We are happy to announce The Dad of the Month for April 2019: Mike McGowan. Throughout his fatherhood journey, Mike has continuously stepped up in a big way to be a positive inspiration in his kids’ lives. Read about Mike in the nomination from his stepson:

“This is my stepdad. His name is Mike. He is the greatest man on the planet. He has been there for me since I was 12 years old.

My biological father was a drug addict and criminal, but my mom refused for me to be exposed to that. I grew up with my mom, grandma, and grandpa and they took good care of me, but I never had a dad to talk to. I was bullied and picked on constantly at school. I never stood up for myself and was often depressed.

The first time I met Mike, even though I was little, I told him to never hurt my mom’s feelings, and he obliged. He’s been in the picture ever since. I put that man through hell and he never gave up on me. I could have easily succumbed to addiction, but Mike treated me like his own son and kept me on the right path.

Before Mike met my mom he was married to a woman named Sue with 3 children from a previous relationship. Without hesitation he became a father to them. Sue and Mike also had a child together, my half-brother, Stephen. Mike and my brothers lost Sue to a grueling battle of cancer. All along, Mike was an unwavering pillar of love and support for everyone.

In 2013 our family tragically lost Stephen, Mike’s only biological son. Stephen was a soldier in the army. Even then, Mike remained our rock and everyone’s shoulder to lean on. That Christmas, my wife and I decided to legally change my name to McGowan to honor Mike, who is truly my father. We also changed my son’s name to McGowan, because Mike deserves to have his name carried on by the next generation. He is my superhero and I believe more than anything that he deserves this.”

To celebrate Mike’s tireless contributions to his family, we’re giving him $500 and special edition dad gear. Enjoy. Thank you for being a role model for your kids and for dads everywhere. We salute you.

Click here to read more or nominate a special dad in your life.

You can try this at home. Printable version available here.

We are happy to announce The Dad of the Month for March 2019: Juan Bustamante. A true pillar of fatherhood in both his family and in the community, we salute you, Juan. Read about Juan in the nomination from his family:

“Juan is a veteran of the United States Navy, serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. He then joined the Los Angeles Police Department where he has been for over 10 years.

Juan is the perfect person for this type of recognition because he is not only an amazing role model in the community but he is also a father of 4 with another on the way! He has 16, 14, and 6-year-old daughters and a 4-year-old son with another baby boy on the way, due in May. Juan loves his children and goes above and beyond for them on a daily basis. He works nights and weekends to be able to be home early morning to help take the kids to school. Then he sleeps, picks them up, spends time with the family, and does it all over again.

When Juan isn’t patrolling the streets of South LA or with his family, he mentors children from the Watts area with a non-profit organization called Operation Progress. Juan loves giving back to the community because of his belief that all children deserve a father figure present to guide, protect, and teach them about things they typically wouldn’t be able to, given the geographic area they come from. Operation Progress opens many doors for these kids and Juan is there as a chaperone at every event.

The major obstacle Juan faces is battling his PTSD. Like many veterans, it’s an everyday struggle not just for him but for those of us closest to him. There are good days and bad days, but regardless he always takes care of his duties as a father and husband.

I am proud to be a part of his family and be personally impacted by all the good that he does.”

To celebrate Juan’s tireless contributions to his family and the community, we’re giving him $500 and special edition dad gear. Enjoy. And try to squeeze in a nap if you can. You deserve it, man!

Click here to read more or nominate a special dad in your life.

You may have noticed the latest absurd internet craze: throwing cheese at babies. Yes. For real.

The highlight of my day was watching this video of someone throwing a slice of cheese on their baby…. what’s wrong with me and why am I still laughing? pic.twitter.com/ZHUB421SG2

— madi (@Madison_Combs1) March 1, 2019

Here at The Dad we’ve been asked to participate. But… c’mon.

Here’s the challenge we’d rather see: kids throwing cheese at dads.

Make it happen, internet.

Spoiler warning of course.

Maisie Williams (Arya Stark) was recently quoted in Entertainment Weekly, describing the grueling 54-day shoot for a battle scene, “Nothing can prepare you for how physically draining it is. It’s night after night, and again and again, and it just doesn’t stop. You can’t get sick, and you have to look out for yourself because there’s so much to do that nobody else can do… There are moments you’re just broken as a human and just want to cry.”

Coincidentally enough, that’s exactly what it’s like being a parent.

Game of Thrones Season 8 premieres April 14 on HBO.

“The most unflattering photo of me ever? Easily top 3. But posting anyway because THIS IS FATHERHOOD. Pulled up my camera roll this morning to get a The Dad meme and saw that my wife snuck my phone at 6am to snap this. I literally laughed out loud when I saw it. My son has an ear infection and snuck in our bed in the night. I know it’s cliche and I don’t always think this way but lately I’ve been feeling like time is getting away from me, and the kids are growing up too fast. So any moment I can get like this, I’ll take it. #NoFilter #ILiterallyWokeUpLikeThis #RealChinsHaveCurves”

– Joel Willis, Executive Editor of The Dad

Want to share a story about fatherhood? Email fatherfigures@thedad.com

Look, some dads are tech masters who are always on top of the latest thing, but I just hadn’t thought about home automation before. I had Alexa, and loved it, but I figured smart lights and everything would mean rewiring the whole house. But then I was part a “favorite things” gift exchange and someone gave me a pack of four smart outlets, and it was a huge “Oh, duh” moment.

To have a smart home, you don’t have to reprogram your whole house’s electricity…you just take remote control of an outlet. I downloaded the Smart Life app, plugged in one of the outlets and held down the button until it blinked.

With my phone connected to the wifi, they synced up and were good to go. I grew up with frustratingly slow tech, and had to deal with computer virus hell in the 90s, so it’s still crazy to me how intuitive and quick most things can work now! I could plug in anything to this outlet: a lamp, the Christmas tree, a surge protector connected to all devices in the room, and control it all from my phone.

Now, the next phase of any conquest is delegation. I enabled the Smart Life skill in the Alexa app so I could use it to control the smart outlets. Fun Pro tip: You can reprogram Alexa’s response word to be “Computer.” So for a while I could say “Computer, lights” and the lights would go on or off! It was basically like being a starfleet captain all the time. Word of caution though: you say the word “computer” way more often than you think you do. It’ll hear you, man. It’ll hear you.

Of course once I got started, I became hooked. I wanted to connect full rooms and the outdoor lighting. I wanted to control the thermostat and the garage door. I wanted unlimited power! So, my next step was buying several smart switches.

These work the same way the outlets do, but for the internal stuff, and even the nicer ones only run for about $20. They allow voice, remote and timed control of anything that isn’t plugged in – ceiling lighting and fans and so on. I installed them myself, but it’s a little more complicated so no shame in hiring a professional for this part. It was still way easier than the complete rewiring I’d always imagined, and setup with Smart Life was just as easy as the outlets.

Now I have 6 smart outlets and 4 smart switches on the grid. With Alexa, it’s super easy to create groups for different rooms, like: Family Room, Kitchen, Outside, or larger groups like: Whole House.

From here, I was basically set to go. Smart Home: Activate! But I tend to dive…deeper.

There’s a section in the app called “Routines,” and it’s key. With it, I schedule all of my groups to turn on and off depending on day and time. For example, the box fans in all our bedrooms (#whitenoise4lyfe) are programmed to turn off, while the lights all turn on just before alarm time every morning. This is usually enough to wake up my kids without an alarm!

All of the downstairs lights are on when my wife gets up at an ungodly hour for her workout. My outdoor lights turn on and off at the appropriate times. The customization possibilities are awesome. Routines can also be voice-controlled, and you can make your voice commands whatever you want by typing it in the app.

So when I say “Alexa it’s TV time!” she says, “Heck yeah let’s get this party started” and turns on the Family Room.

You can also use these routines to mess with your kids. When I ask “Alexa, who is the best?” she responds with “Joel is the best” and that is an airtight argument from an omnipresent computer controlling our entire lives. 

Now I have a Nest thermostat, a Roomba, and a Chamberlain garage door opener, all controllable through Alexa or by a schedule.

Westworld season 3 looks amazing pic.twitter.com/c6zQDNIYEo

— The Dad (@thedad) January 3, 2019

I was really impressed by how simple and easy it was to get all this up and running. The big takeaway for me was realizing that having a smart home wasn’t something that’s just for super rich people living in future homes. I know there’s more that could be done, and as prices on the tech come down, I’ll probably automate more stuff. Eventually, I will achieve the ultimate goal of an automated breakfast machine, like from Back to the Future III.

The Dad loves cool stuff, and we want to share it with you. We are a part of the Amazon Affiliate Program, so we may earn a fee if you buy stuff from links featured here. But this was a true story, and it happened mostly before that whole arrangement, so no bullshit. 

[twitter.com/adambroud]

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One of my favorite things about being a dad is showing my kids movies I love. E.T. did not disappoint.

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Love this.

[from Johna Foro, johnaforo.com]

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Our house will never feel clean again after watching this…

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