While we work on a very important post, we cordially invite you to head on over to Discovering Dad where our musings on life are the latest featured article, all about knots – metaphorically speaking, of course.

Enjoy!

Today we have an article up over at Discovering Dad, about the benefits of having your kids help with the cooking.

Head on over there and take a look.

I read recently somewhere (forgive me for excluding the citation, I really don’t recall where it was I read it) about a woman who came up with the brilliant idea of pulling out the dishwasher rack and putting a mixing bowl there for her small daughter to stir. The height was exactly right for her, and if there was any slop out, the mess was contained and taken care of during the next dishwasher run.

Michael insists upon helping me every time I cook. “Can I make with you, daddy?” he’ll ask.

At one point I considered it a bother – it took extra time and effort to slow down enough to show them what to do and clean up after them.

But it makes them so happy. It’s such a little investment to make your kid really happy to do something grown-up, and to just spend time with you.

I’m really looking forward to the time when he (and/or one of his sisters) takes over on the pizza-making chore. Right now I end up eating last, and usually by myself. I smile to think that there will come a day when I can be relaxing outside on the deck in the warm evening, chatting with my wife and a few friends, and the kids will bring our pizza out to us. Maybe along with a couple of glasses of a 2003 Chianti.

Ah, those will be good days. Worth putting in the investment now.

Father’s day is Sunday! If you’re out of ideas, and want to get beyond boxers, neckties and soap-on-a-rope, then hurry and check out Mom Central’s Father’s Day Gift Guide.

They’ve put together a top-notch list of great Father’s Day gift ideas, making shopping easy. The items are grouped by price range, from under $25 to over $100.

There’s no “filler” stuff here. It’s all cool, all great dad stuff. Each item is described in detail with a link to where to get it. Here are a few of the items that caught my eye:

Camo Dragon Diaper Bag from Diaper Dude
Amazing – you’ll be a diaper changing ninja with this bag. It’s cool and functional. What more could you want? I would have loved this when my kids were babies. They have a ton of bags there in various styles, as well as other baby accessories and clothes tricked out in real dad style.

Microbrew Beer Bucket Gift Basket
This is something I’d ask for. Microbrews, pretzels, peanuts, beef jerky – it’s all there. Dad can load the bucket up with ice, chill his beer and snack happy all day.

7-Person Family Cabin Dome from Jeep
A Jeep tent? You gotta be kidding me. But there it is. What could be more off-road than the classic Jeep brand, and how better to spend your nights in the woods than in a Jeep tent? This one holds up to seven people, so bring the whole family. When I went camping as a kid, I thought it was pretty cool to have a window in our tent. This one has ventilation on all four corners, a gear rack and two closets.

But there’s still more. Register at Mom Central and enter to win prizes! They’re giving away some of those amazing things in the gift guide, like the Casio ES-X5 camera, the Norelco Razor and that awesome Camo Dragon diaper bag.

Without a doubt, you need to go to Mom Central’s Father’s Day Gift Guide if you’ve got a dad in your life and you want to really get him something unique and personal this year.

Today I’m going to point you all over to Discovering Dad to ponder a little screed I’d been mulling over for some time, concerning some training to pass on to my son: Knowing when the Job is Done.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Today we’re going on a field trip over to Daddy Brain, where we’ll find a guest post by yours truly.

Joey’s doing a series on the experiences modern-day dads have with being treated like second-class parents. I had to chime in with my own soap-box piece.

See you there!

I love shopping online. I hate parking lots, I hate crowds, I hate finding out that the thing I bought was 25 percent less expensive at the place I didn’t buy it. And I love parking my butt in front of my computer. It’s all good. Today we have a guest post from Jamie at Toys and Games Online, giving some pointers for shopping online this holiday season.

SOS! Successful Online Shopping

Just because the world economy has taken a turn for the worse, doesn’t mean that you can’t give your kids a good Christmas this year. Shopping for your kids’ holiday presents online will save you not only precious time but potentially, loads of money as well! Here are 4 great tips that will help ensure a SOS (Successful Online Shopping) experience!

1.) Shop Around:
Before purchasing a big ticket item like a home appliance, or even a car – you want to shop around to see who has the best deal, right? When online shopping, you need to go in with the same mentality – where online can I get the best deal? One of the best things about shopping online is how many resources you have at your fingertips! By Price Comparison sites like Nextag, Bizrate or Price Grabber, you can search for whatever you are looking for and instantly compare the prices of several different online retailers. For instance, if you search for “KidKraft dollhouse” on PriceGrabber, you can compare prices on over 10 different retail sites! It’s so easy! Additionally, you can see whether the item is in stock, if it ships for free and if there are any taxes. One stop shopping and you don’t even have to leave your house!

2.) Shop Safe:

Another resource you should definitely take advantage of when shopping online is Recalls.gov. Recalls.gov offers the latest in recalls for consumer products, in particular – toys for your children! This site allows you to stay up to date on the latest toy recalls, even letting you sign up for email alerts. While there’s no guarantee that just because a certain toy doesn’t make the list, that it won’t be recalled at a later date, this site does give you a certain peace of mind. Definitely add this site to your browser’s favorites.

3.) Online Coupons:

Just as you would skim through the Sunday newspaper or Toys “R” Us holiday toy catalog in search of great deals, you can find great coupons online as well! It’s important that you look for these online coupons on legitimate websites such as brand websites and retail websites. There are a lot of coupon sites out there but many of them are loaded with counterfeit coupons, which could potentially get you into trouble. Many online retailers have a “Sales and Promotions” page or some other designated area for special deals. These pages are usually loaded with great deals on everything from dolls and doll furniture to ride-on vehicles and children’s electronics. Be on the lookout for special promo codes which you enter in at checkout.

4.) Price Matching:

Let’s say you have a favorite online retailer, but you find a specific toy for cheaper on another website. Let’s say your favorite store has really great customer service or more shipping options. Well, why not see if they offer any sort of a price-matching policy. Many online retailers will match or even beat a competitor’s price, assuming the price is not sale price or discounted for some other reason.

When it comes to holiday toy shopping this season – save yourself some time by shopping online! Now, you can spend all that extra time with your kids, trimming the tree, building snow men and being generally very merry!

Jeremy over at Discovering Dad put up a post of mine covering the toughest thing I’ve had to do as a dad. It’s not a pretty story. Drop on by his site and take a look.

I hope that my experience can make a difference for someone else.

Today, we at Being Michael’s Daddy are honored to be featured in the Spotlight On Dads series over at Discovering Dad.

Go take a look! For the first and only time, you’ll get a chance to see Michael’s Mommy and his sisters. You can’t pass up that opportunity!

While you’re there, take a read at the other things going on there at Jeremy’s site.

See you there!

While you’re here, please go check out The Manival over at Building Camelot.

Several of us very manly bloggers have posted some very manly stories and advice, the better to help you or a loved one man up.

Manly-like.

Over at Schaefer’s Blog is the The Manival 3, where a number of manly bloggers, and we here at Being Michael’s Daddy, have posted some advice/tutelage/punditry on various aspects of being fatherly, husbandly or just manly in general.

I highly recommend popping over there to read a bit.

I’ll wait.