Books, News, Parenting

Dad Wrote 650 Lunch Notes for His Daughter, and Even Turned Them Into a Book

By     Dec 1, 2020

Dad lunch notes
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Credit: Twitter/ChrisYandle

Finding ways to be there for your kids is a constantly-evolving challenge. As kids grow up, they may start communicating with you less and their friends more. Even finding time throughout the day to sit down and talk becomes more difficult as kids’ schedules fill up with extracurriculars and plans of their own, making an already challenging aspect of parenting even harder. One dad named Chris Yandle found a unique way to share life lessons, advice, and love with his daughter during a time when her brain was already primed for learning – he did it through notes, small nuggets of wisdom that he slipped into her lunch box when she went off to school every day.

Dr. Yandle wanted to support his daughter through an especially difficult year, as Addison’s transition to fourth grade meant she’d attended four different schools in five years.

“It wasn’t how we planned it, but as someone who moved around a lot as a kid, I knew this school year was going to be tough,” Dr. Yandle explained on his website. “Every morning, I wrote my daughter a note about life, school, or growing up, and I’d slip it in her bookbag or her lunch box to find later in the day.”

For over three years, Dr. Yandle has been sending his daughter to school with his “#DadLunchNotes,” a hashtag he coined when he started sharing his notes on social media. Though the notes are written for his daughter, the wisdom this loving dad shares is universal.

“These words of encouragement and life lessons are my way of connecting with my daughter and offering her the advice and anecdotes I wish I received at her age,” Dr. Chris Yandle told The Dad.

Inspiring and motivating kids to be the best versions of themselves is something all parents hope to accomplish, but finding the right method is difficult. Fortunately for Dr. Yandle, his extremely efficient method of delivering words of wisdom has become something Addison (and her teachers) look forward to every day.

“With each passing day, parenting in the digital age is getting more and more difficult,” Dr. Yandle explained. “As a dad to a pre-teen junior high girl, I thought you and other dads might be interested in a non-digital way to connect with their kids in our heavily connected world.”

The desire to share his unique method of communication led Dr. Yandle to post his Dad Lunch Notes on social media, and recently, he even compiled them into a book called Lucky Enough.

“One of the notes I wrote to Addison during her fourth-grade year was a quote from Taylor Swift: ‘If you’re lucky enough to have something that makes you different from everybody else, don’t ever change.’ When I read that quote, I knew I found the right title,” Dr. Yandle explained on his website.

For years to come, Addison will be Lucky Enough to have a stockpile of dad wisdom when she needs it most. And undoubtedly, this unique method of building a dad-daughter connection will be treasured by both forever.

Guy Fieri, Matthew McConaughey, Movies and TV, News

Matthew McConaughey Shares Values His Dad Passed Down, Asks Others To Do the Same

By     Jun 24, 2021

Matthew McConaughey shares the best advice he got from his dad - don't half-ass it
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Credit: Instagram/officiallymcconaughey

A dozen people could tell you about their driving values, but words of wisdom hit differently when they come from one of your heroes. In honor of Father’s Day, Matthew McConaughey challenged his friends to share the most important values from their OG heroes – their dads. But first, McConaughey shared the life-changing wisdom passed down by his own father.

In the video McConaughey shared on Instagram, the actor begins by discussing the significance of values. Values are, he explains, “Beliefs that we have for ourselves. Beliefs that we can rely on in a pinch when we’re lost, frustrated, confused. Values govern our daily interactions. They define our expectations not only of ourselves but usually of what we expect others to do as well.”

McConaughey goes on to explain that the values his dad instilled in him from a young age helped him become who he is today. Specifically, the importance of giving everything you try 100%. According to McConaughey (and his dad), if you half-ass things, you’ll never know what could have been if only you’d given it your all.

Following the dad-inspired pep talk from McConaughey himself, the actor reveals that several of his friends had shared their dadvice as well – timeless values and wisdom shared by their own fathers. McConaughey posted Guy Fieri’s response on Twitter, a video in which the star chef shares some important secondhand advice from his dad.

“When I was a kid my dad used to quote Kenny Rogers,” Fieri began, “and he said ‘you gotta know when to hold ’em, and you gotta know when to fold ’em’ – basically saying ‘don’t back up a stupid position, kid.’ If you did something wrong and you made a mistake, apologize, handle it, and move on.”

“Also give a good firm handshake and look people in the eye when you’re talking to ’em,” Fieri concluded. “Same values that I pass on to my kids.”

Movies and TV, News, Streaming

Netflix’s “Sexy Beasts” Proves We’re Officially Out of Dating Show Ideas

By     Jun 24, 2021

Sexy Beasts Netflix Show
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Credit: Twitter/NetflixUK

We have finally run out of dating show ideas. I don’t know, maybe we already had, but the new Netflix dating show seems to take things out of this world. Sometimes literally. “Sexy Beasts”, is a dating show that is “all about personality.” So a single will go on a few blind dates without knowing what they truly look like. Because those blind dates will be wearing movie-level prosthetics and makeup to make them look like…animals.

Are we really doing this? OK, I guess we are really doing this.

And we’re not just doing it once. Netflix has already ordered two seasons of the show. Each episode will have a person going on three dates with different “sexy beasts” in their animal makeup, and after choosing one, will actually get to see their real face. There will be six episodes airing starting July 21, with another batch coming in the fall.

It looks insane. It looks like an SNL parody. But it is really happening, and of course, people will watch it like crazy. You can’t NOT watch something like this, which says just as much about us as it does the people partaking in this show.

Like any Netflix reality show, it’s not even that original, as, much like The Circle (another great, unconventional, bingeable reality TV offering from Netflix), it’s a show/format that has already found great success in the UK. So, Netflix will introduce an American version.

Comedian Rob Delaney (very funny on Twitter! Haven’t seen his Amazon show!) will narrate the series.

Music, News, Nostalgia, Skateboarding, Tony Hawk

Avril Lavigne’s TikTok With Tony Hawk Will Take You Straight Back to 2002

By     Jun 24, 2021

Hawk Lavigne tiktok Flashback
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Credit: TikTok/Avril Lavigne

If you’re interested in a little time travel to spice up your day, Avril Lavigne is here for you. She made her Tik Tok debut (see, it’s not *just* for kids, it’s also for us olds!) and it stars a cameo from the truest Sk8er Boi (now Sk8er Dad) himself, friend of The Dad, Tony Hawk.

Lavigne does what people do best on Tik Tok, and does some lip-syncing. Of course, she’s doing something a *touch* different, because she’s lip-syncing herself, singing her famous song Sk8er Boi. As she hits the “he was a skater boy” it cuts to Hawk, now wearing her tie, as he breaks into some skating stunts on a beachfront ramp. Watching it will transport you in time directly to 2002, without passing Go or collecting $200.

@avrillavigneHe was a… @tonyhawk ##GoSkateboarding ##sk8rboi♬ Sk8er Boi – Avril Lavigne

She timed the release of this retro (can we call anything from the 2000s retro???) video to Go Skateboarding Day, and including Hawk is the perfect touch. No one embodies skateboarding more than the legend himself, who owns north of 70 titles, has pioneered numerous moves, and he even taught Lavigne how to skateboard a little.

Hawk shared the clip to his Instagram, saying the “Sk8er Boi singer learns skating move from old Sk8er man.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tony Hawk (@tonyhawk)

Nostalgia is always a hit in popular culture, and this short clip is as pure it gets.

Movies and TV, News, Trending

Harrison Ford Injures Himself While Shooting Indy 5 Because He’s 78

By     Jun 24, 2021

Indiana Jones 5
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Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney

There are a lot of reasons they shouldn’t be making another, and final, Indiana Jones movie. For one thing, the last one was an abomination and we shan’t discuss it. For another, Steven Spielberg is not directing it. For another, Harrison Ford is 78 years old!

Those first two reasons may prove to be faulty. It’s possible – even likely – that Indy 5 will be superior to The Indy Movie That Shall Not Be Named. For one thing, Shia LaBeouf is long gone. For another, it was so bad, it won’t be hard to top! And James Mangold is a good director. He’s no Spielberg – who is? – but Spielberg isn’t even the Spielberg who directed the first three movies, as evidenced by the fourth movie.

That third reason though? It’s already rearing its head.

A mere week or so after the first shots of Harrison Ford on location as Indiana Jones emerged, Ford is back in the news for a much more depressing reason: he hurt his shoulder filming the movie.

“In the course of rehearsing for a fight scene, Harrison Ford sustained an injury involving his shoulder. Production will continue while the appropriate course of treatment is evaluated, and the filming schedule will be reconfigured as needed in the coming weeks,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement reported by the Hollywood Reporter.

Ford has been hurt before, both while filming and not (he was injured during the Force Awakens shoot, if you remember, and has famously crashed his plane while not working). When you’re exerting yourself in your 70s, injuries tend to happen, even to Hollywood superstars!

Filming is continuing on the movie, but production will have to be shuffled around to accommodate Ford’s injury and recovery. Who knows, maybe they’ll even incorporate it into the storyline, which at one point was rumored to feature the fountain of youth.

The untitled movie costars Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Kretschmann, Boyd Holbrook, Shaunette Renée Wilson, and Toby Jones, a strong cast that bodes well. So long as Ford can survive!

Good News, Health, Health & Wellness, Hero Dads

Dad Donates Kidney To Help His 15-Year-Old Son Live a Dialysis-Free Life

By     Jun 23, 2021    |   Updated Jun 24, 2021

Dad donates kidney to son
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Credit: Facebook/Team Nolan: The Journey

Watching your kids suffer is one of the most heartbreaking things a parent can experience. We’re programmed to help, to bandage the scratches and hug away the tears. But when our kids are faced with struggles that we can’t fix, we feel completely and totally powerless. After a decade of watching his son’s health decline, 45-year-old Shannon Dobrucki jumped at the opportunity to help.

Since the age of five, Shannon’s son Nolan suffered from aplastic anemia. 10 years later, Nolan has persevered through kidney failure and a host of other complications as his parents supported him to the best of their abilities.

Recently, doctors informed 15-year-old Nolan’s family that he desperately needed a kidney transplant. After learning he was a perfect match for his son, Shannon chose to give Nolan one of his own kidneys without a second thought.

“Parents all say the same thing, right? We’ll do anything for our kids,” Dobrucki told TODAY Parents. “It wasn’t a hard decision.”

Post-transplant joy

After complications from a bone marrow transplant, Nolan started dialysis in 2015. He’s spent over a year of his life in the hospital, received daily dialysis, a coped with a host of things that complicated the teen’s ability to simply be a kid. In August of 2020, doctors performed the life-saving and life-changing surgery – almost immediately, Nolan began to notice drastic improvements.

Without his nightly 8-hour dialysis, Nolan’s world opened up. He could finally have sleepovers, stay up late, and travel without being tied to his essential nightly routine. After over a decade of struggling, Nolan has a new lease on life thanks to his dad.

“It’s so unfair for a young person who has given up so much time being in the hospital and can’t do everything that everybody else does. The hardest part is just having to watch him go through that and there’s really nothing you can do,” Shannon said. “Well, there was something that I could give to him finally.”

In Memoriam, News

10-Yr-Old Hero Drowns in South Dakota River After Saving His Sister’s Life

By     Jun 23, 2021

10-Year-old drowns while saving his little sister's life
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Credit: GoFundMe/Little Ricky saving his little Sis

Nothing can prepare us for the situations in life that test us, but ultimately, the decisions we make in crucial moments reflect who we are. 10-Year-old Ricky Lee Sneve loved fishing, helping out at home, and above all else, he loved his family. On June 12, Ricky, his dad, and his siblings were spending time together at the Big Sioux River. When several kids fell in the water, both Ricky and his dad jumped in to save them.

Ricky’s dad, Chad Sneve, pulled two of the younger children to safety while Ricky pushed his little sister Chevelle to shore. When Chad turned to find Ricky, however, the young hero was nowhere to be found. Tragically, after ensuring his sister was safe, Ricky had drowned.

“He saved his sisters’ life and took his own,” Ricky’s mom, Nicole Eufers told Argus Leader.

The loss of a life is always heartbreaking, but losing a child is unfathomable. Those close to Ricky were devastated by the loss, but unsurprised that the selfless hero made the ultimate sacrifice to save his little sister.

“He was generous, kind and special in more ways than I can begin to explain,” Chad Sneve said. “He was my everything, and he touched everyone he encountered.”

Ricky’s uncle set up a GoFundMe to help his family with various expenses including Ricky’s funeral. Donations and words of support poured in, praising Ricky and his heroism while offering condolences to the heartbroken family.

“He’d do anything to help his mom or anyone at that, without ever being asked,” Ricky’s uncle said of the 10-year-old. “Ricky gave his life trying to do what he knew was best.”

Movies and TV, News, Paul Rudd, Trending

Paul Rudd Crashes Conan For One Last ‘Mac and Me’ Troll

By     Jun 23, 2021

One last Mac and Me Troll
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Credit: YouTube/Team Coco

For decades, Conan O’Brien has been a steady presence on late-night television. The tall ginger comedian has weathered power struggles, network changes, and more, and next week, he finally signs off of his TBS show before moving onto a new project for HBO Max. Before he goes, though, some old friends are stopping by, culminating in Jack Black as the final guest on Conan’s final show.

Last night, Paul Rudd showed up, albeit uninvited. The Ant-Man star crashed Conan’s interview with Bill Hader to revive a legendary bit he’s been doing for decades himself. For years, when Rudd appears on Conan’s show, he is invariably promoting something, and yet when it comes time to show a clip from his latest project, whether it’s an Avengers movie or his upcoming Apple TV+ show with Will Ferrell, Rudd instead shows a different clip.

It’s an absurd sequence from the terrible 80s movie Mac & Me in which a little boy in a wheelchair rockets down the slide of a cliff. It’s absurd even with no context, and even more so when Rudd shows it after pretending to show something else. Last night, the ageless star said he was going to share footage of an SNL sketch that Hader wrote but that Rudd refused to participate in, but when it came time to roll the footage, well, see for yourself:

The commitment to the bit is so insane that even Conan had to give Rudd credit.

“Every time, for years, I was convinced that I would see the real clip,” says Conan, “because you are a genuinely a nice person. And you would say, ‘this movie is really important to me’ and ‘I put my own money into this, and I really care about this,’ and then you’d pull that shit every time.”

Last night, Rudd pulled it one last time. Unless he can somehow find a way to get it on Conan’s new HBO Max show, whatever that ends up being.

Anti-Bullying, Good News, Movies and TV, News, Television

Sesame Street Showcases Family With Two Gay Dads for First Time in the Show’s History

By     Jun 23, 2021

Gay Dads on Sesame Street
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Credit: 2021 Sesame Workshop / Richard Termine

Sesame Street is recognizing Pride Month in a way they never have before, by showcasing a family that is becoming increasingly more common. The show aired a special episode called “Family Day” that featured a family with two dads and their daughter. The gay married couple, Frank and Dave, along with their daughter Mia, join the rest of the block in surprising Big Bird at a party.

While it’s far from a first on TV, it does mark a historic first for the longtime children’s show. It’s the first time in 51 years of Sesame Street that they’ve showcased a family with two gay dads. One character remarks that “all of our families are so different” and one of the dads responds that there are all kinds of different families.

“But what makes us a family is that we love each other,” one of the dads says.

The episode was directed by Alan Muraoka, who is a longtime actor on the show who owns Hooper’s Store. He shared a post about how special the episode was.

“Sesame Street has always been a welcoming place of diversity and inclusion,” he wrote. “So I’m so excited to introduce Nina’s Brother Dave, his husband Frank, and their daughter Mia to our sunny street.”

“I am so honored and humbled to have co-directed this important and milestone episode. Love is love, and we are so happy to add this special family to our Sesame family. Happy Pride to all!!!”

When stories like this pop, the response is either overwhelmingly positive, or it’s a lot of “who cares?” And here’s the thing people making the second comment miss. Yeah, it’s 2021, very few people care if you’re gay or not. Families are made up of all sorts of different relationships and setups, sure.

But, representation does matter. For kids who may be gay to see it normalized on TV does matter. Especially when the suicide rate for LGBTQ kids is so high. You may not personally consider it a big deal, but to certain people, it’s an enormous deal, and anything that helps that community of children should be encouraged.

Anything we can do to help kids who may otherwise be feeling very alone and isolated is a good thing. And if Sesame Street can do its part by showing families with two dads can be normal, we are here for it.

Comedy, Dave Grohl, Music, News

Dave Chappelle and the Foo Fighters Cover Radiohead’s Creep at MSG’s Reopening

By     Jun 23, 2021

Grohl And Chappelle MSG
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Credit: YouTube/Jeffrey Cohen

New York City was among the hardest-hit cities by the Covid pandemic. They got it earlier than most, doctors initially had no idea how to treat it and it was before masks were mandatory. The city is beginning to reopen, and the first full capacity, sold-out show at Madison Square Garden, one of the most iconic arenas in America? Dad Rock king Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters, along with a cameo by one of the greatest comedians of all-time, Dave Chappelle.

Fully reopening America’s most famous arena with Dave Chappelle and the Foo Fighters covering Radiohead’s Creep is probably not what anyone expected, but it’s what we got. The Foo Fighters were the first concert to return to MSG and Chappelle happened to be in town, and well, the rest is now entertainment history.

Dave Chappelle and Dave Grohl are two people who are living their best lives. And their pandemics couldn’t have been more different. Grohl got in a virtual drum battle with a 10-year-old and then released an album. Chappelle was the first to find a way to offer live entertainment, safely, when he ran dozens of stand-up shows featuring the biggest stars in comedy, all out of a cornfield in Ohio.

And yeah, no one expected this combo, this performance, on this night, but in a weird way, it’s a pretty awesome way to kick off the true reopening of Madison Square Garden.