Within 24 hours, the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation Can Give a Family Hope and Relief This Father’s Day

Father’s Day takes a moment out of the year and our increasingly hectic lives to recognize all the special Dads and father figures who have provided us with love, guidance, and support, both spiritually and by supplying our basic needs. Single fathers, especially, face unique challenges, but when the unimaginable happens, the diagnosis of a child with a terminal illness, new pressures arise: mounting bills, demands at work, and the probability that one cannot remain at their child’s side when that child needs them the most.

This Father’s Day, through the Dedications 2 Dads initiative, the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation, is calling on you — mothers, children, siblings, caregivers and fathers yourselves –  to help single Dad families.

Andre Sobel was a normal teenage boy who at age 17, after a complaint about double vision, was diagnosed three days later with an inoperable brain tumor. His mother, Valerie, stayed by his side until Andre’s young life ended when he was 19.

Exploring the world of the single caregiver, Andre’s mom, Founder and President of the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation, Valerie Sobel, discovered a place of quiet suffering where parents staggered from crisis to crisis. They had few advocates. “Pediatric disease happens to an entire family,” comments Founder Valerie Sobel.  She realized that it had been a blessing that she was able to care for her son and not worry about finances and other resources.

“I wasn’t afraid that I was going to die, I was afraid I was going to die alone,” said teen cancer survivor, Oscar Fernandez, who beat the odds after a diagnosis of Ewing’s Sarcoma. Support from the Foundation helped to keep Oscar’s mother by his side while he faced his illness.

From June 8-28, 2009, donations to Dedications 2 Dads will go to help single parents, like a single dad with two kids who had to reduce his hours at work to take his child to treatments, or a single father who has recently lost his job and is trying to provide for his family while providing the comfort and level of care his ill child deserves.

Here’s how it works:

Visit the Andre Sobel River of Life website and click on the Dedications 2 Dads icon. Click on the “Donate” Link. Select a way to donate, like donating transportation or a bag of groceries. For every donation, you can send your dad a card. A list of the dads who have had donations made in their name will be listed on the Andre Sobel River of Life website.

You can also follow Dedications 2 Dads on Twitter @asriveroflife. Tweet about your dad and share your experiences by using the hashtag #andred2d.

Making dinner can be easy, fun, and impressive. I’ll share one of my favorite recipes that even the most kitchen inept can’t mess up, then I’ll follow that up with how to set up the evening. A big part of impressing the wife is not only putting food on the table, but doing it in a way that sets the right mood. Let me know how it goes!

In addition to the recipe below, you’ll need the following things:

• cloth napkins
• non-scented candles
• matches

Black Bean, Avocado & Salsa Dip

• 1 Can of Black Beans (make sure the ingredients only say beans, water, salt)
• 1 Large Avocado (buy organic, or barring that, find one that is deep purple in color & tender to the touch)
• 1 8 oz container of Pico De Gallo or other fresh salsa
• 2 Limes
• 1 Tablespoon Cumin (more or less to taste)
• 2 – 3 cloves fresh garlic
• 1 Large bag of tortilla chips

Heat the beans in a medium saucepan over medium heat. While the beans are heating, mince the garlic and add that to the beans with the cumin. Once the beans are bubbling, reduce heat to warm.

Cut the avocado out of the shell. The easiest way to do that is by following the steps in this video:

Now that you’re done laughing at the word testicle, let’s move on.

Cut the limes in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl that you have placed the avocado in. Add the Pico de Gallo, and with the back of a fork, mix the pico and the avocado pieces, smashing the avocado. This gives you a nice, chunky guacamole dip.

Remove the beans from the burner and pour into a medium sized serving bowl. With a potato masher or the back of a fork, smash the beans into a chunky paste.

Set the table with chairs placed close to each other, within easy reach of where you’ll place the food. Put a plate at each chair, along with a cloth napkin. Place the bean dip and guacamole on the table in their respective bowls, and pour a whole bunch of chips into a large bowl next to the dip. Put small serving spoons in each bowl of dip.

Next, place your candle holders and candles on the table, just at the edge of the food. Light the candles and you’ve got a candle-light dinner for two – that was easy!

Bonus points:

• Finish the food in time to clean up everything but the serving dishes.

• Have chocolates & your favorite relaxing beverage chilled and ready in the bedroom along with another set of candles.

As a mother of three, working with her husband and living in New Orleans, Andrea Miles has quite a few interesting stories that she shares at According to Andrea.

My daughter Celina is my first born child. She is 11 years old. She is absolutely beautiful and very smart. I love her to death but she makes me insane.

You may laugh now but all of you readers who have or has had an 11 yr old girl know what I am talking about. I am not here to discuss on how many different ways (over 1 million) my daughter drives me cookoo, I am here to share my “plan” on how I intend to raise Celina to be a confident, assertive young woman. (The word plan is in quotation cause everyone knows things don’t always go as planned.)

Encouragement and Praise

I believe for Celina, she loves it when I show her praise for all the hard work she has done. May it be a test grade, a hard book she has read, or maybe even something simple as making her brothers a snack to eat. I ALWAYS ALWAYS tell her that she did a great job. It is important because it will build her self-esteem to know that I recognize the hard work she has put forth.

Celina is not the one to go out and try something new. So when she does do something out of character, I encourage her to be brave and explore whatever it is. For example, a new girl about her age had moved in a couple homes down while she was at her father’s for summer vacation. I knew immediately that they would be great friends. She was shy at first but with a bit of encouragement from my husband and I, she befriended the little girl and now are the bestest of friends.

I also encourage Celina to try out different hairstyles or clothes styles. She has always worn her hair down and it gets all messy and knotted up. When she shows me a hairstyle that she made up, I make sure I remark about how pretty she looks and how wonderful it is that she tried out something new! I always encourage her to try out something new, at least once.

Positive Reinforcement As Discipline

Now, I am not saying I don’t use punishment such as grounding, taking away phone, etc. I am saying I try and reward her when she is being good and displaying a good role model example. Examples are helping cleaning up after dinner, setting up the dinner table, emptying out the dishwasher, or washing her clothes without me having to hound her about it.

For the time being, these don’t happen quite often. LOL So when it does show, I make a big deal out of it. I reward her with something like an extra 30 minutes of computer time, letting her best friend eat over for dinner, or maybe something like going out to a movie.

There are times when I will use punishment. These are simple things like taking the phone away, no computer time, or no dessert after dinner. She throws a big fit about it when I do punish her. But I know in my mind that if I don’t set an example, she will never learn from her mistakes. The biggest rule in disciplining in my book, is ALWAYS FOLLOW THROUGH no matter what. Once I set the punishment, I do not back down from it. I want my daughter to see me, as a woman, to be strong and solid not wishy washy and someone that can be pushed over.

Damien Riley, author, teacher and dad, keeps an eye on popculture, the news, and humor all around us. His blog, Dynamite Lesson Plan, tackles the topic of education with a perspective from someone on the inside – an elementary school teacher.

Who am I and why am I here?

Hi there again. I’m a big reader of the Man Page and I’ve enjoyed writing a few guest posts here so you may know my stuff. If not, allow me to introduce myself: I am a public school teacher, specifically 4th grade (9 year olds). I’m writing this guest blog in response to a post Derek wrote some time back in which he made the point that schools can make parents feel irresponsible for taking their kids on vacation. I am attempting to shed light on why different schools have an attitude. I also try to make it very clear that I am pro-family vacation! Finally, I provide the tips you need to take your kid out of a public school painlessly. (and be let in the front door upon return!)

Middle Class vs. Impoverished Schools

Most parents know that schools frown on student “vacations” during the year. What most do not know is the difference between a middle class and a poverty frown. Kids from middle class neighborhoods supply the school with much needed ADA funds when they are present. Kids from poverty schools do it too but they have a plentiful supply of Title I, NCLB, free lunch and many other funding programs.

So what does that mean in plain English?

Basically, the middle class schools need money and every kid in a seat pays it! The impoverished neighborhoods have more money than you can shake a stick at and don’t really worry about attendance as a funding source. Isn’t that ironic? A vacation offers so much and yet it is frowned upon. My parents used to always take us to Disneyland and museums, and even the beach sometimes on school days because they thought we would benefit by it.

Guess what, they were right and we did benefit! Out of 4 kids, all 4 have college degrees and 2 have Master’s degrees. The ultimate learning field trip is a family vacation to talk about. You can quote me on that one.

Schools don’t mind as much when poor kids miss school.

The impoverished kids are my professional area of emphasis. I have worked in inner city, impoverished schools since 1997. I’ve made home visits where the parent is out dead drunk or shuffling to hide the crack pipe. They haven’t all been bad but some things are unimaginable. For example, I found out one of my students was being taken to L.A. once a month and fake blood smattered under his nose so he could beg at the airport and make money for his family. Shall I stop there? I am sure cops and social workers see worse than I have with kids, but I have seen enough to know a few hidden truths.

My point?

Kids in poverty don’t get pulled out for vacations.

Again, the irony is that the school doesn’t follow up and doesn’t make a stink as much with the impoverished kids. Is it protecting anyone at all? This is a tough subject, I hope I haven’t offended anyone but after 10 years I think I have enough experience for an opinion.

How can you pull your kid out painlessly?

I know I am speaking here today to guys around my age 23-53 in middle class homes. I recommend you take your kids out to have vacations. I do. They have too much stress on them sometimes (though a little stress is good sometimes to achieve healthy, well-balanced goals!).

They will learn more about the world in that trip.

If it’s more than 3 days you want to avoid problems with the office and/or the teacher, see if you can do an “Independent Study” packet. Usually you can and the kid never loses any days on the roll. Sometimes they get huge rewards at assemblies and such for perfect attendance. If its just a day or two, just say she/he was sick.

Bon Voyage!

Read more of my education related blog posts at Dynamite Lesson Plan.

I first heard of mojo when I saw the Austin Powers movie in which his mojo was stolen by the bad guys. Like Austin Powers, a lot of men relate their mojo to sex. Not me. Well, maybe once but I was still in college AND did lose part of my mojo. In this instance I had lost my dating mojo and was on a dry spell for a long time. Have no fear, I finally got it back and met the woman of my dreams: My Wife.

Notice how I said “part” of my mojo. I see my mojo as being an overall positivity producing energy. It has it’s own smaller parts, i.e. sex mojo, health mojo, work mojo, and so on. While I have not experienced 100% mojoness (just made that up in case you were wondering), I have been close. I find it very hard to balance having all aspects of my life in full mojo nirvana. Please tell me your secret if you have! While one’s mojo can have smaller parts, I believe that there are a few crucial mojos that you must maintain in order to keep sane.

So what are some of those important mojos? I will only list a few, for each person has to prioritize their mojos. My main mojos are family, health, and work. These mojos then have their sub-mojos. Wow, what am I even saying here, sub mojos? I never thought I would be writing about my mojo, or sub mojos for that matter. Anyway, moving on. It’s easier to maintain your mojo if you break them down into parts. This way you aren’t overwhelmed with having to maintain this big positive energy force. It’s also common for sub mojos to influence other sub mojos.

Does any of this make sense? Any sense? It should because whether you call it mojo or not, this positive energy I speak of is a very important part of living a happy life. Happy being what YOU want it to be, not what life dictates itself to be. A lot of people get stuck in the rut and often lose themselves. I know I have. Have you? Without my mojo I don’t know what I would do. Actually, I do. I would be miserable, depressed, sad… Get it? Good.

For the past few years of my life I had lost my health mojo, mentally and physically suffering because of it. Not only that but it had a negative impact on other parts of my life. Now that I have been working on getting my health mojo back, my family, and work mojo are seeing the results too.

How do you maintain or get your mojo back if you lost it? Pretty simple, do things that bring positivity to your life. I’m going to walk you through what I do to maintain my mojo in my next post.

Until then, peace and be safe!

Israel Lagares is a father, husband, son, and brother. In addition, Israel is a Fat Man Unleashed, which happens to be the name of his weight loss blog where he is sharing the process of his healthy weight loss.

Knowing a thing or two about health, Israel has also created Health Ranker – the #1 social media health news site dedicated to bringing you the latest health news and health-related information.

Damien Riley, author, teacher and dad, keeps an eye on popculture, the news, and humor all around us. His blog, Postcards from the FunnyFarm, covers topics including teaching, inspiration, humor, and psychology.

Damien’s mission statement for his writing has been “to publish creative and innovative content” since December of 2006. He is married to Sarah, also a teacher and blogger. Together they have 3 children.

It’s been a long time since the 70’s and we don’t hear much about women’s lib anymore. My wife called me over to look at an ad of an attractive, bikini clad woman the other day and she was covering her face.

After I agreed it was indeed a beautiful woman, the face clearly revealed it was “a man baby” (in the voice of Austin Powers).

The roles of men and women are blurred and for that matter, so are the genders. We men carry around confusion and anxiety about who we are and more importantly, who we’re supposed to be. I wanted to look at the role of men in society for this post so I sat down and outlined three traditional stereotypes to compare and contrast with 2008:

1. Tough, like Clint Eastwood: No, we’re not expected to be tough anymore. In fact, we are often criticized for being too hard and cold. In the media, men are portrayed more and more as the “touchy feely” type.

Have you seen the ads for the new Patrick Dempsey movie where he is the maid of honor in a wedding? How do we find a middle ground between Eastwood and, in this case, Dempsey?

This is something we struggle with as men these days.

2. Provider, like Bill Cosby: No, many women are the breadwinners in the home these days. This is partly true because of the woman’s movement and the doors it opened to women in the 70’s and also due to recession.

Several men I know have lost their jobs and their wives are filling the gap until something opens up. This is socially acceptable. Men may find this hard to live with though since we are so used to our traditional role as the providers.

3. Wise, like Father Knows Best: Men are seen nowadays as more work-horses than pillars of wisdom. In some ways, this is better.

Men really aren’t all that wise and there is much men are ignorant about. But we do have a lot to offer. Most people will agree after the book “Men are from Mars, Women from Venus” that men and women have something totally unique to bring to the table.

We have learned that the know-it-all dad’s days are over but we should always remember we do have something valuable to offer the world as men.

I won’t get into the issue of gay men roles vs. straight because being straight, the only way I could really analyze it would be through the media. I think its prominence in the media clearly makes the male image more blurry.

After presenting these three stereotypes, I’d like to pose one question I hope you’ll answer for me:

What the heck are men supposed to be in 2008?

I’d like to take a moment to thank Damien for opening his blog to me and I would encourage all of you to head on over and check out my post:

Stop the criticism, inspire your children.

In another piece of exciting news, I would like to announce that Eric Doggett, a photographer from Texas, will be joining The Man Page with a regular column on photography.

Take a look at Eric’s portfolio, as well as his work at ShootTheBaby.com, and I think you will be excited as I am to learn more about photography from a true professional.

Please join me in welcoming Eric to the blog and look for his first post in the very near future.

He also writes on his blog, deguia.net about current events, life in Sonoma County and the West Memphis Three.

As a parent, often times it’s hard to remember that your childhood was vastly different than your own child’s childhood. This was something that was driven home, abruptly, this past week for me.

For ages now I’ve been trying to teach my 7-year-old daughter how to ride a two-wheeler bike. Every time I try to start the process, it inevitably gets interrupted by common colds, broken bones, bad weather, or life in general getting in the way.

The latest reason: She has outgrown her bike.

After each unsuccessful attempt, without fail, I am left feeling guilty and ashamed as though I’m a bad father for not having it done by now. This is especially true when I remember that I was riding on two wheels around the neighborhood, making jumps off of the dirt ramp at the end of our street, when I was younger than my own daughter.

I’ve spent time thinking back on my own childhood, to see what was different than the childhood I’m observing now. The reasons are numerous and vary in complexity.

Here is one example…

When I was younger, my parents both worked full-time jobs. Starting in second grade, I was responsible for getting myself ready for school in the morning. My dad would leave for work shortly after waking me up and I was the one to dress myself, brush my hair and teeth, get my own cereal, gather the things I needed for the school day ahead, and so forth. After school let out, I would walk home, let myself into the house on days when my mom was not yet home from work, and begin playing or doing home work.

With my own children, their childhood is drastically different.

Chief among those reasons is that we are a one car family. As such, a daily strategy meeting is held to figure out how we will accomplish all of the tasks and errands that need to be done.

Sometimes that requires the kids to ride along with us and spend more time in the car than at home playing in the backyard. I work full time 14 miles away from home. With traffic, it can easily take 45 minutes to drive home. On school nights that leaves little time for playing.

While we have more family time together than I had growing up, they have fewer hours to play each day.

Does that mean that I’m doing a bad job as a dad?

I don’t think so.

I think it’s important to remember that using your own childhood as a guideline for determining your value and success as a parent, rarely works out for the best.

Parenting is something that should be based on actions born of the heart and honesty in the present, rather than on fragments of your memory from decades past.

Damien Riley is a teacher, dad, and blogger based in Southern California.

His primary blog: PostCards from the Funny Farm includes articles on inspiration, teaching, psychology, and blogging. He plays guitar and recently got an REM album that is wearing out the CD player in his jeep.

Reaching your goal is a process. Along the way you learn what you are made of.

One example of a person who reached a phenomenal goal is Charles Schultz.

His life is a model for any person to follow. In presenting his life here, I break down the process of achieving your goal into 6 steps.

First: Decide on your goal.

Schultz decided in elementary school that he wanted to draw for a living. We think of Charlie Brown as something that always “was” but it wasn’t until an elementary school kid decided to make it so that it came to pass. We have power to influence what the fads and fashions of the day become. Schultz shows us in his success, which I will illustrate more in a bit, that the decision of what goal to set is the beginning of monster success.

Second: Decide if your goal is something you really can do.

In High School, Schultz submitted his cartoons to the yearbook and when it was printed he was shocked to find his work was not there. The editor told him there were too many submissions and there was no room for his. Schultz could have become discouraged at this point and gave up his dream as impossible, but he didn’t. I am so glad he persisted! Eventually his cartoons would become the #1 most sought after comics in the world. He decided to press on even more after that rejection. He decided his goal of making a living cartooning was something he really could do.

Third: Decide on the first thing you must do.

After the rejection from the yearbook, Schultz decided to pitch his art to some commercial names. He was hired by a St. Paul newspaper that published his comic Lil Folks once a week. He decided he must ask them to publish it every day and as a result they fired him. Every one of my heroes bios contains rejections like this. Schultz’ story shows us to pay no attention to success or failure at first. Instead, decide what you are going to do and follow through.

Fourth: Decide on the second thing you must do.

Schultz was not one to give up. He put his best cartoons together and mailed them to United Feature Syndicate in New York City. They decided to put his cartoons in eight newspapers across the country. That was in 1950. Here’s what was happening with Peanuts stats when he died a few years ago:

[Peanuts] reached readers in 75 countries, 2,600 papers and 21 languages every day, made Mr. Schulz very rich. The ”Peanuts” strips, merchandise and product endorsements brought in $1.1 billion a year. And Mr. Schulz was said to have earned about $30 million to $40 million annually. (New York Times)

Fifth: Start right away.

Schultz started early on in his 77 years of life to make his cartoons. When opportunity came, he was ready because he started right away.

Sixth: Keep telling yourself "I can do it."

I remember every Halloween watching the Great Pumpkin with Charlie Brown. It seems almost mythic, as if it always existed. The fact of the matter is that if Schultz did not believe in himself, I would have never experienced the joy of that show and countless comics I have read by him through the years. None of these six steps mean anything without this last one. Remember the value of believing in yourself.

I see connections here to my job as a dad, to blogging, to teaching, and anything which requires persistence. For me, these six steps are crucial for taking everyday visions and making them a reality the way Charles Schultz has done. Put him down as one of my heroes!

Which step do you think is the most important?

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Philip Lerman is the author of “Dadditude: How a Real Man Became a Real Dad,” published this year by Da Capo Books. He is the former national editor of “USA Today” and the former co-executive producer of “America’s Most Wanted.”

He lives in Washington DC with his wife, teenaged stepdaughter, five-year-old Max, and an obsessive-compulsive dog.

I’m very grateful to be asked to guest blog here at Dad Balance – hey, when you work at home, you’re happy for any interaction with adults, in any form. These days, I find myself at business meetings saying, “Wow, what a PRETTY tie! Did your mommy get that for you?”

Not to put too fine a point on it, but I think this is the most important site in the universe. For dads, anyway. My book, Dadditude, is all about searching for balance – between work and home, between your controlling male side and your mate’s ability to say things like “you have to pick your battles” with a straight face while your kid is throwing macaroni and cheese out the window – all of that.

People think that when you work at home, it’s easier to achieve a balance between work and family. And when I quit my job as producer of America’s Most Wanted, I thought so too. It’s true that when my five-year-old Max comes home from kindergarten, I get to greet him at the door most days, and we sit on the floor and have a cookie, and I ask him, “How was school today?,” and he utters that phrase so endearing and familiar to parents of five-year-olds: “I don’t remember. Can I watch TV now?” I live for that.

But I thought office dads should know that the grass isn’t as green on this side as you might think (nor is it mowed nearly as often, now that I can’t afford the lawn service anymore).

When I worked at America’s Most Wanted, I taught myself to leave the office at the office. In the evening, I stopped at my front door, and took a deep breath, and put a smile on my harried face, and opened the door, and tried to live the lessons that this page is dedicated to.

But now that I work at home, I never leave the office. Some nights at 6 pm I feel like I’m on a roll, and without the stimulus of a parade of folks in coats saying “Night, Phil, see you in the morning,” and the noise of the night cleaning crew trying to vaccum under my feet, I’m just not conditioned to stop.

Those West Coast producers who never seem to understand they can’t return my East Coast calls at 5 pm their time used to get my voicemail at the office – but now the phone rings at home, just as I’m putting Max to bed, and I can’t help but answer. I’d scurry to get things done at the office before, because I knew that once I left, they wouldn’t get done until morning. But now that my office is right next to Max’s bedroom, it’s too easy to stop back in and get another hour’s work done, or two, before The Daily Show comes on.

My wife tells me, “At least when you worked at the office, you came home from the office. Maybe you need to go out and come back in again.”

And so, once again, I have had to learn the lesson of separation.

The key, for me, is creating a new Happy Hour.

I’m not advocating giving gin and tonics to toddlers, mind you (although I certainly think anything that would calm them down a bit is worth considering, at least. But before Max was born, I always stopped down for a drink or two with my staff before heading home. Now, I needed to remember why I did that: to create a little buffer between my day persona and my night persona.

It still works. Only now, instead of going to the bar for Happy Hour, I go to the playroom.

Every day, at precisely 5 p.m., I go downstairs, and have a quick Cosmopolitan with my wife, and then head to the playroom floor. I pick up a Lego person and announce, “I am Robata from planet Shmata. Who dares to play with me?” Max’s eyes light up, and he takes it from there.

I get bored of this game in about five minutes. Max does not. I hang in there, and let the Zen of repetitive silly play wash over me. That, now, functions as my Happy Hour.

And I gotta tell you, it works pretty well. I don’t know, maybe it’s the Cosmo – but whatever it is, for that hour, I’m pretty happy.

Chris Garrett is a husband, father, professional blogger, internet marketing consultant, writer, coach, trainer and web geek.

Working at home has a great appeal and I wouldn’t change it, but it is not all roses. See if you recognize any of these pros and cons in your own work life?

Pro – Get to see much more of the family

This was the big clincher for me when I first got the opportunity to quit the job and work from home. Being able to see my daughter before school and pick her up at night has been wonderful. I missed so much before, not just because I would leave early and often finish after she had gone to bed, but also my work took me away too. Now I can pick my own schedule and plan to see much more of my daughter and the rest of my family.

Con – See family … whether I want to or not

The problem is now my work and home have been blended so that I am “available” even if I want to concentrate on something. My parents, aunties and uncles will drop in at all times of the day. Do I stay up in the office and be rude or break off and chit-chat? I love my family but I need to train them to understand just because I am HERE doesn’t mean I am FREE.

Pro – I make my own schedule

Not having a boss is fantastic. I am more productive and on my terms. Just the 2-3 hours of my day not spent on commuting have been a bonus, but also now if I feel like working out on the patio and getting some sun while I write I can. If I want to go to a school play, or hold my girls hand at the dentist, I just do. No permission, no booking in advance required.

Con – Everybody KNOWS I make my own schedule

It seems I have cleared my schedule once too many. Now nobody believes me when I say I have to work and really I should get on rather than put the shelf up, take rubbish for recycling, drive so-and-so somewhere … going out for a Starbucks one day becomes having no arguments against running errands the next.

Pro – If I want to surf, I can

Being on the go constantly is no good. To be productive we have to take breaks. I like to follow the latest stories on Digg, or read the occasional Dilbert or Penny Arcade comic. Something I could never get away with when I had a BOSS.

Con – I still get caught

I might not have a boss but I still get judgmental looks when people see my screen contains cartoon characters or they see a YouTube video. Thing is, it might be actual work! I’m a blogger, we have to keep abreast of this stuff! It’s not just my wife and her parents judging me, if my daughter hears something that sounds like fun she assumes it is play time.

Pro – If there is an emergency I am right there

In the past a work emergency would mean a long drive in the dark. Now I can just boot up.

Con – Emergencies breed

What constitutes an emergency can get out of hand. I had one client who thought nothing of having me on call 24-7. That had to stop. Not just for my sanity, but because how many times can you tell your kid that you are too busy to play before the whole idea of working from home is busted?

Summary

I would never go back to the commuting wage-slave days. Yes, all the above downsides are mostly my fault. I should make everyone aware somehow when I am working and when I can be interrupted.

Any of this familiar? How do you deal with it? Please do share your tips in the comments …?

Chris Garrett is a blogging and internet marketing consultant and lives in the UK with his wife, daughter and two overweight, treat-addicted cats. Chrisg.com is where Chris posts his thoughts and advice on the business of new media, blogging and online marketing.