Like many other children, my daughter enjoys going to the zoo. There’s a zoo within an hour’s drive so it’s not a big deal to take her and I enjoy seeing her so happy at the zoo. However, the cost adds up after a while ($20 admission for both of us).

What I’ve discovered is that if you go to the zoo a lot or if you have multiple children its cheaper to buy a membership in the zoo (aquariums have these too). Check out the prices at the Riverbanks Zoo for instance. You pay one fee for the whole year and you get free admission for the next 12 months and for a little more you can usually get free rides and other freebies for that period.

For instance, I got the membership with free admission and rides which is $145. So if I go to the zoo eight times in the 12 months of my membership I will have a $15 savings just from admissions, not to mention all the money I save on the $5 pony rides which last all of 30 seconds or all the times she wants to ride the carousel. In addition, if you decide to get a membership the day you go to the zoo most zoos will allow you put the amount you paid for admission that day towards a membership. The deal is obviously much better if  you have more kids and/or spouse, but you can see how the savings and fun can quickly add up. Also, the membership at your local zoo usually has reciprocity at other zoos so you can go to other zoos and get discounted rates on admission.

I hope this helps.

God bless all who read my ramblings,

Athanasius Contra Mundum

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So yes, I am divorced. Its been over for about a year now. I tried everything I could, prayed for my marriage day after day, and yet in the end Hephzibah still left and divorced me. We went to counseling together and the whole nine yards. Unfortunately, we live in a fallen world and these things happen.

I don’t feel sorry for myself or her for that matter we each had multiple chances to do something about it, but I do feel bad for our daughter. Princess deserves a better family situation, but what’s done is done and I can only control my part. My only consolation is that she’s so little she probably won’t remember how it was before and so far she has taken this change in stride. I was really afraid this drastic change would cause a lot of behavioral issues, but she is still well-behaved and happy.

Hephzibah is determined that it is all over and I’ve resigned myself to move on. Moving on however, does NOT mean moving away. I am switching from the Active Duty to a local Reserve unit so that I won’t have to move away from Princess. They live in the same town where I’m stationed and Hephzibah is from said town with no intention of moving.

It’s amazing to me though how many people are shocked that a divorced man would give up his career for the sake of his daughter. The whole time as I went through the divorce it never occurred to me to do anything but find a way to stay here and get a job here so I could maximize my time with Princess. After all, she has the right to a father and she is the biggest blessing in my life.

I won’t judge men who move away, but at the same time its odd the looks and comments I get because I have placed my vocation as a father above my career as a military officer.

As far as ex-wifes go I have to say mine is about as good as it gets. She recognizes the importance of a father in a child’s life. As such, there are no arguments when I want to spend more time with Princess or if I plan a trip with her out of town. Even when its not my weekend, I still get to pick up our daughter and take her to church on Sunday mornings.

Raising her in the faith has become more difficult in that I am not around as much as I was before to read her Bible stories or pray with her. I have finally gotten her to do the sign of the cross on her own. I’m still trying to get her to go from right shoulder to left shoulder (we’re Byzantine Catholic) but that will come with time.

What am I getting at?

1. I want to encourage other divorced Catholic fathers out there that you are not alone.
2. I want to encourage other divorced Catholic fathers to continue raising your children in the Catholic faith.
3. I want to ask for your prayers for divorced fathers.

May God bless all who read my ramblings.

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Every week I take my daughter to church by myself. Its not because I am a single. I am actually married and my wife is wonderful, but she refuses to go to church with us.

It would be very easy to leave my daughter at home while I go to church. I won’t lie, there have been many Sunday mornings when my two year old daughter was anything but pleasant to deal (I’m sure you can all relate) with alone and it has been very tempting to leave her at home. I take her with me though, because its the right thing to do. But its awkward and I feel embarrassed when people ask me “Where is your wife?”. Its because they don’t know us from Adam and don’t know our family situation and I know that I would wonder the same thing.

I would love nothing better than for my wife to join as at church. The questions are a minor issue that is not important. It would be great to have someone else to help deal with a toddler. My parish seems very understanding about her crying and various noises, even though I can’t tell you how many sermons/readings/other parts of the Mass I haven’t heard over the wailing. My biggest concern, is of course my wife’s soul.

With that said, where am I going with this? First of all, I would appreciate any prayers for our family. Secondly, I am curious to hear ideas to try to explain to my wife why you should go to church. I have try to explain to her the majesty and awesomeness of the Eucharist present there. I have tried the family/communal meal analogy. Just wondering if anyone has a great way of explaining that I haven’t thought of.

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Happy Father’s Day! We all have a lot to be thankful for from our respective Dads and from our Father in Heaven, but here’s a post that reminds that we have a lot to be thankful for from our children. This is a repost from my blog.

As I look back on the baptism classes I went to before my daughter’s baptism, I remember a lot of talk about the role of parents in leading children to a closer relationship with God. However, as I have found out since her birth, that is a two-way street. She’s only two so we don’t yet have in depth conversations on Theology or the nature of God, but Fatherhood has opened my eyes and made me understand much of Christ’s and the Church’s teachings and explanations more vivid to me.
Writing this the first thing that comes to mind is the repeated references to the First Person of the Trinity as Father. I understand in a way that was not clear before how much more than I do, God the Father knows what’s best for me. Any parents out there know immediately what I am talking about. I know its best for my daughter to go eat fruits and veggies instead of cookies, but she doesn’t see it that way. For that matter, I am realizing through her how selfish I am when it comes to what I think is best vs. what the Father tells me is best. She is a wonderful little girl, but after all she is 2 and still doesn’t think about much outside of herself.
As a Dad, I can understand now much better the level of love that the father had for his prodigal son. I understood the parable before, but feeling that powerful, unconditional love for my daughter has made it much more real for me. I couldn’t imagine not taking her back if she were the prodigal daughter.
The other thing that jumps to my mind as I type this was an example from Story of a Soul. She compared a child who knows that the father is removing things that might trip the child vs a child unaware of the father’s actions. The child who knows is more grateful, because the child who is unaware does not know that it happened in order to be grateful. After many times leading my daughter away from harmful things such as tripping hazards, I am realizing everyday that our Father removes many more things from my path and leads me away from many dangers I would have otherwise fallen into. I am grateful, but again the example has become much more vivid as a father.
I think the best example of how much having a daughter has taught me, was the other week at St Ignatios parish here in Augusta, GA. As my daughter and I left church and older lady from the parish remarked that with her penchant for pretty dresses, pretty hats, shoes and purses she is going to be expensive. I replied that “She is worth every penny.” The lady said, “Think how much more the Father feels about us.”
St Joseph and Joachim, pray for us.

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SearchKindly.org is a search engine that uses ad revenue to raise money for charity(100% goes to charity). They raise money for a new charity every month. This month is a charity near and dear to us dads, a pediatric hospital called Ranken Jordan. So I encourage you to visit, in order to raise money for the hospital this month.
Then, since you’re there scroll down (or go here) and vote in the poll for Luke Society so that next month (if we get enough votes) the ad revenues will go to them. The Luke Society is a Christian medical missions organization. Currently Tibet Aid is winning.
You are allowed to vote about every 8 hours.

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