Written by Paul Burton, REMSA I’m in the business of safety. I feel like that’s the start of some lame (or awesome) dad joke, but for me, I mean it. As the Director of Emergency Medical Services for REMSA, I really am in the business of safety. Learning to find the right balance between family…
Category: Being a Dad
As Big Daddy Kane once said, “Dadding Ain’t Easy” (or something like that). Our dads explore best practices, dad skills and things to think about when playing the role of father. Since there’s no “how to” guide that we’re aware of, we offer our thoughts on how to be the best dad you can be.
List: Swim lessons in Reno-Sparks
The summer months in Reno can get hot. When it’s hot, you have to find water…and few things tucker out a youngster more than a day at the pool or lake. With the temperature approaching triple digits, many parents are enrolling their children in swim lessons – some just a few months after birth. And…
Dad Jokes and the Importance of Laughter in my Family
Perhaps one of the greatest contributions I bring to my household and my children is the time-honored tradition of dad jokes. If you aren’t already familiar, a dad joke is a joke that elicits groans and eye rolls because it’s just the right mix of corny and punny. My family has always seemed to have…
The Benefits of Reading Aloud to Your Children
As I remember it, when I was growing up in Kansas and Missouri, my dad, step-mother, and grandmother would read bedtime stories to me: Aesop’s fables, Little Golden Books, the Bible, and I’m sure there was even some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well. I also remember that someone, probably my dad or stepmom, enrolled…
Baseball and Mental Toughness
Youth Baseball Makes Kids Mentally Tough Youth baseball makes kids mentally tough. I can’t imagine there is much debate there other than challenging the virtue of mental toughness. Think about it. A kid pitching and allowing hit after hit and losing a game. Or striking out for the third time in the game or making…
Grilled… pizza?
My biggest pet peeve when searching for a recipe online is I have to read an overly lengthy prose piece about how this dish reminds them of their Great Aunt who made this for them in the Winter during their parents’ divorce… or feel free to use your imagination. In any case, I have no…
Game of Throne
Are you ready for the final chapter? Of course you are… you’ve watched Arya become a revenge-hungry killing machine, almost forgotten when Ned lost his head nearly ten years ago, and you’re still reeling from Dany going nuclear on King’s Landing last week. I’m here to tell you a slightly different story, though. As the…
Distress Tolerance (part V)
Losing control and being okay; vulnerability and intimacy If you are reading these in order, you will know that last column I wrote about watching others suffer and being okay with it. This column is about losing control and being okay with it. Similar? Yes. Same? No. Watching someone else go through a tough time…
8 Money Tips I Learned from My Dad
My dad set a great example for me with money. He worked hard every day to provide for all six of us kids and did it in a non-flashy, low-key manner. For example, he drove an old VW bug for most of my growing-up years. The bug was so old, it would consistently spew visible…
At the two-year mark, parenting is harder, better than I thought
A few months ago, I was trying to get my 1-year-old daughter ready for preschool. She was… uncooperative. As I gathered her shoes, she came running into the living room crying, holding her blanket and a stuffed animal. “No! Daddy!,” she screamed. “Stinky butt!” My daughter, who couldn’t yet complete a sentence, took a phrase…
Games Worth Playing
My daughter is a senior in high school now, and everything that she does this year seems to be taking on a whole new significance as the school year rushes headlong through her final semester at home. This year is seemingly full of a lot of “lasts,” which, by any measure, makes this an emotional…
Adventures of an Entrepre-New Dad
“Yes, we can absolutely have a plan put together by next Wednesday.” “Great. {Pause} Did I lose you?” “Nope – still here, just trying to time my speaking in between the screams.” “{Laughs} No problem.” For the past three-and-a-half years, I have been self-employed. Though there are co-working spaces available in the area – I…