tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5351565932791100962012-02-16T04:04:48.300-05:00A Father's Musings on Life, Love, and Raising His Toddler SonDaddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-38346164358246199812008-04-02T12:24:00.005-04:002008-05-02T14:54:48.996-04:00

I sat there for hours in a rocking year in my parents' livingroom. Hunched over. Fingers cramping. Neck straining. Looking from the magazine to the keyboard to the television. Ignoring the complaints of my sister to let her watch TV. Finally, the last line of code was entered and I typed "run."The result of my efforts was a tiny ball bouncing across my parents' TV screen.I smiled.My family said,

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-17502680072323915222008-02-13T16:27:00.004-05:002008-02-21T17:17:33.749-05:00

For a good part of the day today the fiasco that is the Roger Clemens steroid story unfolded in front of a House committee. What a joke!!! Why is this even in front of Congress? What possible good is this doing? And on top of it the freakin' Republicans showed that they can't be honest and non-partisan about anything at all.I swear I was sitting here thinking maybe we should give steroids to

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-7734279765453279272008-01-31T17:19:00.001-05:002008-02-21T17:18:31.153-05:00

That is my question. I've been having some thoughts recently about discontinuing Daddy Dan Blog. I figured I'd write about it and see if anyone has any suggestions or opinions.TIMEI've never found enough time to properly update this blog. My original goal was to post daily but I haven't been able to achieve that. There are various reasons that have kept me from achieving that goal and I'm always

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-79687016801228457082008-01-16T12:02:00.002-05:002008-02-21T17:22:28.618-05:00

Happy Belated New Year to all! 2008 is finally, finally here. Whew!As those of you who have read my blog during 2007 will know, last year (heck, the last two years really) was one of the most challenging times of my life. I'm ready...sooooo ready...for some good things to happen this year. I guess that's why the potential of a new year is so inspiring to us all.My first focus for this new year is

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-83450342669696505442007-12-26T12:03:00.001-05:002008-02-21T17:23:11.386-05:00

Look! Up in the sky! It's a superhero! Superman was always my favorite comic book hero. Who could resist his ability to fly at supersonic speeds, or his super-human strength, or his vow to stand for "truth, justice, and the American Way?"But real heroes don't fly and don't have super-human strength, and are often flawed and unsure of what they stand for. But they are heroic in their own way and

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-87413741442122826622007-12-24T16:35:00.001-05:002008-02-21T17:23:49.534-05:00

The number 12 comes up a lot this time of year. December is the 12th month and there's that old Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas.Well, the number 12 that's been on my mind these past few days has nothing to do with Christmas.The other night, as Mikey's mommy and I watched in awe and with mouths agape, Mikey counted to 12. Unprompted. Uncoached. Perfectly.Mikey's been pretty verbal

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-32281518356191194242007-12-17T16:03:00.002-05:002008-02-21T17:19:00.999-05:00

"Say It Ain't So, Joe."Say It Ain't So, Andy!!"Shoeless" Joe Jackson was a great and beloved player for the Chicago White Sox in the early part of the 20th century. Without going into details (because there is still doubt about his role) Jackson was kicked out of baseball for helping to fix the 1919 World Series in which his White Sox lost to the Cincinnati Reds. A heartbroken and

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-42032680091141456922007-12-12T12:06:00.002-05:002008-02-21T17:24:17.749-05:00

My posts on Daddy Dan Blog, so far, have all been relatively harmless and mostly free from much that one would want to argue about or get angry from. I think, originally, that was my intent. But that's not fair to me or you because I have a lot to say, a lot of opinions, and much of it is from experience or education and some is from instinct or emotion.I won't be holding back in the coming

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-69563233085992794862007-12-11T12:00:00.001-05:002008-02-21T17:24:39.876-05:00

Hey all,A new post is coming this week but I wanted to take a quick minute to first wish all of you Happy Holidays. My main reason for this post though is to remind you that you can subscribe to my blog for free via either email or RSS feed and also you can leave your comments on my posts by clicking comments on the bottom of each post. I welcome your opinions, ideas, and stories.Thanks!Daddy Dan

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-71096023243346189142007-12-08T01:32:00.002-05:002008-02-21T17:25:08.003-05:00

That devious exclamation (I always picture it being followed by an evil, cackling Heh, heh, heh!) was heard by my wife and her brother on many a Sunday night when they were growing up in the '70s and '80s. Grandpa, as he was affectionately known, would be having his I'm-retired-and-going-to-rub-it-in fun while my wife and brother-in-law would be groaning about the prospects of having to go to

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-34496172251569640742007-11-18T00:49:00.001-05:002008-02-21T17:25:32.723-05:00

One of my favorite memories of Mikey is of watching him take his first steps. He was so determined to walk and so proud of himself. It wasn't long before he was running.We take walking for granted. Such a simple act for most of us. Walking is exercise. Walking is mobility. Walking is a mindless task most of the time. Walking...can be rewarding.On October 14th, Mikey, my wife, and I (and around 20

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-25871986780940997642007-11-17T23:42:00.001-05:002008-02-21T17:26:13.119-05:00

So I stumbled upon this Web site called FreeRice. Their tag line says "For each word you get right, we donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program." When you visit the site you are presented with a word--for example, "wizardry"--and you are given four definitions--in this case, "fixation," "sorcery," "bureau," or "twelve." If you get it right (by choosing "sorcery" in this

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-15906839583861201402007-11-04T19:05:00.001-05:002008-02-21T17:26:34.055-05:00

The following paragraphs are from the new book The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland (one of my favorite writers--check out his Web site at: http://www.coupland.com/). This is one of the best things I've read or heard lately:"...We need to have laws to make killing dogs illegal. But what about cats? Okay, cats, too. What about snakes? Or sea monkeys?I draw the line at sea monkeys. I draw lines

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-24428929494407335242007-10-25T21:00:00.001-04:002008-02-21T17:27:04.793-05:00

I saw a commercial on TV last night that I'd never seen before. A group of guys are sitting in a barn-like atmosphere playing instruments and singing (what I believed to be) "Viva Las Vegas."I like that song so I'm singing along and bopping my head until they get to the chorus and instead of "Vivaaaaaa Las Vegas" I hear "Vivaaaaaa Viagra!!!!" Whoa! What?????!!!Sad to say but with Elvis' penchant

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-24925044871817227942007-10-25T20:20:00.001-04:002008-02-21T17:27:35.785-05:00

On a recent episode of the TV quiz show Cash Cab: After Dark I heard the following:The question was regarding one of the Ten Commandments. The two people playing the quiz were a twenty-something male and female.The female hears the question and looks at her partner and says, "Hellooooo, I'm Jewish, I don't know the Ten Commandments."Um, what?Did she get hit in the head with one of the tablets

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-21628361376916882072007-09-21T15:00:00.001-04:002008-02-21T17:28:15.374-05:00

Note: This post was originally written at the end of July and I went back and forth about posting it. Let me know what you think:I normally wouldn't write something like this on the blog but my patience is completely shot lately and so with apologies... I hate Wal-Mart! Have always hated it but began to hate it more when I learned about how bad a company it is for this country ( http://

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-50896796532246618922007-09-21T13:50:00.001-04:002008-02-21T17:28:42.343-05:00

In football, there's a penalty for jumping onto someone when they're already tackled...it's called piling on. In sports, we hear about coaches running up the score when they are already crushing their opponents. You often hear the expression, "don't kick a man when he's down." Well, over the past few months I've been kicked, piled on, and crushed.I've written previously about my kidney stones.

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-32049125306827319662007-06-26T10:36:00.001-04:002008-02-21T17:29:07.334-05:00

One of the wonderful things about Mikey, about children, is their ability to make you forget your troubles and to smile when all else is making you want to frown or cry.I've been experiencing one of those times in life when everything seems aligned against me. Bad things coming all at once.It started with finding out I had two kidney stones (one huge). I've now had two surgeries and I'm still not

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-59570961300883951972007-06-18T16:43:00.001-04:002008-02-21T17:19:36.130-05:00

In honor of Father's Day I'll take this time to write about a recent experience that is one of my favorite moments as a father.Hot dogs, apple pie, Chevrolet, and baseball. Baseball...is there anything more American, more father-son bonding, more memorable than this wonderful game of ours? That is, unless, you're a two-year-old who hasn't had his nap yet.We recently attended the Long Island Ducks

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-42139412529120210502007-06-10T22:28:00.001-04:002008-02-21T17:29:26.464-05:00

As most parents of a child know, a child’s language development and ability to communicate can be a frustrating experience but a wonderful one to witness. My wife and I still use words and phrases that my nieces used to use when they were toddlers trying to learn to communicate. In those cases it was cute and as they developed their skills we kind of almost missed them using those old words and

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-79373932670686043052007-05-31T09:09:00.001-04:002008-02-21T17:21:15.231-05:00

The Flintstones were big. The Rolling Stones were really big. My kidney stones are...HUGE!For about two months now (which also explains my lack of blog posts) I’ve been dealing with a very large kidney stone. I actually have a stone in each kidney but the right side has been the real troublemaker.I had a surgical procedure (a lithotripsy) a couple weeks ago and it didn’t work. I have to have a

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-90439793430216269722007-04-18T16:39:00.002-04:002008-02-21T17:20:27.284-05:00

Daddy can't explain the violence that took place at Virginia Tech a couple days ago. But, then again, I've never been able to explain or understand violence. And gun violence is especially frustrating.This 23-year-old student at Virginia Tech was said to have problems. At least one professor saw things in his writing that made her request that he be given counseling. His own roommate wasn't very

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-53140383767965077342007-04-15T21:48:00.002-04:002008-02-21T17:29:50.662-05:00

Daddy Dan Blog is a new beginning for my former blog, “Much Ado About Mikey.” The topic will be the same: being a daddy to Mikey and life in general as a parent, but with some added challenges. A couple of those challenges are the reason why I stopped updating Much Ado About Mikey (the posts from that blog are still online and I've also posted them in the archive for this blog). One of them I

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-535156593279110096.post-61807569539936569162006-01-19T15:00:00.001-05:002008-02-21T17:30:08.363-05:00

Thursday, January 19, 2006In memory of your great-grandmotherDear Mikey,Your great-grandmother (daddy's nana) passed away last night. You never got to meet her but she saw your photos and knew about you and was happy.Daddy is a little sad today but he's overcoming those feelings with the thought that nana was 92, lived a long life, and was a very tough and strong person.Your great-grandma faced

Daddy Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17814123232284893169noreply@blogger.com0