Introducing The ABC's of Daddyhood

This week I started work on what will eventually become my first book, entitled "The ABC's of Daddyhood" and I can't tell you how excited I am about it! Okay, yes I can. I am UBER EXCITED about it! I don't consider myself an author and I sure don't consider myself a parenting expert. The purpose of writing this book is just to share 26 words with everyone that I relate to parenting and share some stories and insights into those 26 words.

From time to time, as I work on writing "The ABC's of Daddyhood" I will share excerpts or whole chapters here on The DaddyYo Blog for you to check out, and provide feedback on. As stated above, I am not an author, and I couldn't think of anyone better to turn to than my readers as a make this journey to publication.

So for this Fatherhood Friday, I present you the Foreward and Dedication for "The ABC's of Daddyhood"


A Quick Note Before Getting Started


Thank for deciding to take the leap through a new look at the ABC’s from a dad’s perspective. I hope you find this book entertaining and possibly maybe even a little inspiring. Every dad’s journey through fatherhood is different because every dad is different. We may not share the same feelings, the same joys, or the same fears as others have. 


Dads, however, are all just that: DADS. Over the last year I have been able to connect with and talk to dads all over the country and in different parts of the world. We have talked about our joys, our accomplishments, our fears, and our sorrows. The important thing is that we talked. Dads are sharing their stories, their thoughts, their suggestions, and their resources to help other dads be the best they can be. 


This book is just the same. It is me sharing my ups and downs, my thoughts and my feelings about being a dad. I am not a parenting expert, thought I have a PhD in changing diapers. I’m not a professional writer either. Just one dad here to share with others. 


The ABC’s of Daddyhood is my journey through 26 words that I relate to my own parenting life. Along the way I will share stories and thoughts about the words for each chapter and a few insights I have gained. Take from it what you will, leave what you want. Thanks for checking it out, now on with the show!


John Taylor
(DaddyYo)


*This book is dedicated to: The Wifey, my rock and support, my love forever. The Buggaboo and The Pooties, my children, my worlds, my reason and my heart. To my parents, my providers throughout childhood, the examples and the leaders. And to dads all over the world who strive to be the best dad they can be. This one's for you!

Fatherhood Friday: Things I Miss

Last night, just before going up to bed, my wife and I were looking at Caleb's 1st birthday pictures. So hard to believe that was over 2 years ago. We were talking about how much Marlee looks like him at that age and how hard it is to believe that he used to be so small! Then we went upstairs and I started thinking about when Caleb was younger and when Mar was first born. I started thinking about all the things that they used to do, or we used to do as a family that I miss.

• I miss how Caleb used to laugh out loud in his sleep right as he fell asleep. The little man would barely have his eyes closed before it would start. He would cackle, coo, and laugh so loud he would wake himself up!

• I miss the night like the first night we brought Marlee home. Just me and my baby girl in the room together. Waking up to feed her as she just stared into my eyes.

• I miss singing Weezer to Caleb while we just danced and danced around the living room. Even his first night home where he only slept an hour. We danced and danced and danced. Now that he is older he doesn't like to do that so much anymore :(

• I miss the 11am nap, the 2pm nap, the 6pm nap, the 9pm nap, the 11pm bedtime and wake up call at 9am. So much sleep. Where did it all go?

• I miss carrying Marlee around in the Snuggie at Wal-Mart. Partially because of the looks people would give me like "Why is the DAD wearing the baby?" but mostly because she was close to me. Easy to lean down and give her a kiss. Happy.

• I miss all the little things that seemed so small back then, but have made such a large lasting impression on my memories of my children and of being a dad

So many memories, so much time, so much that has just flown by in the last 3 years of my dadhood. It all just serves as a reminder that the time is precious, and we should all be making the best of it. First smiles, first steps, even first runny noses and poop diapers that overflow their boundaries, it all makes the memories that make up our lives. What do you miss?

Fatherhood Friday Blog Hop Courtesy of Dad at The Chalkboard

GOOD FRIDAY MORNING! Hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend coming up. I know those of you in my area and the surrounding areas are gearing up for race weekend over at Bristol Motor Speedway. If you are going, be careful and be smart. As for me, I will be off today, but back to work tomorrow. Weekends off are a rarity for me. But I digress.

Friday is a great time in the online dadosphere. Lots of great posts about dadhood going up in honor of Fatherhood Friday. But what about those of us, like me, who find themselves in the midst of a brain fart on Friday? The answer is simple! IT'S A BLOG HOP!!! Brian ( @SpinyNorman ) to the rescue with his 2nd Fatherhood Friday blog hop over at Dad at the Chalkboard.

The dads have been talking, they have been writing, but most important, they have been sharing. Here is your chance to share with the rest of the dadosphere and keep the community growing and supported. The online community of dads is an amazing group, and is always ready to welcome anything another day may have to share. Here is the 411 on how to get hopping!!!! (via Dad at the Chalkboard)

The Guidlines

1. You need to be a father. New father, old father, soon to be father, want some day to be a father, father...doesn't matter. You just need to be a dad. (Or a really awesome mom!)

2. You must own and maintain your own blog.

3. If you meet the requirements for rules one and two, look back over your posts from the past week, from Friday to Friday. Re-read them all.

4. Choose the post you feel was your particular BEST for the week. It can be funny, helpful, sad, dramatic, deep, light...whatever. Pick the post that most reflects you and what your awesome blog has to offer.

5. Follow the host. That's me. It's quick and painless and I always follow back. (This part is optional, but oh so appreciated!)

6. Put your blog address and a short description of the post in the Linky link located below. Be short but concise. (You know...like twitter!)

7. After you are on the list, surf the posts of the other dads and follow as many as you can. Read and above all else COMMENT! We all know that comments are to bloggers what a keg of Dear Park water is to a desert nomad.

8. Grab the code below, create a new post on your blog, and enter it so you can share the growing list with all your followers. Then just sit back and let it grow!


Join us this Friday and share with the other dads of the web your favorite post from your blog. And of course, enjoy the weekend with your family. Remember that yesterday is just a memory, and tomorrow is but a prayer. We are never guaranteed the time, so don't sit back and stare.

My Five F's of Fatherhood - Post Revived

This is a post from my very first blog "Hell Hath No Fury like Half a Stale Cheesy". . As I have been thinking about my own dadhood recently and the upcoming Fatherhood Friday, I thought I would revive this post and put it back out there, because it sums up exactly what I have been thinking of my life recently. Enjoy!




So as the week ends and the weekend is getting ready to be in full swing, I thought I would take today to write a post about the letter of the day: the letter "F". It's Friday. On Twitter it is FollowFriday and to dads everywhere and over at Dad-Blogs.com it is Fatherhood Friday. So what better letter to write about today than the letter "F". So without further delay I present you with DaddyYo's "Five F's of Fatherhood"

How AWESOME Life Can Be

Before I go to bed each night I kiss my Buggaboo on the cheek and tell him : Night Night and Love You. Typically he says it back in that sleepy sweet voice only a 3yo could have. In the morning I wake up to the Pooties giving me my glasses and a ''suggie''. How awesome it is that I get to be that guy! Happy Fatherhood Friday to all the other dads who get to be that awesome as well!

Real Talk: Being Real as a Dad

Continuing in the series "Real Talk" I figured it would only be right when it came to hitting on certain areas of life that I would talk about being real when it comes to being a dad. I guess a lot of people would say that if you are a "real man" as defined by the posts in this series then being a dad would just coem as part of that. However, I do not see this as being entirely true.

To be able to be real in life, I must be real in all areas of my life. I am a dad above all else. My children come first for everything in my life (followed very very VERY closely by my wife). Therefore, it seems logical to have a very stronger will to be real as a dad, above other areas. What does this mean exactly?

My calling, as a dad, is to protect, provide for, and teach my children, to do it to the best of my ability, and to prepare them for the life that lies ahead of them. This also calls for me to be real with myself and with my children at all times. I am here to tell you it's not possible. There are times when my actions or my reactions to situations are out of line, and need a realignment. There are times when my judgement does not reflect the best of my abilities.

This area is under constant construction. Never could I know all the answers all the time all the right times. I want what's best for my children (who doesn't, right?). Eventually they will grow up and one day look back on how they were raised when questioning their own parental abilities. What I do now, will be a reflection of who I am now, to who they are then. Right? My oldest is at the age where imitation is the key to learning how to act, react, and what to say and when. Too many words of anger heard, too many words of anger spoken. Words of love, honesty, firmness, and compassion foster a caring, proper, and honest understanding of life and the cause and effect of actions.

I want my children to know that their father loves them, even when anger is about to boil over, and to be able to recognize that anger, before it boils. I want to be able to speak nothing but honesty and compassion with them, so they may grow up to be kind and understanding. I want my life to be something they can measure me by, and be admired by.

Perhaps they won't grow up the way I want them to. In fact, I can promise they won't. But one thing that can remain a constant through the times we will share together, is that I tried to be real with them and in my raising of them. I promise them to try, to try to be real, to try to be honest, and loving and compassionate, to raise them with the best of my abilities, and to raise them the way being a "real dad" calls me to be.

Fatherhood Friday - Faith Like A Child

"They say that I can move the mountains. And send them crashing into the sea. They say that I can walk on water. If I would follow and believe, with faith like a child" - Jars of Clay

Awesome lyrics as I think about the subject of today's post.  Faith like a child. You know, it never ceases to amaze me, the mind of a child that is. How the world is so open and full of new ideas and incalculable possibilities. Somewhere in the course of life we lose that ability to just walk with blind faith and unshakable ambition.


The photo above makes me think about this as it is my niece and my son looking out over Lake Murray in Lexington, SC. These two children have no fear about life and a passion for living that has no way to be explained in adult terms. They have a faith that cannot be broken and a hope that cannot be smashed.

Why is it that we lose this faith as we grow older. Sure, we know more about the dangers, uncertainties, and realities of the world as we grow, but why does this shake our faith down to it's foundation? Do we lose the ability to have this kind of faith? Do we lose the recognition of this faith?

Children all over the world, poor, rich, white, black, disabled, fully able, children everywhere, no matter the background, have a faith of the world that is to be admired, and in all honesty, something to be jealous of. Many children as they grow older will say "Daddy, I wanna be just like you" or "I'm going to be an astronaut when I grow up." We will say "okay, you be an astronaut" or "thank you for saying that." But do we believe like they do that these things are possible? If not, then why don't we?

I know this post seems more like a pointless ramble about stuff, but really, take a study of your children. Study how blindly they will follow you and believe everything you say. Watch as the hairbrush becomes a microphone to start the singing career they believe they will have when they grow up. Watch, in their eyes, this faith that allows them to greet each day with no fear, no animosities, and no worries. It is an amazing thing to behold and be inspired by. Where is our faith? Where is our childlike sense that will allow us to go out, dream, and believe that anything is possible with just a little faith?

"They say that I can walk on water. If I will follow and believe, with faith like a child"