Be a Real Man with these Five Simple Rules

Photo Credit: Markhillary

So, you think you’re a “Real Man” don’t you? Well, as a professional people watcher, I see lots of guys that would consider themselves to be real men that violate my simple list of 5 Rules.

These men walk tough and talk tougher but they don’t have the common sense to know how the actions they take affect the rest of us and leave a bad impression on their children.

5 Simple Rules:

1) Don’t Swear in Front of Children
Sounds simple right? Well, swearing is addictive especially if you work in a loose environment where everyone does it. You may have the tendency to bring it into the house. Fight it, kids don’t need to hear it.

2) Don’t Smoke Near Children
For the love of God this has to be a no-brainer right? I mean, smoking is bad for you isn’t it? That hasn’t changed, so why the hell would it be OK to smoke in close proximity to children?

3) Be Courteous
There are plenty of ways to be courteous both physically (opening a door for someone) and verbally (saying ‘Thank you’ or ‘Excuse me’). What it comes down to is being respectful. Forget world peace (I say that with my tongue firmly planted in cheek) this world would be a much better place if we all just respected each other.

4) Stop at Stop Signs
Stop signs are red and octagon shaped.  They typically have cross walks on the other side of them and/or separate your car from another through way. Obvious right? How come so many people completely ignore them? I live in the city and see people blow straight through stop signs leaving moms and dads yanking their children out of crosswalks.

5) Give it Away
Everybody has a little extra to give. Donate some time, money or materials to help out a worthy cause. Real men don’t do it for the tax break, they do it because they hope that someone will be there for them when they need a hand.

Now, if you already abide by the rules above then give yourself a pat on the back, but don’t get carried away. These are pretty easy rules to live by. If you don’t, well, all is not lost. With practice and….who the hell am I kidding. These rules are dead simple and common sense. You’ll figure it out!

How about you? What rules do you live by that should be included in the list above? Let us know in the comments section below.

Decision 2008: Daycare Providers

What kind of factors go into your decision making process for picking a daycare provider? We have two options in front of us, both of which we are comfortable with, but differ in price and location.

We live in Boston and there is a provider just south of us that we are very comfortable with. The issue with this option is that we only have one car and we both work in Boston, MA (well I work close by in Cambridge). So I would commute out of the city just to come back in for work. If we want to split the drop-off and pick-up, we will need two cars. We could drop her off, leave the car at the train station and commute via train to work. And reverse that to pick her up (thus splitting the responsibility). Downside there is we can’t get to her in a hurry if we need to, nor can we pop in to say “Hi!”.

Another option is to use a great provider in Downtown Boston that is on the way to work if I rearrange my commute slightly.  More importantly my wife could walk up (or cab it) during the day to say “Hi!” or in the case that little girl is throwing a nutty and needs her momma. Issue with this option is that it is (about) $800/month more expensive than option 1.

We are comfortable with both providers in terms of comfort level. So it boils down to:

• Convenience of drop-off/pick-up.
• Closeness to get there in emergency or for a mid-day pick-me-up (baby smiles are good for you).
• Cost.