Archive for the ‘Mike’s Blog’ Category

Long Weekend!!!

Here is a video for this week. Still working on the format and will definitely add some less boring content but it is a work in progress. Let me know what you like/don’t like in the comment section. We want to build on your input. Once we start events we will have plenty to talk about!

The Day After the First Day

School started yesterday for most of our partner schools in Texas and many around the country. My wife and sons started middle school, high school, and college respectively. I went to work getting some things done and preparing for a busy school year with father-kid activities around Dallas-Fort Worth and training workshops around the country. After a long days work, I went to work out. When I returned to my vehicle, I had lost more than time and sweat…..An Impromptu video about what I have learned over the past few hours.

Let me know what you think.

A Great Start to A New School Year

We have had a busy weekend as we prepared to get school started. We had a great morning on Saturday at Haltom High School with dads and kids (or students, or young people, or heathens, whichever fits).

Haltom High Saturday 04 copy A Great Start to A New School Year Read the rest of this entry »

Brad Pitt and I Are Just Alike

brad angelina kissing1 Brad Pitt and I Are Just Alike According to his wife Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt is a great father. She said because he takes care of the kids then she can continue to have a career and be a mom. Now, in the looks department, there is a little difference between Brad and I. My wife is better looking than Angelina, but she is not a movie star. However, what Brad and I do have in common is that we both love our children, we love our wives, and we want to be good fathers. See, I am just like Brad Pitt. I am not working to save New Orleans with housing projects but I have been down to NO to work with Head Start programs and we are committed to building better homes while Brad is building houses. See, just alike. Read the rest of this entry »

Is Firing Teachers the Answer?

rhee 190 Is Firing Teachers the Answer?The New York Times reported that “Michelle Rhee, the reform-minded chancellor who took over the District of Columbia public schools three years ago, on Friday fired 241 teachers, or 5 percent of the district’s total.” This seems pretty extreme and as you can imagine, the teacher unions are all up in arms about it as well. However, if your child has ever had a teacher that was not competent then you know that you want that teacher to quit impacting kids in a negative way. We always want him or her gone. In a district the size of DC I can imagine that 5 percent were incompetent.

Read the rest of this entry »

In for the long haul…

I spent a great day with the Family Advocates of the Head Start of Greater Dallas. HSGD has always been a great partner with Strong Fathers-Strong Families and helped us get a great start when we were in the first years of our business. What struck me today as we went through our training today is how many of these folks have been with HSGD and in my trainings in the past. Social work of any kind is not easy. Working with families in chaos and struggle can be draining but many of these folks have endured those days to return to help kids and families another day.

I know that many of the great folks with whom I get to associate have been at this a long time. Read the rest of this entry »

Sharing Your Interests with Your Kids

1Denmead Sharing Your Interests with Your KidsA great interview with Ken Denmead, editor of the GeekDad Blog for WIRED Magazine.

Building and maintaining a close relationship with your kids is one of the aims of being a stronger father. But finding ways to connect can be difficult. One solution is to find ways to share your interests with your children. Tune in and find out how to get started.

DadLabs-Strong Fathers-and the PTA!

The cool guys at DadLabs actually said I was a really cool dad. Or at least they said I was in a group of really cool dads at the National PTA Convention. It was great to hang out with the DadLabs dads, Eric Snow of WatchDOGS, and Coach Tony Dungy of AllPro Dads.

Thanks to the DadLabs for covering a great event and for helping promote father involvement in schools and the PTA. For MORE information on the MORE ALLIANCE, click HERE.

Great Week Off-Now It’s On!

Had a great week with my youngest son at Father-Teen Adventure in Colorado. More to come on our busy week in the mountains. Met a bunch of great dads and sons and can’t wait to share some of their stories with you as well. While I am regrouping and re-grooving to get started for the week. Please enjoy this hilarious video about dads. It is a dad’s life indeed.

Check out our buddies at DadLabs!

dadsx Check out our buddies at DadLabs!I have been a fan of DadLabs for several years and have talked to these guys several times. I recently got a chance to hang out with DaddyClay and DaddyBrad at the National PTA conference in Memphis. These are some great guys with a great show and they are definitely Strong Fathers. They talk a lot more about younger kids, beer, and spit-up but they have a great show even though they do not use a lot of duct tape. Check out this recent article about DadLabs in USA TODAY.