What is Improvising Fatherhood?

I have to start this post by apologizing to two people. First to the anonymous person who submitted a question about what Chandler’s favorite toys are, and second to fellow Tumblr-er nicodemehedo who says IF “has kind of stopped being a parenting blog.”

First things first. An anonymous inquisitor asked

Does Chandler like the tent/tunnel/balls thing that you got him? I’m thinking of getting one for my daughter’s 1st birthday. If not, what are some of his favorite toys?

Chandler does like the Ball Tent quite a bit. He specifically likes sitting in the middle of the balls and having them pushed all around him by Mom or Dad. Also, for a while we took the Tent down and just left the tunnel sitting out in the middle of our kitchen. Every now and then he would tumble on through it as if he had decided to take the scenic route.

Another one of Chandler’s favorite toys right now is his blue car. He LOVES cruising for chicks in it. Other than that, Chandler is generally enamored with any toy that makes noise, and just about anything that has a tag on it. He loves tags.

Chandler also likes playing with Mommy’s face. Lately he has been doing this thing where he will grab her face and make her look at him, and then release her and go about his business. So if you don’t have a face, I highly recommend getting one. (If you actually don’t have a face, I am REALLY sorry for that crass joke.)

If you are thinking about getting the Ball Tent for your daughter’s 1st birthday, I support that decision. Also, do you have entertainment for her 1st birthday? If not I’ve got another recommendation to make.

Hope that answers your question.

Okay, now on to the second issue at hand. Today I saw that my recent post of a picture of Chandler on a dog leash was re-blogged by nicodemehedo. My first thought was, “Yay!” In Tumblr-ville a re-blogging someone’s post is a sign of affection. Then I read the comment on the re-blog.

Putting a leash on your child isn’t parenting. This has kind of stopped being a parenting blog.

So my second thought was, “Huh?” I can’t tell if this blogger is being serious or if they are being playful or something else. But since their blog doesn’t give any options for commenting or contacting them, I thought I would leave my comments here.

As far as leashing your child goes, I’m against it. I actually already talked about this HERE where I say

putting your kid on a leash is really just lazy parenting. If you don’t teach your kids not to run into oncoming traffic, the day that you let your kid off the leash…BAM! Hit by a bus. And then you have to get a new kid.

But I want to address the bigger issue in nicodemehedo’s comment. Improvising Fatherhood has kind of stopped being a parenting blog. Actually, Improvising Fatherhood is not a parenting blog. It’s a blog about a parent. It’s a comedy blog.

I’m a comedian. I’m a writer. And I’m a father. When I became a father my entire perspective on life was altered. Comedians are always looking for “material” to talk about. When I became a father I suddenly had a whole new world of material to discuss. This blog is dedicated to that world.

So Improvising Fatherhood is a blog and it most often talks about parenting. Oddly enough, I know a lot of people who are not parents, and yet they love the blog too. Improvising Fatherhood is not a parenting blog. It’s a funny blog that parents can relate to.

Improvising Fatherhood is my sense of humor through the lens of being a father. I hope you like it.

UPDATE: Nicodemehedo just sent me this message.

The “This has kind of stopped being a parenting blog” comment was intended to be facetious. I’m sorry that it didn’t translate in the text. My bad. :x

Thanks Nico for your response. I’m glad to know you still like IF. And either way, I was happy to have your comment spark that post. By the way, has anyone ever told you that you write like Kurt Vonnegut? :)