DadsToolBox is home to many of the things I’ve learned on my journey as a parent. It’s my goal to share things that I’ve learned over the years that have made my life easier, saved me time or money and maybe a couple things that made my kids smile.
My parenting style is a cross between Andy Griffith and Furious Styles. I’m a divorced single father with three amazing kids from an interracial marriage, so I have to look at everyday life from several perspectives to keep things both neutral and informative.
I’ve never been the doting type of father. One of my proudest moments was watching my daughter get up on her own from an epic bicycle faceplant when she was five. There was a woman watching this unfold I hadn’t noticed and she gave me the biggest smile. My daughter got up sniffling with a little bleeding but after a little first aid and a hug it was off to the playground for the afternoon.
I’ve been the soccer, scouting, karate, gymnastics dad and had to give the kids various meals in the car more than once. I’m not a “sports guy” though I understand the mechanics of most sports and have played a few. What I am intimately acquainted with is what it feels like to be the silent dad reading books on hacking and cybersecurity while the other parents chit chat about “the big games” and who makes the best coleslaw. The “what’s the deal with that guy” guy.
Hiking, cycling, backpacking, camping, shooting ranges, dojos and gyms are my happy places when it comes to sports for me. I always refer to the gym as my other church. An old gym of mine had a church bell sound for it’s door chime, pure magic!
Speaking of church, I am a very active Christian. I’m not a Bible thumper by any means, my evangelical activity is in Christian media and radio. You may see an occasional relevant scripture verse and you will definitely see a few stories about my adventures in coming to and living the Christian faith. What you won’t see is anything pushing my beliefs and anyone.
I’ve survived several abusive relationships so I’ll be sharing a lot of what I learned through my own research and maybe a lesson or two from the therapist’s couch. Depression and PTSD are no joke and can really take a toll on you, especially as a parent. Sometimes one sentence can change your life and I hope somebody finds one here.
I always tell my kids, I’ve conquered a lifetime of bad decisions so you won’t have to make them. Like the old saying goes “a smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from other people’s mistakes.”
I’ve lived the gamut from trailer park to tri story contemporary, from bankrupt to being debt free with great credit. What I’ve learned about housing and finance will be sprinkled in here as well. I’m no financial guru, but I have learned from some and I’m always happy to share.
I’m sure everyone is familiar with affiliate marketing so I’m just adding this as a disclaimer of sorts. I hope to include a lot of reviews and recommendations on this site and a lot of them will be linked to my Amazon affiliate program. I collect absolutely zero information from you and it helps support this site.
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