The Yin & Yang of Being Beaten by Your Kid

I have three claims-to-fame in my 39 years on this lovely planet.

  1. I once placed 2nd in a BMX bike race. Seven years old. My first BMX bike. A brand new birthday helmet. A big dirt track with hills and jumps. Early 80’s when BMX was super cool. And I came in 2nd…in my very first race! There were only two riders. It was also my last BMX race. But I did hang my red 2nd place ribbon on my wall.
  2. In the 8th-grade yearbook, I was selected as “Best Dressed.” The climax of my life – and the height of my style – was only a short 25 years ago. Not too shabby.
  3. At six, I was the youngest green belt my YMCA Karate instructor had ever encountered. I stopped shortly thereafter. A local YMCA record seemed sufficient.

There are no BMX tracks near us.

8th grade is still a long way off.

But…

On Saturday, Little Dude captured his yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do. He’s only five.

My meaningless YMCA record has been crushed. By my prodigy.

Sort of.

There’s a bit of a technicality.

As “they” say, every great teacher wants their student to be better than them.

I love seeing Little Dude kicking ass and taking names. It literally warms my heart – yes, literally, as in my heart is physically warmer watching the awesomeness of my offspring.

But…

Dad’s don’t like to be beaten. Especially by their kids. At anything.

The technicality…

In the generic YMCA karate of my youth, the green belt followed the white belt. In Little Dude’s TKD class, green follows yellow.

In Little Dude’s mind, Dad is still in the lead. And I’m keeping it that way.

I have the green belt (thanks Mom), and I’ll pass it down when the time is right – IE when Little Dude is 7.

Long live the Dad champ!

Congrats Little Dude…

And for contrast…

The Reality of Parenting: An Occasional Hit to the Groin

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.

 

12 Tips for Fatherhood Awesomeness

Little Dude - Before THE Haircut

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]…

  1. Give ’em some love.
  2. Spend time with the rug rats.
  3. Show up at the big game/recital.
  4. Show the kids things you dig.
  5. Talk to them.
  6. Reading is always cool.
  7. Be grateful. And show it.
  8. Play.
  9. Treat everyone with respect and kindness.
  10. Smile.
  11. Pursue your bliss.
  12. Never too many “I love you’s”

Don’t Underestimate the Power of a Checklist. Especially Super Awesome Kid Checklists.

A quick update. We are now three weeks into our adventure with Bruce Feiler’s The Secrets of Happy Families.

Short story. It’s pretty awesome.

It’s a work in progress. One great change is our weekly Family Meeting. Still finding our groove and building habits, but a sweet reason for everyone to sit down and talk once a week. Perfect.

But the biggest impact is the checklist. The morning checklist rocks. Amazing how smoothly chores/habits are reinforced with a simple checklist.

We put our checklists on the fridge with dry-erase markers. Simple. Convenient. Easily accessible. And they use it every morning…with very little reminder. Huge change.

As Feiler points out, you can’t underestimate the power of the check-mark.

But checklists are especially radical when the kiddos write them. Check out these awesome to-do lists that Mashable shared…

Kgfaf

Get dizzy. Sit down. Classic.

Get a checklist. They work.

The Most Important Journey: Dude to Dad

Little Dude - Before THE Haircut

Little Dude – Before THE Haircut

Seriously? Almost a month without a post. Geesh. Get with it, Dude!

All I can say is: 3 kids. Enough.

So, I missed a Father’s Day post. That’s a home run post for the Dude!

Dang kids! (shaking my fist like an ole’ timer!)

But the good news I’ve stockpiled a few thoughts, links, etc.

A bit belated, but happy Dad’s Day dudes. Now, consider how important you are. For real.

I mentioned this super rad Dude’s online magazine, Bearings,  in my New Year’s post. If you haven’t subscribed, chop, chop. Hop to it. It won’t disappoint…”A Southern Lifestyle Guide for Men,” enough said.

The brilliance that is Bearings shared some nice Papa’s Day thoughts, and here’s a few of my favs…

  • Dads teach us lessons about fatherhood through their successes and their failures.
    • They teach us to show up when it’s easier to run. 
    • They teach us to persevere when it’s easier to quit. 
    • They teach us to get back up when we fall down. 
    • They teach us to spend time with those who matter most, because life is short and tomorrow is not guaranteed. 
    • Most of all, they teach us that legends aren’t always made in the public eye – they are made in the eyes of sons whose eyes are on their fathers. 

In addition to those awesome words of wisdom, the Bearings dudes also shared a sweet documentary that I was unaware of – The Other F Word. Punk rocker dudes that are now dads! Sweetness.

I feel like I grew up with these dudes, and to see them fumble through fatherhood is awesome. A whole new respect.

 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZkWHZ3hJtY[/youtube] 

I also hung on to a post from Zen Habits that boils that whole Dad thing down to one simple lesson…

Appreciate your child’s love for you.

Whoa. That stops you for a minute. So easy. So profound. But so hard.

Do we even realize how much those little people love us? How much they watch our every move? Listen to our every word…even when they back-talk and seem to be ignoring?

Our kids are learning from us every second of every day. We may not realize it. They may not realize it. But those little sponges are sucking up each and every action we take…good and bad.

Understand how much you’re loved. And love them back. It’s that simple.

How about some stats to back up the importance of us dudes? Right on.

Click through for a variety of dad stats, but here’s one that sums it up well…

Children whose fathers are highly involved with them in a positive way do better in school, demonstrate better psychological well-being and lower levels of delinquency, and ultimately attain higher levels of education and economic self-sufficiency. One of the most important factors in girls’ academic achievement is their father’s belief in them.

Sorry it’s a bit late, but I hope it’s as clear to you as it is to me that the most important – and rewarding – journey we’ll take is from Dude to Dad.

The best part is, we’re Dads; the expectations are already set low. If we remember to shower and a put on a shirt without stains, we’re already ahead of the game.

All we need to do is show up and have a good time. Smile. Laugh. Have fun. And love those kids. It’s as simple as that. 

PS – Just to keep it real, dads you’re market value is $23, 344. While moms are worth $59,862. Dang!

Is School Broken?

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.

10 Tips for Raising Little Dudes

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…

  1. Be consistent.
  2. Don’t speak about him to others (e.g., tell funny things) in his presence. (Don’t make him self-conscious.)
  3. Don’t praise him for something I wouldn’t always accept as good.
  4. Don’t reprimand him harshly for something he’s been allowed to do.
  5. Daily routine: eating, homework, bath, teeth, room, story, bed.
  6. Don’t allow him to monopolize me when I am with other people.
  7. Always speak well of his pop. (No faces, sighs, impatience, etc.)
  8. Do not discourage childish fantasies.
  9. Make him aware that there is a grown-up world that’s none of his business.
  10. Don’t assume that what I don’t like to do (bath, hairwash) he won’t like either.

Sabotage for the Kids – RIP MCA

As we all probably know by now, one of the trifecta that make up the Beastie Boys passed away last week. I was tempted to scribble out a post memorializing MCA, but the interwebs were bursting at the seams with MCA-related posts; so I held off.

I mourned in my own way – I added a Beasties station to my Pandora (how did I not have a Beasties station?!) and cranked up the car stereo while cruising. I’m sure MCA can respect this.

Born in the late 70’s, the Dude is a product of the 80’s, and as a result, a product of the Beastie Boys. I can still recall sitting in my 4th grade class and seeing the Beasties cassette for the first time as a friend passed it around like illegal contraband.

Music was still rebellious at that point, and it doesn’t get much more rebellious than early Beastie Boys.

The Beasties will forever hold a special place in my musical heart. So, it’s sad to see a founding member move on – especially at the young age of 49. To be honest, it seemed like the Beasties would fade away a number of times, but they always found a way to stay relevant. With MCA gone, there is no way to make a full recovery, and with that, it feels like a piece of childhood for many gen x/y’ers is passing on as well. Hence all of the online memorializing.

I stayed out of the online memorializing for a week or so, but now I’ve been pulled back in. A great new video has brought the MCA memorial to the level of kids, and the Dude can relate to kids. So, I had to jump in.

Here’s a tribute to Adam Yauch – aka MCA – by James Winters and his family. James, the Dude digs. Nice work.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/42106181[/vimeo]

Hats off to Kottke.org for sharing the link.

DIY for Little Dudes

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

DIY.org

Ghost Town Marble Run by Redshoeman

Thanks to Swissmiss for passing on the creative goodness. 🙂

Programming for the Kids

Computer Programming

Computer Programming

The Dude is going to start dropping some links on the reg.

For those of us over 30, that means I’m going to begin sharing a variety of website links on a regular basis.

The internet is full of ridiculously awesome information. The amazing info is coming at me fast and furious, and I’m falling behind on Dude’s News; so I figure I might as well start sharing the amazingness the interwebs send my way continually, rather than falling behind.

Curration is the best way to describe it. (A few Dude favorite curration blogs are: Brain Pickings, Kottke, The Kid Should See This.) I’m collecting awesomeness across the intertubes and passing it on to you.

Really, I’m creating a catalog of awesomeness for myself, but I’m happy to share it with you too.

Let’s start with this super rad article from Wired Magazine about teaching kids how to program software. As in start teaching kids as young as 5 years old how to program computer software!

Insane. Awesome. Amazing.

It’s like learning a language, so kids are actually very open to it. Kidddos are at a perfect stage to start understanding and assimilating computer programming.

Super rad, and it just so happens that Papa, aka Little Bill, aka the Dude’s Dad, is a computer programming professor at the collegiate level.

Let’s get these kids programming.

Papa, what do you think, make sense? Are you available for online courses? 🙂

Wired Magazine: Teach a Kid to Program