Welcome to feis dad

Hello, my name is Matt. I have a daughter ... no, make that two daughters ... who LOVE Irish Dance.

There. I admitted it. I’ve come clean.

It's the first step in recognizing I have a problem.

Did I say problem? Well, maybe that’s not quite right.

It’s more like a crisis of epic proportions.

If you’ve got a daughter in novice, prizewinner or championship, you know what I mean. Don’t worry, if you’re just starting this ride, you’ll find out soon enough.

If you don't know what a feis is. you're on the wrong blog. If you do know what a feis is and like it, you're on the wrong blog. If the thought of going to a feis makes you feel queasy, you're in the right place.

So, you're supposed to be here, now what?

Take a look at my first post, titled: Feis Dad Syndrome.

See if you've developed this terrible condition.

If you've got it, don't despair. There is help. I may not offer any right now, but don't lose hope, I'll get to it eventually.

Above all, I am looking forward to your comments, funny stories and helpful suggestions.

Thanks for joining me.

-- feis dad

Blog Posts

The following are posts. Please read, laugh and comment.

-feis dad

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Ten Top Worst Places To Be

I was at a feis the other weekend, just sitting all by myself, and I started thinking ... there could be worse places to be, right? So I've taken the opportunity to list them ...

10. Sky diving...


Into a lagoon full of hungry gators. Come on, who the heck jumps out of a perfectly good plane, anyway?


9. On the beach ...


Because you can get sunburned, and the water is cold and the waves can get REALLY big!


8. Visiting Pamplona, Spain ...


During the running of the bulls.


7. Shopping with your wife ...


During an 18-hour sale at Dress Barn.


6. Partying with Lindsay Lohan ...


When the bartender says she's had enough (wow, if looks could kill).


5. Next to Kim Jong II ("President" of North Korea) ...


When he's relaxing after a tough day executing anyone making fun of his hair (which, I for one, am not, or never have).


4. At an Irish bar ...


When it runs out of beer.


3. Scuba diving ...


At the Great Barrier reef.


2. In front of the Celtic Crusader ...


When she unleashes her Curls of Fury.


And the number 1 worst place to be ... drum roll ...

At a feis .... In between two feis moms.

Click on the Youtube video below. You will probably need to click on the second button from the right (the one that looks like a small TV with a picture-in-a-picture) to be able to read the voice callouts.



-- feis dad
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Sunday, May 3, 2009

Cat-astrophe

Okay, enough is enough. This is the last straw ...

As most of you know, I got two daughters who love Irish dance and feis mom is a card carrying member of the IDMM. But never in my wildest nightmares did I ever think this would happen.

I came home from yesterday after surviving my first EVER feis that I attended from start to finish and found my kids collection of Irish dance DVDs strewn about the living room.

Horrified that someone had broken in to our house, I quickly checked for signs of forced entry and anything valuable missing. Nope. Only the Irish dance DVDs seem to be out of place (which horrified me even more to think that someone had broken in just to watch Michael Flately). That left the animals. We have a dog and four cats in the house. The horse is rarely allowed inside.

I interviewed each one: the dog just wagged her tail and wanted to go for a walk. The cats just ignored me ... except for one. When I turned my back on her, the DVD player came on, Riverdance started playing and the cat ... well ... you can see for yourself....


funny pictures
moar funny pictures

After more than two years of being a feis dad, I have come to accept the fact that my wife and daughters have gone to the dark side, but my cats??!!! What's next? The dog doing bicycle kicks and cuts as she fetches her ball? Or something even worse ....



Noooooo......


--feis dad
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A serious message from feis dad about being a feis dad

This blog is not to be taken seriously. It’s meant to take a good-natured poke at how Irish Dance affects fathers (something many wives and daughters may not think about).

The reality of the situation is that most dads just don’t get the Irish Dance thing. It’s like asking our wives and daughters why they don’t throw high fives every time our favorite player hits a three-pointer in the playoffs.

I love my daughters, but I just can’t sit through twelve hours of accordion music at feis’ once a month. It is beyond me. And I truly believe that forcing me to do so would make me begin to resent their activity, which none of us want.

BUT, that doesn’t mean I don’t support our daughters in my own way.

That’s exactly what this blog is about. For good or bad, THIS is part of my support for them.

Some may say I’m not a good father if I don’t go to each and every performance or feis. But I believe both my daughters know I think what they are doing is important and good for them even though it’s hard for me to spell feis or oreach … orack … that big national feis thing.

My point in all of this is that although there are some things we just won’t do, I believe real feis dads need to ensure they:

Support their daughter’s (or son’s) love of Irish Dance.

Take interest in how they are doing.

Are excited when they perform well and move up.

Comfort them when they don’t.

Support their activity as much as we can within realistic financial and family obligations

Although we may not understand the specifics (like the difference is between a slip jig and a reel) we take an interest in the general idea

We tell our children we are proud of them every chance we get

Although we make light of some of the aspects of Irish Dance, they are never mean spirited or hurtful

We ensure that our children know what they are doing is important to us

Do what dads do best: build things—practice dance floors, sound systems, etc.

Take them to practices and performances when possible (even if it means missing part of the game, but maybe not if it’s the playoffs).

Again, this blog is not meant to be taken seriously.

No one is perfect. Not even feis dads. If you can’t laugh about it (or about yourself) then you’re missing out.

--feis dad