Low Expectations

I should mention a double standard that I have noticed since I became a single Dad. People seem to expect a single Mom to have a career, make all kinds of crafts, make a 4 course meal from scratch every night, keep a spotless house, and attend all school functions looking like June Cleaver.

By comparison, people seem to have very low expectations of a single father. If I show up at some event and the kid is still alive, dressed, and fairly clean, people go on and on about what a great job I am doing as a parent. I don't think that I have ever heard people raving over how well a single Mom is doing.

Many people have commented that they can't believe that I am raising my son by myself and that they really respect me for it. Well, what else would I do? Turn him loose in the woods? If a woman has a baby it is expected that she will do everything, but it seems to be a sad commentary on society that if a man has a baby then people just can't believe it if he raises it. I'm not complaining, you understand. I am just acknowledging that people seem to have an unfair bias towards me because I didn't sell my son to the gypsies.

Comments

Reducing CO2 in your home the nerd way

For Christmas my wife gave me a Netatmo weather station because I am a home weather station nerd. The Netatmo is very cool, but it has an unexpected feature: it measures indoor Carbon Dioxide (CO2) levels. As soon as I set it up, the Netatmo began to alert that our indoor CO2 was at an unsafe level. The notes said that outdoor CO2 is usually around 400 ppm, and numbers above 1500 ppm could be unhealthy. On that first day, my house was at around 1300 ppm. Prior to that, I never gave indoor CO2 levels a thought. I began to do some research and discovered high levels of CO2 can cause symptoms such as fatigue, headache, breathing difficulties, strained eyes and itchy skin. My family does have all of these issues, especially on the weekends when we are home all day, but I never connected that to indoor air quality. Previously, I installed a Nest thermostat . The Nest is very smart and saves energy by learning your habits and programming itself. Unfortunately, it is so efficient, that t

Rooftop Playgrounds

This week I have had some meetings in a tall building in downtown Seattle, and when I took a moment to look around and enjoy the view I have noticed playgrounds on rooftops. I saw this daycare playground: and this playground on top of a school: I think that this is a really cool use of space. A friend that grew up in NYC said that her school had a rooftop playground, too. The delinquent in me wonders how many toys and balls go over the side, but I bet the teachers are pretty strict about that. Downtown Seattle has always seemed a little unfriendly towards kids and it is neat to see spaces being carved out.

BMW i3 Electric Car Review from a Real Owner

I am not an automotive journalist. I am an actual i3 owner who really uses an electric car as a daily driver. I am a parent, I have a job, and I am a Boy Scout volunteer so I have frequent activities in the evenings and weekends. After over 10,000 miles of driving the i3 around Seattle, I think that I can give a more practical review than the professionals. Range Anxiety Automotive journalists seem to always want to drive electric cars on long journies and then write about searching for a plug, how long it takes to charge the car, etc. This is pointless. Batteries go dead and then you charge them. We get it. How about the experience of daily use? Before you buy any car, you need to ask yourself how you will use it. Most of my driving is around the city. I take my 4-year-old to daycare. I drive to the office. I make trips to the store. After work, I often have to go to some Scout activity around town with my teenager. These trips represent the bulk of my driving. One revelation

Adventures of a Seattle Dad

Search This Blog