Single Dads

Today’s lesson is on depression and parenting.  I’m aware that a lot of single parents grapple with it, and I am no exception.

In response, I wanted to share this with you.

“Depression is a mood disorder”, so start many descriptions of the illness. That is a gross understatement. Depression does indeed seriously affect your mood, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. A clinical depression is an incapacitating illness, affecting your ability to perform tasks that require concentration and rendering you unable to work.

Via Lifehacker.

Now, I have friends that are depressed, that write me messages, and say things that are more than a little frightening to me.  You people out there, you know who you are.  I, too, had some thoughts over the course of the last couple of days that many of you would find frightening.  This is the deal.  Simply, get help.  Do NOT go through it alone.  Educate yourself about depression, which does make people do things that are simply not in their best interests. I am lucky.  I have a pretty good support group.  But don’t let things get out of control.  Make the changes necessary to get your head on straight.  Here’s one link.

Here’s another. 

Here’s a final one.

Being depressed doesn’t make you a bad person, or a stupid person, or a crappy father or mother, but it will affect your life and mind.  You may have to change some behaviors that you previously took for granted.  So what?  Do it anyway.  Save your life.  If you have had one depressive episode (and I have) you WILL probably have more.  Get professional help now.

Last week, I had the honor of attending a Virtus meeting. Now, for those of you that don’t know, these are meetings on Child Safe Environment that I had attended because I have a child in a Catholic preschool.

Whether or not that you think that this might be a touch ironic, I would have to say that this was a good, good class, with a lot of decent information. I did watch two movies (some of which featured actual child molesters), received a workbook with scores of info, and had a classroom discussion.

All of this is great, but it leads to the question: how the heck did we get to the place that parents of children in school had to attend a workshop on how to keep their children safe? Is this a recent phenomenon in hideousness towards children? Or worse… was it always this bad?

Yikes!

I suppose that I would say that this is a great class to take for anyone, whether they are a parent with a child in a public school, or a priest that would have children assisting them in church on Sundays. Take a look at the website - the link is included above. But always remember the reason for the class; your kids are, unfortunately, at some risk. Act accordingly.

Today I started reading a book authored by Christopher Hitchens called God Is Not Great - How Religion Poisons Everything, and was struck by a couple of interesting facts:

1. Christopher Hitchens is a very angry person when it comes to religion, and

2. Everyone should read this book, whether they are religious or not.

I don’t know for sure, but I think that if everyone tried to be good people to themselves and to others, the world would be a much more pleasant place. So, I think that we should all reach out a helping hand to others and try harder to JUST BE HUMAN.

There’s a lesson that we should all teach our children.

This year I have read an average of a book a week - probably the happy result of both deciding to get more into reading for information and entertainment and the decision to read on my commute into downtown.

Apparently, this volume of reading activity puts me among the most voracious readers in the country.

According to an AP poll, basically no American reads any books anymore. Well, the “typical person” claimed to have read four books, with half of respondents claiming to have read fewer and half claiming to have read more.

Thank Gawker for this news; then go read the AP poll via CNN.

Since January 1, no joke, I’ve read 34 books. I’d post them all if I had an attractive web-friendly plugin that presented all of the titles in a multimedia format. If anyone happens to be aware of one of these let me know. I’m quite sure, though, that my voracious reading habits are probably part of the reason why child education drives me occasionally batty. Reading is part of what creates an educated population.

…yes, that said Financial Quote of the Day.  Believe it or not, I’m not kidding.

Like many who have jobs and kids, I am one of those that actually has a 401(k).  Unlike many that have jobs and very young kids, though, I have taken the bizarre (and poverty inducing) step of actually starting a 529 plan for my little honey’s college education.  (more…)

Tomorrow is my baby’s first day of school.

Now, one would think that this makes me a little nervous.  One would be right.  Despite the fact that my daughter has been well socialized by daycare, trips back and forth between my house, her mother’s, and her grandparents, I still find myself, today, just a bit off.  I’m not sure why.  Perhaps it’s because I know that from this moment on, teachers and other students can have as much of an impact on my daughter, or more, than I do - but honestly, I’m not sure.

However, I do know that at this moment, it’s even more important to listen, observe, teach, and parent to the best of my ability.

So, with this in mind, I will be going to school with her tomorrow, as will her mother.  Sure, it is an orientation day, but I seem to have this need to make sure that my daughter knows that I will be around for her. 

Equally, I think that it’s important for her teachers to know this as well.

Sigh.  School.

Hopefully, this is the beginning of a lot of fun for both of us.  And if you have children out there, I wish them and you well.  Summer is over.  Hello, school!  Wish me luck, and if you have any intelligent nuggets of education information out there, feel free to share.

Not long ago, I made a post called “Deadbeat Dads Drive Me Crazy” that elicited one of the more interesting responses that I’ve had in the few years that I’ve been posting articles on the Internet. Naturally, I’ll edit out some of the comment, but you know that you can really see it if you go read the article again. I’m sure comments are enabled.

Here it is: (more…)