A Dad’s Life

There are few things we dads do now-a-days that can be classified as a man’s ritual. A ritual is something we take pride in and enjoy and, hence, we do it repeatedly. A ritual, when passed on through the generations, becomes something to cherish just like family recipes or stories. We treasure it and look forward to the day when we can share this ritual with our sons, grandsons, nephews or even friends. It is passed on through word of mouth- father teach son who will pass it to his son when it’s time. Shaving, my fellow dads, is one of these rituals.

The modern dad has learned to get through the morning routine with very little focus and attention. The quicker we do it the better. Wake up, shower, lather beard, speed shave, rinse, dress and go… This is what we’ve learned. Companies are happy to put out products that facilitate this type of careless, speed shaving- “2, 3, 4 or 5 razor blades so you can shave in one pass”. So, who can blame us for not giving shaving much thought. Frankly, until recently I never thought about how I was going to teach my son to shave. I kinda figured he would learn like I did- on my own (my dad died when I was 20 and never really taught me). Have you given it much thought?

Well, wouldn’t it be much better if you had a true ritual you can share with your son when he’s old enough? A ritual that will get his face feeling like a baby’s bottom? By the way, your wife will do a double take when she sees your clean shaven face and takes a feel only to realize there’s no stubble? How about a ritual that will turn your 5 o’clock shadow into an 8 o’clock shadow? Hmm? I thought so. So, let me “re”-introduce you to shaving, the man’s way.

A little bit of history

“According to everything we know, man has been shaving in some form for at least 10,000 years. Back then Aruk of Stonehenge used flint, pure water and warmed fat from the glands of a Mastadon to clear his beard.” Yes, that’s a long time ago. But, according to historians and a well renown expert (Charles Roberts), shaving, and more specifically the razor, evolved through four phases:

1. Traditional shaving (1700 - 1905) - the traditional barber shop shave with a straight (cut throat razor), soap and badger hair brush
2. Double edge shaving (1905 - 1970) - the double edge safety razor is born a/k/a your dad’s original razor
3. Multi-blade shaving (1970 - 2000) - when we all probably learned how to shave, “more blades is better”
4. Modern wet shaving (2000 - present) - our holy grail or “how to get an awesome clean shaven mug”

I view the above almost as a full circle. Modern wet shaving takes traditional shaving and improves it with modern techniques and tools. It represents the best shave you can give yourself. And, you should. You deserve it!

With the background out of the way, my quest for the best shave begins… fellow dads, meet your new best friend:

The double-edge safety razor. To be continued…

This is the first post in a series I’m writing on what I consider every dad should know (Dad Essentials). The basics.  Lets get a minimum dad standard going.

As my first area of focus, I’m going to tackle proper dad grooming.  I’m educating myself on the area and will bring you along with me sharing my research and experiences.  I’ll review and recommend specific products and tell you what works and what doesn’t.

“No”, I’m not turning into a metrosexual, not that there’s anything wrong with that (e.g., Metro Dad) and I won’t ask you to.  I will ask you to care about your appearance.  I’ll ask you to show your wife, your kids (especially your son(s)) and your friends that you give a *&@$.  If you’re divorced and looking, then you’d better give a hoot about what you look like.

So, with that out of the way, let me give you a preview of my next post.  It’s about what most of us think of when we mention men’s grooming- shaving.  The very thing most of us do every day without giving it a second thought.  The thing that causes razor burn, nicks, ingrown hairs, bumps, 5 o’clock shadow, etc.  Unfortunately, it’s the first thing we do wrong in the morning.  I’m going to tell you what I found out about the lost art of shaving like a man.

Specifically, I’ll give you some information on the history of shaving and dive right into why shaving with the new double or triple blade razors won’t give you the best shave.  I’ll tell you how to save over $100 per year or more simply by switching to traditional “wet shaving.”  I’ll show you what you need and how to do it.  I’ve got the products and will give you my honost opinion on them. 

I hope you find it interesting and helpful.  Look for it in the coming day or two.

All the best

I want to give a proud shout out to all my fellow dads commemorating my boy’s first official home-run!  It happened Tuesday night at the semi-final game for his little league (he’s eight).

The first pitch was high. He swatted at it.

“Come on! Keep your eye on the ball and swing hard!”

Second pitch. In the ground, too low. He didn’t swing.

“Good boy! Good eye! Good eye!”

Third pitch. SMACK!

As if in slow motion, I stand and throw my arms up as I see the ball sail towards left field. The roar of jumping parents and teammates almost too faint to hear.

I turn to see the umpire with his finger in the air doing circles. It’s a homer!!

“Get out there boys!,” I yell to the boys in the dugout. “Go give him a high five!”

I’m overcome with emotion and pride. My eyes tear.

“That’s MY son,” I whisper to myself.

“Way to go, buddy!”

All the best

I messed up my daily writing commitment for a month, again! I’m dealing with a wife medical issue and yesterday was a bad day.

Maybe next month…

All the best

I think I’m much like other dads. We like taking pictures and videos of our kids growing up, their special events, family vacations, etc.  It’s normal. It’s good. We need to archive the memories and leave something for our grandkids to see.

BUT, there comes a point where you realize you have well over a thousand digital pictures and videos. What do you do?

Do you just keep them on your computer hard drive? Do you put them on CDs? Do you print them out?

I’m struggling with this now. What do you guys do?

All the best

Not much to say. Woke up at 4 am to catch a flight to Mexico and worked all day. It’s 11:21 back home and I’m exhausted.

All the best

Off to Mexico bright and early tomorrow making today a short day with preparations.

Wanted to check in and tag a post to keep up with my commitment to post daily.  Of course this is more for me and my discipline than for your reading enjoyment.

All the best