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Wife + Stepchild? No problem!

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singlemomsinglemom
While driving home from a party one night, my husband asked me if I was happy with our relationship (we’re newlyweds so we still ask about this from time to time).  I said yes and asked him the same question.  He replied, “Yes, I’m just not used to all the belching, farting and drama.”  I thought that would make a really honest anniversary card.
 
To my darling wife,
You are the light of my life.  I love you so much and I’m so happy we are married. I’m just not used to all the belching, farting and drama.
Love,
Your dearest husband.
 
It kind of threw me though, that he thought there was a lot of drama attached to being with me and my daughter.  After 8 of years of being a mom, the level of drama was normal for me.  I wouldn’t even call it drama  – it was just a steady level of anxiety.  For him, living with us is like a rollercoaster ride.  And sometimes it’s like a nauseating rollercoaster ride.
 
Then I thought about it more and realized, here is this guy (a veteran in the Air Force for more than 20 years no less) who was single for years, a bachelor, living in a nice, neat house on his own.
 
 The first night I went to his house, I noticed how there were no dishes left in the sink, his two lava lamps were equidistant from each other on his living room end table and he had hand towels in the bathroom that I knew were just for show.  A fun night for him was staying home and watching The Hangover on DVD for the 20th time.  His life alone was more like a tram ride than a rollercoaster.
 
For him the house is disheveled, there’s a million things on the schedule and I bet he never thought it would be so stressful to get a child to brush her teeth.  My normalcy is his insanity.  Maybe we should have moved in on a part-time basis at first so he could  acclimate to the whirlwind of a mom/daughter combo.
 
I think we’re rubbing off on him.  He isn’t a stickler about making the bed anymore.  And he’s influencing me – I try to remember to pick up my jeans off the bedroom floor.  Then again, is it worth it to put them away, because maybe I’ll wear them again tomorrow.
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Above is my husband not realizing what he was getting himself into.
 
Nancy Fingerhood is a writer, filmmaker and performer originally from New Jersey.  In her blog, Confessions of a Middle Aged Woman Gone Wild, she combines her humorous and honest writing style to discuss relationships, parenting, aging and anything else that catches her attention. She is currently the co-owner of Vivid Impressions Productions, a photography and videography services company based in Westminster. 

How “Your Alternate Me” Came to Be

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youralternatemeyouralternateme
I wrote this book to help my 7-year-old self.
 
Really.
 
If I’m being completely honest, I have to admit that at that age I was an emotional eggshell, my psyche easily prone to cracking under any form of criticism or adversity. A few examples I vividly remember that very year:
 
– Breaking my classmate’s pencil in half in a fit of overly-dramatic retaliation for teasing me about having a crush on a girl (which was 100% true)…only to find out he had borrowed said pencil from our teacher.
 
– Being overwhelmed by frustration caused by procrastination (that was caused by perfectionism) in organizing my thoughts to complete an otherwise straight-forward book report.
 
– In spite of testing into the highest-level math group, feeling like a complete fraud after not doing as well on the first quiz as I would’ve hoped.
 
The circumstances themselves weren’t out of the ordinary as far as childhood trials and tribulations go. The way I responded to these and many other situations, however, proved to very significant as time went on—namely how I perceived myself, my environment and my ability to influence their outcomes. 
 
Subsequently, this affected the choices I made well into adulthood, many often characterized by self-doubt and fear. Metaphorically speaking, I would travel along one path with blinders on; occasionally I’d manage to turn my head to catch a glimpse of other roads, ones that I could have/should have diverted onto but held myself back from doing so.
 
(Don’t get me wrong, I am not wallowing in self pity. I have taken accountability for my decisions and have found peace with where I am in life. That being said, I wish I had these seeds of awareness planted in my mind early on–I’m confident they would have served me well down the road.)
 
My writing this book was preceded by a solid year of introspection and immersing myself in the psychology of personal development. To clarify, this does not make me a certified expert in the field, nor would I try to pass myself off as one. I simply created it out of a sincere desire to help kids, especially those who are not unlike the one I used to be, grow up with a greater degree of resilience, conscientiousness and caring. 
 
The title of this book, Your Alternate Me introduces a concept that many are familiar with by some other names:
 
The voice in your head.
Your inner critic.
Your gut instinct.
 
Kids will learn how their alternate me plays a key role in what they think and do, but also how they in turn can influence it. The goal of this book is to teach kids to realize that they are in control of how they think about themselves and the world around them.
 
I’ve since decided that Your Alternate Me will serve as a primer for a series of books, collectively known as Kid Clarity. Each book will incorporate the alternate me theme and focus on a single topic (e.g., procrastination, grit, empathy, etc.). The belief is that by instilling these positive traits into our kids’ awareness now, we set them up for success in the future.

Kid Clarity – Your Alternate Me from Greysn Media Design on Vimeo.

 
In other words, I hope to help children become more mindful thinkers.
 
Ty Ono is a graphic designer/digital-media editor/Broncos & Buffs fan living in the Denver-metro area with all the respect and admiration in the world for stay-at-home moms. He recently wrote and illustrated his first children’s picture book that’s designed to help kids become more mindful thinkers. You can read for free here: http://www.kidclarity.com/free-book

Tale of the Roomba “Poohpocalypse”

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So, last week, something pretty tragic happened in our household. It’s taken me until now to wrap my head around it and find the words to describe the horror. It started off simple enough – something that’s probably happened to most of you.

Sometime between midnight and 1:30am, our puppy Evie pooped on our rug in the living room. This is the only time she’s done this, so it’s probably just because we forgot to let her out before we went to bed that night. Now, if you have a detective’s mind, you may be wondering how we know the poop occurred between midnight and 1:30am. We were asleep, so how do I know that time frame?

Why, friends, that’s because our Roomba runs at 1:30am every night, while we sleep. And it found the poop. And so begins the Pooptastrophe. The poohpocalypse. The pooppening.

If you have a Roomba, please rid yourself of all distractions and absorb everything I’m about to tell you.

Do not, under any circumstances, let your Roomba run over dog poop. If the unthinkable does happen, and your Roomba runs over dog poop, stop it immediately and do not let it continue the cleaning cycle. Because if that happens, it will spread the dog poop over every conceivable surface within its reach, resulting in a home that closely resembles a Jackson Pollock poop painting.

It will be on your floorboards. It will be on your furniture legs. It will be on your carpets. It will be on your rugs. It will be on your kids’ toy boxes. If it’s near the floor, it will have poop on it. Those awesome wheels, which have a checkered surface for better traction, left 25-foot poop trails all over the house. Our lovable Roomba, who gets a careful cleaning every night, looked like it had been mudding. Yes, mudding – like what you do with a Jeep on a pipeline road. But in poop.

Then, when your four-year-old gets up at 3am to crawl into your bed, you’ll wonder why he smells like dog poop. And you’ll walk into the living room. And you’ll wonder why the floor feels slightly gritty. And you’ll see a brown-encrusted, vaguely Roomba-shaped thing sitting in the middle of the floor with a glowing green light, like everything’s okay. Like it’s proud of itself. You were still half-asleep until this point, but now you wake up pretty damn quickly.

And then the horror. Oh the horror.

So, first you clean the child. You scrub the poop off his feet and put him back in bed. But you don’t bother cleaning your own feet, because you know what’s coming. It’s inevitable, and it’s coming at you like a freight train. Some folks would shrug their shoulders and get back in bed to deal with it in the morning. But you’re not one of those people – you can’t go to sleep with that war zone of poop in the living room.

So you clean the Roomba. You toss it in the bathtub to let it soak. You pull it apart, piece-by-piece, wondering at what point you became an adult and assumed responsibility for 3:30am-Roomba-disassembly-poop-cleanups. By this point, the poop isn’t just on your hands – it’s smeared up to your elbows. You already heard the Roomba make that “whirlllllllllllllllll-boop-hisssssssss” noise that sounds like electronics dying, and you realize you forgot to pull the battery before getting it wet.

Oh, and you’re not just using profanity – you’re inventing new types of profanity. You’re saying things that would make Satan shudder in revulsion. You hope your kid stayed in bed, because if he hears you talking like this, there’s no way he’s not ending up in prison.

Then you get out the carpet shampooer. When you push it up to the rug – the rug that started it all – the shampooer just laughs at you. Because that rug is going in the trash, folks. But you shampoo it anyway, because your wife loved that damn rug, and you know she’ll ask if you tried to clean it first.

Then you get out the paper towel rolls, idly wondering if you should invest in paper towel stock, and you blow through three or four rolls wiping up poop. Then you get the spray bottle with bleach water and hose down the floor boards to let them soak, because the poop has already dried. Then out comes the steam mop, and you take care of those 25-ft poop trails.

And then, because it’s 6am, you go to bed. Let’s finish this tomorrow, right?

The next day, you finish taking the Roomba apart, scraping out all the tiny flecks of poop, and after watching a few Youtube instructional videos, you remove the motherboard to wash it with a toothbrush. Then you bake it in the oven to dry. You put it all back together, and of course it doesn’t work. Because you heard the “whirlllllllllllllll-boop-hissssssss” noise when it died its poopy death in the bathtub. But you hoped that maybe the Roomba gods would have mercy on you.

But there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. After spending a week researching how to fix this damn £350 Roomba without spending £350 again – including refurb units, new motherboards, and new batteries – you finally decide to call the place where you bought it. That place called Hammacher Schlemmer. They have a funny name, but they have an awesome warranty. They claim it’s for life, and it’s for any reason.

So I called them and told the truth. My Roomba found dog poop and almost precipitated World War III.

And you know what they did? They offered to replace it. Yes, folks. They are replacing the Roomba that ran over dog poop and then died a poopy, watery death in the bathtub – by no fault of their own, of course.

So, mad props to Hammacher Schlemmer. If you’re buying anything expensive, and they sell it, I recommend buying it from them. And remember – don’t let your Roomba run over dog poop…

Credit to : Jesse Newton

What Little Girls Need From Their Fathers

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This excellent article by psychoanalyst Joyce McFadden explores the important role fathers play in supporting their daughters’ healthy sexual development at all ages. McFadden asserts that fathers have major influence in “three hugely important facets of how she’ll see herself in the world throughout her life,” specifically, in “her level of personal confidence, her body comfort and pride, and [her] expectations for the way she should be treated by boys and men.”

McFadden acknowledges that this can be a challenging topic for many fathers: “Even though fathers only want the best for their daughters, when asked to contemplate the idea that they should play an active role in guiding their daughters as they transition from little girl, to girl, to young woman, they squirm. They wince. They slam their eyes shut in an effort to make it stop. They say, ‘Go ask your mother.'”

She urges fathers to “reconsider” this kind of response, because, as she writes, “your daughters really do need you… Whether we’re talking about the idea of teaching your toddler the accurate names for her body parts during bath time, educating your 8-year-old about menstruation or discussing sexual behavior as your teenager is getting ready for a date, dodging, squirming and wincing aren’t reactions that are going to help your daughter feel comfortable in her own skin or confident about who she is.”

“So, when you reveal your discomfort with your daughter’s sexuality,” she continues, “you’re unintentionally teaching her it’s either something to be afraid of or something to be disdained. You’ll also be directly or indirectly teaching her you don’t want to be involved in knowing that part of her, and that will probably create distance in your relationship.”

You can read more of McFadden’s suggestions on how fathers can be supportive of their daughters at all stages of their development on HuffPost at http://huff.to/1bItWpM

Joyce McFadden is also the author of “Your Daughter’s Bedroom: Insights for Raising Confident Women,” a resource for mothers who want to establish a more open and positive relationship with their daughters at http://www.amightygirl.com/your-daughter-s-bedroom

Dad’s hilarious take on baby care instructions

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You’d think a mom could go out of town for two nights without getting some backlash. A dad’s hilarious take on his wife’s baby care instructions is going viral after it was shared to Reddit.

To start, this dad edited some grammatical errors in the note his wife left and then asks questions that may have obvious answers to mom but apparently not to dad when she says, “Apply diaper cream to butt,” he ponders, “So do I take the diaper back off?”

Like the rebel he is, there are certain instructions he isn’t willing to follow, though. He asserts that instead of dressing his son in a warm onesie with feet, he’ll choose “whatever he looks awesome in.” Duly noted. 

Happy Father’s Day!

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We love our Mile High Fathers. If you’re looking for any last-minute Father’s Day event recommendations, be sure to check-out our event calendar with 20+ ideas. And remember:

Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, story-tellers and singers of song. -Pam Brown

Happy Father’s Day!17

Fatherhood is Alive and Well All Over the World!

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When I became the primary caregiver to my two children 8 years ago I had no idea that there was a stereotype I would have to overcome. On the playground, in the grocery store, at the doctor’s office, around the school, and at just about every place I would go with my kids I would encounter some form of this stereotype. I’m sure you’ve seen it in movies, TV, and commercials: The image of a dad as an unqualified, incompetent, bumbling, borderline-negligent parent; a man portrayed as a point lying somewhere between Micheal Keaton’sMr. Mom and John Candy’s Uncle Buck.

Though I was certainly struggling with learning how to parent the two new, wonderful beings in my life (as any parent does – mother or father), I never thought for a moment that just because I was a man that I was somehow fundamentally incapable of learning to skillfully and genuinely comfort, support, and nurture my children.

Every father I know has encountered the ‘incapable male’ stereotype, and has dedicated some portion of himself to erasing it. One big step in that direction is the new coffee table book DADLY Dads: Parents of the 21st Century, a friendly invitation to embrace a view of dads as kind, competent, and dedicated caregivers who work hard at being the best parents they can be for their children and their partners. Inside DADLY Dads there are over one hundred profiles of a diverse group of 21st century fathers who are fully present, actively engaged, and deeply committed to their roles as caregivers and nurturers. On each page are compelling photos and personal responses to questions that are meant to inspire conversation about the refreshing and positive image of modern fatherhood.

I am fortunate enough to be counted among the dads from across the globe who are represented in this book (call me Sciences Dad), and I can tell you that each page is a window into the mind and heart of a father as he reflects on a successful parenting moment and on what he has learned about parenting from his children, from other fathers, and from himself. DADLY Dads is not a parenting book; it does not try tell men how to be ‘good’ fathers. Instead it gives a glimpse into each dad’s unique and personal parenting journey and into a bit of what he has felt and learned as he tries to be the best father he can.

The men of DADLY Dads show fatherhood and masculinity at its best and demonstrate that competent, responsible, involved, and active dads are the archetype that dismisses the stereotype.

DADLY Dads: Parents of the 21st Century is edited by Hogan Hilling and Austin Dowd and available June 2017. You may purchase it here. 

-Richard Blake, @STEMpunkED, www.STEMpunkED.com

The gut-wrenching parenting ad that you will love

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I don’t know about you but Windex doesn’t make me teary-eyed. Usually. But “Give Life a Sparkle” is a new gut-puncher-of-an ad that focuses on the relationship between a father and his daughter as he watches her grow up. 

or an ad will make parents everywhere Who would have thought an ad for glass cleaner would have us reaching for the tissues? Well, prepare yourselves, parents everywhere. Because Windex just released a new ad as part of its “Give Life A Sparkle” campaign that focuses on the relationship between a father and his daughter as he watches her grow up.


Family-Friendly SuperDad’s Day at Outlets at Castle Rock

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We all know Dad is a superhero so why not be rewarded for it?

Outlets at Castle Rock is inviting families to come out on Saturday, June 16 and celebrate Father’s Day with SuperDad’s Day, a free super-themed experience for the whole family.

Caped attendees will score $5 Outlets at Castle Rock gift card to be picked up at Customer Service, meet and take pictures with 6 of their favorite superheroes, shop holiday sales, play life-size board games, and enter to win a family 4-pack to Denver Comic Con. The event is open to the public and will include the following activities:

  • Meet and greet with 6 different superheroes from iconic movies and comics
  • Giant, life-size board games
  • Live DJ playing popular superhero soundtracks
  • Special Father’s Day deals at various Outlets at Castle Rock retailers
  • Enter-to-win opportunities, including tickets to Denver Comic Con, Coleman merchandise, center gift cards and more

Outlets at Castle Rock is located at 5050 Factory Shops Blvd, Castle Rock, CO 80108.

 

 

 

26 awesome things to do in Denver for Father’s Day weekend

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Fun abounds for Father’s Day weekend, from the Denver Barbecue Fest to the Denver Greek Festival to SuperDad’s Day at the Outlets at Castle Rock. See our event calendar for more details.

SuperDad’s Day at the Outlets at Castle Rock
June 16. 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Outlets at Castle Rock is inviting families to come out and celebrate Father’s Day with a FREE super-themed experience for the whole family. Caped attendees will score $5 Outlets at Castle Rock gift card to be picked up at Customer Service, meet and take pictures with 6 of their favorite superheroes, shop holiday sales, play life-size board games, and enter to win a family 4-pack to Denver Comic Con.

Denver Comic Con 2018 at the Colorado Convention Center
June 15  – 18
Denver Comic Con (DCC) is a 3-day, family-friendly pop culture fan extravaganza, featuring the best in pop culture entertainment. DCC is a program of the Colorado nonprofit Pop Culture Classroom, whose mission is to inspire a love of learning, to increase literacy, celebrate diversity and build community through pop culture education.

Denver Greek Festival
June 15 – 17
Join us at this years 53rd annual Denver Greek Festival, a family friendly event with plenty to do for the entire family. Enjoy our traditional Greek food, while immersing yourself in sounds of live Greek music and traditional dance entertainment.

The Denver BBQ Festival at Sports Authority Field at Mile High
June 15 – 17
We’ve invited some of the country’s most award-winning BBQ legends to Denver this summer for America’s biggest Father’s Day BBQ. It’s not about bragging rights (well, maybe a little), it’s about feeding you a whole lotta hog. So come grab a slab, pound some pork, and bury your face in some brisket while enjoying cold drinks and killer live music at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. It’s time to pig out.

Boulder International Festival
June 15 –17
Are you ready do dance?! The Boulder International Festival brings together over 40 different dance groups with styles from all around the world. Learn about other cultures, buy hand crafted goods, and dance, Dance, DANCE!

Joy Park Free Nights at the Children’s Museum of Denver
June 15, 4:00 – 8:00 pm
Discover the joy of climbing, digging, zip-lining, splashing, messy, all-in play for free during our Joy Park Free Nights! We’re keeping the exhibit open after hours from 4 – 8 pm (or dusk) on the third Friday of the month, May – September, thanks to a collaboration with Denver Parks and Recreation.

Low Sensory Morning at the History Colorado Center
June 16, 8:00 am – 10:00 am
The History Colorado Center is happy to open its doors for families who prefer a lower sensory museum environment. The museum will be closed to the general public, attendance limited and sounds in the exhibits turned down.

Colorado Renaissance Festival
June 16 – 17
Flash back to the 16th Century and journey through a medieval city. Enjoy full-armor jousting, tasty turkey legs, music and a marketplace featuring more than 200 artisans.

Juneteenth Musical Festival
June 16, 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Join us Saturday June 16, 2018 on 26th & Welton in the Historic Five Points Neighborhood for Juneteenth Music Festival. Tens of thousands of festival goers will commence to celebrate freedom, community and culture. Set to a soundtrack of Blues, R&B, Soul, Jazz and Hip-Hop music, nearly 200 vendors line Welton Street for an epic celebration.

The Colorado Horse Park Grand Prix Series at the Colorado Horse Park
June 16, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Looking for something new to do with your family this summer?  Come on down to the Colorado Horse Park, Colorado’s premier equestrian facility, located in Parker, Colorado.   Watch the nation’s top equestrians compete in the weekly Summer in the Rockies Grand Prix. Gates open at 4, with competition commencing at 5 PM each Saturday, June 9 – July 21.  Parking and general admission are free. Bring a blanket to sit on the grass and enjoy our cash bar, hospitality, vendors, and views.

4th Annual Father’s Day Eagle Fest at Chatfield State Park
June 16, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
When we ask our members who first introduced them to the fascinating world of birds, we often hear stories about grandfathers showing them a delicate bird nest outside their back porch window, or a pair of old binoculars being slipped into their hands on a family camping trip.  In 2015, we at the Audubon Society of Greater Denver saw a great need to host an event for fathers that would help continue to create birding memories that last a lifetime.  Our ever popular bird banding Mother’s Day Breakfast was selling out year after year, but what about all the dads in our lives?

Denver Outlaws vs. Florida Launch at Sports Authority Field at Mile High
June 16, 7:30 – 9:00 pm
Don’t miss the thrill and excitement of Major League Lacrosse at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Family-friendly and affordable, the non-stop action will have you on the edge of your seat!

Rock & Roll Playhouse at Boulder Theater
June 17, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
The Rock and Roll Playhouse is a weekly children’s music workshop-series that creates “a space within which they can discover new comfort zones with and around music”. Created by entrepreneur and owner of The Capitol Theatre and Brooklyn Bowl, Peter Shapiro, and Amy Striem, a certified early childhood and elementary teacher, The Rock and Roll Playhouse uses music to educate children and explore their creativity.

Ongoing Events and Exhibits

Summer in the City
June 1-August 1
The city of Aurora, Colorado invites you to join us this summer for some FREE, fun entertainment. It’s a great way to get the kids outside this summer. This event just for kids offers fun throughout the summer. There will be free, healthy snacks, inflatables, board and field games, an opportunity to try your hand at golf and the gymnastics team will be onsite as well. The library will be there with fun crafts as well as the Aurora History Museum. Come discover all the other programs that the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Department offers.

Happy City: Art for the People” is a six-week (May 18-June 30) citywide art intervention produced by The Denver Theatre District at Denver Union Station’s Plaza and Great Hall. The art instillation sites are located throughout Denver and includes streets, alleyways, billboards, video screens and Union Station, among other locations.

Play Ball! at the History Colorado Center
April 7-September 30, 2018
See classic baseball artifacts—from Babe Ruth to the Blake Street Bombers. Treasured memorabilia and iconic photographs bring the past to life through stories that begin on the ball field and echo through American history. Size up your hand against Babe Ruth’s. Find the nails Ty Cobb used to hold his favorite bat together, and admire the glove flashed by Willie Mays to make some of the game’s most memorable catches. See the uniform Joe DiMaggio wore in his final World Series and a receipt for roses he sent to Marilyn Monroe.  historycolorado.org/exhibit/play-ball

Dead Sea Scrolls at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science
March 16-Sept. 3
Dead Sea Scrolls is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see authentic Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient manuscripts that include the oldest known biblical documents dating back over 2,000 years. The scrolls will be dramatically presented within a massive exhibit case featuring carefully regulated individual chambers, along with the full English translation. dmns.org/dead-sea-scrolls

Denver Puzzling Adventure at Civic Center Park
Puzzling Adventures™ are a cross between a scavenger hunt, an informative self-guided tour, and The Amazing Race®. Each adventure consists of a series of locations that you are guided to where you are required to answer questions or solve puzzles to receive your next instruction. http://puzzlingadventures.com

Eyes On at Denver Art Museum
December 3, 2017 – July 8, 2018, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Xiaoze Xie has a lifelong passion for books. In his worldview, books are conveyers of prestige and signifiers of collective cultural knowledge: repositories of historical meaning, cultural conflict, and political strife. For Eyes On: Xiaoze Xie, the artist has created still-life paintings of books, videos, and installations based on banned and forbidden books in China. http://denverartmuseum.org/exhibitions/eyes-on-xiaoze-xie

Past the Tangled Present at the Denver Art Museum
November 14, 2017 – October 28, 2018, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
This interactive and immersive installation by Denver artist Jaime Molina was born of imagination and the joy of discovery. Step into a different world where the paintings on the wall flow into 3-D objects that Molina created for the space. Sit on boxes painted with faces and play in a garden of fabricated cacti. http://denverartmuseum.org/exhibitions/past-tangled-present

Creatures of Light at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science 
February 23- June 10, 2018
They light up our lives, but have you ever wondered how? Delve into the world of living things that blink, glow, flash, and flicker, from tiny fireflies to strange creatures in the ocean depths. The new exhibition Creatures of Light explores the mysterious world of bioluminescence and biofluorescence, visible light emitted by living things. This enlightening experience features larger-than-life models, engaging immersive environments, fun activities, and real animals, fungi, and minerals that get their glow on. http://www.dmns.org

Colors of East Africa
Jan. 20-May 19, 2018
Colors of East Africa, an exceptional showcase of eight countries along the Great Rift Valley, continues through May 19 at the Global Village Museum of Arts and Cultures. The exhibit features art and artifacts on loan from over 40 collectors and international travelers in Northern Colorado. Many items reflect the intersection between the wildlife and the indigenous cultures, such as a loin cloth fashioned from fish vertebrae and a Maasai shield & weaponry. http://globalvillagemuseum.org/upcoming-main-gallery/

AI Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads
Oct. 18, 2017–Oct. 17, 2018
The 12 bronze heads of Ai Weiwei’s Circle of Animals represent the 12 animals of the traditional Chinese zodiac. See it for free at Civic Center Park! https://www.denver.org

Zoom In: The Centennial State in 100 Objects
Nov. 21, 2017–Dec. 31, 2018
History Colorado created a brand-new space, the Tim Schultz Gallery, to house this 3,700-square-foot exhibit of 100 objects, each of which had a role in shaping the history and culture of Colorado. https://www.historycolorado.org/venue/history-colorado-center

Pixelated: Sculpture by Mike Whiting
April 28–Sept. 23, 2018
Mike Whiting’s geometric sculptures at the Denver Botanic Gardens also represent the intersection of two distinct visual styles: 8-bit pixel graphics—which have enjoyed a recent resurgence in games like Minecraft—and minimalist sculpture. Technological limitations in early video games like Pac-Man and Space Invaders reduced the graphics to simplified shapes, while the minimalist art movement created artworks that purposely lacked detail. Pixelated investigates the opposite intents of these two artistic approaches that result in a strikingly similar visual outcome. https://www.botanicgardens.org/exhibits/pixelated-sculpture-mike-whiting

Peak-A-Boo Play

Peak-A-Boo Play launched in spring 2018 in The Hangar at Stanley Marketplace. The space is a clean, safe, pop-up experience offering drop-in, open play for kiddos three years of age and under. Parents/caretakers must be present and will have opportunities to socialize, grab coffee and take a breather while kids explore over 500-square-feet of mats, plush tumbling gear, sensory toys, bubbles, music and more. Summer admission is $10 per child with sibling discounts available. Hours of operation are Monday and Thursday mornings, 9 to noon; however, schedule is subject to change/expand and will be regularly posted to website and social channels.

7 fabulous food finds for Father’s Day!

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There’s no better way to celebrate Father’s Day than by filling Dad with tasty goodness–from a stuffed burger bar to a crab bake feast to beer-battered onion rings. 

1. What breakfast food is better than pancakes? BACON! What’s better than bacon? Bacon filled pancakes of course!

Bacon-Pancakes

2. Does anyone else love the wonderful and flavorful roasted turkey legs at area festivals? This grand meaty treat treat is perfect for any dad; get the recipe here: Kevin’s Almost Famous Grilled Turkey Leg Recipe.

turkey

3. If Dad loves a great burger, look no further than this Jameson Whiskey Blue Cheese Burger with Guinness Cheese Sauce Crispy Onion

burger

4. Stuffed Burger Bar. We recently partnered with Sprouts Farmers Market to pull together the ultimate stuffed burger bar that will change your life. 

stuffedburger

5.  Hot buttered lobster rolls are really the way to go when choosing a lobster delivery method. Find the recipe at Hot Lobster Roll.

lobster

6. Since Father’s Day is just before the official start of summer, take it back to the basics this year and celebrate Dad with a good, old fashioned crab feast.

crab

7. Two words: onion rings. These beer-battered onion rings with buttermilk ranch dressing will make dear ‘ol Dad wish every day was Father’s Day.

onion

Dad-isms: Funny things dads say

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Does anyone have a Dad who says the same things over and over?

I do. So about 20 years ago for my Dad’s birthday, my sisters and I put together an ENTIRE BOOK of his repeatisms. I will spare you the insider ones such as “I always carry a garlic shaker” and leave you with some of the true gems, the ones that turned out to be helpful in life rather than just annoying in the moment.

And ones that will possibly show up in Tessa’s and Reed’s book of Mom-isms one day.

  • Sometimes you COUNT the votes and sometimes you WEIGH them.
  • Everyone is NOT doing it because YOU are not!
  • What kind of sissy word is “fair”?
  • Treat people when you don’t need them the way you wish you’d treated them when you do need them (sit with it a moment ’til it makes sense — it actually got me a job once).
  • Leave things better than you find them.
  • Come in when the streetlights are on!
  • Elbow your way in.
  • Draw a wider circle. (meaning: don’t find reasons to exclude yourself)
  • I’m glad I had daughters because they are so genteel (usually said after a burping contest — or worse).
  • 90% of the world’s work is done by people who don’t feel very good (we were not allowed to slack much).
  • Drive like everyone is out to get you.
  • Just because G*d picked your nose doesn’t mean YOU can (said to one of my sisters, I’m sure).
  • Starting is half done.
  • Everything in moderation, including moderation.
  • Put the short things on the short shelf and the tall things on the tall shelf (he actually said this to me last week when looking in my fridge for tonic).

Up there is a photo I found online of my Dad, the consummate teacher (although not by profession) teaching citizens about his main passion, freedom.

We kid him a lot, but my sisters and I hold immense respect and love for our Dad. It’s amazing to us that this man who grew up without a father had it in him to become a great one anyhow.

So thanks, Dad, for saying such wise and loving things. Over and over and over and over…

Now I’m going to obsess and compulse over the height of things in my refrigerator.

What -isms do you attribute to your dad?

Happy Father’s Day! 30 dad jokes so bad they’re good

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We love our dads…and we love dad jokes. 

Here’s to celebrating all of the wonderful fathers in our lives!

  • “Dad, did you get a haircut?” “No, I got them all cut!”
  • “My wife is really mad at the fact that I have no sense of direction. So I packed up my stuff and right!”
  • “How do you get a squirrel to like you? Act like a nut.”
  • “Why don’t eggs tell jokes? They’d crack each other up.”
  • “I don’t trust stairs. They’re always up to something.”
  • “What do you call someone with no body and no nose? Nobody knows.”
  • “Did you hear the rumor about butter? Well, I’m not going to spread it!”
  • “Why couldn’t the bicycle stand up by itself? It was two tired.”
  • “Dad, can you put my shoes on?” “No, I don’t think they’ll fit me.”
  • “Why can’t a nose be 12 inches long? Because then it would be a foot.”
  • “This graveyard looks overcrowded. People must be dying to get in.”
  • “Dad, can you put the cat out?” “I didn’t know it was on fire.”
  • How do you make holy water? You boil the hell out of it.
  • “I could tell a joke about pizza, but it’s a little cheesy.”
  • “Don’t trust atoms. They make up everything!”
  • “When does a joke become a dad joke? When it becomes apparent.”
  • “I wouldn’t buy anything with velcro. It’s a total rip-off.”
  • “What’s an astronaut’s favorite part of a computer? The space bar.”
  • To whoever stole my copy of Microsoft Office, I will find you. You have my Word.
  • I bought some shoes from a drug dealer. I don’t know what he laced them with, but I was tripping all day!
  • If a child refuses to sleep during nap time, are they guilty of resisting a rest?
  • “I’ll call you later.” Don’t call me later, call me Dad.”

DAD: I was just listening to the radio on my way in to town, apparently an actress just killed herself.

MOM: Oh my! Who!?

DAD: Uh, I can’t remember… I think her name was Reese something?

MOM: WITHERSPOON!!!!!???????

DAD: No, it was with a knife…

Happy Father’s Day!

Love,

The Mamas

 

 

Parents are ugly-crying over Michael Bublé’s ‘Forever Now Video

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The days can be long but the years are short. Our kids are growing up quickly and Michael Bublé video for his song “Forever Now” has parents everywhere in tears. 

Sometimes, it’s the tiniest triggers that make us weepy about how quickly our kids grow up — a tiny baby sock, an empty crib, a child’s bedroom.

The music video was published on YouTube March 1, but as droves of parents send their kids back to school or off to college, it has resurfaced all over social media and currently has 4.5+ million views.

The video opens to an empty bedroom. Slowly, it fills with moving boxes, then a crib, a chair, a dresser — a beautiful little nursery.

‘There’s no trophy in parenting’ post goes viral

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There’s no trophy in parenting.

That might seem like an obvious statement but if there really is no trophy, why do moms do so many things they may not even feel strongly about?

When Ashley Gibson was giving birth to her third child, she “wasn’t dead set” on having an non-medicated birth.

But as the pain progressed and Gibson debated whether an epidural was the right decision, her husband Brandon said four simple words.

“There’s no trophy Ashley.”

His sage wisdom has since gone viral with thousands of views and comments. 


“Cheer Dad” goes viral for duplicating his daughter’s routine

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Move over Cheer and Dance Moms, Cheer Dad is here and he has some moves! 

Rolland “Hekili” Holland is literally his daughter’s biggest cheerleader, and there’s video evidence to prove it.

Video showing the Virginia dad went viral, raking up more than 3 million views, after a fellow parent filmed him enthusiastically performing his 15-year-old daughter Mackenzi’s cheerleading routine in time with the squad at the York High School football game on Friday.

Talk about nailing it.

Humor: Millennial Dads vs. Baby Boomer Dads

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YouTube comedians Taylor Calmus of Dude Dad and Myles Montplaisir of You Betcha are on a mission to bring more laughter into the world, and they’re doing just that with a new clip that’s going viral. In the wake of the world discovering that Gen Z has a major beef with their grandparents’ generation, the Baby Boomers, Calmus and Montplaisir decided to illustrate another generational divide. Now that many Millennials are parents themselves, the way they’re raising their kids looks quite a bit different from the way they were raised by their Boomer parents.

In “Millennial Dads vs. Baby Boomer Dads,” Calmus plays a Millennial dad (probably not unlike himself) who says no to McDonald’s (gotta avoid GMOs!), imaginatively turns a basic cardboard box into a spaceship, and politely requests that a baseball coach put his son in to pitch, among other “active” parenting endeavors. Meanwhile, Montplaisir portrays a Boomer dad who kicks the kids out of the family room when he wants to watch his TV shows, gets flustered and gives up while attempting a sex-ed talk with his son, and tells his bored kids to “go play with a box over there”.

Join Our Movement for Accessible, Affordable and High-Quality Childcare

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Denver mom Beth Slaboda decided to look into going back into teaching a few years ago. She had been working as a private part-time math tutor in the evenings and she thought going back would give her family a little more consistent income. She was wrong.

“We looked into childcare for our two kiddos and quickly realized that any extra I would make teaching (after paying for childcare) would be equal to or LESS than what I was making tutoring. I have such respect for single parents…I don’t know how they do it!”

Beth is not alone–Colorado has some of the priciest childcare in the country. According to the Economic Policy Institute’s 2019 report, a year’s worth of childcare costs thousands more than in-state college tuition over the same timeframe. A year’s worth of infant care is also higher than the average annual cost of housing in Colorado.

Can we just process that for a moment? Your child’s daycare costs more than college and housing. 

Being able to provide for our families is at the very core of who we are as parents. When I was approached by Colorado-based Affordable Child Care Now!, I was immediately struck by the urgency of their bipartisan message: “Many of the Presidential candidates have told us they are not hearing from their constituents that childcare affordability is a crisis.”

LET US BE HEARD!  By adding your voice, you are a part of the collective megaphone advocating for the importance of accessible, affordable, quality childcare.

The Stats Don’t Lie

So, why care about childcare, even if you are not directly impacted? According to the campaign’s research:

  • Investing in high quality, early childhood education and care pay off. Every dollar we spend now saves up to $11 in later spending on social programs, criminal justice costs, and more. 
  • Children who participated in high-quality early childhood education had higher college graduation rates and rates of employment at the age of 30 than peers who did not have access to high-quality early childhood education. 
  • Not only does high quality, early childhood education and care provide the foundation for a child’s success later in life, it can also break the poverty cycle. We know that investing in our children today will save taxpayer dollars later on.

Take Action (It’s Easy!) 

Go to Care for All Children to learn more about how your signature can influence the government to take a two-generation approach to their policies and investments—an approach that is both feasible and sustainable for working parents and preparing our youngest learners the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed. 

By signing the petition you are agreeing to raise your voice as a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, neighbor, employer, childcare provider, as someone who benefits and loses in society when we do not stand up for young children, hard-working families, and our economy.

It’s time to call for affordable childcare for all children by signing the petition:

 

 

 

Across the country, Americans are calling for equal access to affordable care for all children. Take a look at who is supporting the movement in your region and roll up your sleeves to move the needle. Let’s make a difference in the lives of our children and Colorado families!

Mile High Mamas is proudly partnering with Care for All Children. Make a difference in the lives of Colorado families. 

Colorado Family Building 3D-Printed Lamborghini Hopes To Spark Interest In STEM

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These days 3D printing has advanced so far, it’s even being used to make a custom heart valve, so why not a supercar, like a Lamborghini? An Erie family now hopes they’ll be the first in the country to build a Lamborghini using this technology.

“What we would do is jump into a Lamborghini Aventador and drive it around,” Xander Backus said.

Backus isn’t old enough to drive yet — he’s 11 — but he and his dad have driven the Aventador numerous times in an Xbox game.

“One day I said to him, hey can we build one of those?” Backus recalled.

Xander’s dad, Sterling Backus accepted the challenge. He happens to be a physicist whose line of work involves a lot of lasers, but that hasn’t really given him much of an advantage when it comes to building a car. CLICK TO KEEP READING

Conflicts Over Parenting Styles? How to keep your differences from hurting your kids

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At some point, most couples are going to differ on how to approach parenting.

“I think in almost every family you’re going to find some disagreements,” says Dr. Alan Ravitz, a child and adolescent psychiatrist. “In my own family I know there were times when I thought my wife was too harsh and there were times when she thought I was too easy.” The important thing is to present a united front. “You shouldn’t disagree in front of the child,” he says. “You should disagree behind closed doors.”

This becomes especially challenging when parents develop extreme differences in their approaches to parenting-particularly when the child or children are struggling with a psychiatric diagnosis or a learning disability and treatment decisions need to be made. In these situations, the parents’ ability—or inability—to reach an agreement can mean the difference between successful treatment and an anxiety-provoking situation in which the child is left alone to sort out and interpret the confusing and often painful mixed signals he is getting from his parents.

Striking a balance

Maria and Alex consider themselves to be happily married, but when they fight it’s always about their children and it always goes the same way. “He’d say I don’t convey a message to our children that I care how they do in school or that I feel they have to work hard or that I care whether they get into a good college,” Maria says. “And I think he’s so hard on them that it leaves no room for me to be tough on them because I don’t think they can be getting that message over and over again.” READ MORE

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