Hello again everyone. I've got some exciting news to share. A few weeks ago, I was asked by an editor at The Huffington Post if I would like to participate in a debate on children's style. She came across a column I wrote for IEFamily.com and thought I would be ideal to take the "disagree" position on the question of "We should care about children's style."

I didn't know who I would be debating on the issue or how they would structure their argument. HuffPo presents these debates in a very fun manner: you (the visitor) are asked to state your "agree" or "disagree" before you can read the two opinions. After voting and then reading both debaters' arguments, you are asked to vote again and see if your opinion has changed.

For the record, so far I have changed more minds than my distinguished opponent. Sure, the debate has only been live for a few hours, but I'm okay with small victories.

So here's your chance to weigh in. Go to:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/27/kids-fashion-childrens-style_n_1381996.html?ref=parents 

Please share with your friends and family so we can get thousands of votes and see just how parents think about children's fashion.

Thanks for your support!

Campbell's Soup doesn't seem to be terribly concerned with what makes dads happy. I just saw the following commercial on a news/opinion site:

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Here's my version of the commercial:
"There are only so many soup companies that make kids happy. And even fewer that care about the spending power of fathers. With fewer Campbell's purchases and a shrinking marketshare, its amazing what a little respect can do."

We've all had these moments of discovery. You're looking for a particular photograph or group of photos and unintentionally come across the one that makes you smile, laugh, or wince in pain. In any case, you probably replied with "oh yeah, I forgot about that".

I just had one of those moments. While trying to find a photo from my wedding, I also discovered some photos from the day my son was born. Among those precious images was something that started me laughing and I finally said, "oh yeah, I forgot about that".

I took a picture of my son's first poop.
(No, I will not be including it in this blog.)

You see, I take a lot of pride in all of the wonderful firsts I've experienced with my son. I was there for his first breath, cut the cord, gave him his first bath, cleaned his first poop, drove him on his first car ride, and many others. For reasons of whimsy, pride, and goofiness, I made sure to capture his first poop for posterity.

Will this eventually end up in front of his future fiance? Perhaps. Will it be something I treasure despite its contents? Absolutely. Homeruns, science fairs, or poops, I relish the wonderful and unique moments I will share with my son.

I could probably be more precise with the title by including the word "movie" at the end, but that doesn't really sound quite as captivating. Some of you were probably wondering how I might get my son a dragon in the first place. But that shouldn't be your question. Your actual question should be pondering what dragon eggs taste like when they're cooked over-easy and flavored with a medium salsa. So let me just tell you - delicious!

My young lad has had a real craving for dragon stories lately. A few months ago he asked my wife and I to tell him stories and we both -independently- made up stories about dragons. A couple weeks ago he saw the Angry Birds Seasons 2012 trailer on YouTube and was fascinated to see a dragon as part of the story.

So, naturally, I thought he might enjoy seeing Dreamworks' animated picture "How to Train Your Dragon". I heard great reviews and thought it could be a fun family film for the three of us to enjoy.

Thankfully I noticed it was rated PG so my wife and I previewed the film before showing it to him. Despite the fun story line, great comedy, and beautiful artwork, the film contains quite a few dramatic and scary images...far too scary for an impressionable three year old.

My review of the "How to Train Your Dragon" is that it is extremely well done. Unfortunately, its too intense for my son. So we'll wait a while until he can enjoy the film rather than conjure nightmares from it.

Too often the dad blogger community is sidelined and ridiculed as a fad, a reaction to the success of mom blogging, or just something for crazy guys who aren't masculine enough. ProActiveDads was not only built as a response to those inaccurate criticisms, but also because we collectively understand the importance of media and stereotyping on today's culture and society.

With all of that in mind, we are extremely grateful to see the fruits of dad bloggers (and, indeed, all involved fathers) finally seeing some incredible dividends in today's media environment!

TIME Magazine recently compiled their "Top 10 of Everything" lists and one of the categories was "TV Ads". Great dad portrayals not only made the list twice, but they were the top two ads of the year!

Google's ad for their relatively new Chrome internet browser shows how a new father documents the life of his young daughter through the power of Google's tools on the internet, especially GMail. Its a heartwarming piece and an accurate portrayal of how dads don't have to do everything like moms. We have our own ways of being involved that are just as precious as scrapbooking.

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The second best TV ad of the year was the first-rated ad from this year's Super Bowl: The Force - Volkswagen. Dads have awesome ways to be cool and make tremendous impacts in the lives of their children and Volkswagen USA captured that beautifully.

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If you don't think a revolution in parenting is occurring, clearly you aren't seeing some of the positive changes in the media around you!