Dads in the Limelight ( #limelightdads ) – Dan Zevin ( @danzevin ) #dadchat - Dad of Divas

Our 248th Dad in the Limelight is Dan Zevin. I want to thank Dan for being a part of this series. It has been great getting connected with him and now sharing him with all of you.

1) Tell me about yourself, (as well as how you are in the limelight for my readers knowledge)

I have a working wife, two small children, a mother who visits each week to “help,” and an obese Labrador mutt who prefers being driven rather than walked. How I got to this point is a bit of a blur. There was a wedding, and then there was a puppy. A home was purchased in New England. A wife was promoted and transferred to New York. A Brooklyn townhouse. A new baby boy. A new baby girl. A stay-at-home dad was born. A prescription for Xanax was filled. Grey hairs appeared, grey hairs fell out. Six years passed in six seconds. And then came the minivan. And the move to the suburbs.

My new book Dan Gets a Minivan: Life at the Intersection of Dude and Dad, was just released in hardcover from Scribner. This book–as well as my previous book, The Day I Turned Uncool: Confessions of a Reluctant Grownup–was optioned by Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison Productions. My two previous books, Entry-Level Life and The Nearly-wed Handbook, have also chronicled my unease with reaching each new phase of adult life. I’ve worked as a comic correspondent for National Public Radio’s WBUR, was the humor columnist for Boston Magazine and the Boston Phoenix, and have contributed to Rolling Stone, Maxim, Details, Elle, and Glamour.

2) Tell me about your family

I live with my wife, daughter Josie (6) and son Leo (9), and rabbit Clementime (unknown) in the suburbs of NY.

3) What has been the largest challenge you have had in being a father?

1. Completing a full sentence without being interrupted by my kids
2. Learning to say the word “playdate” without cracking up
3. Parallel parking a a vehicle bigger than most single family homes.

4) What advice would you give to other fathers?

Cargo pants. Get a dozen pairs. Juice box in one pocket, BandAids in the other. Diaper on one side, wipes on the other. It’s a filing system for your legs.

5) Seeing that you (or your position) are in the limelight, how have you come to balance parenthood and outside life? If you are currently not in the limelight per se, please still answer this in regards to how you balance parenthood and outside life.

It was hard to balance my work as a humor writer with the demands of being a dad with a working wife. So I decided to merge them, and write a funny book about being a dad with a working wife. Worked for me. That, plus a hundred part-time sitters and Grandma Linda, who tend to the kids so I can go to my laptop and write jokes.

6) What have you learned from the fathers that you have interacted with?

We all thought nothing would change once we had kids. Now we’re all living in the suburbs and driving to Costco in our minivans. Other dads have helped me realize that we’re all in it together. My buddy Dave said “With kids, every day is a little slice of heaven and a little piece of hell.” I try to focus on the heaven.

7) What else would you share regarding your experiences as a father thus far?

You can never have enough cupholders. And spring for a DVD player on long car trips.

8) What have been the most memorable experiences that you have had thus far as a parent?

Helping teach both of my kids how to swim. In Mommy and Me class. Five dads and five moms, but they still call it Mom

If you have any questions for Dan, please leave a comment here and I will make sure that he gets them so that he may be able to respond!

Also, do you know a Dad in the Limelight? If so, please email me their contact information so that they too can be a part of this series!

——————————————————————————————-
New to the Divadom?
Please Subscribe to my RSS Feed! Subscribe in a reader
Questions?Drop me a line at dadofdivas@gmail.com