Ever notice how when you get a new car you suddenly see dozens of them on the highway, just like yours? Same color, same model, everything. It’s not that you suddenly became so cool that everyone around you wants a car like yours, but when you acquire that specific car your brain becomes tuned to notice those features (model, color, etc.) in other cars you see. I don’t know about you, but before I had children I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to other people’s kids, but I sure do now. I … [Read more...]
Fatherhood Under Fire
I know every generation before us had it rougher than we do. You know, they had to walk 5 miles in the snow uphill both ways to school and all that jazz, but I’m just going to say it – it’s STILL tough being a dad! Maybe I don’t have to grind it out for 12 hours a day in the coal mines like my grandfather and great-grandfather did, but my life isn’t so easy either. These days, I don’t think any dad’s is (any dad who truly wants and tries to BE a dad, that is). Have you read the newspaper … [Read more...]
Evil, rotten dictators and the children who love them
Politically and philosophically, I’m all about liberty and freedom. I really am – just not for my kids. For them, I’m a ruthless, totalitarian dictator (at least that’s how I imagine they must think at times). I make Hugo Chavez look like Mister Rogers. And my wife, the Eva to my Hitler, is just as bad. Consequently, our kids live in a ‘police state’ that’s probably pretty close to a prison if you think about it. Their every move is monitored. Everything they see, eat, and touch is thoroughly … [Read more...]
How to teach a child to ride a bike
One of the greatest gratifications as a parent is teaching your children to do something they didn’t think they could do. Sometimes that extra ‘push’ can be too much, driven by the too-lofty expectations of well-meaning parents. But sometimes, when it’s something you KNOW they need to learn, that you know they will enjoy when they learn it, that push can be a good and necessary thing. Such is the case with that childhood rite-of-passage we all had to endure - learning to ride a bike. Last … [Read more...]
Measuring Up
I think, as parents, it’s in our DNA to want our children to be like us. (After all, they have our God-given DNA, right?) It’s not that we think we’re perfect, but, being human, we’re comfortable with ourselves. We feel like the blood of OUR blood, flesh of OUR flesh should at least have the decency to have the same hobbies, like the same books, television shows, sports, music, etc. that we like. When they veer, as they always do (or so I hear – do they?), we are often angry with them – not in a … [Read more...]