Huge News!! & A Contest of All Contests

I have huge news!!! And no…the wife is not pregnant. It’s not possible anymore…but that’s a whole other blog post.

In honor of the upcoming Father’s Day on Monday, June 14^th, an amazingly awesome three-minute animation short created by animator JC Little (@littleanimation on Twitter) will be launched on this blog and on Little Animation's YouTube channel.

The best description of the animated short is the one crafted by the amazing JC Little of Little Animation:

“At the mercy of his ninja son, his aspiring-princess daughter and his apparently disinterested wife, Daddy seems to be on the verge of tears. But what actually makes him cry may surprise you. A heart-warming and humorous look at fatherhood, inspired by the blog www.WhyIsDaddyCrying.com."

Or, as she told me, “it’s my response to the question ‘why is daddy crying?’”

So now it’s your turn…

Contest Time!

With the help of the following kick-ass amazing Twitter friends and parent bloggers who will be our judges:

@NuckingFutsMomma

@IEatMyKidzSnack

@TessasDad

We are asking you the age old question, “Why Is Daddy Crying?!?”

Comment on this blog post with your best answer. Lay it out there. Don’t be shy. Hit us with your best shot.

What’s in it for you?

A hand-crafted, hand-picked, amazingly phenomenal care package created by JC Little of Little Animation and myself. And, I promise not to send any of my dirty underwear.

What’s in the “phenomenal” care package?

• Little Animation’s children’s animation 2 DVD’s “Kid Stories International” & “Little Earth Charter” found at www.littleanimation.com/shop
• Gift certificate to Toys R Us
• A “Planet Earth” baby onsie – super comfort, 100% cotton jersey knit from Little Animation’s www.cafepress.com/littleanimation shop.  
• Picture of me when I was 20 wearing no shirt and holding three Amber Jack I caught on a deep-sea fishing trip.
• An opportunity to exclusively babysit my kids every weekend for an entire year
• Dick’s Sporting Goods gift certificate
• Dot & Lil ( @DotandLil on Twitter) limited edition Spring & Summer 2010 bath set seen here:

Come on. Comment…answer the question…Deadline is end of day Tuesday, June 15! The winner will be announced Thursday, June 17!

Only rule is...Please try to keep the submissions as clean as possible!! Many thanks and so finally - let me have it - Why Is Daddy Crying???!!!!



Returning the Favor

Yeah, I just got back from a dude weekend. It’s true.

I hopped a flight to North Carolina leaving my sweet, innocent wife alone for three days with a five and seven-year-old, while I hung out with two old-school college buddies at a lake-front log cabin.

We drank beer and good wine without a care in the world, while the wife frantically sucked back leftovers from the kids’ plates, forgot where she put her wine glass, and was woken up throughout the night by the kids during thunderstorms.

I won’t lie…there was guilt. I’d call and hear the exasperation in her voice.

She’d say: “That’s awesome you guys did so well at the 10k trail race.”

What I’d hear is: “Run it again only this time fall off a cliff you dead-beat dad!”

She’d say: “That sounds like you had a really cool day!”

What I’d hear is: “I’m putting eye drops in all your drinks for the rest of the week when you get back, punk-ass!”

I’ll definitely spend the next few weeks trying to make it up to her in little ways. Girls’ night out, a night alone without kids or me, or a night of letting her watch me try on various Speedo bathing suits.

I think back to how far we’ve come as men. Back in the day the men-folk would spend their weekends golfing, playing poker, and shooting the shit in their garages with other neighborhood dudes. The wives would shuttle the kids to the pool or their parent’s house to make sure the husband was relaxed on his two days off from work.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to parties these days where the stay-at-home moms declare to the men “kids are yours, we’ll be in the house relaxing,” and then disappear never to be seen again.

For so many reasons I’m OK with that. I think most guys are OK with that. Because today it’s understood that whether a woman is a stay-at-home mom, or successful executive – they’re working and deserve down-time too.

Let’s look at stay-at-home parents in comparison to those working and you’ll see my point!

Stay at Home Parents                                                        Work

Mind-numbing requests from uneducated,

immature humans daily                                                                     X

Continuously fighting to have peace while you eat                X

Endlessly plotting against the person that got you

into this position                                                                                  X

Faking optimum productivity & interest when

others are watching                                                                             X

Constantly motivated to slam your head against a wall         X

I think you see what I mean.

So yeah, I’m grateful my wife threw herself on the tracks for three days so I could dude-it-up. I’m thankful more than she knows. And that’s why I’ll have no problem at all making damn sure I return the favor.

And, it’s in everyone’s best interest that I do it quickly.