Dear Old Dads

Thomas shares something Arlo loves doing and has declared he'd like to do for a career and the dads dig into helping our kids navigate the choice between pursuing a passion or seeking stability. Stick around for the story at the end if you want to hear Eli's newest sadness earworm!

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First, the dudes compare music taste. Then, a listener email asks the dads for advice about handling a recent situation they experienced where their kid's school carried out its full crisis procedure after the child said something minor in class, and the consequences on their own life (their workday, the weekend, etc.) as a result. How should a parent react in that circumstance, what is appropriate to discuss with your child to avoid these situations in the future, and at what age might that advice change?

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Our dudes gather today to talk about what obligation parents have to decline their children opportunities in sports that have a high risk of brain injury and possible development of CTE. Is there a middle ground, where they can play things like football and soccer up to a certain level, before it gets dangerous - or is it always too risky?

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The New York Times' recently ran a piece where they just get it completely wrong (surprise) on tackling security issues with Roblox and other online offerings after some particularly troubling incidents connected to the game. Eli comes prepped with an analogy that makes way more sense as we chat about the inevitability of our kids being in online spaces. How three bears is this one going to be?

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The dads gather to answer a listener question for an especially tough situation that the listener's friend is navigating. If a not-cash-money thing happens to our kid, how should we react? If a not-cash-money thing happens to your friend's kid, what can you do to be supportive during that moment? It's a real 2 bears and a psychopath!

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The dudes are here to discuss toxic male sexual inadequacy, the cultural underpinnings of it, and how most often it is something men just inflict upon themselves.

A note from Lydia: Listeners, you'll hear Tom refer to this as Episode 269 during the intro and, obviously, classic humor ensues. You are not losing your mind: it is, in fact, Episode 230, but Tom shouted out the recording session number, which was 269. As you were. 6-7.

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Thomas shares what he thinks might be a parenting win with one of his kiddos by walking a fine line between what his parents had done when he was a kid and what Eli would probably do. How realistic should we be when our kids share their expectations and dreams with us?

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Part 2 of 2! The dads continue their conversation from Episode 227 regarding how to evaluate whether or not your kid is "too online" and what actions you should take to intervene. More specifically, what might be some signs that your child is falling into one of those cesspools?

Also, place your bets now: what percentage of this episode will be Eli's Italian Brainrot?

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Part 1 of 2! In light of yet another terrible *motions to everything*, we thought it was time to talk about how to evaluate if your kid seems "too online," if certain spaces are worse than others, and what the consequences of that might be. The dads line up in a bit of a three bears situation on what this means to them exactly, but there's just so much more to dig into on this topic that we'll be finishing up the conversation on Thursday's episode.

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For extended episodes, bonus content, and most importantly, for an AD FREE SHOW, make sure to pledge on Patreon!

The dads gather to discuss the unexpected toxic masculinity behind much of the self-improvement sold toward men these days. Why are these activities so... solo? Do they have to be?

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