The Kid had big plans for his birthday party, including a large cardboard rocket that two kids could ride in at a time. (That was talked down from one rocket per child.) One of his other plans was a jet pack for each (to make up for not everyone having a rocket). I was going … Read more
About a month ago, we learned that we can rent the climbing gym for a per-person fee (with a minimum number of people). We agreed that it would be fun but that acquiring enough people would be challenging. The Climbing Daddy’s birthday was last month and mine is in a few days. We decided to … Read more
A few years ago, I was driving, The Kid accompanying in the back seat. The weather was nice, the windows were down, and he was singing. It didn’t matter that the windows were down. It didn’t matter we were stopped at a light and the people next to us could hear him. He was just … Read more
Saturday last weekend, I was at a funeral for the husband of a coworker. I know this coworker strictly at work. We’ve never talked about life outside the building; we’re not connected through any social media. During the service, they played a slideshow, trying to capture this man’s life. (Can you ever really capture it?) … Read more
Individual stories are where real emotional power lies. I mean, that 3,000 people were killed is quite something. That millions were killed in WWII is staggering. They’re numbers. They’re big numbers. They’re easy to wield, hard to comprehend. “A single death is a tragedy. A million deaths is a statistic.” Stories? Those are where power … Read more
We have too much physical stuff, too much emotional stuff, too much junk to eat, not enough exercise or sleep or meaningful connections with people. Because— Society values and promotes being busy being stressed being underslept fast food large portions cheap everything convenient (to accommodate busy) sitting reactive medicine over preventative pills over natural social … Read more
When I moved to Arizona 16 years ago, I was a pretty conservative food consumer. I didn’t eat many foreign foods (Americanized or not). Some Polish (see: weird last name heritage), some Italian (see: married to the Pole), Chinese as long as it came in one of those highly-recognizable paper boxes. Tacos. In grad school, … Read more
People need people to thrive. Numerous studies in the last decade point to social networks as a critical variable for longevity, and for general functionality and thriving. As both a teacher and a parent, I see articles and videos about special needs kids, and to teach your kids to be kind and to be friends … Read more
The Kid had lots of energy the other night and wanted to play with other kids. It was too late in the evening to try to call around to see if any of his friends were available. (This is a huge disadvantage to him not going to the neighborhood school—his school friends don’t live around … Read more
For my first marriage, we were married in a church by a priest—one of the most thoughtful people I’ve ever met. In our meeting with him, he asked us, “What do you want guests to get out of your wedding ceremony?” What? This was a question I had never thought of, had never heard anyone … Read more