With summer bearing down on us and the school year coming to an end in the United States its a fine time to begin looking at which activities you can get the kids involved in that may actually provide some lasting positive growth opportunities and lessons.

Enter 4-H

My wife was involved in 4-H from her eighth birthday up until she graduated high school. Today there is a 5-8 program which I’m sure will be the official introduction for our kids.

4-H is all about building community, kids mentoring one another, gaining direction and building leaders. Making the best better. It is an avenue for exploring interests and making lifelong friends.

Not having a history in 4-H myself I always thought it was all about the county fair. Those farm kids with their animals. While this is still a part of 4-H (depending upon the club) there are many other opportunities for discovery.

And the list goes on. Even savvy city folk can find something in here that will interest their children.

A key part of making 4-H a success for your family involves being in the right club. 4-H clubs can be found all over the country. You best bet is to contact the 4-H extension office in your county and share with them what your child(ren) are interested in. With this bit of information they should be able to point you in the direction of a club that would be a good fit.

Most clubs focus on a particular area while participating in many areas. The last thing you want is to join a club that is focused on equestrian activities when your kid is afraid of horses.  In the event you get in with a club that isn’t a fit, don’t throw in the towel. Go back to the 4-H extension office and encourage them to get it right.

So, when the dog days of summer are beating down on you and you just can’t bear to hear, “turn on the sprinkler!” one more time visit one of the links below and get in touch with a 4-H club. Who knows, maybe their next meeting will be in a nice air conditioned hall.

• 4HUSA.org
• Find a 4-H club
• National 4-H Headquarters
• 4-H Council

I hope for each mom out there that you can make it until at least noon before the rest of the family (us dad’s included) forget why this day is special. Have a splendid Mother’s Day.

What Tom shares in this space is truly worth your time. The care he puts into his posts and the images and thoughts they inspire are wonderful and real. A true gift.

an excerpt from “About Michael”

Michael was utterly unexpected, a very powerful surprise thrust into a brand-new family of a second-time married couple and three mostly-grown daughters. We believed we were done. But God has His plans, and … Building Camelot

When you read Building Camelot you get a look at a man that is really trying to get it right. You also get the feeling that Tyler has taken it upon himself to help each of us get it right in the process. No small task.

an excerpt from “About Building Camelot”

Growing up, I was fascinated with castles, knights, kings and magicians. What little boy wasn’t? Little did I know that some years later, I’d be given the opportunity to build my own little Camelot … Xbox4NappyRash

Rounding out this short list is a site authored by one that is not yet a father but strongly desires to be so. While the posts here are genuine and startlingly funny they are also extremely heartfelt in their pursuit and intent. If this blog were a book I’d buy it today.

an excerpt from “What in buggery is this?”

… In a self imposed rite of passage I have decided to take the ultimate plunge with my wife and apply my universal ineptitude to conceiving, preparing for, and caring for another human being. A ‘Child’, if you will. … ]]> http://www.disfordad.com/2008/03/24/a-few-favorites-perspectives-to-admire/feed/ http://www.disfordad.com/2008/03/20/d-is-for-dad-is-on-top/ http://www.disfordad.com/2008/03/20/d-is-for-dad-is-on-top/#comments Thu, 20 Mar 2008 19:15:36 +0000 Chuck http://www.disfordad.com/2008/03/20/d-is-for-dad-is-on-top/

Well, dads.alltop.com that is and we’re not really on the top (kinda close to the bottom actually) but we are very happy to be included. The good stuff is usually on the bottom anyway (sugar, cocoa, gold, solids in a septic tank), unless you’re talking about cream, then it’s at the top. But I digress….

This is pretty exciting stuff really. While we imagined giving our children something to groan about in the future we never really intended for people to like us. You do like us don’t you? Forget I asked. I may not be able to handle the truth.

I’m pretty sure we made our way onto the list via recommendation and for that I thank you. Yes, you.

The Alltop site is best explained, well, by Alltop. The following is from the about page.

We help you explore your passions by collecting stories from “all the top” sites on the web. We’ve grouped these collections — ”aggregations” — into individual Alltop sites based on topics such as environment, photography, science, celebrity gossip, fashion, gaming, sports, politics, automobiles, and Macintosh. At each Alltop site, we display the latest five stories from thirty or more sites on a single page — we call this “single-page aggregation.”

The result of this aggregation becomes a great starting point for each of the categories listed among the collections. This could also be a fantastic networking tool. I’ve already discovered many Dad and Mom blogs that I wasn’t aware of or, dare I say, forgotten about.

Thanks to Guy Kawasaki and the rest of Nononina for creating a pretty sweet resource, and for including lil ol’ us.

Come the middle of February one is typically done with the cold months. The unexpected harsh winds while crossing the parking lot are no longer exhilarating but truly bothersome and biting. The same coat that brought you into the season feels like it has been hanging on your shoulders for a decade.

Know what I mean?

What bothers me most is I have less patience with my kids at this time of year. Unfortunately I fail to always recognize that they too have had their fill of winter and cabin fever has left a mark that only a warm breeze can erase.

I’ve been moving through my reading list (most of which you can find in the links on the right) and have certainly felt in some of the posts the tired grip of winter.

The first day of spring is only four weeks away. That’s right, weeks, not months. Rejoice!

We’re almost out gang. Hang in there.