Diapers, dance competitions, driver’s licenses, junior proms, and college dorms. For Twin Cities “anchordads,” this is “what’s happening” in the lives of their kids. Sure, you see them on the daily news or listen to them on the radio. But home is where they are living out their most important role-“just being Dad”. Each one values the time he spends with his children and appreciates-for many different reasons-the gift of being a father.
BT (Brian Turner)
Cities 97 Morning Show
Children: Lydia, 15; and Jackson, 12
Brian Turner admits he’s the one pushing the driving agenda for his daughter, Lydia. Recently, she needed a ride to a friend’s house at the same time he had a commitment. “Prior to that, she said she’d like to wait until she was 18-ish to drive, but I told her, (rubbing my chin in a dad-like, thoughtful way,) ‘You know, a year from now you could drive yourself to your friend’s house,’” says Turner.
The Turner family is a close-knit bunch. They enjoy traveling together or hanging out at home. “We’re all big movie hounds and we’ve accumulated a pretty sizeable DVD collection,” he says. Turner and wife, Lori, believe some films provide good opportunities for family discussion. “We try not to be too pedantic about it since sometimes subject matter that may be a little advanced might actually open up doors to conversation.”
Lydia and Jackson learned the value of straightforward family communication seven years ago when BT was diagnosed with cancer. From the beginning, Turner says he and Lori were determined to involve the children in the process as much as possible. “In our culture, death is all over the television and on movie screens,” says Turner, “but in real life, it’s behind closed doors.” During his illness, they took the opportunity to open the door wide to help Lydia and Jackson participate in their dad’s cancer treatments without fear. “They would take turns giving me medication or things I needed,” says Turner.
Now that he’s been cancer free for several years, Turner believes the major life lesson his children learned throughout the family’s ordeal was the importance of keeping a positive attitude. “Without a doubt, that’s the biggest part of why I’m alive,” he says. “You gotta want to be alive, and my kids know that.”
Ken Barlow
KARE-11 Meteorologist
Children: Patrick, 17; Meredith, 15, and Caroline, 7
Yes, those really are Ken Barlow’s kids in a recent KARE-11 television commercial. For the Barlow family, home is a hub of activity and the place Barlow returns each night between evening newscasts for dinner. “I come home after the 6 o’clock to eat with my family,” he says. “I’ve always done it that way.” After supper, and a little homework help, Barlow heads back to the studio after 8 pm. “It’s a great schedule,” he says. “I really can’t complain.”
Like many families, Barlow and his wife Theresa juggle parenting tasks, especially on the weekends. “Our girls are both involved in dance competitions, so the weekend of Patrick’s junior prom, Theresa was with the girls at a meet, and I was in charge of his pictures, the car, and that kind of thing,” says Barlow.
In addition to attending his daughters’ dance competitions, Barlow rearranged his schedule during track and field season to watch Patrick, a pole vaulter, compete in school meets. “He was a gymnast for many years but had to quit due to an injury,” says Barlow. As a high school junior, Patrick is receiving mailings from colleges across the United States. “It’s like a draft,” laughs Barlow, who says his son is interested in sports psychology as a result of his experience with the gymnastics injury.
When asked what his favorite thing is about being a dad, Barlow jokingly threatens to “start crying.” “You know, there are a lot of things,” he says. “One of the simplest things I do is walk my 7-year-old to school every morning. When she goes into that building, I start to miss her.” Coming from a family of five boys, Barlow says raising girls seemed “weird” at first, but it’s certainly grown on him. “There’s a bond you have with your kids that will never change,” he says. “It’s that unconditional love, that’s the best thing.”
Keith Marler
Fox 9 News Morning Show Meteorologist
Child: Grace, 7 months
This Father’s Day will be particularly sweet for Keith Marler as he celebrates the day with his little girl “Gracie.” She’s brought love, joy and 2 a.m. feedings to the household he shares with his wife, Susan. For a man who leaves home for work at around 3 am, Marler has adapted surprisingly well to the unpredictable schedule of an infant. “We were curious how that was going to work, but so far, it’s been fine,” he says, reporting Grace is mostly sleeping through the night now despite “working on a tooth.”
Marler savors all the “firsts” with his daughter, as he and his wife have experienced a parent’s deepest pain. In August 2003, Susan gave birth to a son who died during childbirth. “At the six-month check-up, we had a sonogram that told us we were having a boy,” says Marler. “And then it told us a whole lot more.” Their son had a genetic disorder called trisomy-13, a condition Marler calls “a complete fluke” and something that couldn’t have been predicted. The support of a family he calls “very close knit” helped them through the difficult days following their baby’s death.
Seeking a new beginning, the couple, who had been living in the Washington, D.C. area, decided to move to Minnesota when the job at FOX 9 News materialized. “We had lived in Duluth before moving back East and liked Minnesota,” he says. “It was a great place for a fresh start.”
After being given the go-ahead from doctors, Susan became pregnant again. “She was on bedrest from the end of August until Gracie’s birth in October,” says Marler. “In a way, that sort of eased us into the schedule of having a baby. We actually had more freedom after she was born.”
Marler’s schedule brings him home at midday, which he loves. “Susan feeds her cereal and then will sometimes go and do errands,” he says. “I get my alone time with Gracie then.” The two often spend time teleconferencing with grandparents and other family members who live on the East Coast. “Grace sees one of her grandparents every day,” says Marler.
Ian Punnett
FM 107 Morning Show, “A Balanced Breakfast”
Children: Garr, 13; Campbell, 11
Regular listeners to “A Balanced Breakfast” may know his boys as “Itchy and Scratchy” the on-air monikers for Punnett and his radio show co-host/wife Margery’s two sons. The boys are close in age because as Punnett explains, at the time, “we didn’t want to know life without diapers.”
Those days are long gone, and now Garr and Campbell are off to the races, literally, as competitive swimmers. “My biggestcontribution is dropping them off and picking them up at the swimming pool for practice,” he says, adding Garr has expressed interest in swimming in college and currently dreams of competing in the Olympics.
Right now, managing an early morning schedule is the Punnett family challenge, and things seem to be running smoothly. “Our boys are at the age where they have papers to write and tests to study for, so they are often up until around 10 at night,” says Punnett. “That makes it a little harder for me to get up at 3:45 a.m. We try to pace ourselves, but sometimes it feels like we’re burning the candle at both ends.”
When FM 107 first approached Ian and Margery about doing the morning show together, Punnett says they asked the boys how they would feel about it. “They asked us things like ‘who would be there to see us off for school and kiss us goodbye?’,” he says. The way it worked out, the boys need not have worried. “We now have a small studio in our house where Margery does her portion of the show,” Punnett says. “From 7:30 to 8:00, she’s off the air, taking the kids to school; when she comes back, we sometimes talk on the air about what happened in carpool.”
Punnett believes his first job as a parent is to be there to engage in dialogue with his kids. “We’re always talking to them, asking questions to the point where they’d probably like us to shut up,” he says, laughing. “It’s always about the process for us.”
No matter what he calls them, Punnett says his two boys “recharge my batteries every day. Our lives and our careers are all built around parenting,” he explains. “Without our sons, so much of our lives would be pointless.”
Joe Schmit
5 Eyewitness News Anchor
Children: Natalie, 13; Gaby, 10; and Matthew, 7
Life has become much more predictable in the Schmit household since Joe Schmit was moved from his position as the station’s sports director/reporter into his new role as co-anchor with Cyndy Brucato. “A lot of times, our family schedule revolved around sports-games or playoffs,” he explains, “which made it very difficult to plan ahead.” For instance, last year when the Minnesota Timberwolves made it all the way to the NBA conference finals, Schmit worked 44 out of 45 days in a row.
This year, Schmit noted, was the first time in 20 years he was able to spend all day on Easter Sunday at home and actually watched the Masters’ Golf Tournament “from my couch.” In general, his new schedule is much more family friendly, and according to Schmit, “the weekends are all for the kids.” Schmit’s girls take dance lessons and play softball; his son is a hockey and a baseball player.
When asked how his kids feel about having a local celebrity for a dad, he says since they’ve always known it that way, they don’t think it’s very unusual. “I think for a while they thought everyone’s dad worked on TV,” he says. If there were any change in their attitude, it happened when their friends started realizing he was on television. “I remember once my son, Matthew, asked me why I was so famous. I didn’t really have an answer for that,” he says, laughing. “They know I’m Dad first, and not a TV guy.”
Schmit has also been recognized for his charitable work, specifically for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Joe Schmit Celebrity Golf Tournament, which will celebrate its 14th year in June. “I think my kids realize that giving back is an important part of their existence,” he says, adding that they have helped set up on tournament day in past years. “It’s something they pick up by osmosis.”
Dennis Douda
WCCO-TV Anchor and Reporter
Children: Jackie, 21; Nate, 18; and Gabe, 12
Having already sent his oldest two children off to college, Dennis Douda is the senior statesman of the group, but rather than take credit for a job well done, he says the truth of the matter is that “my kids are raising me.”
Douda says his youngest, Gabe, struggled a bit when his older brother left for school last fall. “They are still best buds, but it’s been fun to see Gabe come into his own and discover some of his own strengths,” says Douda, mentioning his son’s growing interest in lacrosse. A divorced father, Douda spends one or two nights a week and weekends with Gabe, and sees the older kids when they are home on break.
In addition to his anchoring duties at WCCO, Douda also reports on health issues. He’s particularly interested in this beat for personal reasons. “My son Nate has had juvenile diabetes since he was 2 years old,” says Douda. “Prior to the Internet, it was a struggle to find information to help control that kind of condition, but now there are so many more resources that people can access to educate themselves.” Calling his son “very healthy,” Douda believes Nate’s experience with diabetes has led to his interest in son’s studying medicine.
As a father who has made it through the teen years twice, Douda says he’s surprised parents seem easily intimidated by that stage. “It’s important to give them guidelines, but I think the older they get, the easier it gets,” he says. “My kids are great. They have become such caring, thoughtful people.”
