"Google"

          When I first started playing football my coach handed me a playbook on the first day and told me to memorize it. When I started working, they handed me a manual that directed me on what I needed to do and how it needed to be done. When we moved to St Louis, my wife handed me two little girls and told me to have a good day! Point is, there is no handbook on how to be a SAHD and sometimes you need to make the rules up as you go. There is one thing you need to remember Dad's........GOOGLE!
          Picture yourself in a new city with no friends and two small children the require you to keep them entertained for a better part of a day. Now throw in the fact that wifey travels every other week for 2 to 3 days at a clip. You need to be on your A game and you have to know where every major attraction is, where the kid friendly establishments are and most importantly, how to find them.
          When we first got to Missouri it was 110 degrees, so parks, playgrounds and things of that nature were going to be completely out of the question. We needed alternatives and quick! I Googled like it was my job to find things for us to do....." Where are the best museums in St Louis?' , " What do you do with little girls when its 110 degrees outside?' , Closest ice cream place to my house"  I used Google ALL THE TIME.
          As we got more comfortable with surroundings, I realized the Google was not only to be see for things to do, but how to do things as well. My oldest came home one day and said, " Tomorrow is low ponytail day" ........ uh , what???? It took me 6 months to figure out how to do a normal ponytail without ripping out any of her hair and getting my fingers stuck. Now she is asking me to do a specific version???? O, lord. So where did I go, Google. I Googled " How to do a low ponytail" And like magic, there was a picture of Gwenyth Paltrow at some awards show with a low ponytail. Wouldn't you know it really is just a ponytail tied lower than the norm.......WOW! But there was my buddy Google to help me out! Crisis averted. I came clean at the bus stop when the Mom's asked me how I did it....they found it quite  entertaining.
          I have come to realize that Google has value when it comes to my second graders homework. Apparently they have decided to change the wording for math and when she comes home I often find myself visiting my buddy to find out the proper method to solving some of her math problems. Book reports, art projects , you name it, it's like having the public library at your fingertips.
          And last but not least, I hit Google to this day for recipes. There are only so many ways you can cook chicken or fish. I hit Google just yesterday on "Easy ways to bake filet mignon", and guess what ?? Jackpot! I seared for 10 minutes and baked for 25 minutes. you would have thought I had been doing this for years.
          I even went as far as Googling " Which beer has the highest alcoholic contest and the lowest calories and carbs" Hey, you chase two little girls around for 12 hrs and see what you Google!
          Listen, when you take on the challenge of being a SAHD nobody is going to pull you aside and tell you how things need to be done. You are going to need how to cook certain dishes, find an air conditioned museum, and in some cases know how to do a low ponytail. Fear not gents, there is a tool out there designed specifically for us tat allows us to type exactly what we want and get thousands of ways to do it........it's Google. Live it, learn it, and learn to navigate it. Google is your friend.