Cute Little Bastards

My name is Julian and I’m a Dad. I have four kids whose names are Max, Charlie, John and Julia. They range in age from 2 to 15 years. Two different moms - two different coasts, two different homes, many different lives.

I’m taking this parenting stuff one day at a time because it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. For the last year it’s been a lot harder because I quit my ‘high-stress’ job as a VP and started watching my two youngest kids full time. I hope we can talk with each other, learn some things that will make our lives as Fathers better while giving us some grist to enrich our kids lives. I guess I can sum up my views on parenting by saying that kids are just wee people. Everytime I remember that, I act in a way that makes me feel like I’m a good Father. When I don’t, and that’s a lot, I try to remember what it was like to be a kid.

Moms are welcome too, I recognize that the knowledge and caring nature that they often possess are invaluable to any parent, regardless of age, sex or experience. I hope that we as Fathers can best communicate with each other in ways that make sense to us, as men. Most of us are first generation stay-at-home dads and we have both the benefit and the risk of starting with a blank sheet.

Here’s to starting every day fresh with the possibilities of smiling young faces, learning, growing, discovering, and helping us moms and dads remember what it is to be real and young and wide-eyed, unburdened, and completely satisfied by a visit to the park.

Like a lot of Mothers and Fathers before me, I’m working part-time at home both for my general sanity and just as importantly, to make ends meet. A lot of what I want to learn from you is how you balance this.

Anyone have a handy-wipe for my computer?