I’m adding another category to my blog, The Joy of Fatherhood. In it I’ll write about when my two kids (I have a six year old daughter and a four year old son) do something that reminds me how awesome it is to be a father. That seems to happen every day for me (which I suppose means every day is Father’s Day around here, lucky me) but I won’t be writing a post every day. Maybe once a week or two, just the highlights. After all, I know I’m supposed to be writing about trade show marketing and general marketing, with a few random posts, well, several random posts, thrown in.
This new category was inspired in part by three bloggers I follow.
The first blogger is Mitch, who recently wrote the post “How To Be A Prolific Writer“. I doubt I’ll ever be a prolific blogger (this is very much a part-time gig at this point), and certainly not as prolific as Mitch. Mitch hit the nail on the head in his post when he wrote “don’t niche yourself into a corner” (which is why I write about more than just trade show marketing), and when he wrote “write about something you love” (and I love my kids, no doubt about that). By the way, Mitch has a whole series of Blogging Tips on his site that you should check out.
The second blogger is Rudy, who recently wrote the post “Being Thankful“. It’s a great read, and reminds us to be thankful for what we have, to keep a positive attitude, and see the good in the occasional “bad” situation we find ourselves in. When you’re raising kids, there are plenty of times your kids do something that really makes you roll your eyes, and you can see the glass as half empty or half full. I (try to) see it as half full.
The third blogger is Lin, who recently wrote the post “Mean Mom 101 – Lessons Learned From My Mean Mom“. I mention Lin because she offers great parenting advice on her blog. She’s a traditional parent, as am I. I believe a parent’s first responsibility is to be a parent, not their kid’s friend. Regarding Lin’s post, my dad was a mean dad, I’m a mean dad, and I expect my son to someday be a mean dad.
I’m not trying to imply that fatherhood is all joy. My daughter is in first grade this year, and I think I have her to “thank” for a month long series of colds and coughs that I’ve been suffering through. That subject though belongs in my rants category, and I’m glad I’ve only posted one rant so far (Halloween Trick-or-Treating). I’m trying to keep my rants to a minimum.
Anyway, if you have the time, check out the three bloggers above, and stay tuned for my first Joy of Fatherhood post… “Spiderman War“.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Mitch // Nov 12, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Thanks for the mention, Steve. And I’m glad to see you changing things up from time to time. To me, it makes a person way more interesting.
2 Lin // Nov 12, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Thanks for the thumbs up on the Mean Mom article. It was fun to do.
I’ll be watching your articles about the Joy of Fatherhood, as I’m sure there are just as many joys of being a dad as there are being a mom.
Mitch is right about boxing yourself into a tight niche. Fortunately for me, my niche is so diverse, I will never run out of things to write about.
3 The Trade Show Guru // Nov 12, 2008 at 3:52 pm
@Mitch, You’re welcome, and I agree.
@Lin, Being a dad rocks. It’s a hard job, but the most rewarding job I’ve ever had.
~ Steve
4 Rudy // Nov 12, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Hey Steve,
Every Dad Bloggers should have a “raising kids” category. I have one called “Parenting”. It’s a great place to share (vent) your experiences with others. I’ll stay tuned, that’s for sure!
And thanks for mentioning my thankful post. Lots of thanking needs to be done before the end of this month.
5 The Trade Show Guru // Nov 13, 2008 at 6:52 pm
hi Rudy,
You’re welcome and I agree. We have much to be thankful for!
~Steve
6 Tim@Redneck Bar // Nov 13, 2008 at 11:33 pm
That Mean Mom stuff is great, as is the rest of the parenthood category. Let’s not forget prolific moms, though, for without them there’d be a whole lot less children to love in the world 🙂
7 The Trade Show Guru // Nov 14, 2008 at 7:35 pm
hi Tim,
Thanks for your comment on prolific moms (took me a minute to get where it came from… prolific writers). Anyway, I do appreciate prolific moms. We went to my wife’s family reunion back in Kansas this year. My wife’s grandmother had nine kids! Apparently this was back before the TV show “8 is enough”. Anyway, thanks to her grandma’s prolific-ness, it was a huge reunion. Lots of fun. ~ Steve
8 Sire // Nov 15, 2008 at 3:54 am
I’m glad to see that you not ‘niching’ (I’m not sure that is a word and if it isn’t it should be) and I hope that you relish every minute with your kids because they grow up so damn quick.
9 Will // Nov 15, 2008 at 3:35 pm
When your kids get older, they may become vocal about you writing about them. lol. Do it anyway!
Glad to see your site is going well. I tried to visit a couple of times last week or the week before and Firefox could not open it.
I like “10 Rules for Enlightened Comments”! In fact, ”Wow, they are great.” “I agree” with them, actually ”I couldn’t agree more” with this kind of “good stuff”.
Sorry bad jokes. I am out of practice, I guess.
10 The Trade Show Guru // Nov 15, 2008 at 11:45 pm
@Sire,
Thanks for stopping by. It’s a cliche, but it’s true – kids grow up fast. The last 6 years since my daughter was born have flown by (in some ways it seems my life so far has flown by), which is why I say “carpe diem”!
@Will,
Thanks too for stopping by. I will have to try opening this blog in Firefox to check. Ahh, so much to do! Glad you appreciate the “enlightenment”. 🙂
~ Steve
11 Tim@Redneck Bar // Nov 16, 2008 at 12:32 am
Your site opens fine with my Mac using Firefox, Steve. It might be an ISP or nameserver kind of problem.
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