Dad Blog: Zoo Story
Derek has taken more to trips to the zoo in his three-plus years since than I probably took during the 35 years before he was born. I remember going to the Bronx Zoo twice while I was kid. We probably...
View ArticleDad Blog: Riders on the storm
Thanks to Tropical Storm Colin’s decision to flood nearly every major roadway that runs through Tampa, we decided to keep Derek home from daycare Monday and Tuesday. Since Christina works from home —...
View ArticleTake fear out of the ballgame
Took Derek to a baseball game Sunday. We did all the normal stuff: Ate hot dogs, watched batting practice and observed a moment of silence for the victims of the latest mass shooting. I’ll say it: I’m...
View ArticleDad Blog: Can’t Get Enough of “Your Love”
Derek has a new favorite song. It’s “Your Love” by The Outfield, which peaked at No. 6 in 1986 — 27 years before Derek was born and 23 years before Christina and I even met. But he loves it. Actually,...
View ArticleDad Blog: Time for a change
Derek starts a new daycare Monday, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tad nervous. The logical side of my brain tells me Derek will be fine, that he’ll see the playground and a bunch of kids his...
View ArticleDad Blog: Bed Time 2 – The Real Thing
Loyal Dad Blog readers remember we took a side off Derek’s crib a few months ago to give him the equivalent of a big-boy bed. Well, now he’s got the real thing. We moved it into his room Tuesday and...
View ArticleDad Blog: Working for the weekends
Peppa Pig was at a toy store in University Park last weekend. We had to be there. Peppa Pig is the star of a series books and cartoons. The episodes run about 10 minutes and follow the adventures of...
View ArticleDad Blog: Where is the real Derek?
When I started writing Dad Blog, I made a promise to myself I would be honest. I wanted to do something real, something slice-of-life rather than something you’d see in a rerun of The Donna Reed Show....
View ArticleDad Blog: Single shot of Derek
Growing up, there were four words that never flew with my parents: “I didn’t do it.” I was only child. So if they left me home alone, came back and found pieces of a family heirloom all over the...
View ArticleDad Blog: Case of the Whys
Derek’s case of the “whys?” is growing to epic proportions. Why is that girl wearing a pink shirt? Why is the garbage truck going that way? And my favorite… Why is it raining? I like that he’s...
View ArticleDad Blog: Throwing The Book At Derek
If Derek acts up after school or doesn’t eat enough dinner, I won’t let him watch Peppa Pig. Nor will I let him have any desert, which is usually a minuscule Dum-Dum lollipop plucked from the...
View ArticleDad Blog: Saturday Night Life
I spent last Saturday night painting a pumpkin. Actually, I co-painted the pumpkin. Derek took one side, I took the other. We sat at the kitchen table and dipped our brushes into all sorts of colors....
View ArticleDad Blog: More Derek Chats
Welcome to yet another edition of Derek Chats, which documents my conversations with Derek, our 3 ½-year-old with the little body and ginormous vocabulary. Derek: What is that black thing on the...
View ArticleDad Blog: New World, Same Values
My name is John Lembo. I am white, I am male and I am American. According to those of you who awoke Wednesday with broken hearts and cheeks stained with tears, guys like me are the reason you feel so...
View ArticleDad Blog: A Boy and his Dog – 2
Perhaps the best thing about Rosie growing older is Derek is growing older, too. Rosie, for those of you just joining the party here at Dad Blog, is our amazing Shar Pei mutt we adopted more than six...
View ArticleDad Blog: The Day I Conquered Claw Crane
There is a special place in hell reserved for whoever created the claw crane. For those of you who have never been to a bowling alley – or an arcade or shopping mall or anywhere, really – let me...
View ArticleDad Blog: Our Christmas Story
A Christmas Story isn’t just my favorite Christmas movie. It’s one of my favorite movies, period. I rank it right up there with some of my other headed-to-a-desert-island picks such as Goodfellas,...
View ArticleDad Blog: A Very Derek Christmas
Christina was chopping and marinating her way through dinner prep when I walked into the kitchen on Christmas. I had been on the floor with Derek, trying fruitlessly to put together the new parking...
View ArticleDad Blog: The boy and his bike
Derek loves the bike he got for Christmas. Actually, love, if possible, is an understatement. He wants to ride it all the time. He wants to ride it before bed and as soon as he gets up. He wants to...
View ArticleDad Blog: Happy Birthday, Happy Daddy
The Internet has ruined children’s birthday parties for me. All you read about are these wrenching stories of kids who invited dozens of friends to the local pizza place or burger joint only for...
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