Probably my daughter’s favorite thing in the world behind her Leapster, Toy Story, and that Bigfoot Monster remote controlled toy… thing… is helping cook.

No kidding. My 3 year old LOVES cooking with myself or with mommy. Granted, we’re not making leg of lamb, mint jelly, and roasted asparagus, but what you’re making isn’t the important part. Whether I let her add the cheese powder to a cup of Easy Mac or she just helps season the steaks before they hit the grill, she loves to help.

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Snap reaction: when I say Kids’ Concert, what’s your reaction? Fear? Anxiety? Horror? Panic attacks?

Here’s the most shocking thing I’ve said on this blog to date(I know, not a lot to compare to): If you pick the right concert? They’re not bad at all.

When you talk about a concert for kids, most people see images of screaming, crying children, loud, obnoxious music, and crowded, cramped concert halls. Want to know a secret? You want to take your kid to a concert. And no, not to see Foghat.

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Last week, I mentioned my daughter’s former babysitter in my post about the library. She’s coming into play again today. Her daughter and mine are about 4 months apart in age, and absolutely love each other. My daughter always refers to the other as her cousin. I got a call Sunday to ask if I’d watch the sitter’s daughter for a few hours while she ran an errand. I didn’t hesitate to say yes.

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Back when my daughter was going to a babysitter, the sitter took her and her daughter of about the same age to a “library class” once a week. They got together at the library with other 2-3 year olds, had songs they sang, crafts, and generally ignored the long standing “Quiet Please!” rule of the library. Though I never got to go, I’m told by the sitter and my mother-in-law who visited a time or two that my kid was the loudest, most rambunctious, and a real center-of-attention type.

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I mentioned to my wife the lack of websites dedicated to guys like me, the stay at home dad. I told her how nice it would be to be able to go to one site and find the best ideas for things to do with our 3 year old the days that we’re here alone. She asked me, “What makes you think YOU should be writing posts about this?”

Let me back up and tell you a little bit about me, who I am, and how I got here.

My name is Eric. I’m Mia’s dad. I met my wife, Angie, about 7 years ago. We started out talking as friends, started dating, and we’ve been married for just over 4 years. Mia is 3, and for the last 6 months, I’ve been a stay at home dad.

I spent about 4 years working for a trucking brokerage company here outside of Louisville, Kentucky. I’m proud to say I was very good at what I did. To make a long and infuriating story short, some things out of my hands went awry, we lost a very big customer, and I was laid off with little more than a day’s notice. In today’s brutal work environment, I’ve had several interviews, but still no job.

Mia loves her daycare. Her “school” as I’ll probably often refer to it. She used to go 4 days a week, and the 5th was spent with her grandma, but because I’m not working, we’d originally planned to remove her from her school altogether, but she was distraught at the idea of not seeing her friends at school. We crunched the numbers and talked to the director of the daycare, and agreed that we could afford 2 days a week. That left me 3 weekdays to be just the two of us.

I was terrified. I’ve spent time alone with my daughter. Lots of it. My wife used to work part time at a restaurant, working in the evening. We were alone during that span. But I’d never spent consecutive days with her just the two of us for full day spans. I had no idea what we were going to do, and honestly felt terrified that by the end of the second week, my daughter wouldn’t even like me.

I could’ve been that parent who sits their kid in front of the TV and goes about his business. I could have very easily set up a movie, sat her on the bed, and went to do whatever I felt like. But I can’t do that. Fortunately, I started this whole process with her at almost 3, so she was a little more capable than if she were still 6 months old(though then she doesn’t really care about doing stuff as much. Apart from pooping). I’ve got until April to find myself a job or I’ll have to get REALLY good at this dad thing, as our second one will arrive.

“What makes you think YOU should be writing posts about this?” I’ve had a good bit of practice. I’m continually trying to find new ways to keep us both entertained, and to prevent the eventual baldness us making the other pull their hair out. I’ll try to review some kid tech, too. Things that I don’t think are bad for your kid in small, carefully monitored doses.

And by all means: if you have tips you’d like to share with the parenting community, throw them my way. If I can find a good place to work them in, I’ll be more than happy to credit you. Please send any submissions to(for now) dad@tygr20.com. Please include “parenting” or something similar in the subject line to make it stand out.

I hope you enjoy the things I have to share, and I hope you can apply them. Remember- never hesitate to share your ideas. If they help one parent be a better parent, your idea is a success.