Q: What about your children makes you laugh?
A: The funniest thing is to see them laugh—there's nothing more rewarding than discovering some clownish antic that elicits that authentic child belly laugh. Once I find a button like that, I can't stop pushing it.
Q: What is your favorite family ritual?
A: We've recently started reading longer chapter books to our daughter at bedtime, and we're in the middle of James and the Giant Peach, which I sort of remember from when I was a kid. It's nice to have an excuse to read and appreciate that book again. In general, I really enjoy all the opportunities to see my kids get into stuff that I used to be into—the vicarious thrill of watching them experience great things for the first time.
Q: What was your most frazzled dad moment?
A: They're all a little frazzled. But there was a recent event that involved baby poop in the tub [happening at the same time as] a nonserious but extremely [urgent] emotional [situation with] the older child. I suppose it's not that hard to prioritize when there is poop involved—that's the baby trump card—but it's never fun to put emotional distress on the back burner.
Q: What parenting issue do you and your partner disagree most about?
A: We're generally in agreement with each other on the big issues. I think that we disagree with ourselves more often than with each other—we'll decide together what our policy is on treats and then disregard it the moment it becomes inconvenient. Consistency is a big challenge.
Q: What is your parenting role: good cop or bad cop?
A: We switch it up, but I'd say that I fall more toward the good-cop end of things. But that can change quickly if I'm the one who happens to be in a bad mood. Sometimes you forget to pick your battles, and you find yourself taking a bad-cop stand on something that you really don't care about.
Q: What do you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about?
A: My 7-month-old, and how he wants a bottle right away.
Q: What do you wish you had done before you had children?
A: I didn't really start being a professional musician until after my daughter was born. That means that I did the starving-artist thing as a dad, which felt pretty stupid and vain at the time. It also means that now I'm doing quite a bit of traveling, at least by the standards of someone who's 38 and has two kids. I can't even really consider long tours at this point, for my own comfort as well as my family's. I kind of wish I had done all the traveling and late-night shows before it was so important to be home as much as possible.
Q: What is a typical Saturday morning in your house like?
A: We've recently put the kids in a room together and are delighted to find that my daughter wakes up and immediately begins entertaining the baby. We get to sneak another 45 minutes or so of not being completely awake, which is an incredible gift at this point. Once we're all up, it's not too long before the requests for a trip to the playground overwhelm our desire to stay inside and not do anything. It takes a bit of a push before we relent, but it's amazing how much you can do in a day when the boss makes you start at eight in the morning.
Q: What was your dad most right about?
A: That it's fun. I had my doubts in the first few months of parenthood, but after you pass a certain threshold, it just keeps getting better and better.
WHAT'S YOUR...
...guiltiest pleasure?
Falling asleep in front of the TV.
...ideal getaway?
Somewhere beachy, where there is nothing to do.
...favorite gadget?
iPhone.
...current reading material?
Lamb by Christopher Moore.
What's your preference:
...wine or beer?
Beer.
...cook at home or eat takeout?
Takeout—this is New York City, for goodness' sake.
...coddle your tot or let him cry it out?
Cry it out, especially if I cannot hear him.
