Local Celebrity Dads Talk Parenting

Bill Martin, weekday co-anchor, Fox 8 News at 5 and 10

Your age when you first became a dad: 34.

Your kids’ names and ages: All Girls. Katie (16), Otilia and Ibolya (9-year old twins).

Your favorite activity with your kids: Anything where we can spend quality time together. We really love the Cleveland Zoo.

Your favorite children’s book: Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham.

Your favorite kid’s show or cartoon: Hanna Barbera cartoons are great. Jonny Quest was a favorite.

What is the best kid-favorite food you make? grilled cheese.

What is your favorite fast food? Pizza.

What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Hockey.

What do you hope your children never learn about you? What I did when I was a child.

What was your best subject in school? Science.

As a child, were you an angel or a devil? I had an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other.

What is your ideal day? Spending time with the family away from the hustle and bustle.

Fond memory of your children? I believe they’ve all thrown-up on me.

Would you go back and be a kid again if you could? No thanks. I love being old and acting like a child.

What do you do now, as a grown up, that reminds you of being a kid? I always try not to act my age. I’m 49, in case you're wondering.

What is the best part about being a dad? Hugging my kids and saying, "I love you."

Lou Maglio, weeknight co-anchor, Fox 8 News at 6

Your age when you first became a dad: 34.

Your kids’ names: Three boys: Zach, C.J., Joey.

Your favorite activity with your kids: Watching them play sports.

Your favorite children’s book: Pobody’s Nerfect.

Your favorite kid’s show or cartoon: Barney, Dora the Explorer.

What is the best kid-favorite food you make? Best burgers, for any age.

What is your favorite fast food? Sakkio.

What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Lacrosse, college basketball, European soccer.

What do you hope your children never learn about you? Too late for that. They’ve got me figured.

What was your best subject in school? English with recess (OK, not exactly a subject) a close second.

As a child, were you an angel or a devil? Mostly angelic, though with some demonic tendencies.

What is your ideal day? Nice weather. Slow moving. No chores.

What was the funniest thing you remember about your children? Told the two older ones to shake after a fight. Instead of shaking hands, they shook their bodies.

Would you go back and be a kid again if you could? In a flash.

What do you do now, as a grown up, that reminds you of being a kid? Try to have fun whenever I can find it.

What is the best part about being a dad? Guiding them, watching them grow.

Jake Westbrook, Cleveland Indians pitcher

Your age when you first became a dad: 29.

Your kid’s name and age: Parker (2 on Sept. 27).

Your favorite activity with your kid: Wrestling.

Your favorite children’s book: Curious George.

Your favorite kid’s show or cartoon: "Cars."

What is the best kid-favorite food you make? He eats everything.

What is your favorite fast food? We haven’t introduced him to fast food yet.

What is his favorite sport to watch on TV? He’s into tractors and cars. Anything with those.

What was your best subject in school? Math.

What is your ideal day? Fish in the a.m., golf in the afternoon, hunt the evening and spend rest of the night with the family.

What was the best time with your dad? Spending time fishing.

What is the best part about being a dad? Not realizing you could love something so much and realizing he is yours and your responsibility.

Obie Shelton, WKYC-TV 3 reporter

Your age when you first became a dad: 36.

Your kid’s name and age: Owen, 15.

Your favorite activity with your kid: We’re at a transitional stage now where I may have to look for something new. For the past three years, I’ve really enjoyed playing badminton with him in the summertime and assembling old, school model cars with him after Christmas.

Your favorite children’s book: My favorite was Tricky Tortoise. It was about a tortoise using his wit to outsmart an elephant who was trying to intimidate him.

Your favorite kid’s show or cartoon: "Dexter’s Lab." When he was little, we used to enjoy classic cartoons with Bugs, Daffy, Pepe, etc.

What is the best kid-favorite food you make? I make some mean blueberry pancakes. My chicken tenders are favorites, too.

What is your favorite fast food? Subway Owen loves Chipotle, now that I turned him on to it.

What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? Football, hands down.

What do you hope your child never learns about you? Now if I answer that here, he might learn about it wouldn't he?

What was your best subject in school? Music.

As a child, were you an angel or a devil? An angel, honest. 

What is your ideal day? Wake up refreshed and then get equal amounts of productivity, relaxation and fun. It’s what I try to do on vacation days.

What was the funniest thing you remember about your child? One time when he was a toddler and we were riding on an RTA rapid, he began imitating the driver as he called out the different stops. He had sort of the gruff voice, and Owen nailed his inflection.

How do you embarrass your child? I don’t do it, but it would embarrass him to be called his family pet name "WoozieBear" in front of his friends.

Would you go back and be a kid again if you could? Sure. I’d love to be able to run and not pull a hamstring.

What do you do now, as a grown up, that reminds you of being a kid? Put together model cars with Owen.

What is the best part about being a dad? Watching the changes as he grows up. I know a lot of parents dread that, but it’s fascinating to me. 

Vic Gideon, WKYC-TV 3 reporter

Your age when you first became a dad: 32.

Your kids’ names and ages: Louis, 14, Dominic 11, Christopher, 9, and Victor Gabriel, 1.

Your favorite activity with your kids: Playing sports. We go to nearby baseball fields, where we hit and field, or play pepper and whiffle ball in the backyard, which we all love. Because there’s me and three older boys, we also play two-on-two basketball and football, but I have to be the official quarterback because I don’t move as well as I once did, and it’s getting tougher to chase them around.

Your favorite children’s book: I liked Bread and Jam for Francis by Russell Hoban when I was growing up because Frances eventually got to eat spaghetti, my favorite food. I loved to read them Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. "I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living my baby you’ll be." I tear up when I read it because it’s a reminder they won’t be young for long and soon we’ll be old.

Your favorite kid’s show or cartoon: SpongeBob SquarePants. We like "The Simpsons" too, although we have "The Office" on DVD and we all love it, especially in the car on trips.

What is the best kid-favorite food you make? My 9-year-old lives on macaroni and cheese, and my 14-year-old has eaten so many chicken wings, I’m surprised he hasn’t grown a beak. As far as foods I can prepare, I make a great chili, which I serve as seven-way (with spaghetti on the bottom).

What is your favorite fast food? We don’t eat McDonald’s anymore because Louis saw "supersize me." We go to Taco Bell, Burger King and Wendy’s.

What is your favorite sport to watch on TV? We watch them all.

What do you hope your child never learns about you? That I get teary-eyed when I read Love You Forever.

What was your best subject in school? Math, followed by English.

As a child, were you an angel or a devil? A little of both.

What is your ideal day? Taking them all out and playing baseball, going out for a meal and then seeing the Indians play in the summer.

What was the funniest thing you remember about your child? We have a game called Torture Questions where I quiz them while my hand is on their stomach. If they miss the question, I tickle them unmercifully.

How do you embarrass your child? I tell them they love to kiss girls. It gets everyone one of them.

Would you go back and be a kid again if you could? Absolutely. Is that an option? When can I go?

What do you do now, as a grown up, that reminds you of being a kid? Buying my kids baseball cards.

What is the best part about being a dad? Spending time with my kids.