Date night, something we cover again and again at this site, gets the Dr. Ruth Westheimer treatment in this excellent video clip. Say what you will about the mismatching cute grandma persona and the usual sexual frankness, this particular piece has her offering practical tips on keeping a relationship vital while raising kids. She addresses the reality of how hard it is to stay in touch with your partner through every stage of parenting a child and warns that if you don’t schedule regular time away from the kids, it could do serious harm to your bond.
On Mike Austin’s Radio Dad podcast (episode #15), Mike and I discussed a topic I covered in a recent Ask Family Man piece about the anxieties of expectant dads. Listen to the podcast (the third segment of his show), read the article, and check out Mike’s other podcasts and content at his Radio Dad site.
For this week’s Family Matters with Tracey Serebin, Tracey asked me about 5 tips dads might like to have before they have a baby. Listen in and hear about planning for paternity leave, managing all those well-meaning friends and family members who want to visit your exhausted household, and avoiding spontaneous expenditures that come from your overjoyed but non-budget-conscious state of mind. Tracey’s interview with me on her Internet radio program runs 30 minutes, following her segment with a mom expert. Log on to the new installment and click “Listen Now” or “Podcast.”
While baby and mom undergo the more strenuous physical experience when it comes to childbirth and the initial few months following the big event, men also go through a lot. The emotional effects of new fatherhood can manifest in everything from mild stress to severe depression, so it’s important for the guys to take care of their own health for their sake and that of their family. On this week’s Family Matters with Tracey Serebin, Tracey and I talk about ways for men to stay healthy and in sync with their changed lives. Tracey’s interview with me on her Internet radio program runs 30 minutes, following her segment with Dr. Shoshana Bennett, who covers mom’s health. Log on to the new installment and click “Listen Now” or “Podcast.” You can also read many of my suggestions for dad’s well being under the Ask Family Man section of this site.
Man, it’s going to be tough for President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama to stay consistent, but I continue to be thrilled to have these two as parenting models. The Chicago Tribune reports that, among the family habits the Obamas follow are reading regularly to their daughters and having a date night for each other. They may be raised on a pedestal by some, but there is a lot of down-to-earth living going on there that makes us realize they have many of the same challenges we do.
Seeking a little extra help with our often overly revved up family life, my wife submitted an application to a reality TV show called Real Life Real Simple. The program took us on and the production was a very good experience, mostly because the producers and crew were some of the nicest and most helpful people we could have hoped to meet in this situation. They even assisted us during our crisis with our son’s dog bites. This Friday night (November 21), at 8/7 C, our episode airs on the TLC network. We have not seen our installment of the show — just the audition tape – so we’re nervous to see how chaotic our life looks on TV.
Intimacy after childbirth and beyond is the topic on the new podcast of Tracey Serebin’s Family Matters. Get the dad perspective from me and the mom view from Tracey on this frank, sometimes funny, and frequently helpful segment. Tracey’s interview with me on her Internet radio program runs 30 minutes, following her talk with Wendy Jaffe, who covers the topic from the angle of a divorce attorney, who contributed an instructive piece to this site. Log on to the new installment and click “Listen Now” or “Podcast.” It’s about sex, so you gotta have opinions/stories to share via the comments option.
Listen to this week’s podcast of Tracey Serebin’s Family Matters and hear me talk about a dad’s role in helping mom recover from childbirth. Actually, I don’t know if anyone actually recovers — perhaps the term should be “reasonably functions.” In any event, Tracey’s interview with me on her Internet radio program runs 30 minutes, following her talk with a postpartum nurse/doula. I’m now a regular guest on Tracey’s show, which is growing rapidly (more news to come on that end). You can log on to the new installment and click “Listen Now” or “Podcast.” Or go directly to the podcast. Let me know what you think.
Tracey Serebin has me back on her “Family Matters” Internet radio show to discuss the dad’s perspective on choosing and interacting with your kid’s pediatrician. Listen to the podcast at www.webtalkradio.net/content/view/598/30/ to hear suggestions about maintaining a good dialogue with the doctor (be it in person or on the phone and via e-mail) and staying in sync with your child’s development. Check out Tracey’s blog for more real and workable family tips at www.traceyserebin.blogspot.com .
Tracey Serebin, author of 101 Questions for Expectant Parents, talked with me about how important commujnication is between new moms and dads before and after a baby arrives in the family. Catch the interview on Tracey’s show, “Family Matters,” by visiting www.webtalkradio.net/content/view/598/30/ .
