Q&A: Carolina Panthers punter Michael Palardy on his honey-do list and daddy dates

Q. So, I heard you had to leave a few projects for your fiancee by the wayside when you got the call from the Panthers on Sunday night?

A. We have a little nook as you walk in our garage door. We don’t have a little place for when the kids come in from school to put their backpacks and their coats and shoes, so my fiance asked if I could take this huge old pallet of wood ... I have been taking it apart, chopping it up, basically making a picture frame but with two separate chalkboards (on either side), and on the bottom with a piece of wood I’m going to put hooks. On the chalkboards we can write our groceries and to-do lists for the day, write little notes to the kids if we want to, and the kids, when they come in it’s a little more organized for their backpacks and coats.

Q. Where did you get the idea?

A. She (Lexie) got the idea. She looooves going on Pinterest. I have no Pinterest account. She has all this “do it yourself” stuff that she loves and she’s like, ‘You know what? I’m gonna keep you busy today.’”

Q. How long is your list of projects?

A. I probably have about four or five things to do that are on pause. She understands. She’s happy when she knows I’m happy doing what I love.

Q. What are your kids’ names?

A. Jevin (6) is my son and Jada (5) is my daughter.

Q. What are they like?

A. My son is a people-pleaser. They’re both people-pleasers, but he’s a little bit more easygoing, more quiet. She’s the high-energy, free spirit. They’re adorable. So sweet. And we make sure we raise them with manners. They are blessings in my life.

Q. Which one is more like you?

A. Jada is more like Lexie, Jevin is more like me. I know typically that’s a father-son thing.

Q. How so?

A. In terms of personality we are not very talkative. We like to talk, can talk to a wall, but we aren’t very enegetic all the time. We will sit down and play Legos together, or do a puzzle or read. Jada is more like Lexie, she is getting older to the point where she’s now into more of the makeup, little braids, dress-up, dolls.

Q. Has she ever made you dress up?

A. She has not, although I’ve offered! You have to spend equal amounts of time, and I’m not going to make her do the things that I do with Jevin.

Q. So how do you two spend time together?

A. We have daddy-daughter dates!

Q. What do those look like?

A. Well, the last one I took her on, we went to Super Target and we looked at bikes for Christmas for Santa, to see what kind of colors she wanted for a big girl bike. She just learned how to ride a bike about a year ago. Then we walked across the stree to PetSmart to look at puppies – not because I’m going to get her one, we aren’t ready for that – but I know that seeing a little puppy makes kids happy. We went to lunch and she ate all of her lunch so I let her pick out a little piece of candy. By that time we had to get Jevin from school. But we spent the day together, got her flowers.

This story was originally published November 16, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Q&A: Carolina Panthers punter Michael Palardy on his honey-do list and daddy dates."