Parenting is rad. Very rad.
However, for anyone considering a journey down the parental path, every yin has a yang.
The reality of parenting?
Sometimes, as you stretch your arm across the counter to purchase a pound of your favorite coffee beans, an awesome man cub may just reach out and knock you in the midsection.
A toddler ambush. How do they have such a keen sense of attack?!
No matter how adorable, protect yourself. Cute AND sinister.
We can’t all be origami masters, but we all certainly need some righteous paper airplane skills.
A piece of paper, a few folds – bam – hours minutes of fun for the whole fam.
I’ve always been a traditionalist when it comes to paper airplane crafting. Fold a nose, fold a couple wings and you’re done.
Then Need Supply Co sent the best paper airplane (ever) my way, and I’m a changed man.
Super easy. Great style. And flies like a champ.
Done and done.
We’ve been tossing a squadron of these bad boys around the house all day!
You wouldn’t let a Bald Eagle loose to fly around in your studio apartment would you? Of course not! Get this Thunder Piglet outside for a good throw with your mates! This is, in fact, the best paper plane ever. –
Little Dude – Before THE Haircut
Short, but sweet.
I’d like to think I have a firm grasp on the majority of these tips, but some great reminders never hurt.
12 Tips for being a radical dad [from LifeHack]…
The Dude returned from a four month hiatus in early May.
Why the hiatus?
3 kids. Need I say more?
An explanation from Jim Gaffigan – 4 kids…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEbZrY0G9PI[/youtube]
We welcomed the newest little dude in late January. It was an awesome surprise from start to finish.
Jazzy Mack was born in our house! I caught him in the bathroom. We were chilling in our own bed as we met each other for the first time. It was awesome.
For the past four months we’ve been trying to regain our balance. Three kids is crazy. Include a new born, and it’s absolute chaos. But the balance is returning.
Mrs. Dude shared the little man’s birth story a few weeks ago. I won’t rewrite the awesomeness, but I will add a few thoughts from the Dude’s perspective.
He is a super cool little man. Very chill. With some big eyes and expressive eye brows.
The perfect addition for The Dudes.
Although, we did give him two names. And we kinda dig ’em both. And we have a few nicknames that we dig too.
He has a lot of names.
Confusing for some? Perhaps. Perfect for us.
Jasper Mack
9 pounds 2 ounces
21 inch’s long
10:33 pm
Brown hair
alert & healthy
PS – Want some more Jim Gaffigan? Here’s some behind the scenes with Jimmy Gaff. His perspective on kids and life is pretty great.
First of all, let me proclaim my love for whiteboard videos. I dig watching thoughts turn into art as if it’s completely spontaneous. Very cool.
But on to the question at hand. Is school broken?
I struggle with this question quite a bit. The Dude Clan has a young one in 2nd grade and two more minds to be molded on the way to the prison that is the compulsory public education system.
Don’t get me wrong. The Dude is a fan of education. I love to learn. Thanks to the internet, I consume information and try new things at a faster clip than I ever imagined possible. I survived 12 years of public school, four years of college, and I even spent a successful year at law school.
But in the end, what did I get out of it? And was the end result worth 17 years of my life?…not to mention the endless money and stress that accompanies the process. Could there have been a better method? Better for me, and better for the world as a whole?
I understand the value of learning. But the school that we know and love is not about learning. It’s about systemizing and building public servants…but that’s a whole different discussion.
Is school broken? My simple answer is yes, but I don’t have a great solution to this conundrum. I struggle with it daily, and I continue to consider options. We still send the Princess to the public brainwashing daily. For now it works. It is what it is, and we’re all surviving.
But is it the best we can do…the best we can offer our kids? I’m not sure it is. And that’s a painful thought.
I reckon the Dude will have more to say on the education topic, but for now, let’s listen to Sir Ken Robinson’s view of the education system – and enjoy the whiteboarding that rolls along with it…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U[/youtube]
Hat tip to the Jefferson Sudbury School for sharing the love.
Did you go vote today? The votes are being tallied as I type. Who will be named the next US Pres?
The Dude’s election prediction: The Man wins again.
The good news, we can finally stop talking about voting and elections very soon. And the 24 hour news cycle will find the next tragedy to focus on. Yay!
Let’s speed up this cycle here on DKB and focus on something meaningful – the kiddos.
I’m not sure who this Susan Sontag cat is, but she’s got a sweet top 10 list of tips for raising little dudes. (Tip o’ the hat to Brain Pickings for sharing the love.)
First, a reminder of how The Man views the kiddos – yes, this is what you voted for today…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=618U-_8o31k[/youtube]
– Thanks for sharing the love Lew.
Ms. Sontag’s 10 rules for raising super rad little dudes…
Inside a Toddler’s Brain
Yep, this chart is spot on. Fits Little Dude to a T. Tip o’ the hat to SwissMiss for sharing.
While we’re in his head, let’s hit a quick update.
He’s growing like a weed. Mrs. Dude and I realized – separately – today that he looks taller and thin. That baby belly is gone! Although, that could have something to do with his diet of Play-Dough and Goldfish.
His hair is insanely long. It will be two years of growth at Thanksgiving! Awesome. We keep discussing when to cut, but we just can’t commit. A mohawk sounds great, but his hair is soooo rad.
Rad Hair Little Dude
He’s constantly learning and asking questions. He’s talking so much. Constantly throwing new words and phrases at us. I have no idea how or where the sponge is soaking it all up. And the pronunciation of words at two is about the cutest sound that will tickle your eardrums.
Somehow he knows where to put all the body parts on a drawing. Mrs. Dude drew the head, and he finished it off. Rad. Perhaps this is the norm, but I like to think of him as a baby genius. 🙂
Little Dude Knows Body Parts
He’s figuring out his body too. For example, he realized his chin moves side to side yesterday. Hilarious.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mppPe0JYRAA[/youtube]
His hugs, kisses, and “uve u’s” are priceless, and we are amazingly happy.
Hearts & Stars…and trucks…forever!
It only takes this 12 year little girl from Canada about six minutes to explain why we (i.e. most of the world) are getting screwed by the government and big banks/business – i.e. The Man.
Kids never cease to amaze me, and this princess is clearly mature beyond her years, but should she really have a better grasp on economics than bankers, economists, politicians, voters…? I think you get my point.
When 12 year olds need to alert us to broken systems, it’s probably time to listen. Unfortunately, my guess is walls will need to crumble before we realize.
Great quote to end her speech…
Margaret Mead – “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
Great job Ms. Victoria Grant:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx5Sc3vWefE[/youtube]
Check out this website for the kiddos; www.DIY.org. Awesome!
I’m a believer that we’re all creative. We all have an artist, an inventor, a craftsman tucked away inside of us. We just need to have the self-motivation and inspiration to draw this creator out.
Be creative everyday is a good motto. Find reasons to create. Anything. Something. Everyday.
Writing, drawing, building, painting, playing. Anything. Just create. I love the idea of being creative. I wish I cultivated my creativity more over the years. Dude Knows Best is helping me with this creative itch now.
The good news is it is never too late to start. But the better news is that it’s never too early to start.
DIY.org is a site that is crafted to inspire kids to create and to share their creations. It is just getting off the ground, but I hope it grows by leaps and bounds. I hope it becomes the number one place for kids to turn to for inspiration, and more importantly to inspire others.
The world can never have enough inspiration and creativity, and I’m happy to see a new outlet directed at the youngin’s.
Based on their first week, DIY.org seems to be off to a great start. Here’s their first blog post – 2,730 projects uploaded! Awesome.
DIY.org
Ghost Town Marble Run by Redshoeman
Thanks to Swissmiss for passing on the creative goodness. 🙂
This time-lapse video of a young girl aging from zero to 12 has been shared quite a bit the past couple days – gone viral as the cool kids like to say.
It is very cool to watch how kids progress. But it brings a tear to the Dude’s eye. Kids grow up too fast.
I’ve been using an app on the IPhone called “Everyday” to take a picture of me and Little Dude…almost everyday. The idea is that the app will take the pictures and put it into a video. I’ve been doing it for over a year.
It’s amazing to see how much he’s changed in a year. And how much the Dude’s facial hair has changed. 🙂
I keep thinking that I’ll turn it into a video. But I always decide to wait for another deadline. The reality is that it’s kind of scary to see how fast the Little Man is growing.
But the beauty of watching a child grow is the next stage is at least as fun as the last. Although, we’re seeing hints of the terrible two’s, so I reserve the right to retract that last statement.
Zero to 12…
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/40448182[/vimeo]