Blog

Daddy, Did You Win Your Car Race?

2012-05-25T20:25:53Z

Raising two young kids in the 2010s is an interesting thing. I get to witness first hand the changes in child rearing I've heard about in the 20 years or so it's been since I was someone else's responsibility.

The concept of "winning" has come up especially with Carter. We have to tell him we're not racing each other in the backyard to see who wins but to have fun. That doesn't stop him from saying he won every time though.

This week I attended the annual spring rally for the Midwest Automotive Media Association — MAMA…for real — at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Even though I drive cars for a living, this is really the only time all year we get to take a bunch of cars on a private track and push them to the limits.

The kids always ask my wife where I am when I'm traveling on business so her answer this week was "Daddy is racing cars."

So at the dinner table the night I got home the kids innocently asked, "Daddy, did you win your race?"

And despite me thinking the no-winner scenario is pointless with my son in the backyard, it is the ethos that is disseminated to the journalists about to drive on one of the country's fastest and deadliest racetracks. We're there to have a good time and test these cars, not pretend we're Travis Pastrana and "win."

Maybe there is something to this new era of parenting.

Oh, and that is me in the Dodge Charger SRT8 pictured above, shot by Evan Sears for Cars.com.

Some other cars I drove: Chevy Camaro ZL1, Ford Mustang Boss 302, Cadillac CTS-V, Aston Martin DBS, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster, Jaguar XKR-S Coupe and Convertible, Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, Porsche 911 Carrera S, Subaru BRZ, Scion FT-86 and a few other more sedate offerings.

No Kids Can Fit In This Porsche

2012-05-17T20:18:53Z

Sometimes in my line of work you get stuck with a very parent-unfriendly vehicle. The Porsche Cayman R is one of the least friendly I can imagine with no backseat. The Audi R8 Spyder from a few winters ago is another good example.

I'm forced to drive it alone with the windows down, no radio, letting the gentle purr of the exhaust replace kids' chirping… it's like a spa, for dad.

Is Your Kid Going to Play Football?

2012-05-03T22:11:00Z

I love football. It is by far my favorite sport to watch. I'm a huge NFL nut and lifelong Miami Dolphin fan. But since having a son I've never really thought he was going to play the sport.

I'm not posting this because of what just happened to Junior Seau, that just reminded me of my thinking for the past few years, despite the joy it gives me to play "hike" with Carter and Evie in the backyard.

I did play football in high school… for one spring. Yes, a spring. During one practice the coaches mixed JV and Varsity and had each player do a one on one drill where you try to tackle the ball carrier. I was put against the star fullback, who for all intents and purposes was similar in size to Mike Alstott. I hadn’t really bulked up by this point in my adolescence either.

Whistle blows…well that was all I could remember after my JV teammates picked me up off the grass.

I was a smart kid with good grades and was just starting to work on the school paper, which required some afterschool hours. I certainly wasn't a gifted athlete but could’ve started if I worked hard. After that hit in practice it didn't take me long to figure out it was probably smarter to pursue something that might serve me in the future.

And that is why I don’t see how I would have my son play football. Everyone reading this is probably aware of the science coming out about concussions but I just keep thinking one thing: The part of the body that leads to most people's lifelong success is between their ears. Why put it in the line of fire at a time when it’s still developing?

Even if you’re a pro athlete, the best ones have a mix of skill and brains. For everyone else in the world the brain is everything. Unless you’re a celebrity. You're not going to get hired in the workforce because you played high school or even college football. You're going to need skills that are taught in a classroom or learned through experience. You're not going to get promoted if you can't process information well and execute on it.

Sure, you can get life lessons from organized sports – there are others than football out there too – but they can be learned elsewhere. Want your kid to exercise? I played pick-up basketball, beach volleyball and even worked out at a gym when I was a teenager. My son can too. Well minus the beach sports here in Chicago I guess.

So why would I want him playing football when the greatest to play the game can’t remember what room they’re in like Terry Bradshaw, or end up even more tragically like Seau?

It's sad because I love the sport. I love watching it. I love teaching Carter, and Evie, about the rules. I love yelling "Touchdoooooown!" when they run past me with the ball. But thinking about Carter playing the “real” sport freaks me out a bit.

I heard a few major names on ESPN radio say they wouldn't let their kids play the sport and that the NFL may actually suffer down the line as other parents think the same thing, shrinking the pool of potential talent.

I wonder what other dads are thinking about it right now. Is it overprotective to think this way?

Beer Me

2012-04-13T15:32:50Z

Corona Light...after blowing up the kiddie pool.

Dad Wagon

2012-04-13T14:29:03Z

Here's mine. A 2005 Passat V6. It ranks due to license plate and rule that whenever we drive it we only listen to PJ.

Kid's View of Cars: Infiniti QX56

2012-04-13T14:01:34Z

Trying something new here. Would love feedback on a new type of blog post that is more photo centric. Will have more to see over the weekend.

Beer Me

2012-04-13T13:00:49Z

Half Acre Daisy Cutter

Marvel Infinite Comics Review: Will Kids Like Comics on an iPad?

2012-04-12T22:25:47Z

I've been a bit surprised at how much Carter knows about comic book characters having never read a real comic book or even seeing a comic book movie. He is after all just four years old. But toys and friends at school seem to be the way he's learning about the big players like Iron Man, Batman, Super Man and both the Super Friends and Avengers. I just have to explain to him how the Super Friends and Avengers don't live in the same "universe" which he somehow understands.

Carter has downright spurned any attempt of me getting out one of my old comic books and trying to read it to him. He has absolutely zero interest in them. He does use the iPad frequently though, whether watching cartoons in the car or playing educational games or digital stories.

That's why when I heard about Marvel's new Infinite Comics line designed just for the iPad I thought it would be the perfect thing for Carter. There's plenty to like but a few glaring holes too.

The Pros

The comics work with a tap. Unlike the converted paper-to-iPad books that populate the iPad apps for both Marvel and DC, the Infinite version uses the entire landscape mode to perfection. You're not jumping from small panel to small panel, then zooming out to full page layouts.

Everything is designed to work around this unique size and orientation. So if the character is flying around a helicopter the first "panel" shows him on one side, then TAP, he's on the other side with a trail showing the path all while the helicopter itself doesn't move.

This is very cool and done repeatedly through the first issue to use it, a prelude to Avengers Vs. X-Men.

It's vibrant.

Look at some of the pulp rendered versions and they're blurry and some of the text is hard to read, especially when reading from panel to panel. Not here. Easy on the eyes for dads is a good thing.

The Cons

Paying for a short issue at $.99 a pop is going to be too pricey for families on a budget. I'm still surprised folks buy the regular comics at $1.99 for a digital copy, especially since collecting is a big reason for the concept of the comic book to begin with. You really need the interactivity of the Infinite Comics to be a viable digital format I'd pay for, but how about a subscription price?

The stories never end. Rarely is a comic book a single encapsulated story with beginning and end. They're tied into series across titles or multiple issues. My kid wants to read a story with an end that says "The End."

Comic books are pretty darn adult. Marvel would be smart to create some youth focused titles aimed at families. Then they'd probably see a very different but eager group ready to buy issues.

What Carter Thought

I told Carter I had a special story to read to him for his "last book in bed" and he was very excited just by that. When he saw it was on the iPad he got a little more excited. And then as the super hero appeared on the page he was darn right giddy. Although he didn't know who Nova was, he understood he was a super hero like Captain America.

I had to add some descriptions as Nova flew around obstacles running away from Phoenix, unable to control his powers. There were also lots of thought balloons I skipped.

By the end Carter loved it but the cliffhanger ending itself was a sore spot. He didn't ask what happened next but it sure wasn't the same as any other book he reads. He's gotten a few of the Super Friends books from the library and they're very simple, obviously. They're tailored for his age. But he could handle something more advanced than that.

Conclusion

At $.99 a pop I would definitely buy Infinite Comics if I knew they were complete stories. Why? Because Carter is going to want me to read it to him 20 or so times at least, so you get the use for the money. Tailor them directly to younger kids and I'd probably spend $1.99 an issue. Right now, they're for big kids so we'll stay away until Carter is ready. Of course then I might just take him to the comic book shop.

My Kids Might Celebrate Every Holiday

2012-03-16T20:59:46Z

You don't get married to someone from another faith without being prepared to celebrate a lot of holidays. I grew up with both Christian and Jewish grandparents myself so raising my kids Catholic and Jewish I didn't see as being a big deal, especially since neither my wife nor I are that religious. We've never attended regular services of either faith in the ten years we've lived together.

But then all of a sudden it hit me in the face as clear as a green “Kiss Me I’m Irish” 5T t-shirt from Old Navy.

My kids are going to celebrate every holiday out there.

So you’ve got the big Christian holidays that’s a given. Christmas and Easter.

The big Jewish holidays, like Passover, Yom Kippur and Chanukah.

But of course my wife’s half Irish so St. Patrick's Day is in the mix, a day I barely noticed come and go growing up in South Florida. In Chicago, it’s a bit of a bigger deal.

I knew there was a green sloganed shirt in each kids' closet but for Carter somehow we had three.

At least they don’t think they're getting presents for St. Patrick's Day. I hope not because I haven’t done any shopping and don’t plan to.

They do know they get something for Easter and there's a bunny involved and candy etc. There's also the inevitable photo with the Easter Bunny, which in the past goes about as well as photos with Santa.

I enjoy all the holidays in terms of living vicariously through my kids and seeing their sheer joy about getting goodies on specific days throughout the year — wait til they start having to go to synagogue…payback.

I do not enjoy the heap of recycling that builds on the morning of all these holidays and birthdays. But I've learned to stop being a curmudgeon and enjoy the ride.

I believe drinking beer is a requirement on St. Patrick's Day right? So I’m in.

Should Pinterest Replace Tumblr for My Microblogging?

2012-03-09T15:52:49Z

I've got a microblog problem. I don’t get too much time to pen fully formed stories for DadTherapy so I supplement by posting photos to my @DaveLikesCars Tumblr page which seeds the Twitter account etc. Then Pinterest comes along and offers a similar alternative.

Would it make more sense to put my micro blogging — which are mainly images of cars — on Pinterest with a far wider potential audience or stick with the Tumblr blog and it's giant display of its own?