Sometimes what I need most is a reminder that this special time with my son Tucker is going to be limited, and to make the most of every moment we have.

The other day he and I were playing like we often do with his favorite big green rubber ball (his “BAOW”) in the living room. Tuck loves it. I’ll kick it or throw it, then he’ll chase after it, giggling all the while, and bring it back for more. I’ll encourage him to try throwing it back to me, but his arm is pretty terrible right now so he usually just shoves it at me and then runs away, laughing and trying to anticipate where I’m going to send it flying. It’s a hoot, even if in some ways it’s not unlike playing “fetch” at this point.

We do a lot of running around, and as the old fat one in the game I tend to wear out a lot faster than he does. So this time I ended up eventually sitting down in the desk chair, but continued to toss the ball as he brought it to me.  I’d just watch him joyfully chase after it from my comfy chair is all.

But inevitably, the siren song of the computer called to me, and I started turning away to read snippets of emails/blogs/tweets while he ran around…

I didn’t think this warranted a full-on “doctrine”, but what’s the deal (if I may get all Seinfeldian for a moment) with baby changing tables in public restrooms?

I’m sure they are far more common now than ever before, but it still surprises me that so few places bother to install them in the men’s room at all.  ”A man changing a diaper? Don’t be absurd!”

Maybe it’s just simply pragmatism by the business. There have been a number of times I’ve been changing my son in a public restroom and someone coming or going will give me a look that says (or will actually say) that they’ve never seen one being used before. I’ve actually had men say “Oooh, that’s what that’s for.”  So perhaps it’s just that they’ve calculated that the expense to install/upkeep such a thing is more than that of a few men annoyed by being denied the opportunity to change a diaper. Something tells me they don’t get a lot of complaints.

I’m really excited about this upcoming documentary on modern fatherhood called The Evolution of Dad, from filmmaker Dana Glazer.

It’s not even so much that the film features some fellow at-home dads and spends some time talking about the phenomenon, so I can “relate” — it’s that this film really seems to be exploring the very issues of involved fatherhood that are close to my heart and I find myself more and more passionate about all the time.