Hey everyone!  The Manival is back!  It was such a rousing success last time, that I have gladly accepted the opportunity to host again.  Just in case you don’t know, the Manival was started by Brett at ArtofManliness.com and for the past 3 months has been circulating around the internet, showcasing the best articles on Manliness that manly bloggers have to offer.


BTW, the pic to the left is from PersistentIllusion.  It was used for the Manival before, but I love it so much I had to bring it back.  Thanks Persistent!

Relationship Advice:

A Husband presents Make Out With Your Wife posted at iamhusband.com.

Bob presents Don’t Axe Me About That posted at Stormbringer’s Thunder.

Fatherhood:

Apparently some men are feeling a little need to lay down the law as Derek presents Discipline :: Stick To It posted at The Man Page and Dad of Divas presents Maniverse #9 - On Becomming a Disciplinarian posted at Dad of Divas.

Mike Carr presents Dadosphere Launch Contest posted at Dadosphere.

Corey Allan presents Man Up: Tuck Your Kids Into Bed posted at The Simple Marriage Project.
  
Some great (and slightly off-beat) how to’s:

Kevin presents Manliness Trait: Treat The Speaker As The Most Important Person In The Room posted at Return To Manliness.

Dr. Awesome presents Dog Names posted at To Every Man A Manswer.

John presents a great self searching post, Harrowed Parent: How to Be a Man posted at Harrowed Parent.

Dustin Boston presents How Ditching My Gas Lawn Mower Made Me Love Cutting the Grass posted at dBlogIt.

Andrew presents A Gentleman’s Guide to Dinner Manners posted at Primer.

Well written musings on manhood:

Scott Moore presents House Arrest posted at Always Leave You Wanting “Moore”.

Jeff Tincher presents Why Can’t I Relax? | Daddy`s Toolbox posted at Daddys Toolbox.

Israel presents Don’t Ignore the Man Boobs on My Chest posted at Fat Man Unleashed.

James Hills presents Rock and Roll, Video Games, and Uber Chic? It’s Hotel Sax Chicago! | Mancation Hotels | Man Tripping posted at Man Tripping - Guys Weekends and Mancations.

babbo presents Time: The Slippery, Fleeting Thing That Doesn’t Really Exist posted at Daddy Brain.

Every Good Husband wants his marriage to last and to be strong. Wendy Piersall’s latest call to action for CrowdSourcing inspired this post.

While I currently work as a sales manager for an internet marketing company, when I was in college I had just married my wife and I worked out of my home as a sales rep for a telecommunications company. The following is what I learned from my own experience and the stories of colleagues.

Focus on your family first. The reason most of us work is so that we can support our families. While our jobs hopefully bring us a great deal of satisfaction, we need to remember that when we’re old and feeble we want our spouse and kids to know us well enough that they want to take care of us. A good way to do this is to have a weekly family council.

Have defined roles for family members and for employees/coworkers. If your family members are involved in the family business, give them a defined set of tasks so that they don’t feel like the business consumes all life within its vicinity. Employees and coworkers should have defined roles as well so that there is not friction between them and family members. Set goals and have celebrations when you hit those goals!

Make sure you have a work area. It’s tempting to sit in front of the TV when working at home and just work while you watch. The problem with this is that it doesn’t put you in the proper frame of mind to be productive. You may get your work done, but you won’t be focused, you may make mistakes, and it’ll get done faster if you buckle down without distractions. Plus, when you have kids, a set work area that they can’t enter will allow you to work unbothered.

Make sure you have work hours. While one of the benefits of working at home is that you can set your own hours, having set office hours is a real blessing. One of my friends, we’ll call her Betty, works from home as a programmer, but she often works late hours simply because she gets up late or takes a long break in the middle of the day. Now, there’s nothing wrong with changing things up every once in a while simply because you can, but setting a regular schedule for yourself will let your spouse and kids know when you are available to play.

Leave work at work. Easier to do for 9 - 5 employees, but important for you too. For at least a few hours each day (and I don’t mean at bedtime), turn off the Blackberry, mentally put away your to do list, and focus on your family. Make sure your kids know you love them. Make sure your wife knows you have your priorities in order.

Welcome to the second edition of the Manival. The Manival is a blog carnival that brings together the best posts by man bloggers written with men in mind. I’m really excited about the response we got for the first edition. We received 21 great submissions for the second Manival.

If you’re ready to man up, here ya go:

A Manival is a blog carnival from the perspective of men. For the next few weeks, men all over the world are taking the opportunity to sound off on what really matters. From being a husband, to being a father, to mancations, to grooming and more, read what men really think. This first edition of the Manival is being hosted by ArtOfManliness.com.

Next week’s edition of the Manival will be hosted by yours truly. If you have a post that you would like to see highlighted on the Manival next week, please email me at cory_huff at yahoo.com.

For far too long the male community has flown under the radar on important issues. This is a sort of coming out party for us. It’s our opportunity to let the world know that we are here and passionate about what matters. If you like what you read, please do us all a favor and Stumble, Digg, or otherwise bookmark the first Manival.