Most Mentally Sexy Update

The Mentally Sexy Movement is changing the world and all I can say is it's about time because although I have always been a fan of the catch-cry 'A woman can do anything a man can do' I think it's about time the men got their chance to turn it around and say 'A man can do anything a woman can do' and yes, that includes washing, ironing and raising children. I am so heavy with pride that I may need to start doing some pelvic floor exercises.

Some exciting news for The Most Mentally Sexy Competition.

1. I am super excited to welcome Catherine Deveny to Reservoir Dad as the first Most Mentally Sexy Judge! Catherine is a television comedy writer, stand-up comedian, author, social commentator, broadcaster and columnist in The Age newspaper.

Dads, you'll need to make your entries sharp if you're going to impress Catherine. She is a funny, insightful, prolific writer who could tear Reservoir Dad apart with the effortless flick of her wit.

2. Suzanne Robson from The Leader Newspaper contacted me yesterday. Apparently the first story on The Most Mentally Sexy Competition received such overwhelming positive feedback that they have no choice but to run a follow-up article in a few weeks. I am pleased to say it will include a pictorial spread of some of the Most Mentally Sexy Contestants. The Northern Suburbs of Melbourne are rupturing with Mental Sexiness and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

3. Joe Schatz, author of 'Daddy, Where's Your Vagina' and founder of Dad-Blogs, has been working tirelessly on the new Reservoir Dad website and its unveiling is imminent. To this old dog of a website, which has served me well for over two years, I'd like to say, 'Move over, you're shit.'

The new website is so good. Last night, while staring at it and listening to Cherish I lost several hours of sleep, just as I did several times in my early teens staring at a poster-size picture of my first girlfriend, Madonna.

I'd be very grateful if you could help me to thank Joe by purchasing a copy of his great book here.

4. I have been so busy preparing the articles on the new site, as well as fielding calls and emails, and staring at my computer screen, and maintaining a semi-decent house and child-rearing schedule, that I won't be able to post my usual Friday ramble this week.

In its place I will do one of two things - unveil the new website, or if that's still not quite ready, repost the first article that spawned the Mentally Sexy Revolution.

5. If you'd like to see the Northern Dads Group Round Table Discussion of the term Mentally Sexy, go here.

6. Keep an eye on The Search For America’s Most Mentally Sexy Dad here. They're getting some great entries and they will do their best to take the World Title away from us.

7. There is now a fan page at Facebook titled The Search For Australia's Most Mentally Sexy Dad. Please visit, become a fan and suggest that all your Facebook friends become fans too. Don't miss out on this crazy ride.

This is the way to the new world, Dads. Get on board, or get left behind.

Mentally Sexy Monday - Brad

Brad

Brad is the father of Georgia, 2 and Nate, 4 months.

"I’m Australia’s Most Mentally Sexy Dad because I know that work doesn’t just happen from nine to five, five days a week. My wife doesn’t get to knock off at five and veg out, so why should I? There is a lot of work associated with raising a family.

When I get home, I put the bags down and I’m into it. I’ll clean up around the house, stack the dishwasher, bath the kids, cook a few days a week, whatever’s going. The day ends when the kids are in bed and things are in shape.

It works because if I’m sharing the load with my wife we both get a little bit more time for each other at the end of the night and it means there’s not as much to do on weekends, so that we can both get out with the kids and have some fun.

In the picture I am at the Children’s Farm with my daughter, Georgia."
_____________________________________________

Nice work, Brad.

This Wednesday - Mentally Sexy Updates.

• Go here to see all other contestants.

• Go here for the official rule page, with details on how to submit your (or your partners) entry.

• Go here for the official pictorial guide to the Reservoir Dad Most Mentally Sexy Competition Clothing.

• Check in on Fridays for my usual ramble.

Mentally Sexy Monday - Garry

The Americans are finally getting their act together – Dad-Blogs has received some very good submissions and the global battle to be crowned the World’s Most Mentally Sexy Dad is going full steam ahead.

Reservoir Dad has also received several more submissions for The Search For Australia's Most Mentally Sexy Dad and if they continue to roll in at this rate, we may have to start putting up more than one entry per week. I promise you this though – no legitimate entry will miss out on having a shot at the title. Even if we receive 100 submissions I will find a way to feature them all.

Since the recent publicity for the competition, I’ve been asked several times what the official definition of Mentally Sexy is. To me, the Mentally Sexy Man is one who takes responsibility in maintaining the passion in his relationship.

One of the greatest aphrodisiacs for women is being desired? Yep, I think I read that somewhere… and so it would follow that a man, in a committed relationship, who is pitching in with the housework and child-rearing, to allow more time for intimacy, is displaying to his wife, in a very practical, visual way, that he still desires her very much. I call that a win win for both husband and wife.

Let’s not shy away from the importance of a good sex life in a happy marriage. I am no Maureen Matthews (sex columnist, Sunday Age) but I’m pretty certain that sex, in itself, is a very good thing. Frequent sex between couples increases the likelihood of happiness, as well as improves intimacy between couples, boosts self-esteem and even improves health by relieving stress, boosting immunity and reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease (look it up) – all these things are very helpful when you’re doing your best, in a cluttered world, to give you and your partner the greatest chance at a happy, passionate marriage

There is some tongue-in-cheek involved in this competition, of course, and we want to have as much fun with it as possible, but let’s not forget that what we are promoting here, in the end, are good Husbands, good Dads, great men.

In other news –

• I am going to leave Mondays free for new contestants from this day forward and include other developments and news about the competition in the new Mentally Sexy Update which will be posted on Tuesdays.

• Every Wednesday, I will include a Mentally Sexy Tip/Quote Of The Week. Feel free to email Reservoir Dad - reservoirdad@gmail.com - if you have any quotes or tips yourself, or if you’ve come across any that you’ve read in the newspapers, or heard on the radio, or seen on TV.

• I am in the process of designing a website for Reservoir Dad, with the help of Joe Schatz, co-founder of Dad-Blogs. I hope you like it when you see the end result.

• You’ll notice the change in heading from Unday – The Search For Australia’s Most Mentally Sexy Dad to Mentally Sexy Monday. I did that because it just makes sense.

Now, to today’s Mentally Sexy entrant –

Garry

Garry is the father of Emmett, 3, and Milly, 1, and he offered us this -

"This isn’t the only example of my Mental Sexiness but I think it’s a good one because it highlights many of my Mentally Sexy skills.

Put simply, I made my son’s birthday cake. And on it’s own that may not seem like much. But there is more than flour and egg in this cake.

Inside this cake there is an awareness of my wife’s needs – she eats organic and so I had to find only natural ingredients. The icing is natural, the coloring is natural and there is nothing artificial in the sprinkles.

Inside this cake there is my high level of commitment to my wife and family. I stayed up until midnight making it – there is nothing I won’t do for my son and my family. My wife was also freed of another responsibility, and after preparing for the party, which was on the following day, was able to go to bed early and get some needed rest.

Inside this cake there is love. Love cracked the eggs and mixed the ingredients. Love fashioned the shark from the slab of cake. Love bent over the shark with a warm knife and applied the icing.

Inside this cake is pride in myself, in my family. As you can see I was the proudest Dad in the world carrying the cake that I made out to my son’s birthday.

As far as being sexy to my wife, the only thing I could have done to be any sexier was to jump out of that cake in a g-string."

• Go here to see all other contestants.
• Go here for the official rule page, with details on how to submit your (or your partners) entry.
• Go here for the official pictorial guide to theReservoir Dad Most Mentally Sexy Competition Clothing.
• Check in on Fridays for my usual ramble.

The Preston Leader and The Red Symons Breakfast Show

A crazy week at Reservoir Dad.

First The Preston Leader Article appeared featuring Reservoir Dad in Most Mentally Sexy underwear on the FRONT PAGE.

Then I received a call from the Red Symons Breakfast Radio show on 774, and before I know it, I'm on air, waffling about The Most Mentally Sexy Competition and topping it all off by asking Red Symons when we can expect to see his Mentally Sexy entry. He responded by coughing a couple of times and ending the interview.

Since all this media attention the Reservoir Dad blog has received a steep increase in traffic, some more Mentally Sexy Entries and a hell-of-a-lot of inquiries. I will address a few common questions here -

1. You can follow this link to find Preston Leader e-paper with the picture of me and Archie on the front page. The article is on page 5. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the neighbors react to this... not to mention the kids swimming instructors and teachers.

2. It is okay for wives and partners to nominate their husbands as the Most Mentally Sexy Dad and enter on their behalf.

3. We do have prizes. Just yesterday we had a brand new IPod Shuffle donated as a prize to give to Australia's Most Mentally Sexy Dad. We also have Australia's Most Mentally Sexy Dad Finalist 2010 T-Shirts for the top 5, donated by GRASHAN - The Screen Printing Experts. And we are working on others.

4. We do not have a prize organised for The World's Most Mentally Sexy Dad just yet, but we are working on that with Dad-Blogs and will announce it as soon as we have it.

5. Some more Mentally Sexy Clothing is being printed as we speak, and I will have a variety of sizes to fit all Mentally Sexy Entrants.

6. We're getting some great entries and all will be revealed over the coming weeks. The Americans are starting to shake in their boots, as you can see in this article. I urge you to keep the pressure on them, Aussie Dads. Be creative, be daring and lift your Mentally Sexy Skills to a new level.

This is the brave new world. Get on board or get left behind.

Reservoir Dad's Search for The Most Mentally Sexy - The Story So Far

Click on the names of contestants to see their official entries.

The Beginning

Simon

Joe

Deano

Shaun

Marty

Garry

Brad

• Go here for the official rule page, with details on how to submit your (or your partners) entry.
• Go here for the official pictorial guide to the Reservoir Dad Most Mentally Sexy Competition Clothing.
• Check in on Fridays for my usual ramble.

Unday # 5 - The Search For Australia's Most Mentally Sexy Dad

It’s nice to feel appreciated. It really is. We’ve been together for 14 years now and it’d be easy for Ian to think he’s got me in the bag. When he does things, spontaneously, like tiding up or making me breakfast and dinner, it makes me feel wanted and cared for. And a man who can make a women feel like that? Well, there’s nothing sexier.

- Virginia, Mother of three

Welcome to Unday #5! Things are progressing at a serious pace with four new, official, competition-grade Reservoir Dad Most Mentally Sexy items of clothing ready to be worn by all the Dads out there who are dreaming of being crowned Australia’s Most Mentally Sexy Dad and getting the chance to represent their country at the highest level.

Remember, the rules for the Australian leg of the competition are very simple. Send a Mentally Sexy Spiel to reservoirdad@gmail.com detailing your Mentally Sexy attributes and activities, and how these impact on your wife and your relationship. Include your postal address with your entry and you will receive an item of clothing of your choice – underwear, boxer-shorts, singlet or t-shirt – so that you can look the part in your Mentally Sexy Photo. Send the item of clothing back in the reply paid envelope, email your photo in, and we’re away.

In further developments –

1. GRASHAN – The Screen Printing Experts, have donated five Mentally Sexy 2010 Finalist T-Shirts to Reservoir Dad, so that our top five Dads at year’s end can brag about their accomplishment, and let everyone know how great they are, without even opening their mouths. More details about GRASHAN to come.

2. This week, Reservoir Dad will be posting almost every day, to set up some reference pages for future posts, and allow visitors to the site easy access to all the ins and outs of the Mentally Sexy Competition. Here’s a gig guide –

• Tuesday – the Most Mentally Sexy Rule Page. (see Dad-Blogs if you're impatient)
• Wednesday – You can go here to see the Pictorial Guide to the official, competition grade, Most Mentally Sexy Clothing. I will also be putting up the Mentally Sexy photos of the five contestants.
• Thursday – The Preston Leader article featuring Reservoir Dad with photo.
• Friday – The regular Friday ramble.

3. Don’t forget to duck over to Dad-Blogs to read my article – and to keep an eye on the American Mentally Sexy contestants.

4. We have received a few emails from women offering some quotes to include with each Unday. They’ve been great but we want more. Keep them coming. It gives us Mentally Sexy hopefuls an insight into how our efforts affect our better halves.

5. Remember, this is a global competition. Battle hard, for although contentment and happiness will come to all who follow the Mentally Sexy Path, glory, Dads, is only for the winner.

Now to this week’s entrant.

Marty

Today’s entrant is Marty, father of Patrick, 3 and Isabelle, 2.

“My wife takes care of most of the child related responsibilities. I own two gyms, run a powerlifting club five days of the week, see clients for general fitness and strength building and outsource to professional clubs as a strength coach. My days are varied and motivating and I try to be conscious of the fact that staying at home to look after the kids is a tough gig – it can be isolating at times and it’s also difficult to focus on personal goals. For this reason I do my best to give my wife some child free time, so she can get her fitness and training goals met every week.

Sometimes it means I take the kids to work with me and as you can see in my picture, it can create some dramas. They’re always very keen to help out. I’ll set up a picnic blanket, with drinks and games and hang with them. It’s fun.

This is how I exercise my Mentally Sexy attitude and it works on many levels for both of us. My wife gets to maintain her fitness for her sporting goals, she feels great after exercise so she is much happier and she can really put the child-raising and household issues aside for that period of time.

For me? I get a much happier wife, who is happy with herself and her body and more relaxed, which means I’m happier. The kids are happier too. The bedroom benefits? I might just keep those details to myself. But hey, we’re both very fit…"

Unday - The Beginning

Unday 1 - Simon

Unday 2 - Joe

Unday 3 - Deano

Unday 4 - Shaun

Unday # 4 - The Search For Australia's Most Mentally Sexy Dad

I pull on a tight tank-top and don the Most Mentally Sexy Underwear, pick up the vacuum and start fake-vacuuming the carpet, as Archie hangs over my shoulder looking at the man who is kneeling behind me a short distance away, snapping photographs for a newspaper that will go to everyone in my neighborhood – and some distance beyond – and my heart slows as I experience a flashback to a time when I was sitting in my classroom, Grade 2, cross-legged, answering my teacher’s question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ with ‘I want to be a fire engine’ and I can’t help but think that maybe if I’d been more specific – more correct – in my answer, and not chosen to be a large red vehicle, which is clearly impossible (even if I really, really believe), that I may not be here, as I am, wondering how the hell I got myself into this.

But I am here – into this and, to be totally honest, I’m into this in a big way and (without telling too many people) loving it more than a rabbit loves digging holes because I’ve always had a way of ending up on the strange side of life and now, three years into my role as a stay-at-home-dad, I can finally say that the weird life is the life for me.

So if you get yourself a copy of the Preston Leader Newspaper this week and you see the bald guy poking his arse in your general direction with the words Most Mentally Sexy blazoned across his tight black underwear I don’t want you to feel sorry for him, or embarrassed, because you’re looking at a content man, a man who has found his niche, his calling, his joy.

Some developments before we get onto our fourth contestant in the search for Australia’s Most Mentally Sexy Dad –

1. Dad-Blogs is all linked up and ready for action. The search for America’s Most Mentally Sexy Dad is on and that means that the international contest to find the World’s Most Mentally Sexy Dad has also officially begun. Have a look at Joe Schatz’s sample entry to see what us Aussies are up against and then get motivated and send your Mentally Sexy Spiel here - reservoirdad@gmail.com - so you can get your hands on the Mentally Sexy clothing and get an entry in.

2. Dad-Blogs and Reservoir Dad have penned the official Most Mentally Sexy Competition Rules which you can also see at Dad-Blogs.

3. Due to several emails from sensitive types who desperately want to enter the competition but claim there is no way they will ever be seen at Reservoir Dad in a pair of underwear I now have, in my possession, a pair of official, competition grade, Most Mentally Sexy Boxer Shorts and Tank Top. You can now choose what you wear although, I will point out, the judges will look more favorably on those wearing the underwear so if you’re not wearing them, your entries had better be super-creative.

4. I am now a columnist at Dad Blogs, so head over there to check out my articles and articles from the other great columnists there.

5. I have just about wrapped up three female judges for the Australian leg of the competition and am not too far away from announcing the prizes that will be available for the top five Most Mentally Sexy Aussie Dads when the National leg of the competition ends in October. Stay tuned.

Now to this week's entrant.

Shaun

Our fourth contestant is Shaun, father of daughter Ollie, 4 months.

‘I think I am the Most Mentally Sexy because I work hard and long but help out as much as I can with little Ollie when I get home. I’m a hands-on Dad and wouldn't even think of leaving all the child raising responsibilities to my wife. I insist on doing the nappies and getting her to sleep. I love it and miss being with her all day. On weekends, when I’m not working, I make sure I’ve got a handle on her at all times. I even make a point of carrying her around at parties as you can see in my photo. My wife definitely appreciates my efforts and tells me it's very attractive that I am so in love and involved with my daughter. RESERVOIR DAD RULES!’

hehe. Thanks Shaun. – RD.

Unday - The Beginning

Unday 1 - Simon

Unday 2 - Joe

Unday 3 - Deano