"Mr. Mom" In The News

Yesterday morning the Today Show did a little story about the current economic downturn boosting stay at home dad numbers. They do make a few good points specifically for those dads that have been laid off and a few good tips in general. But unfortunately they also, to a certain extent, implied that stay at home dads are "forced" into staying at home and that "Most dads don't know what they are doing."

The other thing that bothers me and most other stay at home dads is the common use of "Mr. Mom". Look, I understand that it was a popular movie and that it is often the only frame of reference for many people when it comes to SAHDs. What I don't understand is why the use of this term doesn't bother most women. Calling me "Mr. Mom" blatantly implies that caring for my children and maintaining a home is "woman's work". That shouldn't just bother me, it should offend most anyone. To put it another way; When the Today Show does a story on the rise of women filling CEO positions will they use "Playing Mrs. Dad" for the title?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Tapirs Poop Stuff

Psst, psst, hey you. Yeah you. Come here. I got some great stuff here that I know you'll wanna buy. Cheap too. Check it out. I got Rolex. I got Louis Vuitton. I got Tapirs Poop!

That's right, the Tapirs Poop Online Store is up and running with all sorts of stuff featuring my amateurish attempts at design. Now go on, splurge! We're almost out of milk.

Arty Pants Revisited

For those of you that have been reading this blog for a while you'll know we used to hit Arty Pants at The Walker on a very regular basis. Then Q started preschool which, along with Ozzi's nap, created a bit of a scheduling conflict. Well, today I decided we would go right after picking Q up from school and get there for the latter half. I'm really glad we did. Not only did we get to spend some much needed extra time out of the house but Ellen from Art with Ellen was running the activities in the Art Lab.

We took classes with Ellen about two years ago and she still remembered Q's name. ELLEN IS AMAZING. If you are looking for a class for your little one, sign them up for an Art with Ellen class. You will not be disappointed. I have never in my life met anyone that is that consistently happy and energetic while teaching children. If you don't believe me, go to Arty Pants on Feb. 10th or the 24th. She'll be there... and hopefully so will we, even if we're a bit late.

The Cradle Was Rocked

Every year Rock The Cradle gets better... and more crowded. I really wish they did this more often. If it happened more regularly it would probably be a bit less like Mecca to us crazy cooped up Minnasnowda parents. All in all though, the changes they made from last year were drastic improvements and helped significantly in making the hoards of kids and their parents more manageable. The free photo booths were a big hit and using the big party room for alternating between story-time and Jeremy Messersmith was perfect.

What was even more perfect was that we got to talk to Jeremy before his first set and request Q's favorite Jeremy Messersmith song, Light Rail. Not only did he play it but he started of with it and gave Q a little shout-out at the end. Thanks Jeremy, you rock.. even if K8 was bummed you didn't play Welcome To Suburbia. Old McDonald probably played better to that crowd anyway.

Hangin' With Mo

We managed to make it to the wonderful Wild Rumpus in time to see Mo Willems. He was AWESOME! If you have a chance, stop by the Red Balloon this Saturday at 10:30. We just might go there too. I wouldn't mind getting my copy of You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When It Monsoons signed.

SAHD Workout Video

It's Electric

Monday on PBS they ran a bit of a marathon of the new Electric Company. We caught the latter half having tuned in to catch our normal dose of Word Girl at 4pm. Q's disappointment for a lack of Word Girl was VERY short lived. The new Electric Company is great. Q was totally into it and I had fun watching for all the special guests, from Tiki Barber to Samantha Bee from The Daily Show.

Today, A New America Begins

Today, YOUR America Begins!

Q & Ozzi,

Your mom and I have done our best to keep things around you as politically neutral as possible. It's important to us that you both grow up able to form your own informed opinions while able to respect the opinions of others.

Today, however, transcends politics. Today marks a beginning for your generation. A generation that will have a black man as your first memory of The President and no recollection of a day in which you couldn't just watch historic moments you missed because of preschool or nap-time by simply turning on a computer.

Get Naked

Children's book author extraordinaire Mo Willems is on tour once again. This time he's promoting his hilarious new book, Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. He will be stopping by Wild Rumpus this Thursday, Jan. 22, at 3 pm. and Red Balloon on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 10:30 am.

The new book is fantastic and if you can find room, listening to Mo read his books to a shop full of kids is definitely worth the time. And while you're at it you may as well pick up Mo's latest Elephant and Piggy adventure, Are You Ready to Play Outside?.

Planet Earth

We are encroaching a once a week average for zoo visits these days. Most often the Minnesota Zoo, but we do mix in the occasional stop at Como Zoo as well. Q has developed a passionate interest in the natural world and I'm guessing all our time at the zoo has something to do with that. That passion is even more prevalent now that he owns Planet Earth.

For Christmas Q was given the Planet Earth series on DVD (I swear to god, that was the first thing he said when I asked him what he wanted for Christmas. We had rented the series earlier in Nov.). While the boys were sick these last two weeks I got a little bit more willing to put in a movie while Q laid down on the couch. Every time I would ask what he wanted to watch, even suggesting Wall-E (I love Wall-E). Every time he would request a Planet Earth DVD. In fact, a lot of the time, he would request a specific episode. The caves one is his favorite he says. Is it weird for a now 4 year-old to prefer a documentary over cartoons?

Is it even weirder for a now 4 year-old to loudly cheer on the predators as they pursue their prey? "GO TIGER GO! GET THAT MONKEY!" What the hell? This is the same kid that offers his favorite stuffed animals to crying babies to make them feel better. He's even started acting out scenes from the show with his Little People animals.

You can totally tell he still felt like crap in that last picture. I'm glad that's over.

Baby it's cold outside!

So here's a little something to pass the time: Build A Squid

Cabin Fever

Tis the custom in my home
that after holidays
snot shall roam.

Every damn year we are blessed with spending the first half of January nursing runny noses and nasty coughs. That combined with the usual frigid temps this time of year, has once again brought me to the brink of insanity. We NEED to get out of the house... and from what I can tell there are a lot of other parents in the same boat sinking into the frigid waters of stir crazy. But, there are a few life rafts out there.

• Get your Minnesota on! Forget Pond Hockey, THIS is what Minnesota winters are all about. The Sixth Annual Art Shanty Project on Medicine Lake in Plymouth brings creativity to the already rousing sport of ice-fishing. It's like Burning Man with snowsuits instead of nudity and PBR instead of LSD. This festival on ice runs from Jan. 17th to Feb. 14.
• Rock The Cradle. Sunday, Jan. 25th. Fun. Fun. Fun... despite it being as packed as the State Fair on a nice day... just fewer pro-wrestling t-shirts.
  
• If the kids are still sick and your actually giving a damn about the well-being of other children prevents you from venturing out into the public domain, might I suggest watching the new MAKE show on PBS with the kids then get out the tools and tinker the sniffles away.
  

About F'ing Time, Target

While recently at our local Super Target not only did I find the all natural end cap in the toys department that Tiny Decor has mentioned, I also found they have started stocking BPA-free brand Boon.

This is great if for no other reason I can tell all the parents that ask where we got Ozzi's sippy cup that it's now at Target vs trying to list the various websites. This is definitely a step in the right direction for Target. Boon has some ingeniously designed products that have clearly put their customers, parents and kids, first.

Red Velvet Dinosaur Birthday Cake

This is Q's Red Velvet Dinosaur Birthday Cake. It turned out awesome and tasted fantastic. K8 made it by herself the night before Q's Birthday. She did a great job and I quickly got over my missing out on the construction. At least I can say the idea of a Red Velvet Dinosaur Cake was mine.

Minnesota Parenting

Today, Ozzi's nap time was interrupted by our neighbor working on his ice fishing auger. Such is the burden of the stay at home parent in the Great White North.

Lost and Found

The beautiful children's book about friendship, Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers, has been adapted to a 30 minute animated film by STUDIOaka and broadcast over the Holidays on the UK's Channel 4. As far as I can tell from the trailer and comments from the Brits who had the pleasure of watching the whole thing, the stunningly gorgeous animation applied to the super touching story is an absolute masterpiece.



The DVD is scheduled for release March 23rd. I'm not sure if that includes the US or if it is just the UK... though I think I'd be willing to pay the extra shipping if I had too.

Another Word For Pirate Treasure...

professor booty from tapirspoop on Vimeo.


A little recap of the past few weeks. Yes, I'm a dork.

Happy New Year!

Still Here.

I know, I know, I know. I've been really neglecting the blog lately. Sorry. Between the boys' birthdays, Christmas, visits to family, visits from far away friends, New Years, and all the new toys, my god the toys, I've been kept pretty busy.

I've been working on a little video to recap it all, so stay tuned.