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Kid’s Day

I have to admit there is satisfaction in having originated the holiday known as Kid’s Day, although I find it hard to believe that some well-meaning greeting card company hasn’t come up with the idea to sell cards. I mean if there is Boss’s Day, Secretary’s Day, In-law’s Day, and Postal Carriers-who-deliver-by-car Day, you’d think they’d have come up with Kid’s Day.

My inspiration came a few days before Father’s Day a couple years ago. Ben and Sam were being loudly secretive about the gift they had made for Dad’s Day, hoping to entice me to the point of frustration. I played their game for a few minutes, and then as though a light had been flipped on in Ben’s head, the merriment came to a sudden stop and he asked, “Hey, we have Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day…” (I could see where this was headed), “Why don’t we have Kid’s Day?”

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Norm Abram I’m Not!!!

Here are the quick-facts on the addition over our garage: Monday - Tore off roof Tuesday - Installed new floor joists Wednesday - Sam broke through ceiling below. Added floor decking. Begin frameing. The players: Ben (15+) - great worker!…

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Dad2Dad – Real Answers Given by Real Dads

Hey Dad,
One of the greatest things about being a dad is knowing that we’re all in the same boat (sometimes it feels like it’s sinking). It’s comforting to know that what you’re facing others have faced, are facing, or will face. To help you on your fathering quest we’ve assembled this index of issues others have faced. My hope is that you will add to the discussion and find some real answers given by real dads.

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Familyman Wayne Young and His Family Love Our National Parks

While in Kansas City, KS I ran into felllow familyman Wayne Young and his family. This is one dad who has made the effort to take his family to the best this country has to offer – “The National Parks Service.”:http://www.nps.gov/

In fact, his son Barrett has visited over 250 National Parks and completed over 240 Junior Ranger programs. The Junior Ranger program connects children and families to America’s history, culture, lands and landscapes while fostering a greater appreciation for the preservation and protection of these symbolic resources. National Park Junior Ranger programs encourage kids and families to Explore, Learn, and Discover these special places.

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T-Shirt Design Contest Winner!!!

Hey Dad,
We’ve got ourselves a *winner* for the ‘no-more-goofy-t-shirts-for dad” contest. Out of the 50 t-shirt ideas and designs, Brent Welborn’s design embodies the tough, don’t mess with my family attitude that I was looking for. A special mention (and a FREE shirt) goes to Jeremy Hamilton who proposed the initial idea.

Not only is it very tough and cool, but it speaks volumes: “Yeah, I’m ‘da dad…and if you cut me in two, I be a DAD to the Bone!”

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The Familyman’s RV Product Review – water treatment products

Q – What is the best Black water treatment product?

A – For those of you who don’t know about the finer points of RVwaste disposal let me just summarize: It’s way different than what happens in your house. There, you use the restroom, flush the handle, and never see it again. Not so in the RV world.

What goes down into the toilet, you haul around with you until you find a place to dump it and then…you dump it.

One of the by-products of hauling all that raw sewage around (if you’re getting squeemish then you have no business RVing) is the sometime noxious, foul odor.

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So You Want to RV?

rv dadventure

I can’t begin to tell you how many emails I receive asking about traveling with family in an RV. The questions go something like this: What kind of RV should I buy? What should I know about RVing? Where should I go? My RV knowledge is not unlimited, but I have traveled with my family through a decent chunk of the good old USA by RV. We’ve traveled with as few as seven people and have now reached the insane number of TEN. We usually stay out on the road for several months a year, sometimes up to 100 nights in a row in our big old Familyman Mobile. My children have been to Gettysburg, Antietem’s “Bloody Lane”, the spot where Washington crossed the Delaware and where he rested his troops at Valley Forge. They saw the place where Lincoln was born, the only house he ever owned, sat in Ford’s Theater, the little room where he died, and the hallowed place they laid his body. They’ve walked the banks of Plum Creek where Laura Ingalls lived as a little girl and and visited the house she lived most of her adult life. They’ve been to Mark Twain’s boyhood home, his mansion, as well as the boyhood homes of Walt Disney, Martin Luther King Jr. George Washington Carver, and Bill Clinton. They’ve been to presidential museums, seen road side oddities, and even had their picture taken in front of the REAL Brady Bunch House in LA. And they saw it all and so much more because we RV. The RV gives us flexibility and spontaneity. The truth is, you might not drive all the way to Gettysburg just to see a battlefield, but if you happen to be in the neighborhood…you do it.

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Ann Landers Meets Her Match

Trying to bring order and harmony to the Wilson home, I decided it was time to consult Ann Landers about the problem. Here is her answer:

If you open it, close it.
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If you unlock it, lock it up.
If you break it, admit it.

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Excerpt from Taming the Techno-BEAST

Let me say up front that I’m not writing this booklet as some parenting expert who has arrived. In fact, this whole discussion came about because of a tingle that creeps up my back every time this topic comes up.

The world we live in is saturated by all kinds of technological gizmos. There are X-boxes, game cubes, Wii, cell phones, iPhones, iPods, INTERNET Blogs, chat rooms, Facebook, My Space, and You Tube, just to name a few. They surround us. They are as present as the air we breathe.

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