smonk you: the best freaking daddy blog ever

A bit ago I got an email from a PR company but it was different from the rest... It started "I know you're PR unfriendly but... " and so I replied because they read my blog. The gist is they wanted to know if I'd do some sponsored posts... And I said I'd think about it if I could write whatever I want... And I could... So I said yes. Also I should mention that while I put "Babble" in the title of this post it's a bit of irony... Because they put me down as one of the top 50 daddy blogs and mentioned how I don't sell out... Although seriously I'm not selling out. The folks at Vick VapoRub wanted to hook up with me because they're launching their first Vapo Dad so they wanted to hook up with the best dads ever and best dad bloggers and of course I was at the top of the list... And while I could really write about anything I think it would be weird if I wrote about how I did an amazing infographic for a friend's Halloween d

Back in August I wrote about how I don't get to sleep anymore because MF's not a huge fan of sleep... Not much has changed but I figured I should update on the floor bed thing because I've become the most trusted authority in all things floor bed.* *from an undisclosed source I should also remention (which according to dictionary.com is actually a word) that MF is out of a floor bed and is in a super crazy low bed, so it's pretty much the same. I will say a floor bed can be a pain in the ass. I think it all depends on the kid, and since MF is a little me, there have been a few pain in the ass times. It really deals with the fact that he can get out whenever, which is the point, although it also means that he can escape. To jail him up  keep him safe we put a baby gate up at his door. I mentioned all this before but since I never read my blog I can't assume you do... Except for this particular post which you're currently reading. Short story is MF lo

I think somewhere in the 80's reverse psychology got a bad wrap. I remember TV shows used to make fun of it... I know Cheers did because I'm currently 40 episodes away from watching every episode on that video streaming service that came out with New Coke a month back but decided to scrap it before it even became real. Any how people say it doesn't work or that it's not good. I'll tell you it absolutely does work and MF is living proof. Don't feed the dog cheese. The dog gets the cheese, and in reality, we want the dog to have cheese because calcium is good for her bones and brings a lovely aroma to the air. Don't put your foot in the dog bowl. We all know that we want him to wash his foot and socks off, and he does it. How do you wash socks? Don't draw on the walls. Of course we want him to draw on the walls... There would be no Last Supper painting had da Vinci not drawn on a wall. If that painting didn't exist we'd never know Jesus h

I'm still often blown away that I have a kid and that he's super cool. And that he'll get older and cooler and I'll probably get less cool. And all that. It's just really weird to think about. I don't know about all kids but Miloh eats a popsicle in the weirdest/cutest way. It's indescribible how he likes it and the face he makes because it's cold. And then he does it again and again and again. Same face every time. He makes a similar face when he eats spicy food. He'll sometimes grab my giardiniera if I'm eating with something in it. His tongue sticks out and wiggles for 15 minutes but he keeps eating. You can blame your kid for stains on your clothes. Any stain. "Oh, that coffee stain that's on my shirt and wasn't on there in our earlier meeting... Yeah that was Miloh this morning. I know it sucks but we love them anyway, right." Works every time. Our conversations are small but awesome. Me: miloh you're so n

We all know there's no manual for a kid. You go to the hospital, pop the kid out (as easy as that) and then you're shoved out the door without any bit of info on how to take care of this thing–with the exception of maybe learning how to bath it. However down the road you'll find that there are times you need such a manual if only to flip to the back to scan the trouble shooting guide. Last night was such a time. It was bath time, we have been pros at that since day two because as I alluded to we were taught how to give Miloh a bath at the hospital. I couldn't find his regular shampoo / body wash. No problem at first. I just grabbed a nice little moisturizing wash that Staci bought Miloh. But then came time to wash his hair... The wash was an oatmeal based thingy and it was moisturizing so I wasn't sure how that would work on his hair, not that I thought it would make it turn green or anything. I scanned the back and it said 'keep away from eyes' and

For the record I still hate the word potty. I don't know a good alt to use. I like "you gotta take a piss?" and I've asked before and he says yes... So that could be good. That leaves the second number... As far as euphemisms I like taking the Browns to the Super Bowl... But that's because I'm from Cleveland I guess. Whatever you call it Miloh's doing it. I guess he's been doing it from day one but now he's in the groove because his toddler room teacher is the pee whisperer. She's much more than that of course but she can potty train kids like no one else. I mean he's just over one and a half and Miloh already asks to go potty (hopefully soon he'll be asking to take a piss). Also hopefully he'll learn that the middle of an aisle in a grocery store isn't the best place to say "potty" while pulling down his pants. And of course hopefully he wont hate me when his friends read this when he's a teenager. But reall

Hey readers. Since you're the ones who read my blog, which is why I called you readers, I wanted to get your opinion on some new blogger templates.  I'm sick of my old one and blogger just came out with some really clean ones. I'd love to know what you think about them to inform which I'll use. If they all suck then I'll do my own again. Magazine: my current view. The first few rows look good then it breaks down a bit. But I think it's readible. Sidebar : Not sure if it's intuitive with the left nav, but it's clean and I like it. Timeslide : Nice but no pics show. Flipcard : I like this one a bit, and it rocks with more photos. But the date label only shows what's cached so you don't see all... And you'r gonna want to read every last word of my blog. thanks for the input...and hopefully you can find the comment things because those are sometimes hidden. Also you can see other views from the dropdown on the left of the nav bar

You know when you buy stuff online and the company you bought from asks you to review what you bought? And really you should review it if you're a good person and want to contribute to the betterment of society. Well I was procrastinating on Saturday and wrote some much needed reviews... Enjoy. P.S. None have gone live yet, I'm not sure the process with Gap (I think it used to be The Gap) and Open Table, but when they go live I'll post links out. Also the last one has a clear typo (and a not so clear typo) and I suck for not correcting it. P.P.S.S. click on the images unless you can read 2pt type. Click to embiggen Click to embiggen Click to embiggen Click to embiggen

Okay, so last week I wrote a post that was an open letter to Pentax asking if I could get an  Optio WG-1 . I was expecting a nice form letter if anything. But instead I got a super nice email from the folks there and they said they were entertained and asked me how I feel about orange. I said it was my favorite color... But that might be a lie. I really like certain greys, but for some reason I spell it the English way and it feels pompous yet spelling it 'gray' would seem fake. Anyway I should say that my other open letters were total cold calls... I put them up on my blog then sent them to folks. But since this was a higher ticket price I sent the email to them first. So when I posted last week I actually had the camera... But really that changes nothing in your enjoyment of the post because unlike James Frey it wasn't total BS. Yada yada yada... the camera will now be the official point and shoot of my blog (little bug on my sidebar coming soon). I'll also re

This is the second, and maybe final (you never know), wisdom from creative directors posts. Wisdom for Miloh: A lot of sentences that end with a question mark are not questions... They are statements. Honestly one of the best things I heard in the business world and I heard it only about two years ago. In business there's an epidemic of people asking questions instead of stating opinions. Many of them start with "Do you think" or "Did you try". I don't remember this happening much in Chicago... Maybe I didn't pay attention or maybe it's that Chicagoans are direct. Minnesotans are certainly not direct. It's that Minnesota Nice passive aggressive BS that I hop to shelter Miloh from... I mean he'll be steeped in it but I hope it doesn't invade his personality. I caught myself asking a question statement the other day... But I called myself on it. And I think that's what you need to do when you hear a question statement...

I don't really use this blog to aggregate stuff I've seen on the web, maybe I should, but once in a bit I see something that jumps out of me. People are doing a lot of cool stuff out there and it spreads because of social media. I suppose people have been doing this cool stuff forever but now it gets attention. I should also say people do a lot of stupid stuff that usually gets more attention than the cool stuff but I won't go as far as to say people are idiots... But they are. Anyway since my last couple posts were about photography I thought I'd share this one I found on PetaPixel . It's two teenage photographers who traveled to Mongolia and took photos of Natives who'd never seen photos of themselves. How amazing, scary and crazy would that be to be one of those people... Either the natives or the two teens? I think what really gets me about this is the teens changed the Mongolians lives. Not in a major way. But they will have the photos and talk