To athletes accustomed to playing in packed stadiums surrounded by the tangible energy of countless fans, this is a strange time. Let’s be honest, this is a strange time for everyone, and we’re doing our best to carve out a new normal. Sportscasters are trying to fill the void of delivering riveting sports commentary by giving play-by-plays of everyday life instead. Even the NFL is planning to emulate the feel of a real, live football game by blasting pre-recorded crowd noise into the empty stadium during televised games. Yeah, it’s not going great.

Football is in a virtual offseason since the coronavirus has made regular offseason training impossible. During this time, some teams are conducting virtual classroom-type instruction to prepare for the next season. Teams have been given permission by the NFL to send their players $1,500 in equipment to create their own home-training spaces. Most of these workouts and classroom sessions are voluntary, so it’s up to the athletes to decide how to spend their virtual offseason time.

For 25-year-old Philadelphia Eagles running back Boston Scott, this time away from the grueling day-to-day as an NFL athlete has allowed him to focus his attention on family. In 2018, Scott’s father Anthony suffered a stroke. Anthony has worked with multiple therapists over the years and regained most of his mobility on the right side of his body, but continues to struggle with his speech. Due to the coronavirus, Anthony’s speech therapist was unable to continue working with him. Fortunately, Anthony had a couple of backups, Boston and his little sister Alana, ready to take over.

Twice a week, Scott works with his father on regaining his ability to speak using both exercises he learned by watching his father’s speech therapy appointments over the years, and strategies he’s developed on his own. Scott told NJ Advance Media, “When he can’t pronounce a word, I get him to sing his ‘ABCs’, which I think is a staple in a lot of our minds. Singing your ‘ABCs,’ that’s something you can remember from your childhood.”

So twice a week, that’s where you’ll find them. Anthony and Boston, sitting at the kitchen table, practicing the ABCs. The same activity that they likely did together more than two decades earlier, this time, with Boston taking the role of teacher. Never before has the line “next time won’t you sing with me” struck such a heartwarming, love-filled chord

I’ve been trying to get my 9-year-old to watch Labyrinth for two years.

I don’t know if the trailer freaked him out, or he doesn’t like movies about girls, or if David Bowie’s codpiece scared him off, but I haven’t been able to convince him yet. I will though, especially now that it’s the latest movie from my childhood to get a sequel / prequel / reboot / remake / legacyquel because news has emerged that they’re making another one.

That’s right, Labyrinth, the movie that launched Jennifer Connelly into our lives and introduced us to David Bowie’s creepy Goblin King, is getting a sequel. Released in 1986, the story of a teenage girl’s attempt to retrieve her baby brother from the land of the Goblin King will be introduced to a new generation, albeit sadly without Bowie’s villain.

Deadline reported the news, including the fact that it will be directed by Scott Derrickson, who recently left the Doctor Strange sequel and is now going into business with the Jim Henson Company, because, yes, if you have forgotten, Labyrinth is full of muppet-like monsters.

Henson’s creatures recently resurfaced in Netflix’s Dark Crystal series, which revisited the world of another creepy 80s movie. The series did well, critically at least, and now they’re moving on to more live-action fare. Unfortunately, we have no news on plot or casting, and while David Bowie is no longer with us, it would be a real missed opportunity if Jennifer Connelly doesn’t come back.

The first movie is a cult hit that has a rabid fan base who will surely have opinions on this new project as it shapes up, and even casual observers like me can’t help but wonder who they’re going to get to try to capture some of the weird charm Bowie brought to the role.

When I was a kid in the 80s, space shuttle launches were must-see TV. They were big deals, for everyone, not just kids, and everyone stopped what they were doing to see us blast people into outer space.

They kind of lost their luster after the Challenger explosion, and NASA slowly began ramping them down in general. Nowadays they just don’t happen, and when they do, there’s nowhere near as much excitement. NASA last flew a shuttle in 2011. But over the past few years, people have started to grow more interested as private companies start making forays into space travel, the most prominent of which is Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

SpaceX is back it. Today, at 4:33 ET, the Demo-2, manned by NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, is set to launch on a voyage to the international space station. This is the first time SpaceX is using NASA astronauts, the first time NASA astronauts have flown to space commercially, and the first time Americans will enter space from America since the end of the space shuttle program nearly a decade ago.

But the window is tight. If there’s any delay in the launch, even by a minute, they’ll miss their window to get on the right trajectory toward the ISS and will have to try again on Saturday or Sunday.

Hopefully, everything will go smoothly, and we can start getting excited about space travel again!

“We have this moment in time where we can unite people again,” Jim Bridenstine, NASA’s administrator, said during a press briefing before launch. “The whole world is going to be watching this.”

There are a variety of ways to watch the launch, as listed by Entrepreneur magazine:

NASA TV

SpaceX

American Museum of Natural History

National Geographic and ABC Live

Discovery and Science Channel

The Museum of Flight

Something tells me this won’t make it into the Man in the Arena documentary.

Over the weekend, Tom Brady participated in a golf competition with former NFL rival Peyton Manning and pro golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. During Sunday’s The Match: Champions for Charity, in which Brady and Mickelson put up a good fight before ultimately losing to their rivals, Brady had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction.

In an incident that could have happened to any of us – and may or may not have happened to yours truly! – he bent down to pick up a ball, and as he did, his pants split open, right on his 6-time Super Bowl-winning derriere. Unlike any time that’s happened to us, Brady’s pants tore open while he was being broadcast on national television. Somewhere, Mark “Butt Fumble” Sanchez must have been loving it.

Tommy doin lots of squats and lunges….🍑 #TheMatch2 pic.twitter.com/QwmcjjHwRl

— Bucci Mane (@Buccigross) May 24, 2020

It was an embarrassing moment, but Brady has been in pressure-filled situations before. The unflappable second-best QB of all time (Dan Marino FTW!) handled the situation with his typical clutchness and showing that he has a sense of humor just as prominent as his chin dimple.

ESPN shared a photo of the exact moment when his pants ripped, and Brady was quick to respond with a joke and a topical one at that!

Next time I’ll make sure to be wearing my @UAGolf pants 🤦‍♂️ #LessonLearned https://t.co/GauGM9ZLdl

— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) May 25, 2020

Now that he’s on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brady may not win a seventh Super Bowl, but with a new documentary hitting ESPN next year and this weekend’s successful defusion of an awkward situation, maybe the somewhat stiff QB can actually make a winning transition to the broadcast booth!

Hopefully with some pants that are a little less tight…

In a bid for any semblance of camaraderie outside of his family, local dad Barry McLeod has chosen to put aside his beef with the robot lawnmower and finally befriended it.

“It’s an unlikely friendship, for sure,” stated McLeod, who’d previously harbored strong animosity for the smart mower, fearing he’d eventually be rendered useless in the great robot uprising. “It can’t talk back, but the mobility gives it some appearance of sentience. Also, it isn’t my wife or kids, so that’s really cool during quarantine life. Our friendship has become so strong that we’ll be pals long after COVID-19 is in our rearview mirrors.”

McLeod, seen above sharing a cold one with his new companion, was initially hesitant of the technology, worried his passion for mowing would one day be supplanted with sheer convenience.

“I won it in a work raffle,” he continued. “I loathed it so much I didn’t even open the box. But it turned out to be a really chill piece of lawn equipment, thanks in no small part to its incapacity for speech. Doesn’t scream about Paw Patrol or ask weird hypotheticals or anything. Very cool.”

McLeod’s wife could not be reached for comment, as she was inside discussing the arts with a Roomba.

Despite being completely plausible to parents, THIS JUST IN is satire and intended for entertainment purposes only. For more stories like this one click here.

“When I found out I was pregnant, Griffin was in New Orleans (on Bourbon Street to be exact). I called him because I couldn’t keep the secret while he was gone.

‘I’m pregnant,’ I blurted out, crying hysterically.
I then asked, “Are you mad at me?”
He laughed hysterically.
‘Why would I be mad? This is what we wanted. I kind of want to puke but I would never be mad!’

Maybe he wanted to puke from the debauchery and not the announcement?

We’re realists, so we anticipated everything going wrong. Always better to expect the worst than be let down by complications. And then I went into labor at 28 weeks.

For three weeks in the hospital, Griffin did not leave my side. He bathed me, worked, held my hand, and took care of everything (including a burst pipe and reconstruction, nursery furniture delays, the laundry, etc.). I have never felt so loved and supported.

And then our son showed up at 32 weeks.

Griffin did not miss a day at the NICU. He was at the hospital (an hour round-trip from home) for something like 53 days including my stay. And for hours at a time, learning everything he could about NG tubes, feedings, baths, oxygen saturations, stridor, and poopy diapers.

I had low expectations… because we are realists. But Griffin has jumped into fatherhood with such zeal, it puts my love of motherhood to shame. Middle-of-the-night feedings, making bottles, cleaning bottles, cuddling his son to sleep, letting me have ‘me’ time, all while balancing working full-time and going to school at night.

He is my hero and the best life partner I could have asked for.

He still golfs too much in the summers though.”

– Heather Schiele

Check out the previous editions of Father Figures here.

Alright, alright, alright. Looks like Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves McConaughey had themselves a feel-good, productive Memorial Day weekend. Ol’ Wooderson has partnered with Lincoln (his favorite car in which to pontificate the meaning of life) to donate 110,000 masks to medical workers at rural hospitals in need throughout Texas. He loaded up the back of his Lincoln… truck, to the brim, and hit the road to hand-deliver the PPE to medical workers in need.

View this post on Instagram

Thanks to @lincoln for donating 110 thousand masks – me and @camilamcconaughey hitting the road to get em to rural hospitals in need across Texas

A post shared by Matthew McConaughey (@officiallymcconaughey) on May 21, 2020 at 5:01pm PDT

Everyone’s favorite Austinite has been pretty busy being an all-around great guy. The pair had previously hand-delivered 80k masks to Austin and New Orleans hospitals through a partnership with Bethenny Frankel’s BS Strong initiative. Before that, Mr. McConaughey prepared meals for the firefighters battling the California wildfires, he gave a virtual speech to his alma mater’s graduating class, he surprised a nursing home with his family for an epic night of Bingo, and he showed up on ‘Good Morning America’ to personally give a shoutout to the New York’s Urban Assembly School for Emergency Management.

Say what you will about Ghosts of Girlfriend’s Past (and Failure to Launch and Surfer, Dude) this guy has more than made up for it with his public outreach and charity in the midst of national tragedies. I think everyone is happy to live in a post-McConaissance world and we can only hope he said “alright alright alright” every time he pulled up to a hospital in that truck. Please let that be true.

To sweeten the good feels we already have from this news, it seems as good of a time as any to revisit the Lincoln ad in which Matthew McConaughey rolls a booger and talks to a bull:

Set your wands and robes aside for now, J.K. Rowling is gracing our computers, tablets, smartphones, and Devices That Shall Not Be Named with something brand new. No, she won’t be compiling the ridiculously entertaining predictive text generated chapters of Harry Potter into a standalone book titled, “Hermione Has Forgotten How To Dance” (and yet I hold out hope).

Early on in quarantine, Rowling announced an open license for all seven Harry Potter books so they could be shared by educators over Zoom, or read in weekly videos by stars such as Daniel Radcliffe, the OG Harry Potter. Rowling knows just how much her books have helped children and adults alike cope with quarantine, and as her fans often do, we wanted more.

On May 26th, J.K. Rowling heard our pleas and delivered something to keep our kids entertained (and who are we kidding, it’ll keep us entertained too – looking at you, person who sees their Hogwarts house as a central part of their identity) for months to come. Starting today and continuing through July, Rowling will release a chapter of her new book, The Ickabog, on the book’s website daily at 3 PM GMT.

Rowling describes the endearing origins of the book on her website, recalling how she read chapters to her children nightly as she wrote them. The time spent immersed in the world of The Ickabog became a time for bonding between Rowling and her two children, and for a while, it would stay that way. After Harry Potter, Rowling decided to step away from writing children’s books, and The Ickabog was put aside for the time being.

Over time I came to think of The Ickabog as just for my family. The manuscript went up into the attic, where it remained until a few weeks ago.

This is the very dusty box I got down from the attic.
(It’s a Net-A-Porter box and might well have held a premiere dress.)

4/13 pic.twitter.com/vg8F5Qx33M

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 26, 2020

Nearly a decade later, Rowling decided that releasing the book for kids in quarantine was the perfect way to get this beloved story out into the world. Even more special, Rowling is asking kids to submit illustrations that will be published in the print and e-book versions of The Ickabog.

Illustrations have already started pouring in from around the world.

There’s King Fred,

I love, love, love this King Fred! #TheIckabog https://t.co/HzX8wekbun

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 26, 2020

A map,

I love this map! #TheIckabog https://t.co/QbPngMVIZD

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 26, 2020

And the Ickabog himself.

This is a fabulous Ickabog #TheIckabog https://t.co/vhN1DIR2ZY

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 26, 2020

Read along each day, and don’t forget to submit your kid’s illustrations! It’s never too early to start building up their resume. The full version of the book, including some submitted illustrations, will be available to purchase in November.

Please share your children’s artwork with us using #TheIckabog and tag us in the post. Read our submissions guide at https://t.co/msLWYGDlYF

— The Ickabog (@TheIckabog) May 26, 2020

At some point over the past few decades, politics became pop culture. When I was growing up, smack-dab in the middle of the Reagan era, I was blissfully oblivious to most of the goings-on, at least until I got into high school and college. I don’t think most kids have that luxury anymore, thanks to the internet and social media, TV channels devoted to news and politics 24/7, and politicians themselves becoming celebrities, playing the sax on Arsenio Hall, and hosting reality TV shows before becoming president.

Politics has become entertainment – and thanks to the pandemic and quarantine, education has become largely virtual – which makes this a perfect time for Schoolhouse Rock to return and remind kids of the importance behind the pomp and circumstance.

Schoolhouse Rock is an animated TV series that originated in the 70s. It used catchy musical sequences to teach kids about the logistics of democracy, as well as other foundational lessons in grammar, history, and the like. With everyone being forced to learn via screens these days, Schoolhouse Rock’s debut on Disney+ this summer – the first season will be available to stream on June 19th – couldn’t come at a better time.

The series is fun and educational, and for 40-somethings like me, it’s a real blast from the past. If you remember any of these, it’s probably the incredibly catchy song about how a bill becomes law (embedded below). I can still remember the words, and the lesson behind it, which is a testament to the power of the show.

I can’t wait to show it to my kids, and relive my youth. You can still sign up for Disney+ for $6.99/month or $69.99/year.

Summer is for baseball, and having one without the other doesn’t feel right. With their season in jeopardy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB players and owners still don’t seem all that close to starting their season, even without fans in the stadium. But when it comes to getting people to come to the ballpark, no MLB team could ever match the creativity of a minor league club, and that has held true even in the time of coronavirus.

For example, look no further than Kentucky. Sure, there’s no baseball happening in Florence, but the Florence Y’alls stadium is full of visitors. It’s not to see home runs and strikeouts, but to see camels, llamas, and kangaroos, as the minor league club has turned their ballpark into a drive-thru zoo.

“We have a great venue here. We just wanted the community something to get out of the house, something to do for people to look forward to,” Florence Y’alls facility operations manager Joseph Manco told a local TV station.

So yeah, as families are cooped up at home, they can have a socially distant afternoon of seeing animals from the comfort of their cars. Acrobats from the Cincinnati Circus company were also out entertaining fans.

It is a beautiful day outside! Come drive through Y’all’s Animal Farm! We will be here until 6pm 😊 pic.twitter.com/CrPMlwd4jh

— Florence Y’alls (@florence_yalls) May 25, 2020

Come visit us today at Y’alls Animal Farm! It is the perfect safe place to bring your family this Memorial Day weekend! pic.twitter.com/RgaN5TCkil

— Florence Y’alls (@florence_yalls) May 23, 2020

The drive-thru animal farm was a huge hit with fans, and the Frontier League stadium even saw a few VIPs, including Cincinnati Bengals All-Pro Defensive Tackle Geno Atkins, who brought his family to the animal event.

Other ballparks are also getting creative with how they bring in fans. The Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, are renting out their stadium on Airbnb. For a scant $1,500 a night, your group of 10 can stay at your own persona Field of Dreams. Guests have access to the newly-renovated clubhouse, the batting cage, the baseball diamond and a large bedroom during their stay.

👀 pic.twitter.com/IT0WdEZ6ba

— Pensacola Blue Wahoos (@BlueWahoosBBall) May 23, 2020

It is believed to be the first professional baseball stadium available to rent on Airbnb, and it’s actually fairly reasonable for a pretty incredible behind-the-scenes experience.

Whether it’s a drive-thru Zoo or a booze-filled bachelor party at an empty ballpark, there are a few different ways you can get yourself to a baseball stadium this summer.

As a dad, sometimes we just have the urge as DIY masters (or not) to build something on our own. Woodworking is in our DNA, after all. (Not necessarily professional level woodworking, but at least the basics.) Woodworking is better than time spent playing on your computer, after all.

For your next project, maybe you’re looking to create something truly useful. You tried the traditional spice rack, but since everyone in your house is always to too tired to cook after work, the spices just sit and collect dust. (The only time the spice rack gets used is when you season the steaks and show off your mad grilling skills.)

Then there was the treehouse that the kids were so excited about using … until they got bored with it. (At least the squirrels found a good home.)

But now you’re looking for a truly practical project; something that will receive daily use. Consider DIY bunk beds. Not only will kids love bunk beds when sharing a room, but it gives them far more free space on the floor of the bedroom to spread clothes and toys. There’s nothing a kid loves more than making a mess. And there’s nothing you love more than navigating the minefield of crap on the bedroom floor in the middle of the night when the kid is crying for a glass of water. (F***ing LEGOs on bare feet are the work of the devil.)

Building homemade bunk beds will give you some serious dad cred, allowing you to slack off a bit and not have to try so hard in a few other areas. For example, successfully complete DIY bunk beds, and you can dial down the intensity of the bedtime stories. (Trust us, no one wants to see your full musical production of Hop on Pop at bedtime or hear you rap The Gruffalo, unless you can at least match the skills of MC Grammar.)

How to Build a DIY Bunk Bed

1-Do the Planning

Our instructions for DIY bunk beds will be pretty simple in nature. However, you can create all kinds of accents and far more detailed designs if desired. You can find many different instruction sets regarding bunk bed plans for sale online to spark your creativity.

Measure the height of the ceiling in the kids’ bedroom. You have to give the kid in the top bunk plenty of room to sit up when the alarm goes off without causing a concussion every morning. Don’t forget to add in the thickness of the mattress to your calculations. (And if the kids are still afraid of heights, maybe go down another foot.)

If you’d rather watch someone build homemade bunk beds versus simply reading about it, Jay’s Custom Creations has a very helpful DIY bunk beds video, as well as matching detailed plans for DIY bunk beds that you can buy.

2-Collect the Materials

For homemade bunk beds, you can save some money by using standard pinewood 2-by-2s, 2-by-4s and 2-by-6s. You will want a drill with a screwdriver bit, wood glue, sander, and a circular hand saw or a table saw.

And for the love of God, measure the doorway. If you want to build the DIY bunk beds outdoors, make sure they’ll fit through the front door and the bedroom doorway. Otherwise, if they’re going to be too large, build them inside the room. (Cut the pieces outside, though, unless you want sawdust to embed itself in the carpeting and still be there well after the kids grow up and go to college and you convert the space into the exercise room that you’ve always wanted but never plan to actually use.)

3-Build the Box

For the box that will hold the mattress, you will want to use 2-by-6s or 2-by-4s, depending on the thickness of the mattress. (The mattress thickness should extend at least a few inches over the top of the box.)

Figure out what sizes of mattresses you want to use on the bunk beds and cut the boards to fit.

• Twin: 39×75 inches
• Twin XL: 39×80 inches
• Full: 54×75 inches
• Full XL: 54×80 inches

Build the interior of the box so that you have 1 to 2 inches of free space all around the mattress. This allows for space for blankets to hang over the edge of the mattress when the kids will make the bunk beds. (Stop snickering.)

Remember that each piece of lumber has 1.5 inches of width (not 2 inches). For a twin mattress, make the long sides 77 to 79 inches in length and the short sides 38 to 40 inches in width, so the short side attaches to the inside of the long sides.

Sand the pieces to remove rough spots, printing, marks, and sharp edges. Screw and glue or nail and glue them together. (Always use glue with the screws or brad nails. Kids are notoriously rough on bunk beds.)

4-Build the Base and Legs

For the base of the box, you can attach plywood to the bottom of each box, or you can use 2-by-2s, 2-by-4s, or 1-by-3s to create slats.

To make simple legs, you can attach 2-by-4s and 2-by-6s together in an L shape. These legs should extend roughly 12 to 18 inches over the top of where the upper box will sit.

Stand the legs in the room where you want them. Use 2-by-4s to connect them to each other (on the short side of the bed), creating ladder rungs on both sides.

Here’s where you need to do some math. If the bottom of the lower box will be 6 inches off the floor and the bottom of the upper box will be 54 inches off the floor, you’ll want the bottom of the rungs for the ladder at 22 and 38 inches. Add one more rung at the top of the legs for stability.

Then attach the boxes to the legs at the desired height. Use spare pieces of wood as braces on the inside of the legs cut to the proper length to help support the weight of the upper box as you’re attaching it. (If the upper box is 54 inches off the floor, use 54-inch braces inside the legs.) Follow the same procedure for the lower box. Having a second person for this part is helpful.

5-Finishing Touches

Some people like to build guard rails on the upper bunk. This can be accomplished at the same height as the upper ladder rung for a consistent look. If the beds will be against the wall, just one side needs a rail.

Adding storage bins, drawers, or a rollaway bed underneath the lower bunk is another option. If you plan to do this, calculate the size of the storage you want before you start putting the beds together, and hang the lower box at the proper height to accommodate the storage, adjusting the height of the upper box and the ladder rungs accordingly.

We’d recommend painting the wood, although some people will choose to stain it if they’re using high-quality wood.

Kids will love picking fun colors for the DIY bunk beds, and they can even help with the painting outside. But if you’re going to let them help you paint the bunk beds when they’re already inside the room … don’t. Just don’t.

Best Products for Homemade Bunk Beds

2×4 x 8 Foot Lumber

No woodworking project can be successful without the right lumber. You may want to go with more expensive wood when you’re planning for how to build a bunk bed, especially if you want to stain it. Then again, there’s a 50/50 chance the kids will destroy it at some point, so maybe cheaper is better.

Buy for $4 Per Piece on Home Depot

Flat Head Phillips Wood Screws

You can never have enough wood screws on hand for your woodworking projects.

But don’t settle for cheap screws for this project, or you’re going to strip the heads, leaving them stuck forever, not quite in as far as they should be, pissing you off to no end and leading to an impressive string of cuss words. (We understand that all dad projects should involve some form of swearing at some point during the process, but the project shouldn’t be 100% profanity, so buy decent screws.)

Buy for $14 on Amazon

Gorilla Wood Glue

If you’re assembling your DIY bunk beds inside the kids’ room, always remember what my dad taught me about wood glue when I was a kid: A little goes a long way. (Of course, he told me this after I used half a bottle on one joint, leading to a huge mess on the floor that I had to clean up, but I did remember the advice, even if it was a little late. Dad was a big believer in learning by doing … and he always said learning was much easier after screwing something the f*** up the first time.)

Buy for $6 on Amazon

DeWalt 20V MAX Cordless Drill Kit

If you don’t have a cordless drill, this homemade bunk beds project is the perfect excuse to buy one. (We would suggest that you ask for a high-quality drill for the best Father’s Day gift, but we all know how that usually goes. Sure, we appreciate receiving another #1 Dad coffee mug — it never hurts to advertise — but this drill would be better.)

With two rechargeable batteries included, you’ll always have a fresh battery available for your projects. The downside? No more excuses that you don’t have the right tools when you’re trying to spend Saturday afternoon napping instead of fixing things. Make sure you have both batteries fully charged at all times, just having them sitting on a shelf does nobody any good.

Buy for $99 on Amazon

DeWalt 20V MAX Brad Nailer

For this type of project, a brad nailer probably will be easier to handle than the drill and screws. However, if you expect the kids to use the bunk beds as some sort of launching point for practicing all-star wrestling moves, the screws should hold together better than these brad nails and glue, especially on the ladder rungs.

Hell, get both DeWalt power tools. They share the same battery system, and the kids are going to break many, many things over the next several years, so you can never have enough power tools on hand for repairs.

Buy for $233 on Amazon

DeWalt Compact Jobsite Table Saw

We love this table saw, as it’s small enough to take with you wherever you need to work, but it’s also big and powerful enough to do almost any woodworking job you have in the plans.

It’s tough enough to stand up to regular use, should you decide to take on some tougher projects after finishing your current bunk bed plans. Take safety measures with this table saw, such as always using the safety guard. Power saws don’t give your fingers a second chance if you make a mistake.

Buy for $279 on Amazon

DeWalt Orbit Sander

Sanding is key for how to build a bunk bed that’s safe to use. (Attaching all the pieces securely is key too, but you already knew that.)

Without sanding, you just know your accident-prone kid is going to find a way to end up with a splinter 24 seconds after climbing into the bed, which will lead to an hour of wailing about something so small you can’t even see it. And you’ll receive that look your wife saves for the times when she says things like, “Are you sure this wood is safe to use and it won’t give the kids splinters?” before you started the project. Sigh.

Buy for $59 on Amazon

South Shore Ulysses Navy Blue Twin Bunk Bed

Maybe you have studied our plans for DIY bunk beds, and you have decided it’s too big of a project for you. No worries.

With this homemade bunk beds kit, you’ll receive everything you need to create bunk beds that look great without having to do all of the math, sawing, and sanding.

You still will have to do the assembly yourself. And sometimes, these assemble-yourself furniture projects can be almost as confusing as building the entire project. So you’ll have almost the same fun/frustration with the kit as when building it from scratch. (Kit or no kit, swearing is never optional.)

Buy for $440 on Home Depot

Dorel Living Airlie Wood Bunk Beds

Here’s another kit for DIY bunk beds that’s a little cheaper if you need to save some cash. This one has a twin bed on top and a full bed on the bottom, which means the kids will be sure to fight over who gets the bigger bed. Fun times.

Buy for $350 on Amazon

The Gruffalo

Once the bunk bed plans are finished, you need a good bedtime story. This one is a lot of fun. (No rapping, please … although the pattern of the writing makes it awfully damn tempting.)

Buy for $11 on Amazon

Although we only recommend picks we really love, we may earn a commission on purchases made through links from our site. There are safety regulations when it comes to bunk beds, please use caution and follow any government recommended height/safety rules.

(All finished bunk bed photos from Home Depot)

The comedy world has been rocked in recent weeks by the passing of several icons. Jerry Stiller and Fred Willard filled the world with laughter for decades, right up until their last moments (and beyond, honestly, as their seminal works continue in syndication and streaming). But that has left some fans paranoid, especially since some subscribe to a theory that major deaths occur in threes. Which is why Betty White’s reps had to contact The Today Show to inform them…that she is doing just fine.

Of course it’s natural to worry about the comedy darling, as the Golden Girl is nearly 100. And with the world in the grips of a pandemic that especially wreaks havoc on the elderly, how can you not be just a little bit worried about the 98-year-old comedy star?

She’s doing just fine, her reps insist. They maintain no non-essential visitors are going into her house these days and that she’s mostly accompanied by a family of ducks in her backyard. So that’s how she’s riding out this quarantine, just chilling with some ducks.

“No one permitted in except those who must. Has helpers who are great with her,” White’s rep said in an email. “Betty has a beautiful backyard with a number of wild animals visiting,” her rep said. “Two ducks always come by to say hello. They waddle up to her glass door and look in.”

Reportedly, she’s passing the time and keeping herself sharp by doing tons of crossword puzzles. As soon as it’s safe, the beloved actress will be back to work filming the movie she was making before the pandemic halted production.

“The animal community is watching over her,” White’s publicist said. “The virus is afraid of Betty!”

I can buy that, and while I’m glad she’s safe, we really can’t afford any more bad news. This is why all celebrities, even bit players, over the age of 60 should be sequestered, possibly with their own ducks, until this all blows over.

Here at The Dad, we hope you, your families, and communities stay safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the latest information, please utilize online resources from local public health departments, the Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization to remain as informed as possible.

One of the hardest things about the COVID-19 pandemic, among the litany of tragedies it has so fervently infected our lives with, is saying goodbye to a loved one. With hospitals and care facilities locked down, these last moments with dads, moms, grandparents, cousins, aunts, or uncles have to happen digitally. Because that beats the alternative, with them passing alone.

In many situations, it’s a caring nurse, going above and beyond, frequently using their own device, who helps connect families with their dying loved ones to have even that less-than-ideal goodbye. It’s what inspired one New Jersey man to take action.

John Lynch had to say goodbye to his dad over FaceTime. Now, he’s using his charitable foundation to donate iPads to hospitals and care facilities, to help patients stay in touch with their families during this time of restriction and lockdown.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

We made our first delivery of IPads to Cape Regional Medical System! It’s our hope that these IPads will provide a source of comfort for the families that have loved ones in our community based hospital! A heartfelt thank you is in order to the medical team at Cape Regional! Your community supports and appreciates everything you are doing! We are #CMCstrong because of you!!! #powerofcommunity

A post shared by John Lynch, Lunch With Lynch (@johnnywildwood) on Apr 10, 2020 at 12:10am PDT

“I just want to make (my dad) proud,” he told CNN. “Knowing that we can help families stay in touch during this time is a wonderful feeling.”

NJ man who said final goodbye to dad over video collects iPads so families can connect during pandemic@JohnnyWildwood, founder of Operation Connection: The iPad Project, spoke with @1010WINS‘ @Sherwoodstock

Listen here: https://t.co/Wgy1sVhaE7 pic.twitter.com/BoT0FreM08

— 1010 WINS (@1010WINS) May 17, 2020

The GoFundMe campaign, Operation Connection – The iPad project, has raised more than $9,000 and distributed dozens of iPads to hospitals and senior care centers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

Lynch is continuing the good work, in honor of his dad’s memory, and in an effort to help families have meaningful moments with family members, even if the pandemic keeps them apart.

 

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Heaven has gained a wise man and I have lost a great mentor. Looking forward to honoring his legacy by the values he taught me through example, not words- above all things in life, my Paw put KINDNESS as one of his top priorities. Rest In Peace dad, you made a difference! #ThumbsUp4Kindness

A post shared by John Lynch, Lunch With Lynch (@johnnywildwood) on Apr 14, 2020 at 7:32am PDT

Here at The Dad, we hope you, your families, and communities stay safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the latest information, please utilize online resources from local public health departments, the Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization to remain as informed as possible.