DadHouse

Are your ready to be a stay-at-home dad? In this episode the dads go into why they decided to be the ones to stay home with the kids. They give you their best advice about what to think about before you take the plunge, how to make the transition happen, and what you can expect. Come join the dads for this great conversation!

For even more advice on this topic and so many others along with some fantastic humor head over to shannoncarpenterautor.com and purchase The Ultimate Stay At Home Dad.

In this episode, the dads go through what made it into the book The Ultimate Stay-at-Home Dad, and what DIDN’T make it! They’ll go through some of the arguments, give a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the process, and tell the role that poison ivy had to play in the creation of the book. So, join the dads on this hilarious episode, and have a great time! 

1:17—Before the dads get into the book, we get into Jake and his amazing woodworking. If you need a gift this holiday season, JK Design CO has tons of great designs such as cutting boards made from locally harvested wood, Charcuterie boards for entertaining, and a host of other fantastic creations. 

3:40—And a special shout-out to Ember.pearl_co for being a great friend of the show! 

11:53—The chicken update! Things are not going well. Are the chickens getting closer to the grill? 

12:57—And now we get into the behind the scenes of The Ultimate Stay-at-Home Dad Book! The book comes out on October 12.  Our first question you need to know: Did the other dads ever get tired of Shannon talking about his book? 

21:06—Which notebooks can you get so you can write in the rain? Rite in the Rain Notebooks!

22:30—Which piece of advice did the dads not let Shannon put in his book? 

30:19—Join the great debate of where you should buy your cleaning products. There are some surprisingly strong opinions on this one. 

36:10—Out of all the chapters, what is the one piece of advice that each dad is really proud of. 

45:05—It’s time for an INTERVENTION! Mick needs help with his poison ivy obsession. 

 Thanks for listening! You can buy The Ultimate Stay-at-Home Dad Here or wherever you buy books. Or visit ShannonCarpenterAuthor.com for more from Shannon. Follow him on Twitter @HossmanAtHome and Instagram @HossmanAtHome53.

What’s it like for an introverted parent?  How do they connect and find that support? The world of parenting is hard enough.  In this episode, The Dads talk to author Julie Vick and her new book Babies Don’t Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?) Filled with expert advice combined with razor sharp wit and humor, Julie takes The Dads through the ins and outs of being an introverted parent. Get your copy of Babies Don’t Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?) and join The Dads and Julie Vick on this fun episode. 

4:00-Before The Dads get into the conversation with Julie Vick, they talk about the first car they ever had.  Why?  Because Mike’s oldest daughter is getting her very first car.  Larry had a Pontiac Sunbird with a spoiler on the trunk and flip up headlights.  Larry is full of surprises. Mick says that he had a Chevy Berretta, but let’s be honest, he probably had a tractor first and won’t admit it. Shannon had a 1980 Sky Blue Extended Bed Ford.  Mike brings up the rear with his first car, a 1985 Buick Somerset with a digital dash.  

17:41-Mick gives a Chicken Update by opening up on which is the ugliest chicken in his coop. 

19:33-And our interview with Julie Vick begins! Julie Vick is a writer living in Colorado whose work has appeared in New Yorker Daily Shouts, The Washington Post, Real Simple, And McSweeney’s Internet Tendency.  Babies Don’t Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?) is her first book. 

“All parents want the same things: to balance work and home life, to raise happy kids, to never attend a baby drumming class, and to build a secret room in their home where they can hide (preferably not the bathroom). Yes, an introverted parent would more keenly want to be free of the slew of attention and expectations that accompany both pregnancy and parenthood, but even the most outgoing person is sure to reach their limit eventually. Here, with laugh-out-loud humor and well-earned experience, Julie Vick offers coping mechanisms for everything from sharing the news that you are becoming a parent to the moment the baby is born (one way or another, it will happen), from managing doctor’s visits to handling playdates. She offers advice on finding childcare and ignoring the nursing versus formula conversation with strangers. Witty yet valuable, her tips, checklists, and the occasional chart focus on the time from pregnancy through preschool.”

20:36-Why did Julie write the book?  Get your answer here. 

25:48-How can extroverts not freak out the introverts. 

34: 15-The evaluation criteria for visitors coming into your home right after your baby is born. What can introvert parents set boundaries? 

38:15-Mick goes into why Babies Don’t Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?) is going to resonate with so many parents and why did with us. 

42:07-How does an extroverted parent make friends? 

47:08-How do you respect introverts but not excluding them at the same time. 

49:48-What are the common misconceptions of introverts. 

57:30-And we end this episode with the Dadhouse Five—Five questions to check every guest’s dadness. 

Thanks to Julie Vick for coming on the show with us!  Be sure to go buy her book Babies Don’t Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?).  You can follow her comings and goings at JulieVick.com and sign up for her newsletter. Or find her on Twitter at VickJulie and Instagram at JulieVickWriter

What is the Dad’s Trip?  It’s 16 kids, 5 dads, and 1 grand adventure!  The dads pick a direction, load up the minivans, and go see the weirdest and coolest stuff they can find with the kids.  In this episode, we recap the 2021 dad's trip to the great state of Kentucky. So join us as we tell you the amazing things we found, the disasters that happened along the way, and the hotel room that had…problems.  Let’s get to the Dad’s Trip Recap! 

:40-The dads go through their favorite memories from dads’ trips in the past. 

3:25-Mick’s favorite stop on the dad's trip is the Grotto of the Redemption.  Is it a Shrine or a Jesus Castle? 

4:50- Larry loves Big Brutus.  Big Brutus is the largest movable electrical shovel.  It is 140 tons. 

9:13- Mike’s favorite stop was this year and the Corvette Museum. 

16:00-Let’s get into the 2021 Dad's Trip, the Kentucky Addition! 

22:10-The first stop, the Dungeons and Dragons Playground.  This playground was built by a father as a memorial for his son and a great visit.  

27:18-Somewhere in Illinois, Big John’s Grocery Store has a giant statue in front.  It’s one of those unexpected adventures that you don’t plan but still find it.  However, I have no idea where this was. 

29:27 – The next stop with the Muhammad Ali boyhood home, a place that everyone should see.  

30:35-In Cave Hill Cemetery, you can see the graves of both Muhmmad Ali and Colonel Sanders of KFC fame. 

32:07-In Downtown Louisville, we saw the World’s Largest Baseball Bat, A tall bottle of Whiskey, The Slugger Walk of Fame, The Birth of the Happy Birthday Song, a vampire bat sculpture, a possum,  and a giant gilded statue of David. 

38:24-For dinner that night, we went to 80/20 at Kaelin’s, which happens to be the birthplace of the American Cheeseburger. 

43:56-We didn’t get a chance to see the World’s Longest Go-Kart Track.

44:50-Next stop, Mammoth Cave. Even though we couldn’t take a tour, it was awesome.  

49:15-The Corvette Museum was our last stop on day 3 and absolutely amazing. It has a giant sink hole in it. 

57:58-The best diner we ever had was Yesterday’s Home Cooking in Metropolis, IL.  Give them a try. 

58:22-On the  last day of the dad's trip was the Superman statues in Metropolis.

59:48-Finally, what do the kids think about the dad's trip?  Let’s find out here. 

There are a lot of pictures for the dad's trip, so head over to the Dadhouse Instagram account and take a look!

In this episode, the dads are happy to welcome Shannon Brescher Shea and to talk about her book Growing Sustainable Together.  It’s a great guide on how to engage your children on how to make a positive impact on the world through sustainable living.  It’s a fun conversation with lots of great advice, practical tips, and, of course, some dad jokes.  

1:20—We kick off this episode by naming what we like to grow in the garden. 

4:10—Mick goes all Forrest Gump as he talks about cucumbers.  Dudes’ really into cucumbers.  You can pickle them, gumbo them, fish for them in the sea on the gump boat.  Then Larry throws some farmer’s shame at Mick. 

13:260-Catch up with what’s going on with the dads.  Jake starts with Facebook Marketplace misadventures. 

20:57—Chicken update

21:37—The interview with Shannon B. Shea begins. She has written the book Growing Sustainable Together: Practical Resources for Raising Kind, Engaged, Resilient Children. 

“Growing Sustainable Together is packed with easy tips, expert parenting advice, and practical hands-on activities for the toddler years up through the early teens. The enriching activities, resource guides, and recommended book lists in each chapter distill core sustainability knowledge, like:  •  Understanding energy efficiency and renewables  •  Instilling anti-waste and anti-consumerist values  •  Learning where our food comes from  •  Developing a lifelong love for environmental activism, volunteering, and community engagement.” 

29:12-She talks about how to get your kids into gardening with specific advice.  Including seed starting hacks.  

33:04-What are good starting plants to use with children? 

34:19-You give them power by putting them in control and making them feel they are the owner of this item.—A quote from Larry on this episode that is just straight up good advice about life. 

37:32—There is such a thing as squash bugs.  Basically, they are squash vampires.  Shannon is a supporter of squash vampires. 

38:09—The Washington Youth Garden

This is basically the country’s garden that teaches and engages with youth.  Finding something like this in your area is well worth your time.  In Kansas City there is the Kansas City Community Garden that is amazing. It’s were we learned to pet a bee. 

44:15—Shannon’s Husband is a stay at home dad, find out how they made that decision. 

49:20—What it means to teach your kids to be resilient. 

52:25—What is a green team and how to create it?  Shannon lets you know how. 

53:48-Let’s dad up things to build out of recycled of material.  Start with a marble run.

55:27—You can add ash to the garden.  They let you know why and how at this point. 

56:35—How do you get tweens involved and engaged?  

59:44—The Dadhouse Top 5, checking your dadness questions. 

Don’t forget to order your copy of Shannon Brescher Shea’s book, book Growing Sustainable Together: Practical Resources for Raising Kind, Engaged, Resilient Children.

You can also find more information at her website Welleatyouupweloveyouso.com and join her newsletter! 

Or connect with her on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

Well, we did it.  We packed up the entire crew and for the first time ever and took a vacation with all 26 of us.  Yes, 16 kids and 10 adults rented a house in Florida.  This isn’t the normal dad’s trip.  This time we brought the wives. Come along as we recap the adventure and give you our best tips while traveling with kids.  

3:00—Jake recounts the story the time his mom told him Disneyland was closed.  Ouch.  

6:40—Big Announcement!  Leave a review of the podcast and we will have a Cameo actor read it right on the podcast!  Go nuts and have fun with it and we will make that happen! Let’s make this happen! 

9:58—It’s time for a chicken update!  Mick’s son, Luke, has built something special so we are going to talk about that.  And contrary to Shannon’s wish, it’s not about throwing chickens. 

14:15—The dads discover that there is something called Medical Grade Organic Honey.  It’s used for burns, and in this case, it’s used for Jake’s thumb that he cooked on his new Blackstone Grill. 

17:00—Larry got his homemade zipline done.  Did he ask for help?  Nope.  Is it awesome?  Yes.  Larry used Sika Post Fix to set the poles. 

22:00—The Dads get into the Florida trip.  How it went, what went wrong, and what they learned while doing it.  Finding a house that fit 26 people was the first problem. 

23:40—And what’s the first thing Mick and Jake do when they get to the house?  They pull out the house’s tools and try to fix the house.  Why?  Nobody knows. But it was a hot water heater problem so they had to jump in. 

27:07—How do you save 21 seats on an airplane?  Apparently, you send Mike’s wife, Amanda, on first. 

27:47—The dads give their best tips for going on trips with younger kids. 

34:16—What car games can you play with your kids while on the road with the kids? 

40:58—The dads ended up getting a house that also came with a guest house.  The guest house is where the kids stayed.  Was this a good idea? 

43:45—The teenagers got a bit too rowdy the night before, so this is how we handled it.  

50:00—This is how Shannon got Larry’s kid to wear his swim shirt. 

51:50—On vacation, Mike tried to find a rocket launch from the wrong side of the state.  

53:52—The dads best beach tips. Let’s get into it here because a lot of families go to the beach and this is the advice you really need.

In this episode, Dadhouse tackles the dad clichés.  The ones that we love, the ones that we hate, and the ones that define us.  We answer some big questions such as what is the coolest NASA tool and how old is your oldest T-Shirt?  Which dad has the oldest T-Shirt?  Find out this answer on this week’s episode!

1:06 - We jump right into it with our favorite T-shirts and how old they are. Also, Mick busts out some old-time dad knowledge by naming the entire offensive line for the Green Bay Packers from the Ice Bowl. 

16:23 - The dads go into the power drill that NASA uses.  The NASA Pistol Grip Tool is everything a father would love to have in his toolbox. It was 1.5 million dollars to develop with a little bit of a steampunk look. 

19:30 - Welcome to our new segment.  Mick’s Chicken Update. 

20:30 - Mike has taken up golf again but has not invited Shannon, which is honestly a bit rude.  But Mike has new golf clubs and he’s ready to break them in. 

23:05 - It’s time to start this week’s topics.  The dad clichés.  The guys start the conversation by recounting some of the home improvement projects they’ve done and how much they appreciate Shannon supervising from his lawn chair.  They say that they don’t, but they also don’t write the show notes.  So, in this version, they love how Shannon supervises and now believe that they should use his system when moving. 

29:50 - The next dad cliché is the size of dad’s wallet.  But apparently Shannon is the only one that has a thick wallet.   

31:39 - What is the one dad cliché that totally fits you. At this part, they all get into which ones that they fit. 

43:55 - It turns out that Mick is a hundred different dad clichés.  But that’s why we love him. 

46:37 - The biggest dad cliché out there but also one of the best.  Here the dads give out their best life advice for the younger generation. 

As we end here, we want to say happy Father’s Day to all of you.  Keep making those memories.

You know him as internet famous @xploding unicorn.  Buzzfeed calls him “the funniest dad on Twitter.”  He stops by the podcast to talk about his new book How to be a Man (Whatever That Means): Lessons in Modern Masculinity from a Questionable Source.  So, sit back and enjoy the conversation that is chocked full of dad jokes, good times, and the perfect design for a man stroller.   And for the first time ever, we roll out the Dadhouse Five:  Check Your Dadness.  

7:12-- We are right into the conversation with James and the greatness of hot sauce.  Mick gives a shout-out to Des Moines hometown favorite Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce. 

9:28—James has urban pigs.  Mick has never been so happy to talk livestock.  And Shannon learns that there is a thing called a pellet spreader to feed pigs.  

15:55—Everyone loves the Indianapolis Children’s Museum.  And for Kansas City, don’t miss the WWI Museum or Hallmark’s Kaleidoscope. 

18:58—And if you’re in Iowa, don’t miss Pulpit Rock Brewing Company or Toppling Goliath Brewing. 

20:10—We kick off today’s topic: Manhood and Fatherhood and how it intersects in today’s world.  We start with the question of the best and worst examples of fatherhood in today’s media. 

23:51—There was a time where the five dads on Dadhouse shot a reality show pilot for TLC.  It was ten years ago and never made the air, but here is the story. 

29:28—How does the world market to dads? 

37:31—And here it is, the perfect stroller for a dad. 

41:47—Something new that we are doing with every guest.  The Dadhouse Five!  Five Questions to Check Your Dadness. 

Now go by the book!  

Visit XplodingUnicorn.com to find links to everything James Breakwell.  

Twitter: @xplodingunicorn.com

Facebook: James Breakwell Xploding Unicorn. 

Instagram: James_Breakwell

And don’t forget to sign up for his super funny weekly newsletter!

6:38:  Shannon has a TikTok channel and would like to publicly apologize to everyone for this transgression.  There’s going to be a giveaway.  Join his channel and get a chance to braid his belly hair *Legal Notice-This is not a real contest.  Please do not braid his belly hair. 

10:21:  Mike and Jake talk about the Buschy McBush Race.  Apparently, that’s a real thing. 

15:41:  Mick gets into the “Chicken Incident.”  Only Iowa farm boys call things chicken incidents.  Tune in and find out what happened to Mick’s chicken babies. 

22:30:  The garage sale talk starts. Let’s get into it! 

23:22:  The dads give tips for finding the best garage sales.  

24:40:  There are a lot of apps that can organize your garage sale hunt.  Try Yard Sale Treasure Hunt or Garage Sale Map to get started.  

26:08:  The best place to get toddler clothes, especially for summer, is at the garage sales.  Prices can vary wildly but the dads stick to 50 cents for a shirt and a dollar for pants.

31:00:  Kids toys, especially brand name stuff, gouge parents.  One of the best tips the dads have is to skip the stores and buy things like Thomas the Train and Legos at garage sales. Not to mention sports gear and fishing supplies.  And don’t forget about estate sales and auctions can have some great deals.  

34:35:  You can also turn flipping items you get at a garage sale into a nice side hustle.  

35:11:  Who is the best negotiator of the dads?  The game starts here! 

36:00 Everyone meet Linda, she is selling a complete set of Thomas the Tank Engine toys.  What kind of deal can Larry get? 

37:14:  Mick is up and trying to negotiate the best deal on a book called the Bigfoot and the Biologist.  It’s, um, a special book. 

40:50:  Mike is trying to get the best deal on the Ruud, the world’s first water heater ever made.  Mike goes the wrong way and actually offers more at the garage sale. In fact, he yells at the seller.  

43:00:  The best Star Wars Poster Mike ever bought.  

46:06:  Ready to run your own garage sale?  Here the dads talk about what you need to know when setting up your own garage sale. 

50:49:  The dads wrap up the show with their takeaways for garage sales.

In this episode, it’s back to question and answer time.  You asked, and we answered.  We go through all the questions and answer them only as a dad can.  Probably. 

3:00—The guys help Mike with his new bar game to install in his garage. 

8:37—Did the dads really teach toddlers how to throw axes?  You bet we did.  It was a great day at the Woolaroc Museum & Wildlife Preserve is a one-of-a-kind adventure you should take your kids to! 

9:00—Larry has fixed his loose sheet problem. 

11:14—Larry’s Master Sheet Service as read by Macho Man Randy Savage. Dear God, this is the best ad I have ever written.  Did we hire a guy just to have a little fun with Larry?  Yes.  Yes, we did.  

15:00--The dads get into the questions. 

16:00—What are the dads’ biggest disasters? 

18:00—Why did the dads get asked to leave a football stadium?  Listen and find out. 

20:00—By now, the famous Mormon disaster. 

23:39—Larry shares why you should never mow with flip-flops on. 

25:40—How do you get rid of squirrels that are causing you problems? We suggest Mark Rober

34:04—The dads describe their go-to meals on the grill or the smoker.  

44:30—Shannon’s new website is up and running and his newsletter is ready for signups!  Get monthly updates on the podcast, behind-the-scenes stuff on the book The Ultimate Stay-at-Home Dad, and a free giveaway!  This month’s giveaway is 10 awesome and unexpected adventures for you and your kids.  Sign up today at ShannonCarpenterAuthor.com