Unicorn Wallets, Tea Parties, and Brain Fog
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It only took about two weeks of kindergarten for my daughter to master the fine art of persuasion.
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Writing about parenting, fatherhood, life, and all things ambiguous
Parenting Slumps Can Be Spooky
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There’s no getting around it. I’m in a parenting slump. I’ve experienced such downturns before, but they are spooky every time they return. At least this time my parenting tailspin is seasonally appropriate.
Read MoreI Sign My Kids Up for Activities for Me
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I’ve come across a lot of articles recently about the dangers of overscheduling your children’s free time. And while I get it, overscheduling is not something I worry about. Sure, it’s important for children to have time for free play and to wind down from school and other structured activities, but in my experience, underscheduling can be problematic too.
Read MoreHow I Overcame My "Super Dad" Complex (via Fatherly)
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I met a dad at the park recently. It's not unusual for me to run into other dads out with their kids, particularly at the park late in the afternoon, but I usually do little more than nod or say hello.
This time, though, we interacted because our kids were the same age and they started playing together immediately. This guy was extremely outgoing and energetic. He was calling my kids by name after just minutes and later coordinated and participated in a hide-and-seek game involving our four children and several others.
Later, he spun the carousel the kids were riding. When he did, he sprinted and jumped onto the back of one of the seats, holding himself parallel to the ground as he went along for the ride.
At one point, he vaulted over the perimeter fence as he ran to help his 3-year-old at the water fountain.
Read on at Fatherly.com.
How Al Fresco Dining Can Help Save Your Sanity (for Like 30 Minutes)
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Sometimes you just need to eat dinner outside.
Before we get too far into this, let me assure that this story is not a giant humblebrag about living in Florida in the winter. I’m not going to go on and on about how the weather has been perfect lately, crisp and cool at night and beyond comfortable during the day (except for a couple days ago when it was randomly 30 degrees we almost declared a state of emergency—Lowe’s customers were practically massacring each other to procure the last of the Duraflame logs). I wouldn’t do that to any of you stuck in the northeast or Midwest or Canada who are currently living in blocks of ice or igloos or houses made of bear skins or something (I’m unclear on the details as I don’t have much experience with cold climates).
Read MoreWe're In the Thick of It
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I know having three young kids is a lot. How could I not? No one lets me forget even if I want to.
“Well, you certainly have your hands full,” says every well-meaning (if unoriginal) person I cross paths with anywhere in public when I have my kids with me.
Read MoreWhat Is It That I Do Again?
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I once told my therapist that one of the most difficult, or at least confusing, things about being a stay-at-home parent is that although I always feel tired and vaguely busy, it sometimes seems like I never actually accomplish anything. Like, at the end of the day, when the kids are all tucked into bed, I often have a hard time pinpointing exactly what I did to fill all the hours.
Read MoreWill It Be Beautiful There?
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“Daddy! Daddy! DADDY!!” my 5-year-old exclaims from his perch in the back seat of our car.
“Yes, bud. What?” I finally reply. We are in the middle of a one-sided conversation about our impromptu trip to the fruit and vegetable stand and I am a little annoyed I have to respond since I have been listening to an uninterrupted monologue for several minutes.
“Is it going to be beautiful there?”
Read MoreParenting With Social Anxiety
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You will notice that this post is a bit different than most for a couple of reasons. First, rather than sharing a story here, I am sharing a link to a story I wrote that was published last week on another site. Second, the story in question isn't all that funny and most of you won't even have access to it anyway because it's behind a paywall (bummer!).
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In the spring of 2019, less than a year before the world shut down, my wife, three kids, and I took a spring break trip from our home in Florida to the UK. Michelle and I traveled quite a bit before we had kids, including a 10-month stay in Cambridge, where I completed a one-year master’s program. Since having kids, we’ve rarely left the house, let alone the country.