I digress.

The point is, I’m going to be a father and I feel like I haven’t accomplished anything as a film director or creative individual.  I have made only one film that’s having a hard time getting noticed or distributed.  I have made commercials that when submitted for awards have not won.  My music videos only go so far.  I’ve acted in a feature film that critics said where the worst acting they’ve ever seen.  The last time I won a “real” award for filmmaking was 2003 and that was in West Virginia.  Blah blah blah….does this happen to all first time fathers?  Do we all freak the @#*%#@ out?  How the hell do you raise a child, and still try to maintain the life you once had.  Why does everyone tell you your old life is over?!  I’m getting that damn call again from the bad guy from Speed! AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

BTW…Miranda, my pregnant wife, was watching Speed when this happened, so that’s why the Speed reference.

NOTE: However, during my freak out, while I was screaming and yelling, I did manage to clean the toilet and straighten up the kitchen.  So am I quite productive when I’m angry.

Clear Kids With Concussions Before Sports: “…young athletes take longer to recover than college and professional athletes…” (Reuters)

Weight Loss Cuts Risk Of Pregnancy Complication: Healthy mom, healthy baby. (Reuters)

The (Somewhat) Good and (Mostly) Bad News About High-School Dropout Rates: “…overall high-school drop-out rates have risen for the second year in a row, after nearly a decade of improvement and increased national attention.” (Newsweek)

Degrees Of Fatherhood: “Parenting is a series of never-ending milestones, and for many years we gauge our children’s growth and progress by their progression through school.” (Dadomatic)

Parent Involvement In Grade School Boosts Child’s Social Skills “The research team found that parents who increased school visitations and encouraged educational progress at home saw their child’s social skills improve.” (HealthDay)

Islamic Nations Say Will Tackle Maternal Deaths-US “Islamic countries, home to about half the estimated 400,000 women worldwide who die in childbirth each year…” (Reuters)

Bad Dads We Love: Life Without Parole Edition “The Supreme Court 5-4 that minors could no longer receive life prison sentences without having actually killed someone.” (Dadwagon)

Discipline and the Defiant Child “The problem with spankings, time outs and other silver bullet solutions is that children soon build an immunity.” (ParentingGuideNews)

Few Extreme Preemies Survive, Despite More Effort “…there has been an increase in the number of extremely preterm babies receiving active, yet ultimately unsuccessful, treatment.” (Reuters)

Are You The Favored Parent? “Why can it be so important for one parent to feel favored?” (NYTimes)

Educational Program Urges Parents to Immunize Kids “…nearly one-quarter of children in the United States between the ages of 19 months and 35 months did not receive the recommended series of childhood vaccines in 2008.” (HealthDay)

Be The Ball, I Mean Beach, I Mean… “Here was something small but memorable that my boy could look back on as an adult when I’m a broken-down alcoholic wreck, and know that at least once his Dad did something for him.” (Dadwagon)

Tobacco “candy” Could Poison Kids: Study In other obvious news, summer is right around the corner. (Reuters)

The Tantrum: Should You Put Your Kids’ Photos on the Internet? What are some fears of posting your kids pictures online? (Dadwagon)

Circumcision May Lower Risk Of Genital Wart Virus Circumcise or not to circumcise? (Reuters)

The Dark Side of Adoptions: Why Parents and Kids Don’t Bond Should parents return the adopted child if bonding does not take place? (LiveScience)

Bristol Palin Calls Teen Motherhood ‘hard work’ What is the best kind of sex education? Abstinence only or comprehensive? (MSNBC)

On Sandlot Day, Children Call Their Own Shots “The idea is that adults should cede control of games to the players for one day this season.” (NYTimes)

Study Links Dogs, Not Cats, To Kids’ Asthma Risk “Having a dog around the house may increase the chances of developing the lung disease.” (Reuters)

U.S. Birth Rate Decline Linked To Recession Mental stress caused by recession has lead people to inadvertently give up sex. OR people are more responsible and choosing not to have kids when they don’t have the money to support them. (PEW)

More Breastfeeding Could Save U.S. Billions: Study What are the cons of breastfeeding? Are there any? (Reuters)

Friends With Different Parenting Styles Add parenting styles with the list of things not to talk about at the dinner table. (NYTimes)

East River Hero Are you a hero if you save your own kid? (Dadwagon)

Expectant Mom’s Exercise Keeps Newborn’s Birth Weight Down “Regular moderate-intensity exercise during pregnancy reduces an infant’s birth weight, which may lower the child’s risk of obesity later in life, researchers say.” (HealthDay)

Population growth should be curbed: Conservationist Goodall How can you tell the entire world to limit the number of babies they have to prevent overpopulation? (AFP)

Children With Cancer Often Use Alternative Medicine “Many children undergoing treatment for cancer use herbal remedies, vitamins or other types of alternative therapies, a new research review suggests.” (Reuters)

Tips for At-Home Dads Returning to Work “Men typically encounter even more skepticism than women when they return from time at home caring for their children.” (WSJ)

The Tantrum: Should Parents Bring Their Kids to Nice Restaurants? “Part 2 Idiot yuppie-hipster dad just loooves to show off his pwecious cwotchfwuit in inappropriate settings.” (Dadwagon)

FDA Asks Docs To Suspend Using Glaxo Rotavirus Vaccine “Rotarix is contaminated with pig virus but poses no known health risk, officials say.” (HealthDay)

Uzbek Doctors Infected Some 150 Children With HIV: Report “The mass outbreak was due to using catheters and syringes many times without sterilization, falsification of sterilization notifications and destruction of proper documents.” (AFP)

Food-Allergic Kids Should Carry Two ‘epi’ Doses “Here’s your lunch, homework, backpack, and two epi shots just in case somebody from class decides to have shrimp for lunch.” (Reuters)

Obamacare: The Dadwagon Endorsement What are your opinions about the Health Care Bill passed by Congress? (Dadwagon)

Portion Distortion How do you judge the amount of food your kids should eat? (KidsHealth)

Jump in Kids’ Sports Injuries Due To Overuse “Injuries are increasing because kids are playing sports year-round — often without seasonal breaks.” (Healthday)

Entire Family Genome Sequenced For First Time “Children receive 30 mutations from each parent, researchers find” (Healthday)

Thinking About Race In Pre-K Should we consider race and culture a factor when choosing a school for our children? (Dadwagon)