Year 4, Day 270

I turned 42 today, and naturally the topic of discussion as soon as I woke up this morning was Miles's age. "I'm...FOUR!" he declared. I rubbed my eyes. "You're still three." "No," he said, doubling down. "I'M. FOUR!" I decided to try a different tact. "You are TWO." "I'm TWO??" Miles said, taken aback. "Oh … Continue reading Year 4, Day 270 →

Year 4, Day 269

Major revelations today in the Martin household, as I said to Miles, "Can I have a hug, son?" and he replied, "I'm not your son anymore. I'm the blue NINJA TURTLE!!!" And then he tackled me.

Year 4, Day 268

After a year lost to the pandemic, our legendary annual Dipsgiving event roared back today, moving out to the garage but still giving our friends a chance to showcase their culinary masterworks. As in years past, it didn't disappoint. And you'd think, with so much food around and nary a fork in sight, Miles's grubby … Continue reading Year 4, Day 268 →

Year 4, Day 267

"You know what Monday is?" I asked Miles this evening. He thought for a moment. "Thanksgiving?" "No, Thanksgiving is Thursday," I said. "But Monday is my birthday." Immediately, he said, "And we gonna eat all the cake?" "Yeah I think so!" "And you get a PJ Masks cake and a football cake and a Paw … Continue reading Year 4, Day 267 →

Year 4, Day 266

For reasons I'm unsure of, whenever I ask Alexa to play the Paw Patrol theme song, or the PJ Masks theme song, or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song (and on and on), the first song that comes up is inevitably a knock-off and not the actual, original recording. My assumption is that the … Continue reading Year 4, Day 266 →

Year 4, Day 265

Convincing Miles to get out the door in the morning is regularly a challenge. Well I'm happy to report that it was pretty easy today! Getting him in the car was the hard part. Miles walked briskly towards the car as I opened his door. When I turned to scoop him up, he was gone. … Continue reading Year 4, Day 265 →

Year 4, Day 264

My high school AP English teacher, easily the most influential instructor I've had in my life, recently passed away. Her class was always about more than analyzing literature -- it was a year spent broadening my worldview and truly developing a personal philosophy (you know, the sort of "indoctrination" right-wing screwballs are always harping about). … Continue reading Year 4, Day 264 →

Year 4, Day 263

As he sat on the couch tonight watching Paw Patrol as I cleaned up after dinner, Miles issued a common request: "Can you get me juuuuuuice?" I walked over and plopped down next to him. "Yeah, I can get you juice," I said. "But I need something first..." I expected a hug (my usual fee), … Continue reading Year 4, Day 263 →

Year 4, Day 262

It's a weekend for road trips for us, and today we headed to Asheboro for a long-delayed trip to the North Carolina Zoo. Meeting our friends Amy and Chris with their kids (and Miles's buddies), we set off on a day of walking. LOTS of walking. The zoo is split into a "North America" section … Continue reading Year 4, Day 262 →

Year 4, Day 261

We headed west today for a day trip to Asheville to see some fall colors (and okay, okay...to drink some seasonal beverages). After a couple hours in the car, Miles emerged at Highland Brewing ready for action. "Where's the beer?!" Despite still being too young to imbibe, Miles found plenty to be excited about. He … Continue reading Year 4, Day 261 →