This week at Mile High Mamas, we’re honoring the dads in our lives so be sure to tune in all week long for humorous and touching blog posts. Also learn about a Denver dad who has taken fun to a new level: he has written a book about Denver’s top playgrounds (and yes, he’ll be sharing his favorites). Here are five events Dad will love for Father’s Day: Father’s Day Falconfest. June 21, 9-11 a.m. Treat your dad, pop, father, or papa to a one-of-a-kind experience the whole family will enjoy. Enjoy a savory breakfast burrito provided by Mi Cocina Mexican Restaurant and delicious bagels by Einstein Bros. Bagels. Get up close and personal with live raptors presented by Hawkquest at our outdoor Audubon Nature Center amphitheater. Enter to win prizes fr...
What with the long-standing — and often loudly lamented — domination of professional kitchens by men, you might doubt the need for Steven Raichlen’s “Man Made Meals: The Essential Cookbook for Guys.” But as many will be quick to point out — and truthful guys able to admit — demographics in restaurants and catering outfits do not reflect what goes on in the privacy of the home. Which is where Raichlen’s new book comes in, all 631 recipe-packed, advice-giving and go-get-’em-boy pages of it. Yours for $24.95. ====== Chivito On Raichlen’s first trip to Uruguay, a chivito was his introduction to that country’s cuisine. This is a classic kitchen-sink sandwich, one that Raichlen says “makes a Philly cheeseteak look downright anorexic.” That...
Does anyone have a Dad who says the same things over and over? I do. So about 20 years ago for my Dad’s birthday, my sisters and I put together an ENTIRE BOOK of his repeatisms. I will spare you the insider ones such as “I always carry a garlic shaker” and leave you with some of the true gems, the ones that turned out to be helpful in life rather than just annoying in the moment. And ones that will possibly show up in Tessa’s and Reed’s book of Mom-isms one day. Sometimes you COUNT the votes and sometimes you WEIGH them. Everyone is NOT doing it because YOU are not! What kind of sissy word is “fair”? Treat people when you don’t need them the way you wish you’d treated them when you do need them (sit with it a moment ’til it makes ...
As Father’s Day approaches, I’m forced to reflect on my own father and how different his experience as a father was than mine is now. When my father fed a bottle to my first daughter, his first grandchild, he looked up and said, “You know, this is the first time I’ve ever fed a baby?” None of us were caught off guard by the revelation. This was not news to us. Nor was the fact that he, though a father of three, had never changed a diaper and most likely never will. This leads me to the revelation that despite today’s abundance of technological, health, sociological and educational advancements, compared to previous generations we are light-years behind. Instead of rushing to pick up kids at daycare, I should be stopping off for a cocktail on the way ...
I don’t have a newborn baby in my house — if I did, I think I’d know. But my friend Tom is expecting a baby — or rather, he’s expecting his wife to give him a baby. “What’s it like?” Tom asked. “Having a new baby.” I think back to the sleeplessness surrounding the initial few weeks in the life of my first child. (I’ve always said that having a baby presents a great chance to catch up on your awake.) “Picture enemy artillery,” I advise. My basic position on newborns is that they are like car alarms going off in the middle of the night, and only the mother knows the code to reset them. Look, I’ve spent most of my life observing women’s chests, and they are completely different from mine — I’m simply not equip...
The door to the preschool classroom swung open and the kids stampeded out, my 3-year-old daughter Maggie leading the way under the warm spring California sun. She spotted me — a dad trying to be cool, surrounded by a group of moms — and skittered across the playground, stood with her feet on mine and hugged my knees, then tilted her head back, looked straight up at me and bellowed these words: “Whoa, Dad! You have hair in your nose!” You don’t forget a day like that. We recently held each other again in Baltimore, where she lives, and we swayed to a Lee Ann Womack song called “I Hope You Dance,” and a few lines into the song she looked up at me again and she said this: “Thanks, Dad. For everything.” And she squeezed my hand and a tear ran from her ...
From a very early age, I knew that my dad was different from all the other dads of this world. He encouraged me to read The Exorcist when I was eight. He recited a Max Ehrmann poem to me when I asked advice about boys (Yeah, I know. Who the hell asks their dad for boyfriend advice?!) “Go placidly amid the noise and haste,” he said. “And remember what peace there may be in silence.” My dad thought it was the height of entertainment to knock on his childrens’ bedroom windows in the middle of the night and tell them all about the ball of fire in the night sky. My dad has given away THOUSANDS of books in his lifetime, read HUNDREDS of issues of National Geographic while sitting in the bathroom, and probably hasn’t missed a SINGLE episode of Jeopardy since, l...
My son Bode is thoughtful, kind and beloved by everyone. I can count on one hand how many tantrums he’s ever thrown, and he prides himself on being responsible. How many 5-year-olds do you know like that? He is also analogous to an 8-ton pachyderm. Case in point: We recently encountered another boy at the park whose constant barrage of insults quickly wore on me, but Bode continued playing with him. At one point, the kid demanded, “You need to watch my shark!” and without waiting for consent, he flitted off. Bode simply placed the shark on a ledge and carefully cupped his hands over it. When it appeared the kid wasn’t coming back from playing anytime soon, I told Bode, “You don’t need to do that, you know.” Bode didn’t READ ON