Five years ago today, I couldn't quite find the words to express how I was feeling. Since then, I have managed to find words. Lots of 'em, in fact. About fatherhood. About learning. About teaching. About fun. About exhaustion. About growing up and getting older (which are not the same thing...people can get older without … Continue reading Day 1,826
Tag: parenting
Year 5, Day 159
I'm generally an evidence-based sort of guy. I don't believe everything I hear, even if it's what I want to hear, without checking other sources. There are, of course, some exceptions. And like I want to believe is the case for most people who tend towards blind trust, when I see something like this I … Continue reading Year 5, Day 159
Year 4, Day 173
It takes approximately nine and a half hours to drive from our home to Princeton, NJ. At least that's what Google Maps says, but it's worth noting that they don't have an "adjust time for toddler" button. If they did, that number would swell to somewhere around 15 hours. Spending hours on end confined to … Continue reading Year 4, Day 173
Year 4, Day 159
I'm not sure if you've been able to discern this from the multitude of blog posts I've produced on the matter, but raising a toddler is really f***ing hard. When Miles is happy, he's usually running around screaming. When he's upset, he's STILL screaming. Our attention is demanded by him at all times, and about … Continue reading Year 4, Day 159
Year 3, Day 336
Being a parent is regularly overwhelming, and there is absolutely no question that I need frequent breaks from my family (if only to cower in a corner and rock back and forth in silence for a few minutes). But this morning as I was dropping Miles off at daycare, he clung to my leg and … Continue reading Year 3, Day 336
Year 3, Day 244
Tonight was...not great. Mommy had work to be doing, daddy just wanted to finish his dinner, and Miles was trapped in that hellish point in the day where he's too tired to stay up but too unwilling to go to sleep, resulting in crying fits where nothing we did, regardless of how explicitly we conformed … Continue reading Year 3, Day 244
Year 3, Day 98
"Oh, he's mad at you."I heard Jaclyn's voice just a second before I heard Miles slam his bedroom door. My first thought: "What did I do?"As it turned out, Miles had been collecting his Duplo blocks in the middle of the living room floor and asking me to sit down and build "choo-choo train" out … Continue reading Year 3, Day 98
Year 2, Day 356
With today bringing more lousy weather, we decided to take Miles to Monkey Joe's in north Charlotte this evening to run off some energy and, hopefully, go to bed at a reasonable hour. Commanding his attention with a variety of games and inflatables, Monkey Joe's kept Miles more than occupied for a couple hours. While … Continue reading Year 2, Day 356
Year 2, Day 284: The Mandalorian is a Model for the Modern Parent
A little over a month ago, I sat waiting with bated breath to see the first episode of Disney+'s original Star Wars series The Mandalorian. Free of the shackles of characters named (or implied to be) Skywalker, I hoped the show would present an all-in look at different unscrupulous characters occupying the far corners of … Continue reading Year 2, Day 284: The Mandalorian is a Model for the Modern Parent
Year 2, Day 116
The most revelatory things about being a parent are often the smaller quirks and details that seem so trivial that you never really gave it much thought beforehand. Example: You might think you'll never be okay with someone wiping their nose with their hand then putting that hand directly into your mouth, but then you … Continue reading Year 2, Day 116
The Perils (& Pride) of Paternity 