The NYC Dads Group again will help other needy families in our area keep their children warm and looking good this holiday by participating tomorrow on #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving back to others.

For the second year, several of our members will spend an evening vetting, sorting and bundling children’s clothing donated through Baby Buggy, a nonprofit group that assists the 500,000 New York City families living in poverty.

#GivingTuesday was founded in 2012 by New York’s 92nd Street Y (another NYC Dads Group partner over the years) in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. The effort has engaged more than 10,000 organizations worldwide.

City Dads Group will team up with baby product giant BabyBjorn to “Embrace the World” together during the 2015 International Babywearing Week celebration.

International Babywearing Week (Oct 4 – 10, 2015) promotes and advocates the many benefits of using a close-fitting baby carrier to bond with your infant and help him or her thrive through increased human contact and touch.

Several City Dads Group outposts are celebrating this positive health experience, along with the importance of dads being active caretakers of their children, by organizing members to take leisurely group walks at iconic and well-known locations next week. Our flagship community, NYC Dads Group, will be kicking things off this Sunday, Oct 4 together with the Baby Buggy Fatherhood Initiative for a stroll through the Bronx Zoo. A few of the other events include:

• ABQ Dads Group: Walking around at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta
• Cleveland Dads Group: Exploring the Children’s Museum of Cleveland
• Columbus Dads Group: Walking around HighBanks Metro Park
• Dallas Dads Group: Strolling through Klyde Warren Park
• Denver Dads Group: Cruising the Cherry Creek Trail by the Platte River
• NYC Dads Group: Strolling the Bronx Zoo
• LA Dads Group: Visiting the Travel Town Train Museum
• Philly Dads Group: Having fun at Smith Memorial Playground
• Chicago Dads Group: Cruising the Lincoln Park Zoo
• Vegas Dads Group: Taking a walk along historic Fremont Street
• San Francisco Dads Group: Enjoying the Golden Gate Bridge from Crissy Field East Beach
• Madison Dads Group: Storytime and a walk to the Capitol Building
• St. Louis Dads Group: Gawking at the animals at St. Louis Zoo

BabyBjorn, City Dads Group’s official event sponsor, will provide all our participating fathers with a new baby carrier for the day’s activities.

In recent years, our babywearing dads have walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, marveled at priceless art at the MET Museum, and climbed the “Rocky” steps together in Philadelphia among other things.

• Want to join us? Click the links above to join the BabyBjorn events in those cities. The ultimate goal of our babywearing events is getting dads together for an invigorating walk with some other cool, active and nurturing dads. Regardless of what baby carrier you may own, we hope more of you will grab your baby and carrier, and plan to join us in your city for these wonderful events scheduled for next week.

*Disclosure: City Dads Group has been compensated by BabyBjorn for this sponsored event. City Dads Group only works with brands that create products or services that we believe in and use ourselves. The opinions expressed in this blog entry are authentic and our own.

Six NYC Dads Group members present tales of fathering in Dads Behaving Dadly 2: 72 More Truths, Tears and Triumphs of Modern Fatherhood, a sequel to last year’s Dads Behaving Dadly compilation from Motivational Press.

Sharing their stories of raising children while facing the pressures of modern fatherhood are:

• Michael Andrews Jr.
• Larry Bernstein
• Jason S. Grant
• Jason Greene
• Lorne Jaffe
• Christopher Persley

Ten percent of the book’s royalties are said to be donated to the Oren Miller Dad 2.0 Scholarship Fund, named in honor of A Blogger and a Father author the late Oren Miller. The fund helps fathers afford to attend the annual Dad 2.0 Summit for bloggers and marketers.

The book is available for purchase through Amazon.

Two of our NYC Dads Group members have been selected as “spotlight” speakers for the annual Dad 2.0 Summit to take place in San Francisco next month.

Christopher Persley and Dave Lesser, frequent contributors to this blog and our parent City Dads Group blog, will each read a selection of their writings before the several hundred people who attend the Feb. 19-21 event. The Dad 2.0 Summit, now in its fourth year, is a meeting of marketers, social media leaders and blogging parents where they discuss the changing voice and perception of modern fatherhood.

“This year’s decision process was our hardest yet; we had five times the usual number of submissions, and the quality was very encouraging for the future of parent blogging,” wrote Dad 2.0 Summit organizers in a Feb. 19 announcement.

New Jersey resident Lesser is a former attorney turned at stay-at-home dad of two. He writes the blog Amateur Idiot/Professional Dad and has had his work published by Time.com, Huffington Post and Good Men Project among other online outlets.

Persley is an at-home father living in Harlem, N.Y., with his wife and 3-year-old daughter. He is also a part-time English teacher and a freelance educational consultant focus on diversity and inclusion. He writes the blog The Brown Gothamite and has had his work published by Good Men Project, Medium and Across the Margin among other online outlets.

In each of the past two years, NYC Dads Group members have been spotlight speakers at the Dad 2.0 Summit. Lorne Jaffe was among the readers in 2014 as was Kevin McKeever in 2013.

Christopher Persley and his daughter.

Dave Lesser and his children.

Three City Dads Group chapters will help support children and families in need Dec. 2 as part of #GivingTuesday, a global day dedicated to helping others.

Members of the Chicago Dads Group plan to gather to pack meals for shipping all over the world to starving and malnourished children through the international charity Feed My Starving Children. For more details or to participate, visit the Chicago Dads Group Meetup page.

The NYC Dads Group has scheduled to spend the evening sorting, screening and bundling children’s clothing donated through Baby Buggy, a nonprofit assisting the 500,000 New York City families living in poverty. For more details or to participate, visit the NYC Dads Group Meetup page.

The Philly Dads Group plans to do some shopping for a cause. They will head out to purchase children’s clothing to make “Outfit Packs,” packages filled with a week’s worth of underwear, socks, shirts and more, that will be donated to Cradles to Crayons, a nonprofit organization providing kids in need under the age of 12 some of the most important basics of life. The guys are also accepting donations of clothes and money for the cause. For more details or to participate, visit the Philly Dads Group Meetup page.

#GivingTuesday was founded in 2012 by New York’s 92nd Street Y, a longtime NYC Dads Group partner, in conjunction with the United Nations Foundation. The effort has engaged more than 10,000 organizations worldwide.

If you can’t participate in any of these events, you can visit us on Twitter and Instagram using hashtags #CityDads and #GivingTuesday to see pictures of our dads across the country supporting families in need.

Car seat safety is essential but there’s a good chance your child may be one of the three out of four kids not properly secured in a vehicle because their car seats are not correctly installed. This is a big reason why motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for kids ages one through 12 years old.

With Child Passenger Safety Week upon us, we want to emphasis the need to improve those frightening numbers. Sarah Tilton, child passenger safety advocacy manager (aka The Car Seat Whisperer) for our good friends at stroller and car seat manufacturer Britax, offers these important tips:

Select a car seat that fits your baby and your vehicle(s). Also, be sure that you can use it correctly each and every time.

• Be sure your car seat fits your growing child. Seated shoulder height is often overlooked.
• Belt-positioning boosters seats are for bigger kids. Don’t transition out of a 5-point harness prematurely.
• When using LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children), be aware that your vehicle’s lower anchors have weigh limits. You must switch to vehicle seat belt installation when the weight of the car seat and the child exceed 65 lbs.
• A snug harness strap should not allow any slack. If you’re able to pinch the strap, the harness is too loose. You should not be able to pinch any excess webbing.
• For children 12 years of age and under, remember — the backseat is always the safest place for them to ride. Be sure to check your child seat and vehicle user guides for available seating positions.
• Britax recommends that the use of a child seat be discontinued if it has been in a moderate to severe crash. Also, never purchase a used car seat if you don’t know its history.
• Car seats have expiration dates. Double check the manufacturer’s tag to be sure your seat is still safe.
• Never leave your child in a vehicle unattended, especially during hot weather.
• Be sure your child’s harness is tight enough, especially in the winter months when children are bundled up in thick layers and bulky outerwear.
• After buying a car seat, be sure to register your product either by visiting the manufacturer’s website, mailing the registration card or by calling their customer service department. That way you can be contacted in the event of a recall.
• Always refer to your child restraint user guide or call your car seat’s customer service about installation and proper use questions you might have.
• If you still feel unsure about your car seat installation, have a certified technician check your installation.

Father and celebrated clown Bello Nock joins us on this new episode of The Modern Dads Podcast to talk fatherhood, circus life and how he balances the two like he balances on the highwire.

The acclaimed daredevil known for his bright upswept hair joins Matt and Lance to discuss his boyhood growing up as a touring circus/theatre daredevil, finding work/life balance when your whole family is part of your business, and strategies for watching your children do dangerous (and not so dangerous) stunts. He also discusses his daredevil circus/clown show Bello Mania that will be playing at the New Victory Theatre in April. 

Bello Nock, often known simply as Bello, is an American daredevil clown and circus performer. He is a master of the highwire, swaypole, wheel and trampoline who thrills audiences while adding a health dose of humor to his amazing feats.

Nock has been listed in the Guinness Book of World Records his highwire walk over a cruise ship. He has rappelled off Madison Square Garden and hung from a helicopter over the Statue of Liberty among his many stunts. 

Born in Sarasota, Florida, Nock is a seventh-generation circus performer, a descendant of the family that founded Switzerland’s famous Circus Nock in the 18th century.

In 2001, Time magazine included him on a list of “America’s Best Artists and Entertainers”, as “America’s Best Clown.” In 2004, the N.Y. Daily News said that he “might be the greatest athlete ever to set foot” in Madison Square Garden. He spent eight years with the famed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

City Dads Group columnist and L.A. Dads Group member Whit Honea joins us again to talk about the importance of encouraging kids to take risks, even if they may fail.

Listen to The Modern Dads Podcast here or:

• Listen and subscribe on iTunes (a nice rating and review would helpful as well)