything I am trying to run away from the circus, but they keep finding me!)

Nor did I make a love connection (happily married, thank you very much)

I didn't even make some lifelong friends (well, actually I did, but that's not the point of this particular story.)

I won a prize!

I've probably been to 15 blogger conferences of various sorts, where they've given out hundreds of prizes.  But I never won anything until today.  Unlike my friend Lorne Jaffe, who has probably won at least one prize at every conference I've ever attended with him.

But somehow, I managed to win one of the door prizes from DoveMen+Care!  (But don't feel bad for Lorne, he managed to win one also!)

Well, this morning my prize arrived in the mail.  It's the Dad's Bedtime ToolKit, filled with a bunch of cool gifts.

Here's the unboxing sequence!

 

My son is 6 and well past sleep training, but we do have some 18 month old twin cousins (and my sister in law) who are going to enjoy the sleep training light tremendously.  And a giant mag-lite, has always been on my wish list.

And a big red toolbox (my old toolbox is a little beat up to put it nicely.)

And of course, a $50 Amazon card will ALWAYS come in handy.

Also for my fellow activist dads-- please note that the Amazon card they sent me is just for Dads.  So we are not ENTIRELY left out of the equation-- but I am still a big supporter of #amazon family!)

Anyway, thanks DoveMen+ Care and Dad 2.0 Summit for the prize.  I love it!  All of it!

(And next year I want an Apple SmartWatch!  You've whet my appetite for winning and created a monster!)

#realstrength

The Camaraderie of Dads: March Madness edition

On Thursday me and 25 other dads in Chicago (and hundreds of other dads around the country) gathered together to drink beer, eat chicken wings, watch college basketball, and trade dad stories.

 Not the ones where you haven't seen your kid all week, and you missed the recital, and now you are going to fix it all with ice cream for dinner-- I'm talking more like "How we found out that my son has Celiac's disease, and why we cook 3 dinners a night to feed our family."  Or "which playgrounds in which order we are going to go to, once the weather gets warm."  And occasionally some B.K. stories (before kids)  Backpacking in Syria or books we read when we had time to read books without pictures.

Oh yes, there were a couple of dirty jokes told as well.


I just moved to Chicago, so I didn't know most of the guys, but it was a pleasure to get to know them in a casual style.  In New York, these dad gatherings were in many ways, my non-traditional water cooler at work, where you take a minute to share the news of the day, chat about problems at work, and maybe figure out something that's been bothering you.
Having this peer group is important to me.  If you are a stay at home dad, or a dad that needs a peer group.  I'd highly recommend checking out City Dads.  They have organizations in a number of cities, and if they don't have one in yours, if you are willing to do some work, they'll help you start one!

Thanks Dove Men Care + for sponsoring this event, and getting dads to share and build camaraderie.  That's #realstrength.

Please note:  A version of this article appeared on the CityDads Blog  on Friday.  Read that, along with some other dads writing their appreciations of the event across the country.