Thanksgiving is a time of looking back with gratitude. It is a time when collectively we gather in communities of the heart to remind one another that regardless of the circumstances of the past, the present holds something, somewhere to be thankful for.
Memories aren’t only tied to the past however. Memories help to shape hopes and dreams. And while the phrase, “remembering the future,” may sound strange probably a day doesn’t go by that you don’t tell yourself or someone else to remember some…
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Added by Rich Batten on November 28, 2009 at 5:04pm —
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It was a Sunday morning and an early winter storm had moved in over night. I had just started the coffee and went to put on my snow boots to get the paper when I realized I had left them at work. Such is the characteristic of Denver snow and sun, enough snow to warrant boots in the morning and sun by midday to have you wishing you had your sandals with you.
Dang! Not wanting to venture out in my slippers, I reached for my old standbys, my Dannerâ hiking boots. Bought in the spring of ’75, they…
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Added by Rich Batten on November 18, 2009 at 4:30pm —
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Some of my favorite parenting memories are reading with my children. Whether I was holding them on my lap in a rocking chair, laying prostrate beside them on their bed, sitting leaned up against their bed, sitting in the hall way between their rooms voicing the characters of the Narnia or Harry Potter series, sitting together in the family room or using a flashlight in a tent on a mountain side – the location and posture didn’t matter – what did matter was the bond we created by being together i…
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Added by Rich Batten on November 4, 2009 at 6:33pm —
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As I write this the World Series is rounding third base and heading for home. And while other sporting events may challenge the supremacy of baseball, in the words of a character in W.P. Kinsella's 1982 novel,
Shoeless Joe, "The one constant throughout all the years has been baseball. America has been erased like a blackboard, only to be…
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Added by Rich Batten on November 4, 2009 at 6:26pm —
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Just over half of the respondents to the
Colorado Dads web survey on how father-inclusive their child’s school is perceive it to be “mostly” or “Fully” inclusive. I wish it were more, but the good news is that fathers’ involvement in their children’s education is on the rise according to a recent (and more sophisticated) study by
The National Center for Fath…
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Added by Rich Batten on August 16, 2009 at 6:19pm —
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I write this post on the evening of a full moon. I have always anticipated and enjoyed full moons as they rise in the evening, stand guard through the night and set in the growing light of the dawn. I anticipate this evening a little differently since reading a research article by Suzanne M. Flannery Quinn. Her article is actually on the presence and depictions of fathers in best-selling picture books in the U.S. and is published in the Spring 2009 edition of…
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Added by Rich Batten on August 8, 2009 at 11:48am —
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Twenty plus years ago I finished graduate school in May, my daughter was born in June and my first job out of grad school came in September . . . of the following year. I became an at-home dad right from the start. And from that moment my heart and direction was set. Whatever I did, wherever I did it I was always going to be about helping men be the kind of dads their children need them to be.
Erma Bombeck captured my commi…
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Added by Rich Batten on July 28, 2009 at 12:00pm —
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You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that studies indicate that children are spending half as much time outside as they did 20 years ago. Child advocacy expert
Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation—he calls it nature-deficit—to some of our most disturbing childhood trends, such as the rises in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. Louv, author of one of the classic books on f…
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Added by Rich Batten on July 17, 2009 at 4:46pm —
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In April the Colorado Fatherhood Council brought Ray Upchurch to his hometown of Denver to screen his film documentary,
Daddy Hunger. Ray spent the day at the Gilliam Detention Center and the evening to a standing room only crowd at the Shadow Theatre.
The film is a powerful presentation of the pain, struggle and hope that whirls around the hearts of father absent homes, particularly African-American homes. Ray confesses that he never set out to produce a f…
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Added by Rich Batten on June 14, 2009 at 6:21pm —
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By now I hope you have heard about the upcoming
Fatherhood Rallies that will take place in D.C., Denver and other cities across the nation. The morning of June 20 in Denver is shaping up to be a great time of celebration and fun! Follow this link to
RSVP. Regardless of where you spend the Saturday before Father’s Day, I encourage you to pledge your commitment with other men acr…
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Added by Rich Batten on May 30, 2009 at 3:31pm —
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Am I alone or have you also struggled with balancing your roles as disciplinarian, parent and friend to your children? Sometimes when my kids misbehave, I’m too easy with the punishment. At other times my frustration gets the best of me and I react too harshly. Unfortunately, neither of these methods encourages my children to succeed and do better the next time. My hope and desire is that I would be an encouraging and consistent guide that would help my child understand and learn from their mist…
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Added by Rich Batten on May 16, 2009 at 12:13pm —
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Yesterday's turn in temperature (at least in Denver) allowed me to catch a glimpse of one of my favorite summer images even though it is mid-November! A dad down the street was washing the family car with the help of his two small children. As you can imagine the kids were as wet as the car, and were diligently imitating their dad’s every move. As a parent of a twenty-something daughter and three teenager sons I wish my kids had retained that almost irritating desire to do whatever it was I was…
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Added by Rich Batten on November 17, 2008 at 10:59am —
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