Our Bedtime Puppet Shows Might Not Win Any Awards, But I Blame the Pandemic
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It certainly seems like I write an inordinate amount about sleep, bedtime routines, and related minutiae, but as they say, “write what you know!”
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Writing about parenting, fatherhood, life, and all things ambiguous
Big World Events and a Fatherless Father's Day
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One day recently, I was pushing my four-year-old daughter on the swing and she asked me to stop for a second so she could go examine something across the yard.
Read MoreThis Is Going to Be a Weird Summer
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Summer is not my favorite time of year. I live in Florida where summer weather is the worst. It’s miserably hot, swampy, and breathing the air feels like sucking in a warm bisque. I also dislike the lack of structure and my mental health tends to take a bit of a nosedive.
Read MoreA Pandemic Mother's Day
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Perhaps it’s our destiny that many Mother’s Days for my family will be highly fraught. Of course, I suppose Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and, really, pretty much all holidays bring with them tons of emotional baggage. For me and almost everyone else.
Read MoreTrying to Find Small Adventures to Keep Us Sane
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Most days distance learning is an unbearable slog, but some days it is an unbearable slog with geocaching at the end.
Read MoreHow I’m Navigating Quarantine
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We’ve been muddling through distance learning with a second grader and kindergartner, letting the kids watch tons of YouTube and play tons of Minecraft, and when my daughter runs into the table, taking her to my wife’s hospital so my wife can come out to the parking lot and repair her face with surgical tape instead of risking a visit to urgent care to get stitches.
Read MoreMourning the Little Things on My Son’s Sixth Birthday
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Our house should be overflowing with activity and noise and celebration today. It’s my middle child’s sixth birthday and, although we aren’t the most social animals, we do throw big birthday parties for our kids at our house every year. It’s one of our main traditions.
Read MoreBewildering Bedtime Conversations
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My 5-year-old and I have many deep and profound conversations at night while we’re lying in his bed. Well, deep and profound might be a bit of a stretch, but they are sometimes interesting, and I often learn a thing or two about his day.
Read MoreParenting and Reading in the Time of Coronavirus
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My two sons and I sit on the black rocking recliner in our living room. The chair is worn, cracked, and on the verge of spilling pieces of foam, but it’s still plenty strong enough to hold three bodies. An 8-year-old on one arm, a 5-year-old on the other, and a 38-year-old in the middle, reading very animatedly from a book called The Black Cauldron — the second book in the Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander.
Read MoreEmpty Birdcages and Oddly Profound Homework Sessions
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“The birds from the empty cages probably died,” my five-year-old said to me without a hint of emotion.
Our homework sessions can be challenging at times, but they aren’t typically quite so morbid.
Read MoreA Night of Family Fun at Universal Studios
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When I was approached by Life of Dad with the opportunity to represent them at the special Undercover Tourist Family Fun Fest event at Universal Studios, I snatched it up faster than Harry Potter grabbing the snitch.
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Decluttering, Painting, and Preschool
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I’ve been having a weird year so far. There has been plenty of upheaval with the passing of my father at the very end of last year. In addition, not on the same level but still very disorienting, our youngest child is reaching the age where we have to prepare for preschool later this calendar year.
Read MoreA Return Visit to the Fall (Wait...Winter) Fair
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I did it again. I took my children to the local fair last weekend.
I’m sure you’re probably asking, “Andrew, why?” And also, “Didn’t you say the local fair was during the fall?” Or, “What are you talking about?”
Read MoreI’m Your 3-Year-Old and All I Ask Is That You Memorize This 10-Page Dialogue for My Toys in the Next Two Minutes
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Honestly, it’s a simple ask. I don’t understand why you’re struggling with this so much.
Read MoreChasing One Last Rocket Launch with My Dad
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As I slowed to a walk, I was a bit more out of breath than I might’ve expected after a very short jog.
There was no two ways about it, I needed to get in better shape if I was going to be able to keep up with my dad and his walker.
Read MoreIt’s Impossible to Freeze Moments in Time, Even If You’re Practically Living in the Frozen Movie
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My life has been very Frozen-centric lately. My three-year-old’s obsession with the movie started a couple months ago and is still going strong. Her passion seems to be carrying as much momentum as Kristoff’s sled trying to escape from the wolves. Incidentally, some might argue her love for Frozen is as frightening as a hungry pack of wolves.
Read MoreIt Can Be Very Rewarding When Your Child Doesn’t Follow in Your Footsteps
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Three weeks of winter vacation felt like a bit much. To break the monotony, I signed my oldest son up for something called Eco Camp.
Read MoreA Very Frozen Florida Christmas
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There are lots of ways to celebrate Christmas and it’s typically difficult to determine if any one is better than another. There is one exception.
Read MoreTotally Convincing Explanations for Why the Elf on the Shelf Didn't Move Last Night
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"Is it possible that Mr. Elf did move, but then moved back to his original position because this spot is just so darn cozy? I mean, when you’re perched atop a grandfather clock with your little red legs hanging over the face, why would you ever move?”
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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.