Just a quick note of congratulations to DadWagon buddy John Cave Osborne, who has landed a blogging gig at Strollerderby, the hyper-polished, if often frustrating, parenting blog at Babble.com.
John, who has long been gamely blogging the experience of raising triplets (good lord) and a stepdaughter in Knoxville, is off to a strong start at Strollerderby, first with a post calling into question a new, and highly questionable, be-a-better-dad PSA campaign, and then with this morning’s seasonally-appropriate bit of advice to keep your kids from pulling a Steve Bartman at the ballpark.
But more than individual posts, I am glad to see him in there because Strollerderby could use a strong dad voice, someone who doesn’t conform to the drunkard, distractoid, or doof models of fatherhood. There may have been other dads contributing, but John’s got a voice I know and trust. And I did find it a bit ironic that the post just preceding John’s first post yesterday was written by one of the female bloggers about a dad who may have been all three kinds of idiot father. It was, in short, about a dude who got his wife pregnant because he didn’t have his iPhone around to remind him of the rhythm method. Oy.
Those are the dads you’ve been likely to read about on StrollerDerby. I am very glad that John is now there to set the record straighter.
Hear hear! Congrats to JCO!
I wrote for Strollerderby a few years back. Good to see John bringing a much-needed dad voice to the site.
Ha! I was a little afraid that I would somehow be overlooking the fact that other dadbloggers I know and love were part of their crew at some point. Turns out I was. If we were Wagon’ing back then, Jason, we would have also celebrated your tenure! -Nathan
number one — i appreciate the mention.
number two — when i was asked to join babble, i was a little concerned how some in our community might take it. after all, i’ve long told people that when it comes to blogging i’m not interested in lining up w/ brands or doing reviews for giveaways. so, i wondered, would writing for Babble be considered by some as me selling out?
but babble’s broad exposure was impossible to pass up. as was the chance to add a dad voice to their line up. plus, i know in my heart i’m not selling out. i’m taking advantage of an great opportunity that i was lucky to get. people can think what they want, but i’ve always gone by my gut. and my gut on this one was good. (incidentally, every single person i’ve come into contact with has been fantastic to me. they are totally patient, not to mention helpful and supportive. so far, so good, indeed)
number three — i appreciate you describing my voice as one you trust. you know i feel the same about yours, as well as the entire DW gang.
(same thing goes for Jason and his DC crew, and beta-dad as well, who is not only an excellent writer, but also a fellow 40-something dad to multiples.)
y’all keep up the strong work over here. i continue to drop by and visit often. hope you’ll do the same for me over at Babble.
Not getting a sell out vibe here John. Like the DW crew, I am glad to see a voice I know and trust there.
Yes, it’s all good JCO. And besides, DadWagon is not at all averse to selling out. We just haven’t heard the right price 😉
John… you’re a punk-ass lil’ bitch. And we love ya for it! Congrats. Your inaugural post was a good one.
HA. though i’ve always said brands did not interest me, i never said shit about money.
it does, and always has, interested me.
Hey now. Up until a year or so ago, Strollerderby had a strong male voice — especially from Brett Singer (who is now at ParentDish). But don’t knock the lady bloggers — they’re all dad-friendly, it’s the editors who aren’t.
I didn’t know that. Alrighty, we’ll see how the editors do with JCO and the other bloggers now. The Ombudsmanning will continue!