ALWAYS JACKED about fatherhood
Parenting has become more public. Whether you have a blog or not, whether you’re a brand or just a dad trying to get through a day at home with the kids without losing your sanity thanks to the third repeat of Cars 2. Social media lets us make private moments public. And sometimes, we need to vent.
The Always Jacked family has some news to share. It’s of a sort that I thought my wife, my better half in nearly every sense of the word, would offer a perspective worth sharing and much different than mine. Especially since our news — SPOILER ALERT — affects her so much more than me right now.
It’s generally accepted that men are horrible people. Consider the evidence. Boston? Men did that. There aren’t many female serial killers, either …
To start: it’s not like we had to explain a batch of vaginas to Jack. I didn’t take him to a strip club. We’re not letting him watch the porn parody of Doc McStuffins. (You’re welcome for this idea, porn industry.) There was only one vagina discussed.
John Lasseter is the creative overlord of both PIXAR and Walt Disney. Arguably, he has done more to turn animation into a respected art form than anyone since Walt Disney. But he’s a guy who is making family movies that are, under their surface, about the shortcomings of family.
I spoke at Dad 2.0, about how the different facets of my identity — brand marketer, blogger and father — inform each other. If brands and dads ARE going to try and work together, well, this is how I think I can do it in a way that works for everyone.
A couple of years ago, I wrote my most popular post to date: Why I Hate Caillou. Something about the little bald bastard strikes a universal parental chord. But his influence is spreading. And it worries me.
Escape from Planet Earth is a Hollywood rarity. It is a movie about brothers.
Making friends used to be easier. You’d share a locker, a class, a dorm room or a pack of cigarrettes with a guy and become buddies. Now, every conversation seems to have a reason or an agenda. At least, that’s how it feels. Even when that isn’t how it is.
This is my best take on what it takes to succeed in this life. I always said that my job as a father was to raise good little humans. Consider this a field manual.
January 2. I had made what passed for resolutions. One of them included running more. was to start this morning. I was relatively rested. I was READY. My children sensed this. And they were having none of it.
“Dad!” Jack bellows, sometimes, when he wants to tell me something. I go into his room. He points, smiling and obviously pleased. …
It is easier to not try and not fail than it is to try and fail. Fail, boys. Fail SPECTACULARLY.
Putting the kids to bed is like an existential play. It kind of makes sense, but kind of not, and you walk around for an hour afterwards, scratching your head and wondering what the hell just happened.
Steven Spielberg had a childhood that sounded like one of his movies. Lonely kid with a workaholic dad and loving, present mother. Not much of an athlete, he’s bullied constantly. Gets a camera from his dad and starts making movies. Pours the pain of his parents divorce into his work. Become famous. Terrifies a generation of children — including my wife — by making E.T.