You may remembered him as the guy who built a giant wing for a lighting McQueen 3000GT build.

First pic is me making a 3 piece set for a Jurassic park 1st gen explorer

His team and I are still knocking projects out. I’ve learned a lot about myself, my dad’s business, and his circle of friends. I’ve been challenged, I’ve endured, and I’m very thankful to say I’ve had an incredible first year, despite how I found myself in this position.

I miss my dad more than anything, but in a small way, I’m at peace knowing he doesn’t have a long road to recovery ahead of him. The tree-cutting accident changed me drastically, and I know my dad wouldn’t have been the same coming out of it.

No more health scares, worrying about cancer, or watching the strongest man I know fade away.

A few people came into my life, and a few people left after the funeral. I see the real ones still standing.

As the seasons change, so does my work schedule. No more wild times at the shop.

I’m living the life I once dreamed of in prison.

Working all the odd hours of the night, meeting deadlines, and having fun doing it.

Plenty of times, I was warned about burning out. Little did they know I was fueled by grief and ambition, and I’m gladly still sober six years later

There were many situations where I thought I’d bitten off more than I could chew, but after I finished the projects, I saw that I had it in me.

I’m not replacing my ol’ man. I’m just following in his footsteps.
So people of r/daddit
Thank you for being a present person in your loved ones live.
You’d affect them more than anything
I watched my dad work so hard during the toughest storms in his life, and if he could do it…so can I.
we buried my dad and I found myself working a week later.
I’m so thankful for counseling

More seriously, we've been fortunate enough to have a daughter who loves helping out, whether it's cooking, emptying the laundry or getting the firewood ready.

She spent close to an hour diligently carrying one piece at time and dumping it in the pile at the top of this small slope.

Mom is gone for a school retreat and the kids went with, but dad stays home and house sits due to work.

Does he watch football?

Shooting Range?

Drinking?

Or does he hop in his lab once hes home from work and begins project "make the old ps4 run linux?"

How do you dads spend your time when you're actually alone for once?

Yesterday I hit a deer on my way into work. Had to spend a good chunk of the day dealing with insurance and tow trucks and figuring out transportation. Not to mention being annoyed that I have to spend at least an unexpected $1,000( deductible on the car insurance). While it was nothing like losing a job or having a death in the family, it was still a frustrating day, and I was in a mood.

Shortly before she went to bed, I mentioned to my 4 year old I had a bad day. In response, she looked at me and said "Your best days are either me, right." Which of coarse I told they are. She did an excellent job there of giving me a mood lift, and perspective change. And 1 of many reasons why I love being her Dad.​

Well, dads. I didn’t see this one coming.

Lost my job in June - using redundancy pay at the moment. Had a great summer off with my boy and fiancé. Job hunt looked promising…

Then Wednesday: PICA stroke. Now I can’t swallow and have difficulty speaking. Numbness in parts of my face on the left side. Seems it could’ve been worse but I’m 39 ffs. Wedding next year. Prepping for baby #2.

Anyone been through anything similar? I’m trying to keep a level head but can’t help but wonder what might happen. I’m not prepared for this.

We moved my daughter into her dorm in September. I made a spreadsheet of everything she needed and she made fun of it and then used it all morning while we packed the car. On the drive up I told my wife I was going to be fine. I was ok at the dorm and then about ten minutes into the drive home I started crying and had to pull over, and my wife drove the rest of the way.

A buddy who did this two years ago told me to let her text first, so that is what I have been doing. She texts about once a week and it is usually to ask for something, the last one was “can you mail my winter coat, the gray one.” I figure if she is asking me for stuff she is doing ok. I found out from her roommate’s mom that she made the rowing team her second week.

A couple of weeks ago I was looking for old tax files on an external drive in my desk drawer and found a folder of photos from when she was little, and no I am not posting any, she would kill me. My wife took most of them, I was at the office a lot back then, and some I had never seen. For those of you who have done this already, is it normal that those are the ones I keep looking at? Getting them off that drive and onto my phone took most of a night, and now they are on the Times frame on my desk. When I am muted on an earnings call I flip it over to her photos and half the time it is the one of her at six with no front teeth.

That was the same year she told her class my job was “watching red and green numbers,” which I guess is fair. There is also one of her at seven on her bike right before she crashed, I let go of the seat too early and I still feel kind of bad about that one.

If she knew the one with no front teeth was on my desk she would make me take it down. I am mailing her coat tomorrow and not saying anything about the frame.

My son is 8 and is getting more and more interested in playing Roblox. He’s seen some stuff on YouTube and some of his classmates are playing. I am a gamer myself and have been playing games more than 35 years…
I know a bit too well how awfull Roblox is and will not allow it. He can play Minecraft, and pretty much anything on Nintendo Dwitch that is suitable for his age, including Zelda.

How do i explain this to him? Had anyone had this talk with their kids? Do i tell him about the risks of chatting with strangers and possibly pedophiles? Do i have to convince him that the games are utter shit?
Or should i just drop the bomb that Roblox isn’t happening until he is 16? (By then i fully expect him to appreciate proper games)

How have you handled this talk?
I’d love to know…

Edit: wow, that is a lot of feedback! Thanks fellow dads!
I will not be able to answer all comments, but I’ll think i know how i will be handling this

It will remain a hard no, but I will explain that Roblox is not a safe place and that will be enough i hope. That’s a good enough reason in my opinion.

We all understand the value of reading for our kids. What are the dads currently reading for themselves?

He wanted a dragon party, but we didn't have it in us to do a whole cake.

My wife and 11 year old were away for a softball tournament and it was just me and my 8 year old daughter. Rainy weekend and we were done for the day, so I caught a mini nap on the couch. Next day I opened up my photos app and these were the last 4 pictures taken. I think she’s telling me to head over to r/bald

Hi everyone. This is actually my first ever dad post. My wife is about 5 months pregnant after we struggled with infertility for a few years so we are both over the moon with excitement for our little one to get here in March.

However I am already dealing with some pretty significant anxiety about the current climate in the United States when it comes to school shootings (and many, many other things but that's for another day).

It is driving me crazy that this just seems to be so accepted and normalized. I am a huge proponent of public education and we plan to use our local district. Homeschooling is not an option - I have personally experienced the harms that can do.

So my question to you all - how do you deal with this? I'm assuming my anxiety about this is only going to get worse as our little one is actually here and they approach school age.

Every conference season I get asked how to make the ipad a functional activity and I want to give a better answer than just bashing screentime altogether. In class, the kids who use screens to make something (draw, build, write) talk about it differently than kids who mostly watch or tap through games. But I only see them talk about it, not actually use anything specific. I also know every family has different safety standards when it comes to online activity.

Parents, what has genuinely been good in your house? Educational apps for first and second graders especially.

Never did I think it would take YEARS to teach my kids these manners and they're still not consistent with it. My oldest is about to be 5. Please tell me this is normal! What are your tips and tricks?

Happy weekend dads.

Thoughts? I've been instructed not to let my 7yo daughter watch Bluey - with the best explanation given being "I dont like it," but Peppa Pig is okay. Imo, Peppa is a pretty misguided kid and the show doesn't offer the best learning opportunities.

Whereas in Bluey, Ive often felt touched by the messages being delivered and have been able to see Bluey and Bingo's growth as characters through the series.

My 9-year-old has been lucky in that she’s had all four of her grandparents active in her life, but that’s ending some time this week. Of course, he’s her clear favorite. Since she was old enough to interact with people, the two of them have been inseparable.

She knows grandpa is very sick, she’s specifically asked if he’s dying and, up until yesterday, we had a reasonable hope that he’d get better. She and I are heading to the hospital to be with mom and grandma, and last minute advice is very welcome.

My son and I would regularly encounter another dad walking his similarly aged son round the neighborhood. It started with head nods then progressed to small talk. No play dates but I liked them and wanted to do that eventually.

Several months ago I felt a chill in our relationship. One time we locked eyes as we were both walking down the street, but then he crossed the street and kept his head down. Another time, I felt that he was avoiding me. So I reciprocated.

This week, we ran into him and had a brief chat. He shared some devastating news: they had a newborn but she died a few months ago. I was stunned to silence. I wish I gave him a hug. I was just frozen in place. My wife started crying as we walked home. It now all made sense with his withdrawal.

People are dealing with things that we have no idea about it. Always be kind and generous.

I’m hoping to finally do a play date with the older surviving son.

Hug your kids.

Anyone else have to fight the urge to keep their kids home from school today after yesterday's shooting in Oregon? I put their car seats on this morning thinking please God dont let this be the last time I see them. Our kids shouldn't have to face the same risks I had to face in the Army. They shouldn't have to learn the sound of a gunshot or how to seek out cover and listen for reloads. Im not making this political but dont know if a post like this is allowed. Im just tired. I cant imagine what those families are going through.

Hey Gents,

In the past 10 months post vasectomy I have learned that I can’t go one day without supportive undies/boxers/what-have-you.

Yes I’ve had the follow-up with the urologist, with small granuloma observed, but not consequential.

Had another scare of pain, and went to another urgent care nurse, and told the same.

Wear supportive undies fellas! Doesn’t matter the brand, but ensure you’re being cupped through the day.

My son is 10. One of his closest friends is a boy who lives in the neighborhood who is 14. They are like 2 weeks shy of being exactly 4 years apart. 

My wife isn’t the biggest fan of this. Doesn’t understand why a teenager would want to be friends with a 10 year old.

I find it a little strange but I haven’t seen any red flags yet. He’s on the quiet side. A bit awkward. I wonder if maybe he’s on the spectrum and maybe doesn’t have a lot of friends. Hard to tell. He functions fairly normally. 

One time they started getting into a friendly tussle and my son kinda fell and it seemed to hurt a little. And his friend was super apologetic and kept saying sorry and was super worried about him. My son was fine and I felt the friend was almost overreacting a bit and a bit upset over something that was clearly an accident and didn’t hurt that much. So he seems like a gentle and caring friend. He’s very polite at dinners when he comes over. 

A few weekends ago was the friend’s birthday. He invited my son to go with him and his dad to a minor league baseball game so my son went. My son isn’t huge into baseball but he had a good time. I asked if anyone else went and my son said no, just him. His dad said he’d pay for him to bring one friend and the friend picked my son. 

This weekend my son was wanting this friend to stay the night, like a sleepover. My wife wasn’t the biggest fan due to the age gap. Said he could just stay late and then go home for bed since he didn’t live too far away.

My son then said he had already mentioned it to his friend and his friend wanted to stay. We were a bit annoyed that he said that without asking first. But then the story changed a bit and he admitted that he mentioned to his friend and his friend said “what did your parents say” and my son hadn’t asked so he was asking now. I thought that was a mature question on his friend’s part. 

I mentioned to my wife we could arrange it so they wouldn’t have to share a bed or anything. But she didn’t even want them in the same room overnight. I felt that was unrealistic and the whole point of a sleepover. She couldn’t give me a good reason other than the age gap and why does a teenager want to hang out with our boy. She’s not against sleepovers in general. 

Am I being too chill? I’m just not seeing any red flags that worry me. 

So my kid is in 5th grade and they went through the maturation video they do at this age.

It's not the first time we've had this conversation but it is the first time the conversation was had in school. Apparently there was a lot of big feelings and deeper questions, etc.

As with all kids, there was a mix of grossness and fascination about what's currently happening to their bodies, etc.

However, the best part of going through puberty is that he will soon start growing facial hair and eventually grow a beard like the one I have.

So gentlemen, here's to the perks of puberty and eventually growing beards.

Nothing important, but I haven't stopped laughing in days.

I started playing some music from the Rocky movies to my daughter when "Gonna Fly Now" came on. Halfway through, she exclaimed, "I've gotta poop," so she went into the bathroom.

She then called out that she wanted me to put the Bluetooth speaker in the bathroom so she could listen to the rest of the song. Of course I obliged. lol

Our daughter just turned one, and our sex life has remained anaemic. We’ve had penetrative sex once in the last year and a half, and sexual contact has been at a minimum - maybe once every couple of months, and usually still involves me pleasuring myself.

I want to be sensitive to everything my wife has gone through, and haven’t brought this up once as a result. At the same time, I have a fairly high sex drive, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to continue going without any intimacy.

I guess I’m curious if you all have found yourself in a similar situation and how you handled it. Did you just accept it? Was there more of a discussion?

Had a small scare at the start, but things are progressing smoothly.

Do I feel ready to be a dad? A week ago I would've said definitely yes, but sitting in the chair and waiting, I'm more and more nervous and worried about looking after this beautiful baby.

But my wife is lovely, and we have a supportive family behind us. I just can't wait to hold her in my arms for the first time

Hey yall, new dad here. Wife and I had a little girl about a week ago and she REFUSES to sleep in a bassinet lol, but she’ll fall right asleep while someone is holding her. We’ve got a good schedule going for either my wife or me to be with our daughter throughout the day and night and we can both get some good sleep, but I’m only gonna be on paternity leave for another two weeks and after that, it’s just my wife (I’ve gotta work a few states away for two weeks at a time). Anyone got any tips for getting a newborn to sleep in a bassinet/crib? We’re trying not to sleep while holding her cuz of the whole smothering thing lol