My journey into the world of AI-generated art began two weeks before Thanksgiving. I sat down in front of my computer to experiment with Midjourney, an artificial intelligence program that creates images from text descriptions. I entered the command “/imagine” and a message from the Midjourney bot appeared: “There are endless possibilities …”

Excited, I typed out the image in my mind:

A young african american man wearing a white t-shirt, jeans and sneakers, is flying through the clouds and space as if in a dream.

Midjourney generated four versions that the beloved painter and art instructor Bob Ross might have called “happy little accidents.” In each, the clouds look like unruly cotton balls. The man has no discernible face. He also does everything but fly through the clouds: he walks on them, sits on them, or has his head lost in them. The images were garbage.

After a few days of studying the text-to-image prompts of other users, I refined my descriptions. Finally, through trial and error, I learned how to guide AI to generate images closer to my vision. I’ve turned my daughter into Princess Leia, myself into a guardian angel, and reimagined Santa Claus as Batman.

AI-Generated art and Black fatherhood

As a Black dad who blogs, I was curious to see how AI imagines fatherhood. One day I typed: young african american father holding sleeping baby, illustration. Midjourney produced four touching images that evoked my early, sleep-deprived days of dadhood when I cradled my daughter in my arms to help her fall asleep. I posted one of the images to Instagram and titled it “The Whole World in His Hands.”

The comments from other Black dads were positive. I imagine they felt seen.

That inspired me to create more AI-generated art drawing from my own experiences or those of fathers I know. I made images of Black dads teaching their sons how to tie a necktie. Reading books with their children. On date nights with their spouses. Spending time with their daughters. Essentially, Black dads being present in the lives of their loved ones. Images that are all contrary to the “absentee father” myth prevalent in news media, politics, and pop culture.

I would occasionally forget to use the descriptor “African American” before “father” in my image prompts and Midjourney would, predictably, generate images with white fathers. It didn’t bother me at first. But after the second and third time, I started thinking, “Why aren’t Black fathers included in AI’s default definition of fatherhood?”

So I did an experiment. I typed “fatherhood” into Midjourney 10 times. The bot generated four images each time creating 40 images of what it was programmed to associate with fatherhood.

Only one image was of a Black father. One out of 40.

And none appeared to be people of color.

According to AI, the default image of “fatherhood” is a white father holding or hugging a child.

“I am invisible”

The issue of bias in image generation systems shouldn’t be surprising. As digital artist and academic Nettrice Gaskins noted in a recent Instagram post: “The processes by which machines learn to recognize images is like how humans see things. Neural nets are fed millions of images from databases; they use input from humans to classify and sort image data and come up with probabilities of what the final images will be. Artists can change the parameters for how a network or system identifies, recognizes, and processes these images, which gives them a certain amount of power to influence or make decisions about which images are generated.”

Still, it felt like the kind of distortion Ralph Ellison famously described in his 1952 novel Invisible Man: “I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination — indeed, everything and anything except me.”

Representation matters. It matters because it validates experiences and lifts aspirations.

That’s the reminder I’m taking with me into February — Black History Month — as I continue my artistic adventure with Midjourney. As Gaskins encouraged, I have the power to influence the images generated by AI. I have the power to widen the visual representation of Black fatherhood.

“There are endless possibilities …”

“I want to apologize for my generation and the world we have created for you.”

A mentor of one of my teen daughters made this statement a few years back. When my daughter first told me about it I understood his mindset. His apology was well-intended. It had been an especially crazy media week featuring stories of environmental disaster, civil strife and political rancor.

But then I thought again: No! Don’t model such pessimism for the next generation! That just makes us part of the problem. If adults can’t envision a better future, how can we expect children to have hope?

Finally, a larger question emerged: How did we get to this defeatist point?

Neverending news cycle wears us down

No doubt one culprit is the media saturation many of us have allowed our families to experience. On the national level, the onslaught of the 24/7 news cycle is hard to tame. On the personal level, the onslaught of social media, texts, e-mails, snaps, posts, tweets, etc. is also hard to tether — especially for teens. In a sense, many of us are becoming human media outlets stuck in a forever “breaking” news cycle of our own lives. Even new brain metaphors like “my mind doesn’t have the bandwidth for that” and “my mental batteries need recharging” show the technological seepage.

The result? We end up living way too much in the present, with no time for reflecting on the past or envisioning the future. Hence the anxiety of my daughter’s well-intentioned mentor.

So what can today’s parents do? I discovered some answers in Madeline Levine’s recent book, Ready or Not: Preparing Our Kids to Thrive in an Uncertain and Rapidly Changing World.

Levine notes “it is the velocity of change that we find truly head-spinning” in today’s media-dominated culture. Consequently, anxiety “is now the number one mental health disorder for both adults and children.”

“Old” solutions to the media saturation problem

For Levine, one road to a better, less anxious future for children leads to the past. “For most kids, having something resembling an old-fashioned childhood — playing outside, meeting challenges without constant parental interference, being bored, having chores, taking some risks — is far more likely to build the kinds of competencies kids have always needed and that will be particularly important in the future,” she writes.

Another way of thinking about such “old-fashioned” remedies for media saturation is to divide them into body and mind strategies. Physically, parents can try to foster more non-tech, slowed-down family time. These strategies include:

• age-appropriate chores
• projects
• volunteering
• nature walks
• arts and sports.

Granted, technology has many beneficial uses at home. However, children need boundaries. Boundaries help their physical development beyond looking at screens.

Psychologically, Levine recommends parents revisit a tool from the past.

“While it may sound profoundly old-fashioned, never underestimate teaching your kids the value of a good attitude,” she writes. “That means teaching and appreciating optimism, empathy, gratitude, self-reflection, humility, and enthusiasm around challenges and diverse points of view.”

She calls for parents to model an optimistic “explanatory style,” or “the manner in which we habitually explain to ourselves why things happen and what they mean.”

In addition to expressing optimism, parents should provide context. This helps “reframe” media narratives for children to provide more balanced perspectives. For example, in our house we have talked about the eventual endings of the 1918 flu pandemic and the 1960s nuclear gamesmanship as ways to cope with recent scary headlines. Reflecting on historical traumas that eventually passed helps lessen everyone’s anxiety about the present and future.

The “new” power of increasingly involved fathers

Late in her book, Levine models optimism for the future by noting the positive impacts of increasingly involved fathers. The continued redefinition and expansion of modern fatherhood — whether working or at-home — bodes well for all families.

“In a popular quip, the scientist Alan Kay said, ‘The best way to predict the future is to invent it,’” Levine notes. This quote reminded me of years ago when I attended the Annual At-Home Dads Convention, which I highly recommend. At the conference, one of the presenters joked that full-time at-home dads are like “fathers from the future.”

It’s ironic that Levine offers some old-fashioned advice to “future-proof” today’s families. But in a statement that contrasts with my daughter’s well-meaning mentor, she practices the “good attitude” she preaches.

“We want our children to run toward adulthood eagerly, not cringe from it or burrow down in our spare room for years,” Levine writes. “We want to reassure them that, even in our unpredictable era, there’s always a way forward to a fulfilling life.”

In other words, “the future isn’t a tide that’s going to crush us, it’s a wave we’re a part of.” Don’t let media saturation make your family forget that.

Media saturation photo: ©photoschmidt/ Adobe Stock.

Moore, the founder and managing director of Base Ventures — an early-stage tech venture fund, explains how he has done that through his life by making wise choices on the latest Modern Dads Podcast.

The native of the Bay Area of California was one of the first investors in Zappos. He has been one of the “25 Most Influential African-Americans In Tech” by Business Insider. Moore is also a widower, and he discusses overcoming the tragedy of losing his wife and mother of his daughter.

Moore is interviewed by City Dads blog contributor Mike Dorsey for Dorsey’s own Black Fathers, NOW! podcast. Dorsey, known as “Mike D” by many, is an author, business entrepreneur, community organizer, speaker and podcaster who aims to create a community for active and engaged Black fathers.

+ Listen to Erik Moore on Modern Dads Podcast +

Moore spent his early career as an investment banker after earning his undergraduate from Dartmouth College and his MBA from The Wharton School of Business in Pennsylvania. In 2016, he was recognized with the Next Generation of Excellence Achievement Award by the Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce. The next year he received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from The Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce, Wharton’s Trailblazer Award for his achievements in venture capital, and was named a Man of Courage, a Ford Motor Co. program to to build communities by advancing the narrative of black men through storytelling, intergenerational forums, and community programs.

Erik Moore is a board member of The Common Ground Foundation—founded by award-winning artist, Common. He serves on the city of Oakland’s Fund Advisory Board and  the advisory board of the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco.

Even with all his achievements, Moore — according to his company’s bio — says his most important role is as a father.

Our much-acclaimed Modern Dads Podcast returns Feb. 25 with a new season of episodes covering issues today’s fathers face navigating work, parenthood, relationships and play. If you have a thirst for dad podcasts right this minute, here are a few we think you should check out:

The Art of Fatherhood

Art Eddy knows dad podcasts. He’s produced or hosted them for the Life of Dad social network for years, including the Art of Conversation that focuses on writers who are fathers. His baby these days is the Art of Fatherhood. Here interviews dads from the worlds of entertainment, music and sports about their latest projects and … being a dad, duh! Recent guests have included comedic actor Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live, Mr. Mayor), pro football Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz, actor Jaleel White (Family Matters) and musician Josh Abbot.

Black Fathers, NOW!

City Dads Group contributor Mike Dorsey is an author, business entrepreneur, community organizer, speaker and — yes — podcaster. Dorsey aims to redefine and uplift the image of African American dads through inspiring discussions with engaged black fathers. Dorsey will be a guest host on the Modern Dads Podcast this season, interviewing venture capitalist Erik Moore.

Charlotte Dads Group Podcast

This podcast by the leaders of one of our most active City Dads chapters kicked off its second season this past autumn. So far they’ve already had a guest expert talking about the secrets of making great barbeque, serious discussions about overcoming one’s parental fears, and doled out advice on making your child’s nighttime routine easier on the both of you. The Charlotte Dads will appear on Modern Dads Podcast to discuss hobbies they share with their kids.

Dad House

This recently launched podcast features City Dads Group contributor Shannon Carpenter and four of his at-home father friends. They yuck it up on any and everything, such as their initial episode’s debate of SUVs vs. minivans. They promise to also take on serious subjects as they plumb their experience raising a combined 16 children in the heart of the Midwest.

The #FatherhoodIsLit Podcast

NYC Dads Group co-organizer (and City Dads blog contributor) James Lopez hosts a self-described “raw and unfiltered” dad podcast that talks about hip hop, the stock market, dealing with life trauma and even making cash by reselling your kids old stuff. Lopez will be a guest host on the Modern Dads Podcast this season, interviewing opera singer Kenneth Kellogg.

The NOMADad Podcast

Brock Lusch, the founder of our Cincinnati Dads Group, started his podcast (an acronym for “Not on My Ass Dad”) in 2018 to share “impactful stories of life experiences, hobbies and those moments that are viral worthy but may only be heard in person or on this show.” In addition to interviewing authors and experts, he’s mined more than a few everyday nuggets such as the father who leads his daughter’s Girl Scout troop. Lusch will be a guest host on the Modern Dads Podcast this season, interviewing children’s book author Vernon Gibbs II.

Dad podcasts photo: © Guillem de Balanzó / Adobe Stock.

Need a new parenting mantra? Try this: “Most things are possible when you assume problems can be solved.”

That is one of the nuggets Judith Heumann provides in her recent memoir, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist. I discovered Heumann while watching Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution this past summer with my teen daughters. The film is nominated for Best Documentary Feature at this year’s Oscars.

In the film’s Camp Jened footage from 1971, Heumann is a young wheelchair user and camp counselor who has polio. But her skills as an activist are already apparent. How did she achieve such early self-possession?

In her memoir, the Crip Camp star explains the power of her parents and friends: “I never wished I didn’t have a disability. … I’m fairly certain my parents didn’t either. I never asked them, but if I had, I don’t think they would have said that our lives would have been better if I hadn’t had a disability. That was who they were.” She adds: “Some people say that what I did changed the world. But really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it.”

Part of her can-do mindset came from her childhood friends: “It didn’t occur to me then to think it unusual that I joined in all the kids’ games in my wheelchair. Because there was never a question of whether or not I would play, too — we all figured out a way for me to do whatever everyone was doing. … Now I know that this was the way it was because we were kids, and kids are problem solvers. But it taught me, at a very early age, that most things are possible when you assume problems can be solved.”

When a child with a disability becomes a parent 

Another woman who appears in Crip Camp and has also written a memoir full of parenting wisdom is Denise Sherer Jacobson. The Question of David: A Disabled Mother’s Journey Through Adoption, Family, and Life chronicles the process Jacobson and her husband, Neil, both of whom have cerebral palsy, went through to become parents.

Similar to Heumann, Jacobson experienced unconditional acceptance from her parents as a child, which had a huge impact on her psychology. But her childhood was more alienating: “At four years old I already knew what I looked like in other people’s eyes: a pretty child who could hardly walk or talk, who had to be carried up and down stairs and fed and schlepped to doctors and therapists. I was viewed as a tragedy by well-meaning family and friends who pitied my mother and admired her devotion to me.”

Jacobson continues, however, in terms that parallel Heumann’s mindset: “I also knew, at four years old, that I wasn’t a tragedy at all. I’m sure it would have surprised them to know that it never occurred to me to wish I weren’t disabled.”

Significantly, Jacobson transfers this mindset to her role as a new parent of David, a baby boy who doctors suspect may also have cerebral palsy: “David would always know that, whether or not he had a disability, his life was of great value.” When someone doubts Neil and Denise’s parenting ability because of their cerebral palsy, Denise reflects: “People seem to get so caught up in what they can see that they ignore that which is invisible to them, the most important part of raising a child — the relationship between him and his parents.”

‘Crip Camp,’ teaches new generation (and its parents)

A third person who appears in Crip Camp has inspired a new children’s book.  All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything is designed for children ages 4 and up. Written by Annette Bay Pimental and illustrated by Nabi H. Ali, the book tells the story of Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, a wheelchair user with cerebral palsy.

At age 8, Keelan-Chaffins famously participated in “The Capitol Crawl,” a protest that occurred on March 12, 1990. In that demonstration, dozens of people abandoned their wheelchairs and climbed with their hands and arms up the many steps of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The Americans with Disabilities Act finally became law a few months later.

The book illustrates through a child’s eyes the need for curb cuts, ramps and elevators with braille panels. While physical architecture is foregrounded, the book raises awareness of how our mental architecture is even more important regarding disability issues. The author declares: “While physical barriers pose challenges to people with disabilities, social attitudes can be even more frustrating. People may focus on a disability as a problem to be solved instead of paying attention to the person with the disability. Or people with disabilities may be treated with low expectations, as if having a disability means they are incapable. On the other hand, people with disabilities are sometimes treated as heroes simply for doing everyday things when they just want to live their lives.”

Redesigning mental architecture can be challenging, but all parents should constantly strive for a barrier-free, problems-can-be-solved environment for their children. As Heumann says of her childhood, “In my mind, there were no barriers to what I could learn or what I could achieve. All the barriers came from outside of me.”

“Everybody’s crazy, drive safely.”

That’s the mantra of my mother I remember best from my teenhood. Granted, her negative, imbalanced worldview was simply a way to contain her anxiety as I began to drive.

Her words returned to me recently as my children increasingly navigate the internet, originally dubbed the “information superhighway.”

Like most parents, my wife and I implemented age-appropriate internet restrictions as our children grew. But we learned that as children age, they need to develop the same critical thinking skills adults use when wading through the sea of clickbait that accompanies online activity — e.g. sensational headlines, partisan hyperbole, etc. In essence, all that clutter tells children, especially teens: “Everybody’s crazy, good luck out there.”

Such a mantra amused me as a teen, but it became more serious for my younger daughter one day when she was 14. After being online, she seemed emotionally depleted and hopeless. When I asked what was wrong, she replied with a list of global concerns that included environmental problems, terrorism and gun violence.

Negative thoughts flashed first: I’m so sad for her! She’s too young to worry about huge problems! I hate the internet!

Then, positive thoughts emerged: I’m proud she cares! She’s so much more informed than I was! But most important was my final thought: She needs help — kids need context.

So first I reassured her she was safe and the world was not terrible. Then I tried to provide some history behind these issues. For example, we discussed the incredible progress made regarding pollution since the Industrial Revolution began. Beyond that, I started researching how to gain a more balanced worldview.

Balanced worldview vital to mental growth, health

The most helpful source was a recent book by Hans Rosling titled Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World — and Why Things are Better Than You Think. If you sniff naive optimism, sniff not. Rosling declares: “Everything is not fine. We should still be very concerned. … But it is just as ridiculous, and just as stressful, to look away from the progress that has been made.”

Rosling’s goal is to fight the “devastating global ignorance” nurtured by information overload. He shows how vast majority of people in many countries are stuck in negative, inaccurate mindsets regarding key world problems. For example, he asked thousands of people: “In the last 20 years, the proportion of the world population living in extreme poverty has: A) almost doubled, B) remained more or less the same, or C) almost halved?” The answer is C, but only 7 percent of respondents worldwide answered correctly.

Undoubtedly, extreme poverty is still a terrible thing that must be addressed. But Rosling’s point is that if significant progress is not noted and studied in a balanced way, people concerned about an issue may end up feeling as hopeless as my daughter was. Ironically, such an overwhelming, one-sided worldview can actually help maintain the status quo.

So how can parents foster a more balanced worldview for children in 2019?

First, treat “world-talk” like “self-talk.” We know the importance of modeling resilience when talking about ourselves in front of our kids; try to do the same when talking about the world.

Second, consider showing your children more positive global news sources to balance the negative ones. (Hat tip to Dad 2.0 Summit’s Twitter feed for highlighting the “intelligent optimism” of Future Crunch, a site about global scientific progress that recently published “99 Good News Stories You Probably Didn’t Hear About in 2018.”)

Finally, go deeper into seemingly “bad news” that may be bothering your teen. Whatever your family’s politics, do research together that helps contextualize the issue. Rosling calls this keeping two thoughts in mind simultaneously: “Things can be both bad and [getting] better … That is how we must think about the current state of the world.”

In other words, help your teen see the progress that has already been made within a problem. While an adult activist might find this approach too moderate, a growing teen is likely to feel encouraged by such balance, context and fact-based (or “non-crazy”) reasoning.

Balanced worldview photo by Slava Bowman on Unsplash

You know Father’s Day is near when you see members of our City Dads Groups across the nation popping up all over your TV screens and social media feeds. And 2018 was no exception to the rule.

Our biggest appearance came on Father’s Day 2018 itself. City Dads Group co-founder Lance Somerfeld joined CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Mo Rocca on a segment discussing how the “dad look” is fashionably hip (as if we didn’t know).

He forgot to tell Rocca to — please — don’t believe the fanny pack hype. Or that dads would blow $1,000 on butt-ugly Gucci sneakers. We like our butt-ugly at bargain prices.

Father’s Day 2018 also saw the opening of Incredibles 2, which received some hype for superhero Mr. Incredible becoming a stay-at-home dad. That brought the media to our door. Several of our members, including NYC Dads Group member Andrew Bentley, are quoted in a story on Refinery29 about being real-life superheroes.

“Superheroes represent our aspirations, individually and collectively. They have the abilities we want. They have the ambition. The empathy. All of those things that they’re able to influence the world in ways that we would like,” Bentley says in the story. “So when we see Mr. Incredible take a step back and say, ‘I’m going to take care of this kid and allow my wife to go off and pursue her career,’ if he can do it, anyone can do it.”

A playground play date between two of our Dallas Dad Group members and their children is also used to illustrate the link between being an at-home father and a superhero. Way to save the day, Adam Hill and Trevor Stamp:

“There’s no manual or guide on how to be a parent,” Gutierrez is quoted as saying. “I think [this group] has taught me a lot about myself, and I realized that I had to make a lot of changes. I was very much focused on my career because that’s what society expected me to do. Now, being more open with a community that has supportive fathers and environments like the City Dads’ network, I’ve been able to find other dads out there trying to do the same thing. It’s OK not to be so focused on my career. I can be balanced on my career and family and travels and make my life what I want it to be.”

Brock Lusch, co-organizer of our Cincinnati Dads Group, had the lead quote in the Refinery29 story and then took the spotlight in a local TV news interview to discuss what our social and support network does for fathers.

Brandon Billinger and Tucker Smith of the Kansas City Dads Group did a similar interview for one of their local TV news programs.

Finally, Darrell Humphrey of Charlotte Dads Group dispelled some of the common misconceptions about fathers caring for their kids as well as promoting his chapter in a one-on-one with a local TV news anchor.

Disclosure: City Dads Group is proud to partner with Baby Dove.

If you’ve ever been shamed by a partner, friend, relative or complete stranger for parenting “the wrong way,” Dove beauty and grooming products has your back in its new ad campaign.

To help launch its new Baby Dove line of cleaning and moisturizing products for wee ones, the company takes the stand that every mom and dad parents in his/her own way and none is necessarily right or the best. The concept aims to build the confidence of all new parents by showing a broader picture of modern parenting in response to Dove research that moms and dads often feel anxiety “due to limiting stereotypes about their roles.” 

“A new Baby Dove study shows that moms feel pressure to fit into a ‘perfect mom’ ideal who puts her family before anything else, sacrificing her other interests, and conversely, Dove Men+Care research has shown that dads aren’t often recognized for their role as an essential caregiver,” a company spokesperson said in a news release.

Earlier this year, Baby Dove launched a #RealMoms branch of this campaign and last week it initiated the #RealDads movement, complete with a video (above), website and social media effort. 

To emphasize the importance of dads as caregivers and the trust their mates and kids have in them, City Dads Group members and others are posting photos of themselves and their dads on Instagram and Twitter that highlight this hopeful message.

Parenting #realdads Pro Tip: Fussy baby and chores to do? Wear your baby and have them help! #dovepartner pic.twitter.com/r4k3giDruT

— Brandon (@therookiedad) April 26, 2017

#RealDads #DovePartner baby tip. Take a picture each month from birth to 1 year. You won’t believe how much they change. @babydoveus believes there is no one right way to be a parent and encourages all parents to trust their way and do what is best for their baby and themselves. Watch the #RealDads film and find out more about Baby Dove products at http://www.babydove.com/realdads

A post shared by Brian “Pete” Craig (@a_dad_influence) on Apr 26, 2017 at 3:31am PDT

Parent Pro Tip: Bring your baby everywhere! Get them used to being with lots of people. Watch #RealDads https://t.co/iTsgEtx0YN #DovePartner pic.twitter.com/QfZtzmdfrj

— Robbie Samuels (@RobbieSamuels) April 25, 2017

Baby Dove is the first new product category the parent brand has unleashed since 2010’s Dove Men+Care line. Dove Men+Care has been a strong supporter of City Dads Group and other similar dad organizations, such as the Dad 2.0 Summit.

Your kid doesn’t like vegetables? Try serving her a medley of colorful, cut up veggies in a martini glass topped with a cookie and a little drink umbrella.

Making food fun, and letting children have pride and ownership in what they create in the kitchen are among the tips and tricks members of our Twin Cities Dads Group gave a local Minnesota television station on a special cooking segment in March.

Watch the whole thing and learn from Chris Brandenburg, John Francis and Keith Nagel (who brought along his two sons, Logan and Sawyer):

With March comes madness — the college basketball tournament kind — and City Dads Group members were there to witness it again this year, thanks to our longtime partner, Dove Men+Care.

The men’s grooming products brand once again gave a few of our members and their children in select cities the opportunity to attend a few games during the run to the annual NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. The hook? Dove Men+Care’s latest twist on its long-running “Real Strength” tag line — the Real Strength Manifesto, a call for fans as well as those on the court to exhibit both passion for their teams and sportsmanship toward each other and opposing players. The manifesto has been signed by such college basketball legends as player Alonzo Mourning and retired UConn coach Jim Calhoun.

“It takes skill to win, but it takes care to be a winner,” the company notes in a recent ad, released along with the March Madness tourney, to promote the manifesto’s mission:

We asked a few of our dads who were lucky enough to snag some of those free tickets from Dove Men+Care to tell us about their experience at the games. here are their stories.

Coolest thing in the world

My 4-year-old son and I hit the road from Chicago to catch the NCAA March Madness games in Milwaukee. We got to the arena just as it opened and literally walked around the entire building several times since I told him we could go wherever he wanted. He loved being the leader and finally figured out that it meant that if he wanted ice cream, he could have it. We got to sit next to another dad and his son, so when the kids got restless, we took them back into the concourse and let them run around some more while he had some awesome dad chats.

When the second game started, the noise level was really intense and my son thought that was the coolest thing in the world. Even better than the ice cream, box of popcorn, chocolate-covered pretzel, and pink lemonade he talked me into letting him have. It was an experience we will never forget: getting to take a cool trip to a cool place and to have such a cool time together. We laughed, we cheered for “the blue team,” we cheered for “the white team,” we rode every single escalator multiple times, we bought souvenirs, and in the end, he passed out in the car on the way home with a huge smile. Seeing that little sleeping face finally rest after the excitement of the day was priceless for me. Thank you, Dove Men+Care for giving us this opportunity to make memories together.

— Pat Jacobs, Chicago Dads Group
and blogger at Just a Dad 247.com

Unforgettable experiences

I took my three kids to the Michigan-Louisville game in Indianapolis. My kids have no rooting interest in these teams, but they like taking vacations to Michigan, so that was their team. We also filled out brackets earlier in the week, and all three kids picked Michigan to advance to the Sweet 16 for the same reason.

College basketball is such a great experience for families, even with my kids having little to no interest in the game beforehand, I was able to get my 5-year-old daughter excited about it because I told her we would be watching lots of cheerleaders. My 10-year-old daughter was excited to see the band play, my 7-year-old son had some interest in the game itself and, of course, all three kids were super excited about cotton candy.

It’s so great that Dove Men+Care gives dads these unforgettable experiences to have with our kids.

— Brian “Pete” Craig, Indianapolis Dads Group
and blogger at Indy’s Child

Experience bigger than life

It is always fun to watch a good sporting contest with my boys. It’s moments like these that created a strong bond between my grandfather and I. This year is the first year that my boys filled out their own brackets for March Madness. Being able to see that these teams were more than just names on a paper made the experience bigger than life for them. The final game for the night was Purdue vs. Iowa State, and it was epic! A nail-biter right to the finish.

I was able to teach my boys some of the finer points of basketball and the ethics of being a fan. They learned you can celebrate your team’s successes and recognize the accomplishments of the opposing team. I also taught them that the referees have a tough job, and a good athlete and a good fan shakes off a “bad” call and gets ready for the next play. Dove Men+Care got me to the court so I brought the care courtside because my boys deserve nothing less.

— Eric Bennion, Chicago Dads Group
and blogger at DiaryDad’s Dadventures

One-on-one time

Having the opportunity to go to the NCAA games this past Saturday with my son was amazing. Being a stay-at-home dad of three (soon to be four) makes it difficult for me to have specific one-on-one time with each of my kids, which makes opportunities like this so much more valuable. My son was so excited to spend the day together I think he hardly slept the night before. We took off early in the morning and spent the day at the Discovery World Science Museum in Milwaukee, making bobblehead art projects and viewing the exhibits and aquarium. We were joined at the arena by Pat Jacobs of Chicago Dads Group and his son which made for great conversation and plenty of laughs. The best part of this experience for me was that I was able to spend some quality  time with my son. If you asked him what his favorite part was, I bet he would say the cotton candy or the mascots — we all know that’s how a 4-year-old’s brain works. Thank you Dove Men+Care for providing the opportunity to spend the day with my son taking in some March Madness action while taking a break from the regular madness that is my day-to-day.

— Eric Jacobs, Madison Dads Group