You are here: Home / Archives for Fathers

Being Elmo

July 9, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Kevin at Sundance with his young protégé Tau. (photo from beingelmo.com)

Weeks ago I made the decision to download Elmo Loves ABCs for iPad so my daughter could learn while playing. I could not imagine that I would find interesting facts about the puppet called Elmo.

Does Everyone Really Know Elmo?

For years Elmo has earned the most popular Sesame Street character title. In 1996 when the Tickle Me Elmo Doll was released some people went wild just to get their hands on a cute representation of Elmo.

My daughter was first attracted to the the puppet in the Elmo ABC’s app. I started switching our daily routine of watching Payasa Agapita videos and went searching for Elmo videos.

While searching I found this interview of Kevin Clash. He popped up on my Elmo search because he happens to be the person who brings Elmo to life.

After watching the interview I was intrigued to know a bit more about Kevin’s life but when my daughter kept on requesting more fun videos I left it as a task to do later.

Being Elmo

As I searched in the iTunes store on my Mac for some iPad apps that where on sale I found an ad to rent the Documentary on Kevin Clash called “Being Elmo”.

Since my daughter is such a big fan I saw the opportunity to pay .99 cents to watch a documentary on a Muppet and Puppeteer that has fascinated so many. By the end of the documentary, I became a bigger fan.

Getting to Know Kevin

Kevin grew up in a rough part of Maryland with very limited resources. I quickly found many similarities in how Kevin was brought up and how I was brought up. His parents motivated him when he started creating puppets; they sacrificed living space to nurture Kevin’s Dream. I remember when I set up my first business grooming dogs, my parents gave me a part of our common living space so I could take care of my clients.

Kevin also wanted to go to Disney as a child; I also wanted to do that. Both of our families could not afford a visit to Disney so similar to me, I ended up going to Disney as an adult with co-workers. When Kevin finally reached Disney World he was accompanying the great and late Jim Henson.

Body of Work

Kevin started creating puppets at a very early age. Where Kevin’s story really won me over was when I saw his work bringing smiles to children with special needs. In another part of the documentary, he makes a child feel very special by giving her a similar opportunity that he got when he was a starting out in the industry.

Bringing Elmo to life requires many sacrifices. In the documentary you can see that his career took time away from his most amazing creation, his daughter. I find it very moving to see how he seeks a balance of being present as a dad and continuing with all his commitments with Sesame Street and other projects.

Elmo is about Love

Getting to see the behind the scenes of Elmo and Kevin’s great body of work, I was amazed that Elmo is a representation of those Papaheroes in Kevin’s life.

His parents nurtured Kevin’s creativity from the start. The love they gave him exceeded anything else. I interpreted Elmo being a tribute to Kevin’s mom and dad. Elmo is a reminder to spread love and strive towards leaving a legacy behind.

I recommend watching the documentary with your family. Also be ready to shed a tear or many like we did.

More about Being Elmo

 

Filed Under: Fathers, Papá Heroes Tagged With: , , ,

Caine’s Arcade The Real Prize is Inside

April 10, 2012 by 4 Comments

UPDATE (4-18-2012) Our friends at @8BitDads have a neat video and article of Bryan Ferguson, (one of the founders of @8BitDads) visiting @CainesArcade the day they presented Caine with a check for his scholarship fund in the amount of 152K. From this event and journey, Caines Arcade Foundation was born to encourage and foster other children to create. Read more on here. 

UpDate (4-12-2012): If your child has created a carboard arcade game, send a picture or video with the name of the game, and how it works to Caine. You can share it with him on his Facebook Page.

The other day Raúl bought a bag of Cracker Jacks and said that when we were kids, there were always better prizes inside the bag of Cracker Jacks. I have to agree because I do remember getting little tinker toys instead of the paper cow tongues we got with this particular bag.

I am at an age where I remember playing in a teepee created by my older friends, playing tag, and being outside as much as possible. I also remember getting our first video gaming console which was an Atari. I remember walking with my older friends who were also neighbors to the mall to play arcade video games. Yes the good old days.

I want to play in that Arcade.

This morning on Google Plus, a video was shared called Caine’s Arcade. I clicked the link thanks to Eric Milliken who circled us on Gplus Papaheroes. I did not see the video because we got sidetracked with baby proofing the home office. So when C.C. Chapman posted the video, I went back to the vimeo video I had opened earlier but had not viewed it.

Caine’s Arcade from Nirvan Mullick on Vimeo.

Supportive Dad and Customer

When I saw the video with Raul, we both cried over the kids determination, creativity, and problem-solving skills. We both talked about how his father George, supported him throughout the process by providing him the space to build his arcade. All it took was one customer, Nirvan to see that Caine had put a lot of thought into his business.

I don’t know how many times I have seen my nephews and even adults say that they are “bored” on Facebook. The lessons and takeaways from @CainesArcade was far better than any Cracker Jack prize you could get these days. You can make a list of all the adult lessons from Caine’s business and use them for yourself.

If your children say they are bored, show them this video and tell them to follow Caine’s example.

You can go to Caine’s Facebook page, Twitter, and homesite.

If you would like to donate to a scholarship fund for Caine, you can go here. As stated on the homepage,

“… imagine what this kid could build with an engineering degree.”

Nice job to @CainesArcade, his father George, and first customer @Nirvan.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Art, Crafts, Family, Fathers, Papá Heroes Tagged With: , ,

DaddyKnows #35: Throwing Curve Balls

February 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Filed Under: DaddyKnows Tagged With: , ,

Operation #PapaRebelde in its last 24 hours

February 4, 2012 by 2 Comments

We are very happy to announce that on Monday Julio Ricardo Varela will be writing for the full week on Papaheroes.com.

Please make sure to stop  by tomorrow morning and enjoy our usual DaddyKnows Comic Strip.

But in the evening make sure you enjoy the Super Bowl. At our house we are Vegan and Vegetarian and we will be preparing some awesome Vegan Appetizers and meals which we posted on our Sister Blog Veglatino.com.

Thanks to Julio for offering to Write for us once the Patriots Lose tomorrow it will make a very challenging week a lot easier.

So Julio Thank you once again and don’t forget your first post is due at 9am Atlantic Standard Time. 

Julio’s #PapaRebelde Avatar

We are so grateful that Julito will be writing for us that we even made him a Twitter Avatar which he can use for at least a week or as long as he wishes!

Filed Under: Papá Heroes Tagged With: , , ,

Latino Rebels & PapaHeroes Have a Bet

February 1, 2012 by 1 Comment

Our Co-Founder Raúl Colón has entered into a bet with Latino Rebels Founder Julio Varela.

Raúl has always been a lifelong Giants fan and Julio since he lives in Boston is a Patriots Fan.

Here is a video giving a general explanation on the bet.

May the best team win!

Who are you rooting for?

Who do you think will win and why?

Filed Under: Fathers, Papá Heroes Tagged With: ,

Single Dad & Homeless Papa Hero

January 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Being a parent is not easy, but imagine being a 45 year old father of two, and Homeless.

Watch the video below and learn a bit more on how DeMarco is working to improve his life. Struggling hard to bring-up his two kids.

In the video, Mark Horvarth interviews the homeless parent. I have to agree with DeMarco; given how the economy is, bad choices can land us in difficult positions. His being a homeless father of two.

Mark Horvarth, founder of InvisiblePeople.tv does a great job showing the human side of people, that like you and me, probably did not think they where going to end up being homeless.

We invite you to visit InvisiblePeople.tv and make a donation. Even a small one helps, so we urge you to do so!

Imagine yourself in the position of DeMarco. We must be grateful to have a roof over our heads. Go on, make a donation to support Mark Horvarth’s efforts. We are certain your contribution is not in vain.

Filed Under: Fathers, Papá Heroes Tagged With: , , ,

The Power of Choice

December 9, 2011 by 2 Comments

 

One of the more frequent topics of my blog, Gil The Jenius, is about the power of choice. It might even be the underpinning to the blog’s zeitgeist, if you will.

The shortest post I ever wrote was exactly that: What is the power of choice? Aware of that power, I helped my son learn it…and I learned more about it as well.

Kaleb was four, close to turning five. I picked him up at the pre-school and we went to the mall, looking for a few items, but with a particular one in mind: a little race car. At the time, I had made huge copies of a racetrack and with my son and nephews, played a dice-based racing game. We used Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars to spend a few hours a week playing and racing, with Kaleb winning more often that anyone else, I might add…miffed.

We went into Wal-mart and headed for the toys section. A dazzling array of cars covered almost half an aisle and as Kaleb looked for his, I looked at the goofier ones (a hot rod hearse caught my eye.) After a few minutes, Kaleb came up to me with three cars in his hands and an anxious look in his eyes. “Dad,” he said, “I like these.”

A dollar each. Three dollars total. But I’d said–and he’d agreed–we’d get only one. “Pick one,” I replied. His eyes darkened.

He set the three cars on some empty shelf space. In a few seconds, he took one car and placed it aside. Two cars. Two dollars. It’s only an extra dollar, right? He stared at each car. Then again. I noticed I was holding my breath. I tried to relax. He leaned over a little, looking even more closely at the cars. Now my heart was pounding. It’s only two dollars. Two dollars! I waited. My heart pounded out the seconds.

Suddenly Kaleb hunched over, his body a tight fist in struggle. He was trying so hard… I forced myself to wait and to my surprise, I was fighting back tears. Why am I doing this to him? It’s only a dollar!

I waited.

Then, like water, he straightened up and looked at me with a beautiful smile of happiness. With no hesitation, he held up one car and said, “This one!” Before I could reply, he took the other two and put them back. Gave me time to wipe my eyes.

We walked to the checkout, my hand on his shoulder as he looked at the car. His car. The one he had chosen when choosing was not the easiest path.

I’m not sure if Kaleb remembers this incident, for although children (especially him) have a remarkable memory for key moments, what happened that day was more remarkable to me than to him. I was trying to teach him about the power of choice, and yet I ended up learning so much more: about him and his wondrous qualities and about me and the love I feel for my son. For you see, I could have done the easy thing and chosen to buy both cars. It would have only taken another dollar. But I loved him enough not to, even though it caused me pain. So we both learned more about the power of choice.

Not all our decisions as parents have that trade-off, but isn’t it wonderful when we get them right, when we choose the path that empowers?

 

Photo by wriccobene

Filed Under: Choices, Fathers, Lessons, Papá Heroes, Wisdom Tagged With: , , , ,

A Father’s Love, Without Words

November 16, 2011 by 1 Comment

Years ago I was talking to very dear friend about the concerns I had as a father, about whether I was doing enough for my son, if my mistakes were outweighing my support, if my flaws were undermining my love. She let me finish, paused a moment and then said “You’re a good father because you worry about those things.”

Watch video Directly on youtube Silence of Love

Although she’s known me for years, this friend has never seen me interact with my son. All she knows is that I worry, that I am concerned about his welfare and his future. Now I’m far from being a worrywart or a “helicopter parent,” but not a week goes by that I don’t look inside myself and feel a hint of despair that maybe, just maybe, I’m falling short of “dad excellence.”

So imagine my reaction to this brilliant set piece about a father’s love, a father’s unlimited desire for his child’s well-being. Surprisingly, it is a commercial for an insurance company based in Thailand and, as you’ll see, it is basically a silent film, but what it doesn’t have in words it makes up with absolute emotion.

Watch this. Better yet, watch this with your child. But please, don’t weigh the moment needlessly by talking at length about it, with comparisons between you and the father in the piece. Please don’t. This isn’t really about you: it’s about love, your love as the parent of that oh-so-special child with you. Please let him or her experience the piece without your words, because you know already, deep inside, that pure love needs no explanations, that truly, pure love needs no words.

 

This is a guest post by Gil C. Schmidt. You can visit Gil here:

a.k.a. Gil The Jenius
Twitter: @gilthejenius
Photo credit by g cobb
Filed Under: Fathers, Papá Heroes Tagged With: ,