We continue to feature some of the best dads out there, and today it is Jeff Bogle.
Jeff Bogle is an at-home dad who writes humorously about parenting and All Things Childhood: music, books, toys, gaming, & culture on his site Out With The Kids. His work also frequently appears on The Huffington Post and The Good Men Project, among other print and online outlets.
He is married to an adorable redheaded gal and has two lovely little ladies under the age of 10 who provide him with countless hours of humorous in-home entertainment, and who get to hear, see, and play with more cool stuff than you can possibly imagine.
He considers himself one of the luckiest guys in the world, although he needs to be reminded of this fact from time to time.
How many hours of sleep do you get each night?
I’m normally out cold around 10:30 or so, smack dab in the middle of Fox Soccer News, and generally get a solid 8 hours in before waking to make school lunches or get in an early trip to the gym on weekend before the wife or the kids are awake.
What did you get your baby’s Mama for Mother’s Day?
Oddly enough, I didn’t get her a single thing for Mother’s Day! But then again, we’re not big on the fictional holidays like Valentine’s Day and Mom/Dad’s day. I was in NYC on that Sunday, at Citi Field with The Wiggles, writing a story on them for Time Out New York Kids. I came home with gifts from Brooklyn though because when I was up there for a kid’s music conference a few weeks early, I spied the Lalaloopsy Little doll my oldest wanted desperately (but was marked up 150% on Amazon for some reason, and couldn’t be found anywhere near us) at a Walgreen’s. I didn’t buy it then because I had nowhere to put it; I’d only walked in to get a bottle of water before speaking at the conference. So I called the store on the way up to the Mets game/Wiggles thing and had them put it aside. On the way back through from Queens I stopped to buy it and got my youngest a Polly Pocket pool playset.
As I later told my wife, she wouldn’t be a mom without the kids, so I get them gifts instead!
If you your wife could vacation without your kids, where would you go?
This is a tough one. I’m tempted to say some island somewhere, maybe back to Peter Island in the BVI, that is where we honeymooned but have since been priced out of that place! But I get bored easily lying around on a beach for more than a few days, so I’ll say to Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. We were there as a family in Spring 2012 and I swear it is the most beautiful place – romantic, historic, with the sea right there and the mountains so close, and the food! Yum! Plus, I’d love to head back to the Camp Nou for a FC Barcelona football match!
If you could go on any vacation with your kids, where would you go?
Now that my oldest has started to read the Harry Potter series that her mother loves so much, we are looking forward to returning to Universal Studios Harry Potter World in Orlando next year after the expansion is complete. But I can’t honestly answer this question with “Orlando”, that would be terribly out of character for me. If we could go anywhere together as a family right now, I’d like have a month long rail adventure across Europe with just backpacks and maps, to experience more of Spain, France, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Belgium and maybe the Scandinavian countries that have always intrigued me. That would be amazing.
What’s your favorite meal?
Travel and food – this is my kind of Q&A! I remember my favorite meals of all time, vividly! I’m odd that way. The best dinner I ever ate was at a place in Vancouver. It was Pan Roasted Halibut with Dungeness Crab Orzo. My god that was an amazing meal. But if I could have anything again and again, it would this dish from a place called Trio in Narragansett, RI. We go up there often for the Newport Folk Fest and always stop in to have the Tortelloni + Lobster (wild mushroom pasta, steamed native lobster, limoncello cream.) I’m not sure if we go back for the music every year or to dine at Trio!
What’s your favorite meal to cook for your kids?
The meal that pleases them the most, which in turn makes me super happy, is my homemade chicken parm. When we have a bad stretch of eating family dinners – too much dining out, ordering pizza, or falling back on breakfast for dinner – I can always turn to my chicken parm with a side of pasta (always using Giada’s Creamy Tomato Sauce exclusive to Target and Natures Rise mushrooms for a healthy ingredient) and sautéed zucchini to right the ship and get us back to home cooked meals and conversations around the table during an extended family dinner time.
What sports team must your kids like?
Oh gosh, there is no mandate to follow in my footsteps with anything really, but I’d be pleased as punch if they cheer for my beloved Detroit Red Wings, Michigan State Spartans, and FC Barcelona. Just so long as they don’t become Real Madrid or University of Michigan fans, I’ll be happy.
Describe your perfect Father’s Day.
There is nothing special about Father’s Day for me. I am so tremendously lucky to have the wife and children I have in my life, and the life that they have afforded me, one that involves being at home writing and thinking and dreaming, that everyday is a holiday for me. My perfect day is spent at home, with the TVs off (unless it is European football season, then the TVs are on in the morning), with my girls in the yard or in the playroom being the goofy kids that they get to be, for as long as they want to be, and with me watching them use their imaginations and creativity to find new ways to play together, and sometimes standing in as their foil. I love childhood so much, to witness it, to allow them to have as much of it as possible, that to spend a day reveling in it with them is about as perfect as any day could ever get.
Make sure you head over and check out Jeff’s website, Out With The Kids. You should also go and follow Jeff on Facebook and Twitter. Finally, you can listen to Jeff’s Out With The Kids Podcast right here on Life of Dad!