Zad Bod

Welcome to (hopefully) the last week of summer reruns! We (think we) will be back next week with a brand new episode, and maybe I'll get into what's kept me away all this time, but the short answer is just that summer has gotten away from me. Just as it does every year, as evidenced by 2024's Episode 27 - "Cruel summer," and 2025's Episode 51 - "The heat is on!,&quot...

Hot Rerun Summer continues with another flashback bod pod! Episodes 7 and 8 were a two-part series in which I realized just how much of my understanding of fitness was polluted by bodybuilding. Somehow, this niche interest had become the dominant vantage point in exercise, at least in my own mind, even though I'm not interested in it for myself, and so I spend two episodes listing all the ways...

I don't know what I was thinking when I said I'd be back with a new episode this week. Now I'm going the other way and waving the white flag on putting out a new episode until July 17th! Until then, the summer of reruns continues, and today I give you the very first two episodes of this show, and the very first two bod pods! Episode 1 - "Work out as little as possible," and E...

The run of reruns continues, and this time I'm going back not one but two years and digging up two episodes from June of 2024. In Episode 22, I tell you about taking a then 2 year old Ernie to the driving range for the first time, and in Episode 23 I do little more than whine at all the little inconveniences of playing with my child. I don't have any episodes from three years ago, so I bet...

No new episode again this week, unfortunately. But I decided to try to fill the void by offering not one but TWO episodes from around this time last year. In Episode 48, I talk about then 3 year old Ernie's development as a savvy traveler, and all the benefits we see these experiences provide. And in Episode 49, I tell you about a time when my wife was pregnant with Al, busy with work, and kin...

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is upon us, and the Disney Machine has aimed its superlaser at this Star Wars-agnostic podcast host and convinced me to watch the show, "Andor". Then I watched Rogue One: A Star Wars Story . And then I wanted to watch Episode IV: A new Hope (aka "Star Wars"), and Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back , and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi , and I...

It's been a tough week here in the Zad Abode. My 4 year old is both acting up and having a sleep regression. My back hurts. My golf game was oh so close before falling off again. It's the perfect storm! But listen in as I try to convince you (and myself) that the secret to getting my son and my back and my golf game back on track is one and the same: Making our beds the moment we open our...

We’re coming up on the end of my 4 year old’s tee ball (or is it t-ball?) season, and the end of my time as their coach, so it’s a good time to think back on how far we’ve all come. These kids have improved tremendously, and I’ve learned a thing or two myself. So I recap all their madcap adventures, make my case for why baseball is the best youth sport, and share the great secret I have learned re...

It's a special Mother's Day episode of Zad Bod! My wife, the mother of my children, has been a recurring character on this show as a pillar of strength, a voice of reason, and a comedic foil. But today she is simply the woman of the hour as I tell you all about how exceptional a partner, parent, and person she is; how lucky I am; and how together we are going to change the way we even cele...

A couple weeks ago I complained about how messy it is to let my baby teach himself how to eat solid food. Then last week I let that baby make too big a mess, and told you about other big messes I have made in the past. And when it rains it pours, I guess, because now baby is scooting around the floor and pulling things off of shelves. my 4 year old is tracking dirt into the house and drawing tatto...

Last week, I told you about how I was intervening too much and needed to let my baby learn how to feed himself. Well, I did just that, and the baby made a huge mess in the car. I tell that story, along with two more incredibly unintelligent things I've done in the past. This episode has it all. Bidets! Pepper spray! I can't believe my wife agreed to start a family with me. Give it a listen...

Building on last week's episode, I apply what I'm now calling "The 50% Rule" to teaching my kids things that are currently skills they're trying to learn, but will soon become routine things they do every day for the rest of their lives. How do I teach my 4 year old how to tie his shoes when the only time he practices is two minutes before we have to leave? How do I let my ba...

Major golf has returned to Augusta! The Masters is upon us, without Tiger Woods in the field, but for the first time I've actually come around to preferring it that way. I begin this episode with an abbreviated version of my reaction to the news of his latest car accident and DUI arrest before moving on to revisit a sort of parenting philosophy I created two years ago based on his late father, Ear...

No new Zad Bod pod this week, unfortunately, as I got derailed by the 1-2 punch of another sick kid AND visiting parents! But, as my way of saying sorry, I am offering up an old episode of a podcast I used to make called Easy Golf, in which I describe why the game is so appealing to golf sickos like myself. If you’re a golfer, you may get a kick out of hearing my version of something that exists w...

I thought it was time to mix things up and focus at least one whole episode on my baby! The good: he's army crawling his way through the house. The bad: he has sampled every sickness available to him this past cold & flu season. The ugly: He almost ripped my face off! All that, plus the highs and lows of trying to work and take care of a sick baby at the same time, a very strong reaction I...

On this episode, one anonymous artist (me) (but who is that?) shares his thoughts on the doxxing of formerly anonymous artist, Banksy, and then somehow I shift gears and talk about the start of my son's tee ball season and my early experiences and observations trying to coach these kids. Individually, every one of these kids has a lot to offer, but we are very far away from looking like a team...

On this episode, I gripe about how rough a week we have had due to setting our clocks forward an hour, and how hard I came crashing back down to Earth after last week declaring how good I have it. Last week, I was working out, playing golf, getting stronger, and losing weight. But just like that, I'm now sick, slow, and weak. And I blame Daylight Saving Time, which I then investigate and summa...

It's a Bod Pod! People talk about living their best life, and it's usually in reference to something like eating a block of cheese in their underwear, but I think I am actually living my best life! I have finally managed to strike a balance between exercise, appetite, golf, and the time and energy it takes to be a husband, father, and productive member of society. I'm getting stronger,...

We have been trying to get our 4 year old to take on the responsibility of making his bed, brushing his teeth, and getting himself dressed everyday, so we gave him a challenge to do it every day for the month of February, and if he did we'd get him a toy he asked for. Now we're coming up on the end of that month, and on this episode I describe the journey and evaluate the successes and fai...

On this episode, I talk about the Winter Olympics! Hockey games going to overtime, a cheating scandal in curling, and a collection of the world’s proudest parents! I also talk about how I’ve felt like a bad dad lately (not because my kids aren’t Olympians), and what I chose to do about it. Bonus topic: Does listening to an audiobook count as reading? What do you think I think? Here’s a hint: I ans...

This is just what I get for talking about all the positive changes I was seeing in my kids all at once -- a week full of setbacks and mayhem and actual DESTRUCTION at the hands of my precious little 4 year old...vandal. And to make matters worse, I at least had an explanation for why all those developmental leaps occurred at once, but my only explanation for why this week was so bad was that it wa...

Weird flex, but...both of my kids have experienced huge advances lately. And not gradual changes, either. Big, sudden improvements, all at once. My baby's babbling suddenly got more defined, and my 4 year old has seemingly taken giant physical, mental, and emotional leaps, all in the last week! And as proud as I am, I think there is something larger at play here. Could it be that households fu...

I am the most patient dad in the world, except for when I'm the most impatient dad in the world. But patience is like money: you can't just tell someone who doesn't have any that they should. On this episode, I talk about how I'm Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when it comes to having patience, and what I am realizing I can try to do about it. This one is for the dads who wish they could b...

On today's show, I provide an early check-in as to how it's going so far coaching my 4 year old son's basketball team, as well as present my Grand Unifying Theory of how to coach small kids in anything, especially if you yourself didn't play the sport in question growing up. I also mull uninviting my 4 year old from his baby brother's 1st birthday party. All that and more. Than...

Last week was a "before picture" snapshot of baby Al at the start of the year, and this week it's time to do the same for big Ern, my 4 year old. I do a brief overview of what's going on his life and development in four different categories - movement and physicality, intellect, creativity, and personality. Join me in practicing how to take a step back and see our kids as they ar...