Time for regular dads to vent about regular problems. More humor than advice. Lots of funny stories about the difficult times, the good times and the really poopy times. For the record we dont have any qualifications whatsoever. We did however, have a great father to learn from.
Have you ever wondered what happened to ‘cowboys and indians’, cap guns, stamp collecting, kick the can, etc.? In this episode we discuss the things WE played as kids, what was different, what we should bring back to todays children and what we should leave back in the ’70s. Here is the quick summary: Cowboys […]
We all know how important it is to spend time with our special ladies (you know who you are). This is one of those things that we all agree is important, but that is still difficult to do. Here are some of the ideas we had: It is great to set a consistent time (hopefully […]
When is your child old enough to stay home alone? When is your child old enough to babysit? We discuss these and other issues relating to children and independence. Sort of a fourth or July special… This is Mark’s topic. Alex (age 12) stays alone after school sometimes and now that the summer has started […]
Obesity is a real problem with kids today. We go through and give our ‘guys opinion’ on how to keep kids healthy and happy. As dads it all seems simple. Make them go outside and dont let them eat too much much. It all comes down to this – ‘Be the Parent!’ We are oversimplifying […]
Barefoot and pregnant – That’s how we like em! Have I got your attention now? Who does the dishes in your house? How about the laundry? Who cleans the toilets? Do men do as much of the dirty work as the wee womenfolk do? All this and more in our Household Chores episode. Some interesting […]
The big political episode. Can you handle it! Actually it wasnt all that crazy. We went ‘lightning round’ and tore through topics in ‘town hall’ style. Here were the hot topics we covered: Gun Control – Matt and John are pro gun and therefore anti gun control. Mark hates guns, but realizes that the laws […]
We finally brought in an expert! Dr. Bob Cook, professor of Computer Science at Georgia Southern University. Dr. Bob has been teaching college students about technology for over 35 years! In addition to GSU, Dr. Bob has taught at Ole Miss, UVa and the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Cook’s take on the issue of women […]
Have you had trouble getting your child to sleep? Have you ever had trouble KEEPING you child asleep? Have you ever had trouble waking your child up? These answers and more! Just tune in. Getting them to sleep: Some children (John’s) needed background noise such as running water. Letting the kids into your bed can […]
Welcome to 2013! Hear about the best toys of Christmas by age. Did you know that power wheels (battery powered kids vehicles – Jeeps in our cases) are actually motorized vehicles in the eyes of the law? That means they must obey the speed limit of course. And as the safety nerd points out, they […]
Merry Christmas from EF HQ! We talk about Christmas preparations, Christmas letter dos and don’ts, how great Amazon is and all that. Oh and that dratted elf! Tune in for some quick dorky fun. Also, listen to our moments and rants. We Owens Brothers thank you for listening all year and wish you a very dorky […]
Matt and I were arguing about who would write this, but I (Mark) won…HA! Its mine… All mine! (I am doing the final edit … it’s mine (Matt)) Sibling rivalry is not simply when your children are competitive, it is when they bug each other senselessly and thus argue and thus annoying you, the parent. We listened […]
Announcing Andrew Paul Owens – Hurricane Baby. He blew in to Matt’s house on October 27 and we hear all about it. It sounds like all went well and he is a good baby. Still ‘three under four’ is a challenge. Mark chimed in with some goofy stuff from parenting.com and we had three weeks […]
Justin Wosham joins us on this episode. What a blast! We talk to him about being a comedian and being a father, but mostly we just had a bunch of laughs. We also talk about how Mary is about to pop and John’s injury prone weekend. All this was comedy gold when Justin got ahold of […]
Sage advice on raising children (especially boys) in the age of video games. There are several major problems with video games They cost a lot of money (Here at EF we are nothing if not frugal…) They are usually antisocial activities. They can contain serious violence They can cause an addiction A lot of this […]
Bill tells us about having an only child and Matt and Mark mock him for how ‘hard’ it must be. Bill is also inundated with pets… I hear changing a hermit crab’s diaper can be dicey… We learn how to avoid over drama. Why we don’t let our daughters get tattoos and that iPhones can […]
College costs way too much! There is the sticker price and then the real price, just like cars. Is the traditional college approach worth it? Is it really the parent’s responsibility to pay for it? Aren’t some majors totally dumb! Government subsidizes colleges heavily. Should they? What are the effects. This was a great discussion […]
Sorry for the hiatus. Our excuse – summers are busy. Also, see the top ten list below! Give us a listen for an update on the EF Summer activities. Mark’s list of beer selling gimmicks. What beer makes cold mountains turn blue? What beer has a ‘specially lined can?’ Answers to these and other universal […]
This is a list of movies that lie in the intersection of Child Love and Parental Love on a Venn diagram: Cars Lion King Finding Nemo Incredibles How to Train Your Dragon Monster’s Inc. (Dory Rocks!) Alladin (the Genie Rocks!) We also mentioned some classics: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Mary Poppins Bedknobs and broomsticks Watership […]
Have your kids ever had an ‘incident’ in the bath? In Matt’s family they call that a ‘CODE BROWN’. This is all made even more fun with our special guest, Pete Loomis. We tell all the fun stories about our kids in the bath: how to wash their hair never to run to the convenience […]
Tonight’s discussion – Kids sleeping in YOUR bed! Do your kids wangle their way into your bed? Aren’t they cozy? Have you ever tried to get them out of your bed after? Getting them back in their own bed isn’t so easy is it? Matt’s single night rule – Never let them sleep in your bed […]
Reading is important! We go through our favorite books from baby board books to chapter books to teen series. We go through our favorites and even give tips on getting our kids to read. Much reminiscing and tales of favorite books ensues. Matt and Mark both cry at the end of ‘Guess How Much I […]
As a man, the garage is our final frontier (unless, like John, you have a basement). Garages hold our tools, our camping gear, and our cars… OH and like 5,000 cubic yards of kids toys! Special guest, Dad Owens shares his thoughts as we discuss garages of our past, garage destruction techniques, clutter and storage systems. Does […]
Silver Anniversary Episode! Have you ever considered taking a job in another country? What impact would it have on your family? My good friend Antonio Medina joins us all the way from Sao Paulo, Brazil to tell us the pros and cons of ‘taking the family international’. He has a wonderful wife and three super […]
Hey all, John brings up a good topic this week relating to grandparents and rules. What about ‘what happens at grandma’s house stays at grandma’s house?’ Should grandparents be like Vegas? Or does that go too far. We came to the conclusion that when kids are with both grandparents and parents, parents rules should govern. […]
Hey All, What if Jesus was Irish? Guiness as the blood of Christ? Ok so we got a bit irreverent… Matt talks about baby names. Mark talks about ‘letting kids be kids’ and John did a combined topic/rant about takers/givers. There were laughs all around in this Easter episode. I (Mark) was actually visiting EF […]
You have to listen to this one. Matt reveals big news and I aint puttin it in the blog post. You need to hear it to believe it! Topics Mark – spending quality (individual) time with each kids Matt – Cool stories about how you found out your wife was cooking a bun John – […]
World Down Syndrome Awareness Day is March 21. We celebrate this with our guest, Jason Cosky. Mark and Jason both have children with Down Syndrome so this is a topic near and dear. We go through some basic facts about DS: Officially Trisomy 21 – An extra copy of the 21st chromosome. Hence the date […]
Hey all, A score of episodes? Can you believe it? We debunk all the gender myths about raising children. Yes, boys and girls ARE different and we tell it straight. Girls – More helpful and loving. Easier when young, alien life forms in the teenage years. Way more common sense. They need a lot of […]
Another week of great fun! John is not afraid of angry engineers. Matt is fixing real satellites in a bunny suit which is pretty darn cool! Mark gets a ‘Keystolope’. (did I spell that right John?) We talk about minivans and how awesome they are. The stigma about a real man owning a minivan seems […]
Hey all, Eighteen episodes: our podcast is old enough to vote now! Some quick notes for Episode #18 Matt makes an excellent Mr. Mom Things are going well in John’s house. The man is a machine. Ben (living in Mark’s house) starts his job tomorrow (tomorrow for the podcase, today as I write this) In […]
Tune in for another fun filled episode: Valentine’s Day roundup Advice from the ‘grammarnerd’ Do we buy our kids too much crap? Spend more time with your children! Of course, but what exactly will they remember? Should the government control our kids lunches. Hell no! Success Story, Mark’s little brother Ben gets a job! More […]
Hey all, Join Matt, Mark and John along with subject matter expert Matt W as we discuss the fun filled world of twins! Matt W (other brother Matt) has twin boys aged 3. We ask him also sorts of questions about his fun and busy life. C’mon, I know all you dads were secretly hoping […]
We tell you the truth about Valentine’s day. John and Mark school Matt with important tips for making the day special for your wife. Tips that are simple, inexpensive and effective. A good gift requires prior planning and thoughfulness. Here are our suggestions Mail the valentines card in advance so she gets it in the mail. […]
That’s right, we had Jack Owens, the patriarch himself on the show tonight. Tune in to hear the what parenting was like thirty or forty years ago. It was a fair bit different than it is today. We tell stories of all the things they did wrong and yet how everything turned out right. It […]
Matt talks about kids birthday parties. How far is too far? Parental competition can be fierce, but making your kid happy is what is important. Mark brings up some stories about special needs activists whose issues have gone viral. Here are the links for the issues Mark was talking about: http://noahsdad.com/target-down-syndrome/ http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/health/organ-transplant-child/index.html?iref=allsearch Rants, moments and stories are […]
Hey all, Guest expert Pete Shields enlightens us on the joys of having a large family. He has eight children! How do they do it? He tells us some funny stories, explains the logistics and gives us a few sanity tips for coping with kids when they outnumber you. My favorite was the part about […]
Welcome to 2012! John talks about issues with our higher education system (why is their xmas break so long?). College costs an arm and a leg, at the very least, they could make the semesters full length. We need more for our money Matt discusses issues with emergency itching and the Owens Family affliction – TRex […]
Hey all, Hopefully you are downloading this on the new iPod you got for christmas. Congratulations. We hope you enjoy our tenth episode! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!!! If you dont want to hear the whole sticker saga, just FF to 10:36 (just kidding, Matt) John had a great Christmas with lots of fun family events but […]
Merry Christmas to all, A very festive show. We all go through our xmas preparations, discuss how to pick a good gift for your wife, talk about how Amazon.com has become a christmas staple and generally have a good time. John really needs some Christmas spirit, so send him your positive vibes if you can. He […]
Hey all, Another fun filled episode. Stuff to make you laugh, stuff to make you cry, stuff to make you puke. You might even kill the cat. Can I press the plunger next Papa John. This is a seriously funny episode. If you dont laugh, we will send you your money back… Just to balance […]
Real Brothers, Real Dads, Real Problems! Hey all, Go to the fridge, get a beer and sit back for another fun filled episode with the safetynerd, the spacenerd and the waternerd. John talks about kids not cleaning their plates (people are starving in Ethiopia) Matt regales us about buying a sequoia to use as a […]
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