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

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

feis dad for President!

First of all, I am honored. I had no idea how popular the feis dad blog was. And second, I want to thank everyone for your support! None of this would be happening without it!

Click (or copy and paste) the following link for an important news report regarding feis dad.

http://www.thelopezfamilyonline.com/play.php?first=feis&last=dad

--feis dad '08 :-)

Thursday, August 14, 2008

feis dad's twelve step program

You’re a feis dad. You have FDS. Your wife and daughters are going to every feis in the lower 48 (and some in the upper 35) and you haven’t seen anything green in your wallet for six months. A huge assortment of dresses, wigs, ghillies, heavy shoes, socks and everything else Irish has invaded your house.

Yep, you’ve hit rock bottom.

Well, guess what?

It can only get better from here?

Uh, no. Sorry, it just stays bad.

Your only hope for sanity is feis dad’s own Twelve Step Program. It’s exactly the same as AA’s twelve step program, except it encourages drinking and is a lot more fun.

Feis dad’s Twelve Step Program.

1. Admit that we are powerless over Irish dance. Nothing we do or say will keep our wife and daughter from eating, living and becoming one with Irish dance.
2. Recognize that our lives have become unmanageable. Duh! This was a no brainer.
3. We realize that it takes a power greater than ourselves to restore our sanity. Mainly, alcohol. In liberal amounts.
4. We made a decision to come up with as many original (and sometimes ridiculous) excuses as we can to miss each and every feis and we humbly ask our wives to accept them without question.
5. We have inventoried ourselves and our wallets, but we still can’t find any money.
6. After a few drinks in the hotel bar, we have admitted to other feis dads (but not to our wives or daughters) that there is ONE thing about Irish dance we enjoy. Some of those dancers in Riverdance are just plain fine. And that’s with a capital F-I-N-E!
7. We promise to search out every bar, sporting event, fishin’ hole or monster truck rally within 100 miles of each feis our wives make us go to.
8. Made a list of all persons we have harmed by making fun of Irish dance… and promptly thrown it away.
9. Made a promise to ourselves, our wife, our daughter and the local police authorities not to write threatening letters to the $%@& accordion player who just doesn’t seem to stop. Ever. Ever, ever, ever.
10. Sought out professional help and advice of others (through the feis dad blog) to seek ways (both legal and illegal) to not only improve your financial bottom line, but to actually have a bottom line.
11. Had an awakening. And it was a such painful experience, that we solemnly pledge never to mix shots of tequila with beer the night before a feis ever again. Next time, it’ll be Irish whiskey and beer.

There. We’re done. Repeat those twelve prophetic statements to yourself before every feis, when your credit card bill is due and when you enter that bar—

“Hey! Wait a minute,” you say. “That’s only eleven. You said it was a twelve step program.”

Uh, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 … 11 … 11. I guess you’re right. So, repeat those eleven statements to yourself whenever you feel like it. They probably won’t help and
one more wouldn’t have made a difference anyway.

Come on, did you really expect I would come up with twelve? Or that I can count?

Get real.

I’m a feis dad, after all.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

A Case of Stage Fright -- Episode 2

Celtic Crusader fans ...

A NEW episode of The Celtic Crusader has been posted on her website (www.celticcrusader.com). You can access it from her My Adventures page. In this episode, you'll find out if she saves Nancy Novice ... and what other TROUBLE is lurking in the shadows.

It may just be CC's most daring adventure yet!

Make sure you check out CC's Curls of Fury on page two and TM's mask on page 6!

I've also made a sprinkling of other additions (mostly moving .gif files) throughout the website. Let me know if you like them or not.

--feis dad

Saturday, August 2, 2008

The Celtic Crusader Trailer

Here's The Celtic Crusader's first trailer to get everyone excited about her website and her upcoming adventures.

Oh, it has sound, so turn up the volume!

Enjoy

--feis dad



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