Tribe of Dad

Tribe of Dad is a unique, rebellious blog offering a forum for young at heart fathers to communicate their experiences of fatherhood and how they are holding onto their sense of “hipster” relevancy and individuality. The blog is authored by two young dads who want to remain vital throughout the inevitable maturing process of fatherhood and build an ever growing on line following.

Dictionary for Dads

Dictionary for Dads is a fantastic site loaded up with articles about practically everything dads deal with at one time or another. The site, DictionaryforDads.com, was created by Robert Livingstone and Kevin Beirne, MS, CSW a licensed psychotherapist in New York State for the benefit of dads.

They don’t accept advertising or sponsorships. They are simply driven to share valuable information with dads. Here are a few of the topics you will find valuable information on:

• Understanding Aggression
  
• Working Parents
• Parents Across America Blog
• Pool/Water Safety
• Absent Fathers
• Internet Safety
• Controlling Dads
• Judgmental Dads
• Teenage Violence

Site Offers Presentation Folders

Offers work-at-home dads and small businesses affordable, quality presentation folder printing. If you need a custom presentation folder they can have it printed for you in one day. They have 100s of presentation folder designs to choose from.

Presentation Folders

Health Resources for Dads

Yesterday, May17th - my birthday, I discovered a lump on my back just below my shoulder blade. It is almost as if a small breast implant was placed inside my skin. Soft, flexible, round, and not painful. It’s about 3 inches around and about 1/2 and inch thick in the center, tapering down to the edges.

As most of us would do I went online to try and find some answers so I thought it would make sense to share my favorite resources with you.

My hunt for answers started with a trip to WebMD. They have a great symptom checker that helps narrow down the possibilities with most symptoms you or your family members might have. Unfortunately, I didn’t come up with anything that matched my lump on WebMD.

My second stop was found by doing a search on Google for “back lump”. I spotted a site named ‘Doctors Lounge‘ and a page where someone else had asked about a smaller growth on their back and they received a quality response from an actual Doctor! Pretty nice service considering it’s free. Doctors really do want to save lives!

This doctor, Dr. Anthony Solomon thought it was either a cyst or a Lipoma. The Lipoma possibility is the one I tracked down by performing another search for Lipoma. By the end of the day I pinned my hopes on the lump being a non-malignant fatty Lipoma.

If it doesn’t go away on it’s own or if there is any pain or other symptoms that cause concern I’ll visit the doctor’s office and report back on what this growth is.

Other health resources you should bookmark include:

Mayo Clinic’s Mens Health - Unmatched expertise and a wealth of useful information.

Kids Health - The most visited Website for children’s health issues.

CureZone - I discovered this site a couple of years ago and strongly recommend it as a place to learn from the experiences of others who are dealing with the same heath issues or having the same symptoms. It’s primarily an alternative health crowd giving you a nice balance to the traditional medical professional’s solutions. Many of the posters are converts so it makes for some passionate exchanges. While you’re there be sure to learn about liver flushes and other flushes that will help cleanse your body so it can return to health or remain healthy.

Good health to you!
(If you want to recommend a health site for dads please send me a comment using the comment form.)

Educational resource for parents of special ed kids

Came across this great site for parents of kids of all ages and found the special education area of more value than most that I’ve come across. If you’re a parent with a special needs kid be sure to check this resource out here: Special Needs Education

Site for the organic babies in the crowd

If your baby wants only the best organic products and insists you don’t buy him or her anything but, then you need to visit: Go Natural Baby

Go Natural Baby manufacturers a line of organic baby clothes they’ve dubbed the ‘Zah Collection’. They also offer other organic product such as; baby gifts, baby products, handmade items, and unique boutique gifts. All organic and natural of course.

Parenting news site for dads

NewsForParents.org is a great site for parents. They offers hundreds of well written articles on a wide variety of topics of interest to a dad. Some of the main topics include; latest parenting news, family and home, babies, pregnancy, special needs children, and several other topics for moms and dads at all stages of parenthood.

(Some of you have asked if the picture was my family… no, but thanks for asking. Just a randomly selected happy family.)

- This site has been added to the Dads Directory for future reference. -

National Sex Offender Registry

This site is worth bookmarking if you haven’t already. It allows you to see which of your neighbors are in the sex offender registry. Simply put your address in and you’ll be privy to who in your area has a record you should be aware of. They also offer an alert service where you’ll be notified if someone on the registry moves in nearby.
National Sex Offender Registry

Sex Offender Alert Service

Teen transport for troubled teens

Clint Hardy, owner of New Start Transports, was kind enough to provide us with the helpful information below. Clint’s experience goes beyond that he’s gained since starting his company based in Utah, he was once in the same shoes as some of the teens he is so passionate about helping. If you’re a parent with a teen in need of some “help” we hope this article is of some help.

What is teen transport?

Teen Transport can be defined as the transition of a teen from the place of pick-up to the destination chosen by their parent (or guardian).

Why is this step so important to do well?

The teens that are usually very anxious and at-risk. To be more specific; the teens may not willingly want to go to the destination the parent guardian(s) has made placement arrangements for. It is not uncommon for a teen to be unaware of the placement until a transport service is present at the place of pick up.

Teen transport associates should act as mediators between the parents, programs, and teens during the transition to the chosen facility.

Many teens that find themselves in need of transportation services share one or several of the following characteristics or behaviors:

Drugs, alcohol, and other substance abuse

The use of tobacco

Poor school performance

Defiant to parents and authority figures

Legal issues

Runaway history

Dishonesty

Physically acting out such as but not limited to: destruction of property, fighting, attempting suicide, and so on…

Stealing

Poor choice of friends

Family issues

Any other issues that a temporary, out of home placement may assist with

More details about the actual transportation:

The place of pick up for a teen transport is most commonly at the home of the parent guardian(s) where the teen lives. Other places of possible pick up may include but are not limited to the following: adolescent hospitals, schools, treatment programs, a friend’s home or other private residences, courts, police stations, work, airports, any other public or private location that the teen transport services are authorized to pick up. It may be important for the transport service to consider the support of law enforcement in all pick ups away from the private home residence of the parent guardian(s) making the placement.

The placement and/or drop off location for the teen is usually a treatment program such as but not limited to the following: outdoor therapeutic wilderness program, specialty boarding school, Christian school, therapeutic program, residential treatment center, and any other private program placement for a troubled teen. Teen transportation may also be provided to the following locations: airports, hospitals, home, another parent’s home, schools, therapy, and any location chosen by the parent guardian(s) of the teen. It is important for a youth transport service to only transport a teen with the consent of all applicable parent guardians. If a parent wishes to make an out of state placement of a teen, they should have both parent guardians’ permission and/or a court appointed document giving us permission to transport the teen.

The words transition, mediation, and intervention are very important terms to quality transport services.

• Transition: the transport service may do more than just transport a troubled teen from point A to B, they should transition the teen. This transition offers opportunity and time for a teen to be more prepared to arrive to the program.
• Mediation: the transport service should mediate between the parent(s), teen, and program(s) to give the teen an opportunity to cooperate with the program placement willingly without incident. Teen transport services are usually not on duty law enforcement and they should use the tool of mediation rather than dictating and intimidation. All parties in a teen transport intervention process should be considered equals, but the teen may be required to cooperate with the requests of their parent guardian(s) as the law supports. A transport service offers a third party intervention source, as they are not involved with the program(s) and/or parent(s) making the placement. This outside source of mediation often makes it possible to transition a teen willingly to a program, without incident. Parents and professionals should look for a company that has a history and reputation of successful transports
• Intervention: A transport service directly intervenes with teens to provide a safe transition with as much opportunity for positive preparation for the program prior to the teen’s arrival. In this intervention, the transport service should not attempt to solve the problems leading up to the placement but should work with the troubled teen and parent guardian(s) to allow this transition to occur as safely as possible while implementing the principles of integrity, compassion, and respect those present.

How to choose the best teen transport agency:

Choosing a Teen Transport Agency can be a very tough decision emotionally and financially. Parents and referring professionals are encouraged to look into the insurance bonding of the teen transport service they choose or refer to along with other important credentials that would seem necessary to ensure a safe transport of a potentially at-risk and anxious teen. These are some of the credentials to consider:

• • Insurance specific to the Teen Transport
  • A Business License for Teen Transportation
  • Accredited Crisis Prevention Training provided by the Teen Transport Agency
  • Qualifications and accountability of employees and/or contracted associates - review and look for personal pages on-line
  • References from both parents and professionals

These are only a few of the many things to consider in choosing a transport service for an at-risk teen. Please use your own good judgment and check references.

Clint Hardy

Former Youth Program Participant