Reno Dads

2021 Reno Dads Griswold Award Winners

I’m consistently proud of the displays of Christmas cheer we see in the Reno/Sparks area. Speaking of consistency – there are about a dozen homes that really go above and beyond with their Christmas lights displays each year. Interestingly, many of our past Griswold Award winners deserve to get top honors once again. Therefore, we’d…

Girl Dad

I’m hesitant to admit this in public, but 2020 was a great year for me and my family. The world was, and still is, neck-deep in a pandemic; many lost their jobs; many lost their lives. I am not blind to the pain I witnessed in so many. Amongst all that pain, however, there were…

Everyone’s a Local in Virginia City

In early 2016, I was living in Southern California, looking for a teaching position elsewhere, and I was regularly driving 4-hours north to the rural community of Bishop, California to visit my girlfriend, Natalie. It was on one of those visits when Natalie, who is now my wife, suggested we drive north to visit Virginia…

Protect your Child’s Smile – Vaping Can Lead to Gum Disease, Tooth Loss

I’m a local dad and a dentist who works primarily with children. Nicotine damage has not been something I regularly encountered — until the last few years. While vaping has been mass marketed as a safe alternative to cigarettes, I am here to tell you: It is no such thing. And I know this because…

Questions to Ask Your Dad this Father’s Day

Any day is a good day to talk with your dad about his life, but what better occasion than Father’s Day to strike up a conversation with your old man? Whether you have the privilege of being with your dad on Father’s Day, or will be making a phone or video call, there’s plenty to…

Reno Dads Podcast Episode 27: Parenting in the Pandemic – What We’ve Learned

Reno Dad Josh Shinn asked a great question to our group about how we were managing a year into the pandemic. What have we learned? What are we looking forward to when we return to “normal?” What should “normal” be, anyway? Jake, David, and Jonathan all hopped on Zoom (naturally) to chat about how things…

Break Your Kids Away From Screens This Spring!

By Joe Nannini Reno dads, rejoice! While we’ve loved skiing all winter with the kids, the weather is finally starting to warm up here in the Biggest Little City, and I could not be more excited. After a year of being cooped up at home, the onset of spring in 2021 feels far more promising…

Slug Bug Game: Teaching Kids Area Familiarization – A CIA Officer’s Guide to Protecting Your Family

Area Familiarization 101 Area Familiarization, or AreaFam, is another one of those terms spies, military folk, and police officers toss around regularly that the Reno Dads are borrowing to continue to educate our readership on protecting their families. Much like situational awareness and surveillance detection, area familiarization is another technique that can save your life and…

Why I Received the COVID-19 Vaccine

For much of 2020, the prospect of a vaccine gave us hope that 2021 would be a year far closer to normal. Now we are well into 2021, the vaccine(s) is being rolled out, and yet many questions remain. One question almost all of us have faced or will face: should I get the COVID-19…

My COVID-19 Vaccine Story

Like many people, I’ve been keeping a close eye on the news regarding the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, and thinking about when I might be eligible to receive one. A full 12 months into the pandemic, as vaccinations started to pick up in our community and around the country, I started to feel a bit…

Inside the 2011 US Embassy Evacuation from Libya

Wednesday, February 23, 2011 Goodbye 10 years ago today I put my wife and baby boy on a ferry in the middle of a storm to cross the Mediterranean Sea and the escape the imminent collapse of Libya. After kissing my wife and son goodbye, I stayed behind. I didn’t know when, or more accurately,…

Raising Leaders

Whether he means to or not, every dad teaches his children about leadership. Through our actions, words, and emotions we are an example to our children of how to lead. Acts of leadership we share are doing things as simple as arriving at an appointment on time, following through with a commitment, and respecting others….