[Update 2/5/2016: This about page was written three kids ago. But I’m leaving it up for historical purposes. I finished grad school, got a real job, and we now live in Nebraska. Also, I’m now in my thirties. Not much else has changed.]
I’ve been a dad ever since my son was born. Back then I was on top of the world, which was on a string, in my pocket. Now, five years later, the world is an oyster which my wife and I have lassoed. We’re taming it together as we teach our three kids to hold on tight and enjoy the ride.
It’s been a wild ride, from northern California, to Utah, back to California, and finally to Minnesota, with summers spent in France, Colorado, and New Jersey. Most of these moves were for school – my wife studied English Literature at Berkeley and then we both transferred to BYU, where I studied Psychology and Child Development. In France we did some research on preschooler social development, in CO I scrubbed the roof of the airport, and in NJ I interned with an educational testing company. Now I’m fumbling through a doctoral program in Quantitative Methods in Education at the University of Minnesota. Long story short – lots of time studying and working, too little time playing outdoors.
Tired of hunching over a desk for ten hours a day, and with two kids finally potty trained, I needed an incentive to be more active and more engaged as a dad. Hence, the blog – an effective distraction from my dissertation research, and a means of forcing me to do cool things with my family, if only to have something to blog about.
I’m trying to approach parenting as Bear Grylls, Man vs Wild, approaches the wilderness – parachute into remote locations, demonstrate survival techniques using only what nature provides, and have a blast doing it. Whenever possible, this involves camping with my family, otherwise, it involves trying new things domestically. Either way, I hope to encourage fun and rewarding family adventures.
Read more about me here, and all over this blog.
Also, I’m trying out Amazon’s affiliate program, and this is the official disclaimer: dadvswild.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com