MOMS on DADS: Darlene O of the "Tales of a Young Mamma" blog!

Hi guys I'm Darlene from youngmammatales.blogspot.com I'm honored today to be here today to talk a bit about an awesome dad in my life, my baby daddy, Drew.

Drew and I started dating senior year of high school, after being friends since 5th grade. It became pretty serious and I ended up transferring out to Denver to be with him Soph. year of college. 

When I got pregnant, he was a 19 year old college kid, with no thoughts to being a dad anytime soon. Even though we had been together for 2 years, I still didn't count on him sticking around to be a father. I didn't want to tie him down at 19. I gave him an out, many, many times throughout my pregnancy. And he never took it. From the day he found out he was going to be a father, he 100 percent stepped up. He switched to a full time job to support our son and us, while going to college full time. 

For the first 3 years of Jasper's life, Drew worked 50+ hrs a week, was in class another 18 and still managed to be a great dad. He was up with me for middle of the night feedings, diaper changes, park and playdates, doctors appointments, he was there through it all. 

He found a way to make our dream of studying abroad in Sweden happen, with our son. Countless people told us it wasn't doable with a child, that they wouldn't be able to find proper housing for a child, and he kept pursuing and making it happen. He Never gives up on a dream.  And he is teaching our children to be the same.

He is the dad who gets up with our son and lets me sleep in while he makes us a huge breakfast on a Saturday. He's the dad who knows all of his sons teachers and friends names and goes along to every birthday party. He is the dad who actually plays at the park, not only with our son but somehow gets all the other kids involved as well. He is the dad who hasn't missed a single soccer game in the two years Jasper has been playing. He is the dad who won't stay for happy hour after work with everyone else because that would mean not being home to tuck his kids into bed at night.

Now that we have a daughter as well I can see how much he has changed even more for the better. Having a son, and now a daughter has made him become such a loving, caring person, and they are so lucky to have him in their life.

Thanks for letting me share a little bit about one amazing dad, can't wait to hear all about the other great dads out there!

MOMS on DADS: Kate Foley Hardage

Hi everyone. Craig here. As a precursor to a post that we hope to be the first of many, I want to introduce you to a new feature we're calling "Moms on Dads". As you may have guessed, it's Moms talking about Dads. This can be their own Dads, their baby daddies or any Dad that's ever had an impact on their life - good or bad. If any of you want to contribute and gush about your man, discuss your fathers role in your own life or even just brag about an awesome Dad you know drop us a line atTheHipsterDad@gmail.com!

Thanks and without further ado here is Kate Foley Hardage...

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Hey everyone. My name is Kate and I know Craig through his baby mama. My firstborn is four months older than Sierra, so we’ve gone through a lot of the same things at the same time. My usual haunt is Four is the Magic Number, where I usually spend time writing about the day to day happenings and milestones with my two little boys, Dex and Kiery. However, today I wanted to take some time to write about the other boy (um- I guess I should say man) in my life.

Logan and I pretty much put our relationship on fast forward from the start. From the day we first hung out, we pretty much lived together, were pregnant a month later, and two weeks before our bundle of joy arrived we were married. Being unmarried and pregnant at 22 (he was 25) was pretty scary. However, from the first moment when I told him there was a possibility of a baby in our future, he was all in. Five years ago he spent most of his nights behind a bottle of alcohol, most of his “outdoor time” was smoking cigarettes, and he lived in a house where three of the four stories were inhabited with a bunch of guys that shared interest in those pastimes as well. If you knew him now, I don’t think that would be how you would picture him at all. He has gone to every doctor’s appointment, every baby class, and being a great father and husband is always at the front of his mind.

He works hard. He works often. He is the Assistant Manager at a local coffee shop and is greatly invested in its growth and future, and also lives the closest which means he is pretty much always on call. He puts in his barista hours behind the bar, but is constantly running numbers, doing paperwork, checking in on employees and running errands. I couldn’t even tell you the number of hours he works a week. And yet- he still finds the energy to be a stay-at-home dad two and a half days a week with our three and a half year old and sixteen month old. (We are so lucky and grateful for all the help we have had to have both of us able to work full time and not have the kiddos in daycare). He does most of the grocery shopping, many of the errands, often has dinner ready when I get home, and more often than not, shows up at my work with a treat of some kind. He does art projects with the boys, takes them to the playground and teaches them how to respect women. He sleeps five hours at night, spends nine hours with the boys and then goes into work for the night. While balance is not always had, there is always a lot of love, and he does it 99.9% of the time with no complaints.

I think that things are hard for all parents right now. We are figuring out our “roles” in a society that has greatly changed in the last thirty years. What was true for our grandparents is definitely not the norm anymore. This means different things for each family, and it means that each family looks a bit different from the next. I can only speak for myself and my own family and say that a lot of our success comes from lots of communication, working hard pretty much all the time, and being a true team. (Yes, we even have a team name). I am so lucky and so grateful for the dad I have as a father to my children. As a woman, I look at him and other men like the Hipster Dads here and know that we have great role models for our children, and I couldn’t ask for more. 

"12 Dads of Xmas" DAY 4: C.C. Chapman

1. Why don't you start by introducing yourself to our readers. (Name, Kids (How Many / Names), Occupation, Location?)

My name is C.C. Chapman and I'm an author, photographer and speaker. I live in the woods outside of Boston with my two awesome kids, amazing wife and several pets. I'm the Founder of The Cleon Foundation and the author of Amazing Things Will Happen. 

2. When does "the Holiday Season" start for you?

Thanksgiving is when it really starts for us because I have a house rule that no holiday music can be played until then. When I start baking pies the night before is when I'll pop up on the first Christmas tunes. I always start with the Tidings album from Allison Crowe. Once I hit play on that it is officially the holidays for me and will go until the new year.

3. What do you and your family do to keep the magic of Christmas alive? 

We all love Christmas and make sure to spend as much time as possible together during this time of year. We also have silly traditions like watching Elf together, making Christmas cookies with the grandparents  and eating pie for breakfast. It gets harder as the kids get older because there are more distractions, but so far it is working great.

4. What's your favorite holiday movie?

A Christmas Story is a classic that I can watch over and over. Elf is just as good and I giggle every time I watch it.

5. Is there anything you always wanted for Christmas as a child and never got?

Nothing that I can remember. I'm sure in the moment of opening presents there was something one year, but I've long since forgotten. 

6. Holiday Tree or Christmas Tree: Real of fake? Discuss. 

There is NO discussion on this point. Real forever and always.

7. Do you have any unique holiday traditions? 

Pork Pie is a Chapman Christmas tradition. One of the easiest things on the planet to cook, but we only make it and eat it at Christmas for some reason.

8. We've written about 'The Challenges of Being a Working Dad' and 'Balancing Work and Family' in the past and I know that you are a very busy guy between writing books, public speaking and flying all over for conferences so I was curious if you had any tips or tricks for our readers about how you balance your work load and being an awesome Dad.

It isn't about balancing. I wrote an article recently called You Can't Parentshift because I wanted people to realize that you choose which things are most important. The only reason I work so hard is to provide for my family. I talk about it a lot with my kids so that they realize being away isn't easy or fun for me because I love nothing better than being home with them, but it is part of the career I've chosen.

The key (as in all relationships) is blunt honesty. As a family we share everything. It isn't always easy to have your spouse or children come right out and say how they feel about something, but it works for us. This way I know just what is going on with the kids and they know what is going on with me. Helps keep us on track.

Best Apps for Toddlers & Dads!

I haven't done an app review in a long time so I figured why not tell you Sierra's top 3 apps and my favorite 3 as well. These may not be the best apps out there but they are the top 3 we have been using as of late. Enjoy and feel free to tell us your favorite apps in the comments section below! -Craig

Sierra has recently been playing "Nighty Night" on our pals iPad so I gave in and bought it for the iPhone as well. It's a hybrid between a goodnight book / and an interactive game that allows you to put all the animals at the farm to bed one by one by shutting their lights off. There are a few other fun little interactions that you get to do by tapping the animals; some bark, moo, do a little dance, etc. It's beautifully illustrated and well worth the $1 for the iPhone or $3 on the iPad.

NightyNight - $2.99 (iPad) or 99 cents (iPhone) - Download Here

 

Next up is one of Sierra's all-time favorite apps: Tozzle. It's a puzzle game that allows the player to drag the objects from the corner and put them in the corresponding holes where they should go mimicking the wooden shape puzzles that are awesome but not so great when you're on the go. There are fun sound effects and it also reads the names of the letters, fruit and various other objects you create. They add new puzzles all the time and for $2 bucks it's WELL worth it. Tozzle has saved us from meltdowns in many of restaurant. Thanks Tozzle.

Tozzle - $1.99 (and theres also a free version!) - Download Here

 

I personally am not a fan of this game as it's basically the same couple of tasks over and over… and over. Wake the animal up, wash it, feed it - thats it. But the game wasn't made for me, it was made for toddlers - and my toddler LOVES it. It's 99 cents and for that you get 5 or 6 animals. You can pay more and unlock other animals as well. In addition to the wake/wash/feed/repeat portion of the game it also has a couple of other neat features; educational videos of the animals, a sticker book and a few little mini-games. It's pretty neat and Sierra loves it.

Curious George at the Zoo - 99 Cents - Download Here

 

OK so now onto the apps that I love. I'm a big fan of taking panoramic shots because I feel they just capture the moment and location a lot better than just a standard photograph. I used to use "360 panorama" which is good and all but just can't compare to the $2 "DMD Panorama", it works flawlessly and is very easy to use. The images it outputs are amazing and I highly suggest you pick this one up. Check out some of the panoramas here.

DMD Panorama - $1.99 - Download Here

 

I hate to say it because EVERYONE (and their mother) is on Instagram but yes Instagram is an app I have various accounts for and that I use everyday. I won't go into detail about why it's awesome because I assume you're already on it but if you're not what are you waiting for!?! Get on it and then follow us! Our username is: TheHipsterDad :-)

Instagram - FREE - Download Here

 

Last but not least is Cinemagram. Think Instagram but it allows you to animate certain portions of the photo. It's fun, creepy and you can make some AMAZING looking images!

Cinemagram - FREE - Download Here

 

Here are some cool examples of the type of images you can create:

C.C. Chapman's video from the Father's Day Pampers Cookout!

Pampers First Fathers BBQ Boston from C.C. Chapman on Vimeo.

Hello, my name is Craig. Welcome to “The Hipster Dad”.

For the past twenty minutes I have been looking at other blog’s “first posts” to try and find some inspiration for writing this damn thing. After looking at 10 or 15 I have decided, I’m just gonna wing it. My name is Craig and I am a Dad. 19 months ago my first daughter, Sierra, was born at the Brigham and Women’s hospital in Boston and it was the biggest life-changer since discovering the blue album by Weezer when I was 8.

I am 24, going on 25, and living in Boston with Lauren (my baby-mama) and the cutest little toddler you have ever seen. I am a graphic designer who runs his own business but also have a degree in art education (but good luck finding a job teaching these days). Our apartment is littered with books, records and toys. We are vegan, big supporters of breastfeeding and don’t let Sierra watch TV. Yes, I’m one of those parents!

I started this blog with my BDF (best dad friend) Michael because we think being Dads rules and are sick of the bad rap dads get. Oh yeah and we wanted an outlet to show off our insanely awesome spawn. One thing you realize about parenting is it’s a women’s world out there. With this blog, and our hands on parenting, we hope to break down the stereotype / stigma around Dads’ roles. Hope you enjoy the blog!

“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.” - Sigmond Freud