Fatherhood Factor

For all the "dealings" of dads...

Emily Joswiak

How to Drive on Rough, Uneven Roads

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One of the top driver complaints is the quality of the roads they drive upon. You can do all the maintenance possible, but if your car traverses rough roads every day, that will affect your gas mileage, the rate at which you need repairs, and more. While there’s little you can do about road quality, you can drive with these bad roads in mind. To learn how to drive on rough, uneven roads, here are some helpful tips.

Let Off the Gas

The first piece of advice is simple: drive slowly. Drive slower than you may feel comfortable, in fact. While you grow accustomed to driving near the speed limit, uneven roads demand that you determine a speed you’re comfortable driving at to preserve your car. Driving slower also allows you more time to survey your surroundings as you pass and avoid problem areas.

Be Aware of Standing Water

While there are several causes of tire damage, forceful impacts from driving over potholes are common when on bad roads. While it’s possible to evade potholes, standing water is the true enemy. Standing water is deceptive because it’s difficult to ascertain its depth—in some circumstances, it could hide a jarring pothole that damages your tires, wheel alignment, or other components. Help your car out and don’t trust these pools of standing water; avoid them responsibly.

Grip Your Steering Wheel

This may sound obvious, it’s surprisingly practical—intentionally grip your steering wheel on bad roads. Driving over an unexpected bump can suddenly jerk the wheel out of your hands and lead to dangerous driving as you scramble to regain control. Gripping the wheel helps you anticipate these surprises and proactively maintain control.

Don’t Be Afraid to Turn Around

Our final tip for driving on rough, uneven roads is to be willing to turn around if necessary. Rather than press on, you need to know your car’s limits. While finding another way will cost you some time, it’s better than ending up roadside with a car problem or heading to the mechanic for a costly repair.

Tips for Keeping Your Young Athlete Healthy

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While your little all-star may be taking a slight break from sports at the moment, they will surely be eager to pick up where they left off as soon as they can. As such, they may be in the midst of a little at-home off-season training. Whether they are competing or not, it’s important to keep fitness and nutrition as a top priority for any child engaging in athletic activities. For optimal health and athletic performance, here are some tips for keeping your young athlete healthy.

Hydration is key

When it comes to keeping your young athlete healthy, hydration is key. In addition to drinking plenty of water during exercise, your athlete should also be drinking plenty of water before and after training. As such, its important encourage your athlete to drink water all throughout the day.

For training sessions that last under an hour, water should be their drink of choice. However, for longer sessions that last an hour or more, sports drinks that can help replace lost electrolytes may be beneficial. Staying hydrated is especially important for athletes as doing so will help replace water lost through sweating, reduce muscle fatigue, and decrease their risk of injury.

Ensure they’re eating enough calories

When children with fast metabolisms engage in strenuous athletic activity, it is common for them to lose weight—sometimes to an unhealthy level. As a child, being underweight can have negative repercussions, such as a weakened immune system, malnutrition, anemia, or vitamin deficiencies.

To prevent your child from becoming underweight while engaging in sports, it’s important to ensure that they are eating enough calories. Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple one-size-fits-all plan when determining a healthy calorie intake for your child. The amount of calories they will need to eat to stay healthy will depend on several factors, such as their age, their body size, the intensity of their training, and the sport they play. Because there are so many aspects to consider, talking to a professional in sports dietetics to create an individualized plan may be beneficial.

Avoid putting too much pressure on them

As parents, it’s natural to want to see your child succeed in everything they do—including sports. However, putting too much pressure on your little athlete to achieve athletic success can negatively impact their health.

Too much stress doesn’t just take some of the enjoyment out of sports; it can also lead to negative health effects, such as high blood pressure, a weakened immune system, fatigue, and anxiety. In addition, the pressure to succeed can also cause children to push themselves too hard. As a result, they may experience sports-related injuries.

How to Improve the Ride Quality of Your Car

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There’s nothing worse than when your little one’s bouncing around in the backseat because your car is so jolty. Every father worries about their kids’ safety enough as it is—they shouldn’t need to add faulty vehicle issues to their list of concerns. This useful guide will show gentlemen how to improve the ride quality of their car. The smoother your drive is, the safer you’ll feel while driving with your children.

Select the Right Tires

Tires play a significant role in how well your car drives. If you’ve noticed that every drive is bumpy and jolty, you may want to consider replacing your tires. For starters, drivers must consider tire size. The wrong size tire can add extra weight to your automobile. This will impact how smooth each drive is. Also, pay close attention to the quality of the tires. Typically, tires with thinner rubber have less traction, making each ride bumpier than the last. Invest in high-quality new tires if you want every drive to be smooth. You won’t believe what a difference new tires make the next time you get in your car.

Replace Your Springs and Shocks

Every car has a system in place that’ll absorb the jolt when you drive over large bumps. For example, let’s say you hit a pothole. Your vehicle’s springs will absorb this impact by twisting together and lessening the force of the motion. Shock absorbers also help in this process. Shocks help stabilize the springs after you drive over a large bump. Essentially, the shocks prevent your springs from vibrating too much and shaking your entire car. If you notice that it’s hard for you to regain control after you a hit a crack in the road, ask a repairman to check out your suspension system. These parts may have to be replaced so that you can achieve a smoother ride.

Follow these tips if you’re wondering how to improve the ride quality of your car. Not only is a bumpy car ride unsafe for a child, but it’s also incredibly uncomfortable. Dads, your baby will never get their much-needed nap time if your vehicle is constantly bouncing up and down. So please, replace these parts if you have to. Although car repairs are an investment, they’ll be worth it in the long run.

How to Survive an RV Road Trip With Kids

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Social distancing rules discourage traveling right now, but that doesn’t prevent you from getting a head start on your next family vacation. Taking an RV trip together can be just the kind of experience that helps your family relax and bond while making long-lasting memories in scenic, natural settings. However, it’s not without its fair share of challenges. It might be near impossible to have a completely smooth journey with the uncertainties of the road and your children, but you can come well-prepared. To help you along your way, here’s how to survive an RV road trip with kids.

Pack Smart

While you want to be ready for whatever comes your way, you should also aim to pack lightly. Carrying too much can leave you flustered during the trip when the things you need are buried deep inside your bags. Make life simpler by packing only necessities and a few items to entertain the kids. This could include some games, snacks, and books. Even something simple like a Rubik’s cube can go a long way in keeping them occupied while you travel. Additionally, if you’re going somewhere cold, bring the right clothes and blankets to keep everyone warm and comfortable.

Plan Ahead

Don’t rely on whatever pops up for places to stay as you plan your trip. Carefully research each facility you consider. Not all RV parks are equal, and some will have more amenities than others. If you know you will need to replenish electricity and water, find sites that provide this. It’s also important to have a place to empty your waste tank as well. Along your chosen route, think about where you will be able to stop for breaks so that the family can stretch their legs. This will also help your kids to handle longer driving days better. Additionally, you should be sure that your RV is ready for the trip ahead of time by performing maintenance on it before you leave. If you know that you’ll be traveling in low temperatures, proper attachments, such as a heated gate valve for your RV, can prevent problems from arising in the middle of the journey. Inspect your engine and furnace, and see that you fill up on gas, water, and electricity.

Slow Down

Taking an RV trip isn’t an everyday experience, so you may want to try and fill up your schedule with as many destinations as you can. However, this can be taxing on your kids as you rush from one place to the next with little time to relax. Some of the best advice for how to survive an RV road trip with kids is to simply take your time. It’s better to stay in one spot for a couple of days and enjoy the area with hikes and other outdoor activities. This way, your kids won’t get as antsy, and you’ll be able to truly take in your surroundings.

The Benefits of Architectural Window Film

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Architectural window film affords a space several vastly different but all-important benefits to the occupants inside. While the sun’s light is pleasant, too much and you run to cover up the windows to stop the harsh glare and heat. Read our guide on the benefits of architectural window film to learn all that window film addresses, including limiting glare and heat.

Privacy and Comfort

In business and residential settings, privacy and comfort rank high for building occupants. Architectural window film allows window tinting to varying degrees so people don’t feel exposed when giving a presentation or lounging at home. While you may not always need the privacy, thinking about who could be watching in either setting is exhausting. When landlords or business owners commit to removing this distraction, residents and workers feel more at ease.

Additionally, because window film prevents some heat from transferring inside, the internal temperature decreases overall, and occupants avoid major swings in temperature that make being inside unbearable. This internal evenness is another benefit of window film.

Cost Savings and Sustainability

An extension of the benefits of reducing heat is a decreased utilities cost. Because you don’t have to deal with heat entering through windows with window film applied, you spend less during hot months cooling your home. Not only do you save money, but your home becomes more environmentally friendly too. Additionally, retrofitting window film to an existing window saves you the money of replacing the whole thing, offering a cheaper and greener alternative.

UV Health and Other Benefits

One of several facets of architectural window film function is its ultraviolet (UV) light mitigation. UV light penetrates skin cells and causes the cell division process to go awry. Too much exposure can lead to skin cancer. UV light doesn’t just affect people—it also fades couches and other furniture in your home or office. Window film specifically blocks these rays and protects occupants and their furniture.

What to Consider When Buying Off-Road Tires

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There is no universal off-roading tire. Because drivers go off-road in all kinds of terrain across the United States and vary in their degree of adventurousness, there are specific tire qualities that differ considerably. Tread depth and shape, void size, and sidewall reinforcement are just a couple of these varying features. If you want to go off-roading but don’t know how that will look yet, read what to consider when buying off-road tires to gain some clarity and look forward to getting off the beaten path.

Your Nearby Terrain

If you’re in a relatively flat area, odds are you may not get the same use out of a tougher tire meant for more uneven terrain. For this reason, consider your area before anything else. While you may want to take your off-roading vehicle cross-country, odds are you’ll go off-road much closer to your home. If you are in a flat area, of all the different types of automotive tires, you’ll likely want to shy away from highly reinforced and heavy mud tires. Instead, try flexible and lightweight all-terrain tires.

That said, if someone is determined, they can find all kinds of terrain near them. So, gauge your level of adventure, too—if you’re invested in seeking out rough areas, then maybe you should consider more heavy-duty tires.

How Often You’ll Drive on Paved Roads

Another consideration when buying off-road tires is how often you’ll take them on paved roads. Mud tires are excellent at gripping sloped rock surfaces, but their deep treads and large void size are not conducive to frequent road use. This wears them out quicker than it does all-terrain tires.

Your Tire Size

If you purchase tires that are essentially standard-sized, then you can easily install them. If you’re thinking of getting larger tires for added grip, you may need to make other modifications. For example, many people will need to lift their suspension to accommodate larger tires and to prevent undercarriage damage from rocks they pass over.

Your Fuel Economy

The bigger the tire, the lower your fuel economy when driving your off-roading vehicle. If the terrain calls for it and you won’t use them often, then large tires may be necessary. But if you’ll go off-road in tamer environments, consider a lighter tire so you don’t overwork your engine constantly turning heavy tires.

Main Areas of the Home You Need to Organize

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The spring-cleaning season is upon us, and there are quite a few areas that need more care than others. A lot of people start with the easy areas and make their way from there, but most people end up stuck about a third or a half of the way through the cleaning regiment. If you want to make sure that you’re productive with your cleaning, take a look below. We’ve created a short guide on the main areas of the home you need to organize. From figuring out how to organize your mess of tools to making the kitchen a clean place of creation, these are the spots you should truly focus on in your spring-cleaning regiment.

The Garage

This is an area a lot of people just pretend doesn’t exist during the spring-cleaning season. It’s understandable; garages tend to be the place that we put stuff when we don’t know where it should go. But this creates a ton of clutter that needs to be taken care of. Don’t skip over your garage this year—especially if you use it for actual storage and not just things that should be donated but haven’t been. For example, if you keep your tools in the garage, then you have to organize them. Whether that’s with different tool storage bags and containers or by getting rid of most of them, it must be done either way!

The Kitchen

The kitchen is another big spot that needs focused attention with your spring-cleaning plan. Chances are you keep your kitchen pretty clean and wiped down, but it could also use a good decluttering. How many cups, mugs, plates, bowls, and utensils sit unused but take up a lot of space anyway? Think about donating those neglected items, and then consider reorganizing the rest of the cabinets to fit your kitchen’s needs.

The Basement

Similar to the garage, the basement is an area that we often avoid decluttering. People choose easier cleaning tasks like the kids’ bedrooms. And although the clutter of the basement may be intimidating, it’s also vital to feeling like you actually accomplished something. Better yet, once you clean, declutter, and organize, you can turn that space into a place where the whole family can relax!

The Small Spaces

Once you’ve tackled those rooms, then you can get started on the smaller spaces. It will act as a reprieve from the overwhelming task of those larger, much more daunting spaces. Things like linen closets, laundry rooms, and other closets in the home aren’t very exciting, but when organized and maintained, they can make the home a much more efficient space. Since they’re smaller, it’ll be much easier to keep them clean as well.