Apace of Change » Parents

Fathers & Sons, Vol. III

Damian — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 22:54:59 +0000

We ate breakfast this morning at a local deli/diner with my brother- and father-in-law. In between mouthfuls of Mickey Mouse-shaped pancake, my just-shy-of-three-year-old said, “Daddy, I want to tell you a secret.” I obliged by leaning in close, and I heard his breath quicken slightly as he whispered:

“I love you the bestest ever.”

Can you believe there was a time I thought fatherhood wasn’t for me?

Talk about going out on a high note, 2007. Happy New Year, everybody.

Wait ‘Til Your Father Gets Home 2.0

Damian — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 03:11:11 +0000

This isn’t the first time eBay has been used as a disciplinary measure (I think someone put his kids’ as-yet-unopened XBox up for bid last Christmas), but this one is seasonally appropriate.

I can’t help but wonder – who would pay $20 (bid + shipping) for what amounts to about $5 worth of candy?

Thanks to Miz Mercer for the eBay link.

Slideshare + Podcast = Slidecast!

Damian — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 04:08:04 +0000

The good folks at Slideshare have a new mashup online called Slidecast, which allows you to upload an MP3 of music, narration, etc., and sync it to your slide presentation. I’ll try to give it a whirl tomorrow evening and post the results here Sunday or Monday (here’s a link to their blog post about it from July 24).

Also, this story from Gizmodo [via Sci Fi Tech] makes me cringe on so many levels I can’t even begin to describe. I know there are tragic stories every year about parents leaving their kids in cars unattended, so I guess there’s a ~~market~~ need for these things, but… words fail. Having been a tired, stressed out, sleep-deprived father of a newborn, I can proudly say that I’ve never needed a keychain alarm to remind me that I’ve left my infant son alone in the car. Have we become this reliant on technology?

Actually, the more I roll this around my mind, how different is this from something like a baby monitor? We really valued having a little B&W video baby cam/monitor setup when our son was younger, and it still comes in handy from time to time. I still don’t think they’re equivalent, but maybe I should tone down the snark a little bit (naah). With another little one on the way, I’m still mindful of the role technology plays in our parenting. To me, utilizing the technology without letting it become a crutch is key, and my wife and I are still trying to strike that balance. I think this is true in teaching as well – use the technology, don’t let the technology use you.

This was just meant to be a two-line post about Slidecast. I’m off to check the baby monitor.