June 2010

Mocha Dad and Moms: In the Kitchen with Kids

Mocha Dad and Moms is a monthly column where a mom and I give our points-of-view on a parenting topic. Today’s featured mom is Sheliza “Shelly” Ismail. Teaching Your Children to Cook is Important Growing up in a large family, I had to learn how to cook at an early age. Although my mother always [...]

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A Modest Proposal

Dear Textbook Publishers, I recently heard about Texas’ changes to social studies, history and economics lessons that will be taught to millions of students for the next decade. As a native Texan, I’m proud that my state was able to wield such influence on education and American history. In fact, their success has inspired me [...]

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15 Lessons from Fathers

One of the most important things that a father can do is teach his children how to live. My father wasn’t present in my life, but his absence taught me a valuable lesson – Always be there for your kids. Therefore, I work hard to show my kids that they are important to me by [...]

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Leaving a Legacy

Beth Blair wrote a feature article about me for Father’s Day. Here is an excerpt of the piece that appeared on SheKnows: Leaving a Legacy As a father, Fred enjoys getting involved with his kids. He says, “We like to do many things, such as play badminton, draw pictures, play video games, read books, dance [...]

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Guest Post: “The Fight” by Thomas Chatterton Williams

Editor’s Note: Thomas Chatterton Williams’ book, Losing My Cool: How a Father’s Love and 15,000 Books Hip-Hop Culture is a poignant personal narrative that describes how his father’s love of learning saved him from the negative influences of hip-hop culture. This exclusive book excerpt describes a dilemma during Williams’ senior year of high school. Should he [...]

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Are You Ready for Some Football

Each year around Father’s Day, the Houston Texans hold a community event to commemorate fatherhood. This year, they invited dads and their families to special All Pro Dad celebration. Launched in 1997 with the help of Tony Dungy, then head coach of the 2006 Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts, All Pro Dad gives men the [...]

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Is a Public School Education Worth It?

When my daughter, Nee, walked across the stage to receive the Distinguished Honor Roll Award for Academic Achievement (she earned straight A’s all year), my wife, KayEm, broke down crying. The bawling continued when Nee was presented with an art award. KayEm’s waterworks were much more than a display of parental pride. They were an [...]

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Teaching Kids to Ride a Bike is No Easy Task

For my son, N’s 6th birthday, I bought him a shiny, new bike. It was fully decked out with handbrakes, racing wheels, and a modern silver paint scheme. I was thrilled at the notion of N’s having scores of adventures on his bike, just as I did when I was a child. For me, riding [...]

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