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If you’re reading this, it means you’ve likely realized that there’s no new episode of The DadGum Podcast this week. This whole holiday in the middle of the week has really thrown me and Pete Hart for a loop.
However, you should all know by now that we wouldn’t let you go without that #DadLife content for a whole week, which is why I’m typing this while listening to my kid refuse to go to sleep in his room.
You know the drill, you know what we’re all about here at DadGum. #DadLife, questions & advice, and just all dad shit in general. So while Pete & I (or recent guest host, Dave Ruff) aren’t in your earbuds this week, we’re still giving you that action. If you really can’t live without us, just listen to last week:
This Week In Parenting
Obviously, this week was about one thing, and one thing only: fireworks. Yeah, American independence is important as hell too, but in #DadLife it was all about the flaming explosions in the sky. As soon as my kid was informed that fireworks happen on July 4th, he was all-in.
It was a slow countdown (he was told about fireworks on Monday) and spent the next two days asking when the fireworks would show up. Side note: I’m considering never telling him anything to look forward to in advance ever again, just to avoid the questions. He might not find out about his birthday party this year until we pull up to the venue.
Our July 4th wasn’t quite the normal affair, as what’s usually a hot and sunny holiday was interrupted by a hell of a downpour. Now, it was a shame that it cancelled our planned swim and cookout but shoutout to my lawn because it NEEDED all that rain. Grass is looking luscious as hell right now.
That night’s fireworks display, put on by the city, was also in jeopardy. I spent most of the night checking the local fire department’s Facebook page to see if they’d announce that the 9:30 p.m. show was going to pop off or not. I even put my offspring to bed at his normal bedtime with the promise that I’d scoop him up if they had the show. Lucky for us, the rain cleared and we got to see some shit explode:
Parenting In The News
Pour one out for an absolute legend.
In a rare event, a father was killed by a polar bear in Canada’s Arctic while trying to protect his children. https://t.co/lK8IW2Gqo1
— VICE Canada (@vicecanada) July 6, 2018
People often asks me what it means to be a parent, and I think nothing describes parenthood more than this guy squaring up a fucking polar bear to defend his kids.
It happened on Tuesday, on Sentry Island, about 10 kilometres/six miles outside of Arviat, an Inuit hamlet of 2,600 people in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The father, 31-year-old Aaron Grant Gibbons, and his children were unarmed at the time of the encounter.
Not an ideal time to not be strapped, but parents will do anything in desperation. This hero sacrificed is life so his children could live.
Medical professionals and police responded to the attack, but Gibbons was pronounced dead at the scene. His children weren’t injured and the bear was killed shortly after to prevent it from harming others.
If there’s any braver way for a dad to go out than dueling a polar bear and saving his kid’s lives, feel free to let me know. Salute to this guy.
Listener Questions
Toward the end of each episode, we take listener questions on anything parenthood related.
For today’s installment we’ll address this quick hitter from @andrewrbrannan on Twitter:
Optimal age to be a father.
Kyle’s Take: This is a question that really has no right answer. We’ve both said before that no one is ever really ready, but being in a better circumstance with both financial security and maturity in mind would certainly help.
I became a father at 22, wasn’t quite the move there. I wasn’t close to ready financially or maturity wise, but I made it work. If I had to put a number on it I’d say 28-35, but it’s all relative. Personally, I don’t want to be the oldest dad at high school graduation, so I’d plan on getting snipped maybe a bit earlier than most. Don’t want to be pulling a Mick Jagger and shooting out kids in your 70s.
Pete’s Take: It kind of all depends on what you want to do with them and what goals you have for yourself. We’ve noted this before, but if you want to travel, start your own business, or pretty much anything else that’s going to take a lot of your time and focus, kids are gonna make that really hard. They’re a full-time focus endeavor. You also are preferably in a stable place emotionally and financially. Unless you’re a very unique individual, that rules out AT MINIMUM the first 25 years. Then it depends on what sort of experience you want to have with them. Want to run around doing physical activities with them? Better get going, then. My son’s going to turn 10 when I’m 40, so it’s not necessarily WHEN you have the kid, but also how old they’ll be when they’re going to want to go snowboarding with you or whatever, and your washed ass can’t.
Closing Advice
Sometimes we wind down with some advice. I’ve written enough today, so my only bit of advice is if you enjoyed this, subscribe to Grandex Labs and listen to “The DadGum Podcast.” The perfect pod for dads, moms, and just people without kids who like hearing about dumb shit other people’s kids did. .
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Kyle Bandujo
The artist formerly known as Crash Davis. My kid doesn't think I'm funny.
@kylebandujo
@bandujokyle
kyle.bandit
The Baybuh is 33 and has an almost 10 year old (9 and 3/4, he’s very proud of that fact), and I came into their lives two years ago. Becoming a parental figure to an 8 year old when I was 25 was definitely an experience, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’d take a polar bear for the Little Man.
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