All dates involve an assessment of the other party – their looks, intelligence, wit, humour, style etc. What a dad new to dating shouldn’t do is focus on looks alone. Any new relationships will ultimately impact on his children so it’s important that prospective partners will have a positive affect on them. This means looking for things like a naturally affectionate and fun-loving personality, a flexible approach to life and evidence that she has healthy habits.

Conversation

The function of the date is so each party can learn more about the other person. No woman wants to hear in-depth monologues about a man’s past relationship – especially if that monologue is inherently negative. Everyone likes talking about themselves so ask your date plenty of questions. If any shared interests come up in conversation, focus on these. Don’t lie about your past, but don’t make it the basis of the evening. Humour, positivity and light-heartedness are a great combination for making a good first date impression.

Clothing

It’s very likely that a newly dating dad will need to buy some new clothes. First impressions really do count and an out-of-date ensemble isn’t likely to create a good one. The ‘take me as you fine me’ attitude is a little arrogant and doesn’t show much respect for the other party. Luckily for men, making an investment in a new shirt and suit will provide an ideal outfit for most types of dates. Opt for something that fits well and is relatively simple. There is a glut of men’s magazines available that provide in-depth sartorial advice for the chronically unfashionable.

Don’t be scared to be original when choosing the venue for a first, second, or even third, date. Just because the favourite dating choice for UK singles is an Italian restaurant, it doesn’t mean that this is somehow the ‘ideal’ destination. The most important thing is to select somewhere where both parties feel comfortable and can get to know each other.

Time

Whether a single dad is dating in Leeds, Cardiff or Essex, the thing to remember is that there is no rush to find a new partner. It’s easy to get over-excited and come across as desperate in the search for new love. If a date goes badly, don’t worry about it. Although practice many not make perfect, it certainly does help. Seek advice from female (and male) friends or use internet-based resources for single dads.

While it used to be the case that support networks were non-existent, an increasing number of groups exist in both the online and off-line worlds that provide help for single dads new to the dating game. According to research, there are more than 210,000 single fathers in the UK, so there’s no reason to feel isolated.

Or ice day, as the case may be.  Where I live, we get very little snow, but a ton of ice.  The effect is the same, though–5 people stuck in the same house together for 72 hours or more.  Usually we consider it a nice, roomy house, but on these days, it starts to feel a bit crowded.  

So, let’s talk about what to do to keep from going crazy on snow days. 

First of all, take a deep breath and get a grip on your patience.  You’re just going to have to accept that your day is going to be different, and much more kid-centered, than you had planned.  This can be a problem if you work from home (I can’t even count how many times today I told my kids, “Just because you’re home doesn’t mean that Daddy and I don’t have to work.”).  But kids aren’t entirely unreasonable.  If they’re old enough, make it clear when you need them to be independent and when you can give them attention.  You may have to reinforce it a few times, but they’ll usually work with you.

Here are some other ways to pass the time in a positive way.  Don’t forget that any of these can be spaced throughout the day or traded off (Dad plays board games while Mom reads, Mom bakes cookies while Dad uses computer).

• Trilogies.  Star Wars, Back to the Future, Shrek, Indiana Jones… at least 3, sometimes 4 or even 6 movies.  Watch one in the morning, one after lunch, and one after dinner.   This way they don’t veg in front of the TV all day, but it can still be fun to watch the whole series.  You can use the in-between time to work while they play, draw, or do chores.  Yes, you heard me, I said…
• Chores.  You might need to supervise, but why shouldn’t they fold socks, vacuum, or put away the dishes?  Not all day, of course, because snow days are supposed to be fun, but after a movie or an activity is a good time to say, “Now before we do anything else, I need everyone to bring me the sheets off their beds.”
• Board games.  Admit it; you have a bunch of games, but you hardly ever play them as a family.  Snow days are tailor made for some good family game time.  Younger kids can team up with parents or older siblings if they can’t play on their own.  And like I said above, one parent can play best 2-out-of-3 in Candyland while the other parent takes a break or gets some work done. 
• Work out tapes.  Our kids are usually in better shape than we are, but that’s because they’re used to being active.  If they are stuck inside the house all day, all that energy is going to be diverted to fighting with siblings or bugging you.  Work some of it out with them by doing an aerobics tape together.  Another way to fit in some activity is to put on a CD and dance around the living room for several songs.  But it’s no fun for them unless you get up and get moving with them.
• Baking.  Even little kids can pour a cup of flour in a bowl, and they take such pride in eating what they’ve helped make.  And then when they start whining that they’re hungry, you have something to give them!
• Reading out loud.  Give them coloring or drawing materials and start a chapter book.  You can do several chapters throughout the day, or just do a few at night.  The sitting and listeing involved helps keep everyone calm, and it has also been known to divert arguments.  The drawing during a story helps them process what they’re hearing and tap into their creative side.

Snow days don’t have to be crazy-making.  With a little patience and a good attitude, they can be some of your family’s best memories.

When I was a child, rainy days could really dampen playtime for my friends and I because we aren’t allowed to go outside. Playing indoors is boring. But since kids today enjoy a lot of gadgets at home, they probably won’t notice anything different.

However, it’s not a good idea to let children be playing with video games all the time. Sometimes you have to also initiate other activities. On rainy days, it can be challenging but here are some ideas to make playing indoors fun, and without the use of any portable technology.

1. Baking

Parents don’t usually allow kids to be in the kitchen because they may hurt themselves. But with an adult’s help, you can spend the day baking cookie doughs or going for the more ambitious like baking pasta or fish meals. Kids enjoy measuring and doing something with their hands, such as kneading. And I’m sure they will love it more if they see the fruits of their labor — and realize that it tastes really good.

2. Arts and Crafts

Don’t do the usual coloring, cutting and pasting as children do these a lot in school and may now feel like a chore, instead of a fun thing to do. Be creative. This is playtime, so have fun with your ideas. I’m thinking shaving creams mixed with tubed watercolors can be fun. They don’t have to create masterpieces. The idea is to have something that will keep them busy and entertained.

3. Have A Game Of Cards

This one always works with my kids and their game of choice is Go Fish! We make it interesting by placing bets. And we use pebbles for our bets. The more pebbles earned at the end of the game, and the winner gets a prize from Mom or Dad.

Everybody was so excited when my sister-in-law had her first baby. I saw how they took care of the precious little girl. I was 7 years old then and I didn’t know that babies are really fragile. They need “super extra” care from all the people around them. One time, I saw my sister-in-law and she was feeding my niece (she was 6 months old). She told me that a child’s nutritional and eating habits will change drastically as they grow from a baby into a toddler.

Nutritious food are important when it comes to your child’s health, but how will you know if it’s the right kind of food? Below are few examples of food that you may give your babies.

• Infant rice cereal – It provides extra iron that your baby needs at this age. It is glutten-free and the least allergenic of all grains.
• Pureed or strained veggies and fruit – I suggest that you let them eat veggies first. Naturally babies like sweets and may not be willing to accept peas once they they’ve tasted pears.
• Oat, barley and baby cereals – Once you’ve fed them rice, make sure you give other grains one at a time, so you can watch for allergies.

It is common for babies to spit out their first bite. Infants are like taste testers, they need ten tries to see if they like the new flavor and texture. To make it more inviting for your babies to eat why not try the squirt baby food dispensing food?

This spoon holds up to 3 ounces of food. You just have to squeeze it and it will give the right small amount of food that your baby can eat. The squirt has a special cover to seal the food and keep the spoon clean in between feedings. This product will make your feeding time fun minus all the messy food on the table.

Where to buy: Tottini Seattle

Price: $8.00

Great recommended reads from around our network?

How to deal with a cranky baby

Babies and math

This news story isn’t exactly new, but I still found it very interesting.  It’s about a dad, Isaac Daniel, who had a bad scare a couple of years ago–he received a call while at a conference that his son had gone missing.  Every parent’s worst nightmare.  He left his conference, jumped on a plane, and flew back home, only to find that his son was safe, and that his “missingness” was only due to a miscommunication.

But just because the danger is past doesn’t mean the fear has really gone away. So Daniel began working on a product, a GPS tracking chip that can be embedded into shoes.  The way I understand it, the chip remains dormant unless the parent calls into the monitoring company to activate satellite tracking.  Then the chip is activated and the shoe-wearer can be quickly located. 

These are pretty pricey–adult shoes go for $300-$325, and then there’s the $19.95 a month for the monitoring company.  And you can’t just use them to check whether your teens lied about where they would be, because activating the chip automatically involves notifying authorities. 

And I’m not sure that tracking kids every minute of every day is necessarily a good thing…at least I say that while I know exactly where my kids are (home sick with an ear infection, Girl Scout meeting, bus home from middle school).  But if one of my kids went missing, I’d be on that plane as fast as Isaac Daniel was.   If I had the resources of a large business on my side, I’d use them to keep kids safe in a heartbeat. 

So, the thought of all of us having tracking chips in our shoes is pretty creepy, but the thought of our kids being safe…that’s pretty appealing.