Happy Father’s Day

 Sunday 8:30am:

I am making a bagel while putting away clean dishes, waiting for my coffee to be done brewing and singing along with Pearl Jam. My boys are watching Larvas on Netflix in the living room and my wife is back asleep in bed (she was probably up at 5am with Mason). Miles turns 8 this Saturday. This is my 8th Fathers Day?!?!

This is fatherhood at it’s best

I am not bragging, but more enjoying this parenting bliss that can go as fast as it comes. The first full week of summer had a bit of a rough beginning but ended amazing. I feel like I am standing in the eye of a hurricane – I want to hold on to this as long as I can!

I took a big step back from social media to re-evaluate what was happening in my life. People ask if I am ok, worried I might be depressed. It’s actually the opposite, I haven’t been happier and more relaxed in a long time. I appreciate things more, I am communicating with my family better. Changing my focus has been awesome, but not without some downfalls.

 The time is flying by faster everyday. I rarely see my friends and although it does make me a little sad, I am happy to know that when I do see them it won’t be long until we fall right back into each other’s world laughing about old time and making new memories.

Fathers gather together

Last night was an amazing night at a friends house where we celebrated Father’s Day on Father’s Eve. I got to see friends I haven’t seen in a few years and meet new friends. For just for few hours we ate, drank and shared stories.

I am so blown away by the stories, it humbles me. There were all kind of dads, new dads, old dads, dads with a single child to dads with six kids! The diversity made it an incredible experience.

One dad had become a dad on a month’s notice. He stepped up to a bad situation and made sure he took care of what was most important (family). He has altered his whole existence for this child and it is the most unselfish thing a person can do. I won’t go into all of his story but it is one of many from last night.

There were different items being given away last night, such as Britax’s B-Mobile Stroller

The dads who were interested put their names the drawing and although I didn’t need it I wanted to put my name in and if I won I was giving it to the dad above. As luck has it, I won it and it was awesome to be able to give this guy something I know he will get good use out of!

Other dads had to wait years to have a child, which then ended up being twins. I can image the highs and lows of that situation. All of the fathers there had different stories of where they are, where the came from and where they are going.

I am extremely honored to be able to hang with these amazing fathers.

We are all on our own journeys but we all have the same objective, to be the best father we can be. I salute all the fathers out there that are taking an active role in their kids lives and I look forward to sharing many more Father’s Eves/Days with amazing fathers like last night.

We were invited by Britax to join them at Safe Kids Day, a family-friendly event to benefit the life-saving programs of Safe Kids Worldwide.

Why is Safe Kids Worldwide so important?

Safe Kids Worldwide is a global organization dedicated to protecting kids from unintentional injuries, the number one cause of death to children in the United States. Throughout the world, almost 1 million children die of injuries each year. That is all we needed to hear, we are thankful to be able to help spread the word.

What was going on at Safe Kids Days?
They had a fun filled day of activities that included:

• The Smurfs
• Clifford and the Imagination Playground
• Skate dogs
• Exotic animals and and and and so much more!

They provided some great food such as In-N-Out Burger, Sprinkles, Greeenleaf, Coolhaus, Bon Puf and much more! So Yummy!

Needless to say, it was amazing. Do you know what was even more amazing,

Did you know?
3,817 child deaths from car crashes in 2014
or
#1 killer of children ages 1-4 is drowning

The sponsored activities made the event not only fun but more importantly engaging. The engagement makes learning fun! The have stations throughout the event ranging from building blocks, playing on a fire truck, competing in a safety seat challenge, and a safe biking station. Each station had a fun activity that helps create what we call a “learning experience”. These are the type of experiences are effective nontraditional interactions through games that will leave a lasting impression.

One example from the bike station was learning how a helmet should fit properly:

• When you look upward the front rim should be barely visible to your eye
• The Y of the side straps should meet just below your ear
• The chin strap should be snug against the chin so that when you open your mouth very wide you feel the helmet pull down a little bit.

Please check out Safe Kids Worldwide for more preventable safety tips!

Enabling families to travel safely!

Britax is and has been a huge supporter of the City Dads group, and we are very appreciative and grateful for their support. We have worked with Sarah Tildon (who is one, if not the top expert in car seats). We have had classes on the ins-and-outs of car seats. You would think that we would know, but even our very own Eli Lipmen learned a super important lesson about forward-facing versus rear-facing car seats, especially for toddlers.

You would think that we would know, but even our very own Eli Lipmen learned a super important lesson about forward-facing versus rear-facing car seats, especially for toddlers. He had just turned his two-year-old’s car seat around – and, yup, he did it too soon! As we spoke with Sarah, she broke it down as an expert, but also as a parent. She asked a few questions, but the first was the best – “Did he [your son] ask to be turned around?” She explained that the law says two-years-old but you can keep them rear-facing for as long as the seat allows and the simple solution was to use a car seat wedge!

Thank you @britaxus for inviting us to Safe Kids Days event – it was such a great time! We will be sharing all kinds of awesome stuff in an upcoming blog. In the m an time, you should also ask @elipmen the important thing he learned from @sarahtildon (you know the national car seat expert) about the car seat for Cal! #sharesafety #citydads #britax @safekidsworldwide @safekidsfoundation

A post shared by LA Dads Group (@ladadsgroup) on Apr 23, 2017 at 3:57pm PDT

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Do you have questions about your car seat? You should visit Britax’s safety center to get answers.

Britax’s mission: To be the leader and innovator that inspires and enables families to travel safely and grow with peace of mind.

If you can prevent an accident – DO IT!

We want to send a huge thank you to Britax and Safe Kids Day for such a spectacular event!
We want everyone to be safe, keep all children safe and since PREVENTABLE INJURIES ARE THE #1 KILLER OF U.S. KIDS. Let’s work on being more aware of the things we can change and make good decisions – because “Saving lives is a decision we can all make every day”.

Autumn is one of the most beautiful and serene times of year to visit Central Park. The leaves light up our senses with their splash of insane colors. That makes it the perfect time to roundup a crew of father-friends from NYC Dads Group and plan a scenic stroll past some our favorite New York City landmarks.

We recently hooked up with one of our favorite children’s gear brands, Britax, to transport our children comfortably and safely in their modern, colorful and versatile new Britax B-Ready Strollers. Central Park has a wide range of rugged terrain and the B-Ready Stroller adapted gracefully to the gravel, tree roots and steep hills.

We mapped an invigorating walk with our little ones through Central Park. Fueled up on caffeine, we then assembled at The Plaza Hotel in the southeast corner, meandered through “the Mall” that’s featured in hundreds of movies, around Bethesda Fountain and The Loeb Boathouse, hugged the property of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and finished at popular Ancient Playground so our children can burn up energy as we enjoyed lunch under the glowing sun. Most organized activities at the park are suspended during the autumn work week which made our Britax B-Ready Stroller experience feel private — like we had Central Park all to ourselves.

We wanted to share some highlights of the experience with other families through a photo walk (see below) in the hope of inspiring more parents to bundle up and hit a local park for a scenic stroll this autumn.  Special thanks to talented photographer, NYC Dads Group member, and friend, Nick Lioi (and his lovely wife) for the stellar photos.

Dads, Start Your Britax B-Ready Strollers!

DISCLOSURE: NYC Dads Group have an ongoing relationship with Britax/BOB. It includes a variety of activities, workshops and experiences for which we are compensated. We’re proud to work with brands that make products and provide services that we believe in and use ourselves.

Editor’s Note: With National Child Passenger Safety Week concluded, Charlotte Dads Group organizer Darrell Humphrey writes about his chapter’s visit to the North Carolina facility of car seat and stroller manufacturer Britax, one of our longtime partners. You can watch a broadcast of the visit and learn more about child car seat safety on our Facebook page.

Keeping our kids safe, especially when traveling, is one of a parent’s greatest responsibilities. One of the best ways is to put them in the right car seat, at the right time, and use it the right way. To learn more about this, the Charlotte Dads Group went to the Britax Child Safety Warehouse on Sept. 19 for an afternoon of learning and demonstrations.

As we toured the facility, we learned how Britax manufactures car seats in a “cell” of about 20 people. Starting with the shell, to the nuts and bolts of the seat, all the way to packaging the completed product for distribution is handled by one team. Even though the car seats are made to order, each Britax seat is made by hand here in the United States.

IMPORTANT TIP: Regardless of what brand of car seat you buy, it’s critical to register it with the manufacturer. This way, in case of recalls, you will be notified.

After observing the manufacturing process, we were given a demonstration on how to correctly install the new Britax Advocate ClickTight. Britax Child Passenger Safety Advocate Sarah Tilton showed us how easy it was. During the demonstration, she said three out of four car seats are installed incorrectly. Despite this, 95 percent of those parents believe their car seat is installed correctly. With such an alarming statistic we realized that as parents need to make sure we read the installation documents correctly. If there are still questions, visit your local fire or police department for help.

After we completed with the tour, Britax invited us to their test track. This is where they crash test their car seats to make sure they comply with all safety standards given by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). 

Our visit was a huge success, and even made the local TV news.

The other weekend, we were invited by Britax to celebrate Safe Kids Day with some celebrities, parents and hundreds of kids that was presented by Nationwide. This LA event was at Smashbox Studios was this was just one of 223 Safe Kids Day events taking place across the United States which helps raise awareness and funds for Safe Kids Worldwide.

There was so many fun things to do with the kids, one of our favorites was with the one and only an animal adventure, zoologist Jack Hanna and his baby animals (so cool!); we also played games with Clifford the Big Red Dog; sliding down our giant fire truck slide; splashing away in a bathtub ball pit and exploring Nationwide’s “I Spy” home safety game in Nate the Eagle’s Nest. Kids had got their faces painted, designed their own sunglasses, zoomed around the racetrack on Power Wheels and got their dance on and boogied on the dance floor.

There were celebrities that attended the event with their families helping to put a spotlight on preventable injuries, a the leading cause of death of children in the United States. Drew Barrymore, Kelly Rowland, Jeff Goldblum, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Tamera Mowry-Housley, Donald Faison, and so many more were a part of all the activities featured at the event. We were so busy playing with our kids to enjoy rubbing elbows with the celebrities, but we love to see them and appreciate their continued support!

We are always excited to be able to hang out with Britax and other sponsors we work with on a regular basis, such as Kidde, Safety 1st. We always love it when we can help them spread safety education news. There isn’t anything more important than the safety of our kids, and the 2016 Safe Kids Day campaign has raised close to $1.3 million to protect children from preventable injuries. You can support their efforts by donating online today.
Safe Kids Day events are take place all across the United States. Find a local event near you, or celebrate Safe Kids Day in your own home by creating a #MyHigh5 checklist with your family. My High Five turns education into action, by inviting parents and caregivers to take specific steps to make homes safer and to increase safety on the roads and at play.
Thank you to everyone that made Safe Kids Day event a huge success. Thank you for allowing the L.A Dads group to be a part of this, and most importantly thank you for your commitment to protecting our children. We had a blast! Happy Safe Kids Day!

SafeKids

Check out Safe Kids blog overview along with all the other amazing sponsors

Learn more about Safety Experts Ranking Britax Car Seats #1 – http://bit.ly/1MNO3Xw
BRITAX web/social:
us.britax.com
facebook.com/britax
twitter.com/britax
instagram.com/britaxus
pinterest.com/britax/
BOB web/social:
BobGear.com
facebook.com/BOB.Strollers
twitter.com/bobgear

Kidde web/social:
kidde.com
Instagram.com/kiddefiresafety
https://twitter.com/KiddeSafety

Babywearing in Las Vegas was something I always planned on doing. It seemed like a great idea. Your child was right next to you, gaining comfort in hearing your breathing and in feeling your heartbeat. It would leave my hands free to shop, do dishes, or fold laundry. I’d be the coolest Dad on the block, really showing my friends and neighbors “how it’s done.”

Then came the day that my wife’s doctor told us the two words that would shatter that wonderful babywearing image: “It’s twins!” How was I going to manage to carry two babies? One on the front and one on the back?

My ideas of being the hippest dad in the neighborhood because I was wearing my baby changed to thinking I would be the most unique, being the only one with twins. Any thought of babywearing I had kind of disappeared.

When I heard about International Babywearing Week, and found out that the dads group I helped start here in Las Vegas could be part of a nationwide event I was excited but still faced with the dilemma of what do I do with the other baby? If I wear only one, the other is going to get mad that he’s not being carried, and if I try and have them take turns … well, they’re just shy of 2 years old. You KNOW how THAT’S going to go. Thank God for grandparents, as one got to spend the day with them, while the other helped me celebrate the babywearing holiday in style.

Imagine: More than 100 dads in 13 different cities, all wearing their babies. Five of my fellow Las Vegas Dads met me downtown on the morning of Oct. 9. We parked at Main Street Station, walked up to the Plaza Hotel and then began our journey down Historic Fremont Street. The response babywearing in Las Vegas was incredible.

People pointed.

People smiled.

One man, a former stay-at-home dad, even asked to take a picture of us.

At one point, I saw people I knew and they failed to recognize me with a baby on my chest. (Note to self – great disguise if I ever plan a bank robbery). We made our way down to the container park where the awesomeness continued. We let the kids play at the treehouse for a bit while we rested and talked about the trip so far.

After our break, we headed back to our starting point and said our goodbyes. I think I speak for all of us when I say the experience was great and the response incredible. I was happy because we had just ended another successful meet-up. The guys in the group were happy for the same reason, I’m sure, but they also got to bring home their baby carrier. (Thanks, Britax!) I hope they continue to use it.

As for my twins and I? As much as I enjoy spending time with them both, having just one for a day has opened my eyes to how special and important one-on-one time is and I think I’m going to try and schedule more of it. That means the baby carrier is going to come in handy, and Grandma and Grandpa can expect another visitor real soon!

Editor’s Note: Australian at-home dad Rory Chambers moved to Manhattan earlier this year and quickly discovered a new band of brothers to hang with: Our NYC Dads Group. He recently posted a version of this tale on his blog Rory’s Stories about finding his community and his experience participating in a recent International Babywearing Week event. Enjoy.

Upon arriving in a brand new city with no significant opportunity for “natural” community that might otherwise be found at a workplace, I did what any self-respecting digital native would do and Googled “stay at home dads NYC.” Thank you, internet: NYC Dad’s Group, take a bow.

Meetup.com has pretty much become my go-to for finding people to hang out with. Being a (sort of) housebound extrovert has its challenges and I’m increasingly thankful that we moved here in the summer before I got really housebound.

Turns out there’s a whole swag of dads groups around the country … (that are) really passionate about seeing dads get a bit more exposure as part of the public face of full-time parenting other than just “the backup parent,” “Mr. Mum” or, most patronizingly, “the babysitter today.” I appreciate that a lot.

I’ve only been to a couple of events, but I just got home from one that turned a lot of heads: a small flotilla of dads with their kids in Britax baby carriers all cruising the High Line together. It was great! Britax sent us all a free carrier so long as we all promised to get out during International Babywearing Week and share the love.

Honestly, I took a while to get comfortable wearing Ele (both physically and socially) but I’m all over it now. I love it. For a start, it makes getting around the city so much easier than using a stroller and it’s really nice to have her right there in front of me to play with, talk to and make faces at. When we first got here and I would take her out in the stroller, I’d feel kinda disconnected from her as we cruised along with her facing away from me. Today, I discovered that she’ll bust a gut laughing if I chew on her fingers.

I did feel pretty conspicuous at first and to some extent I still do, but really it’s just another thing that I could choose to feel conspicuous about, or I could just decide not to care. Choosing the latter has been lots more freeing and fun. She makes for great conversation at stoplights and on the subway, she’s fun to play with when she’s right there in front of me and every now and then – if I’m really lucky – she’ll fall asleep on my chest and there are few greater feelings than that.

As for the event itself – it was a perfect day for it: Beautiful sun, blue skies and enough other people cruising the park to make for a really great photo op. Or two. Or twelve. I met a bunch of guys and their kids, got a few tips on some great NYC stuff to check out, got stopped by several tourists (all of them Australian, strangely enough) asking what was going on:

Her: “Why are there so many dads carrying their babies around?”

Me: “Because it’s a good thing to do.”

That particular woman also reminded me about that Aussie show House Husbands, which I’ve never watched but apparently it’s good. It’s got Gary Sweet in it, so hopefully there’s some rappelling down a skyscraper with a kid in a carrier somewhere in there. Anyway, we got a lot of “aww”s and “oh, cuuute”s as we walked along, so I’d say the event was pretty successful at raising the profile of dads being dads.

So, way to go NYC Dad’s group, Britax for your generosity and all you dads who do a kick arse job at being parents. I’m glad to be among you.

City Dads Group members strapped their babies to their chests and visited the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, toured a professional football stadium in San Francisco, and climbed the famous “Rocky” steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art among the many activities our fathers participated in as part of last week’s celebration of International Babywearing Week.

All 13 City Dads Groups across the United States did something with babies on board their new baby carriers, courtesy of Britax — a longtime supporter of our organization. Our dads and their kids visited places as family-friendly as the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio, as unexpected as Fremont Street in the historic Las Vegas downtown, and as potentially exhausting as hiking through Mariposa Basin Park in Albuquerque – all to promote the many advantages and benefits of wearing your baby.

Our teams’ efforts received praise around the world with articles and photo spreads in sources usual (The Good Men Project, Indy Star) and unusual (China Daily’s website).

Here’s some highlights from last week:

The Hollywood sign can be spotted behind these members of our L.A. Dads Group standing just outside the Griffith Observatory.

Yo! Adrian! Our Philly Dads Group climbed to the Philadelphia Museum of Art just like a certain fictional boxer did.

The World of Coca-Cola received a tour from baby-wearing members of our babywearing Atlanta Dads Group.

The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium was toured by our babywearing Columbus Dads Group.

Our babywearing NYC Dads Group stands tall with their babies along the city’s High Line park, a converted elevated subway track.

*Disclosure: City Dads Group received free Brtiax baby carriers as well as compensation for this babywearing week sponsored event.  We only work 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.

International Babywearing Week is October 5 – 11. The NYC Dads Group had such a blast participating in this important baby bonding event the past few years – strolling through the Central Park Zoo, walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, and observing priceless art at the MET Museum. Now that we are a national network of dad groups, we’re planning something BIGGER to “Share the Adventure” and raise awareness this year throughout the nation.

We’ve organized a major, national multi-City Dads Group effort. More than 100 City Dads Group members in 13 metropolitan cities across the country will be gathering, meeting-up, and taking leisurely walks together at iconic and well-known locations. Check out the diverse range of meetups we have planned across America:

• SF Dads Group: Taking a walking tour of the new Levis Football Stadium
• Columbus Dads Group: Walking around the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium
• Atlanta Dads Group: Taking a walking tour at World of Coca Cola
• NYC Dads Group: Strolling the High Line Park in Manhattan
• LA Dads Group: Taking a walking tour of Griffith Park Observatory
• Philly Dads Group: Walking tour – Sister Cities Park to “Rocky Steps” of Art Museum
• Chicago Dads Group: Walking tour from Michigan Avenue over to Millennium Park
• Denver Dads Group: Taking a walk into Riverfront Park
• Boston Dads Group: Walking along Freedom Trail by Boston Commons
• Indy Dads Group: Taking a leisure walk along the Monon Trail
• ABQ Dads Group: Hiking in Mariposa Basin Park
• Vegas Dads Group: Taking a walk along historic Fremont Street
• Dallas Dads Group: Strolling through Klyde Warren Park

Want to join us? The ultimate goal of our babywearing events are getting dads together for an invigorating meet-up that involves a fall babywearing 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 on Thursday, October 9.

A special thanks to our sponsor, Britax, for supporting active fathers and supplying us with amazing gear for the events.

International Babywearing Week (Oct 5 – 11, 2014) is a focused opportunity to celebrate, promote, and advocate the many benefits of Babywearing. Infants thrive on touch so wearing your baby is an important way to meet this need. There are so many other advantages and benefits like bonding with your baby, less crying (carried babies cry less), building confident parents, comfort, and convenience so you have both hands free. Babywearing International Inc. is proud to lead babywearers around the globe who will be gathering during the week to educate about, practice, and celebrate the varied options available today for safe babywearing. We’re excited about the opportunity to celebrate such an important facet of caregiving! Hopefully, you will cheer us on or join our parade on Thursday, October 9 on The High Line. See you there!

*Disclosure: City Dads Group has been compensated for this sponsored meet-up. We only work 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

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.