I recently read that you should not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is well within your power to do so, and I started unpacking the ramifications behind such a seemingly simple idea.

Do not withhold good

What is good? Reading a bedtime story while snuggled up under the covers? Enjoying a bowl of ice cream? Playing hop-scotch? Looking for bugs? Making ridiculous faces and laughing so hard you pee a little? Discipline? Chores?

When you don’t take time to slow down, you are withholding good from your children. In this day and age where kids get everything, often the things we don’t give our kids are the ‘good’ things in life.

From those who deserve it

You had a kid, like it or not, they deserve good from you. However, don’t misinterpret me here. Some things that are good for kids, don’t always feel good. For example, being disciplined for talking back to mommy is a good thing, just as much as learning to ride a bicycle is a good thing. Caution must be taken not to only view warm, fuzzy, happy times as good.

When it is well within your power

This is another one that comes with the territory. As a parent, you have the power. You have the power to do great damage, or tremendous good in your kids life.

Make sure that today you don’t withhold the good from your children.

photo courtesy of stevendepolo

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Woohoo!  This is EPISODE 50 of the Cast of Dads podcast!  As we hit this milestone, I thought I would share the tale of how the Cast of Dads came together…

Back when Sony came a callin’ and invited myself and four other dads to become “DigiDads” and get the chance to play with some of their products, of the five participating dads I only knew C.C. Chapman.  Since then I have had the pleasure of spending time in person with all of the former DigiDads (C.C., Brad Powell, Max Kalehoff and Michael Sheehan) but actually, the five of us have yet to meet as a group in person (brands, are you listening?)  During the DigiDad program we had regular conference calls together, and it was clear that, despite geographic, age, and kid-stage differences, we all got along great, and had a collective kindred spirit about life, parenting, and blogging.

When the DigiDad program ended we really didn’t want to stop our regular calls and our budding friendships, so we decided to keep the dream alive and start a podcast together.  The result is the Cast of Dads.  If you’ve been a regular listener you know that we don’t have much of an agenda.  Really, we’re just being ourselves and having a conversation, and inviting you to listen along.  Between us five dads we have thirteen kids, from toddlers to college grads, so we have lots to talk about and perspectives and opinions on just about every phase of parenting and fatherhood.  I  hope you’ve enjoyed these 50 episodes as much as we have.

Today, I consider Brad, Michael, Max and C.C. among my best of friends, and I truly look forward to every time we get together to record a show.  Of course, the Cast of Dads wouldn’t be half as much fun without you too!  We greatly appreciate your taking the time to listen, and always love hearing your comments and feedback.  THANK YOU!  We hope you’ll continue to tag along for the next fifty shows!

You can CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO CAST OF DADS EPISODE 50.

Topics discussed in episode 50 include:

• Happy 50th Episode
• Boston Marathon
• Running in costumes
• Ringing the dinner bell
• Exposing kids to new foods
• Sarachi Sauce
• The Oatmeal
• LG Makeover Contest – VOTE FOR MICHAEL!!
• Michael’s Makeover
• Weekend with LG in New Orleans
• Convert your old TV to an aquarium
• Old electronics
• Listening to the radio?
• Hacking Tivos
• Max going sailing
• C.C. headed to Ghana with ONE
• Grasscutters
• National Train Day is May 12th
• Taking the train and seeing the country
• Jeff’s neighbor rebuilds steam engines
• Playing with model trains
• Max’s awesome engine
• The magic of dirt
• Power washing
• Draining the snowblower

If you have been enjoying the Cast of Dads podcast, please tell your friends about the show and have them subscribe to either our direct feed or via iTunes.  Also, please leave us a review in iTunes!

Cast of Dads is a group of podcasting and blogging dads who gather to gab about fatherhood. The cast of dads includes C.C. Chapman, Jeffrey Sass, Max Kalehoff, Michael Sheehan, and Brad Powell, who collectively represent 13 kids from the youngest of babies to full grown adults. Each of them brings a unique perspective to being a father.

Jeff Sass is the proud dad of ZEO (Zach, 23, Ethan, 21 and Olivia, 20).  He is also a seasoned entertainment and technology exec and active social media enthusiast.  You can see more of Jeff’s writing at Sassholes! and Social Networking Rehab and you can listen to Jeff on the Cast of Dads and Wunderkind! podcasts.