Category: Fatherhood
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While London was in the NICU, I listened to Coldplay’s Ghost Stories religiously. I spent a lot of time meditating on one refrain in a particular song called “Magic.” The lyrics read: And if you were to ask me After all that we’ve been through “Still believe in magic?” Well yes, I do Oh yes,…
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Regardless of your NFL allegiance, or lack of it, I think this speech from Peyton Manning is worth listening to. Of course, Manning touches on his illustrious career in the NFL, but he acknowledges there is a whole new world of possibilities ahead of him and he is excited about it. Most touching for me,…
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I set out to read 12 classics in 2015. Technically, I finished seven in 2015 before I, quite optimistically, took on The Executioner’s Song, the 1109 page Norman Mailer book about Gary Gilmore. The plan was to finish this book in 2015 and then sprinkle the remaining days of 2015 with four slim classics. I…
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I’m at home still waiting for a drywall inspector to show up and look at my basement. The inspector was supposed to be here between 9:30 and 11:30. It’s past 1 pm now and nothing. London is asleep. I’m not going to start in on writing something knowing that I’ll likely be interrupted by the…
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My lovely sister-in-law sent me an article today. It’s not new, but becoming more relevant for this little family as London nears the age where somewhat unsupervised play dates will occur. As soon as I saw part of the title: “The question I asked before any play date,” I knew it was going to be…
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I rely on my parents to send me inspirational emails every so often. Yesterday, on my 33rd birthday, I received such an email. My mom encouraged me to go to a blog she regularly reads, to read a specific poem, and to listen to a hymn. The blog is Barnstorming. The poem found in this…
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A friend recently asked me for some advice. She knows someone who just had a preemie at or around 26 weeks gestation and wanted to know how she could help them out, what to say, what not to say, etc. She gave me permission to post my response to her. It follows: I am happy…
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Milk is near and dear to my heart, but not all milk. You may as well use water if you’re having your cereal with skim milk. I have loathed the fat-free version of milk all my life. The taste and the color is not anything close to the real McCoy. To make things worse, when…
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Today, I decided to take a look back at Christmas photos since Kate and I were married in 2007, and after looking through them all I had to pick out a few to share on the blog. It’s amazing what can happen over the span of just nine Christmas holidays together as a married couple.…
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London had just peed out her diaper. I thought it was odd since London had not peed out of her diaper in months. It could have just been that whoever changed her diaper last did not get a good seal. I couldn’t quite believe it so I dabbed my hand on the big wet spot…
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Things were going well. I was on track to read 12 classics in 2015, but then I set my eyes on The Executioner’s Song. Heck, Dave Eggers said it would be the fastest 1000 pages I would ever read. He wrote it on the back of this book. He was wrong, but that does not…
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For years I had been ignoring a substantial pain in my right knee, thinking it was something that required surgery. Finally, in September, I stopped procrastinating and made a doctor’s appointment. The doctor was quite confident I was dealing with patellar tendonitis. He signed me up for physical therapy, prescribed nitroglycerin patches, and sent me…
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A Canadian photographer and father to two preemies, Red Méthot, has a popular project in which he photographs preemies holding their own baby pictures. I first saw this on Facebook and thought I should share it here. Follow this link to the Unworthy post. This link leads to Red’s Facebook page, where you can view…
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Yesterday, I sat down to read Time‘s cover story about millennial parents. Before starting out I made a few predictions. One, I would bring my palm to my face on more than one occasion. Two, I would read about a kid with a ridiculous name. And three, I would hear the same old stuff about…
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Don’t run. Don’t run from this. I know, you had these grand plans. Fatherhood doesn’t mean those plans have to be scrapped. Modified, perhaps. Delayed, most likely. But scrapped? No. Impending fatherhood can do some crazy things to you. A part of you might want to tuck tail and run. We are selfish beings after…
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I saw these videos of dads who have saved the day and had to share them on here. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but number 5 is a very solid effort. The first time I watched it I thought the dad was sprinting after the girls on the Little Tikes car, because putting two…
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I know it had been a while, but I loved our very brief reunion. You reminded me that it is very easy to gain weight living in Wisconsin. With all the cheese curds, beef sticks, delicious beer, and six-year aged cheddar to eat, when would I ever find the time to work it off? It’s…
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I found this good recap of the Annual At-Home Dads Convention, recently held in Raleigh (last year it was in Denver). I agree with nearly everything in the article except for this: “Minivans are cool now. They’re all tricked out.” Read the whole article here.
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After music class this morning, this video is absolutely spot-on.
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Yesterday was my first music class with London. I need to write some things down so I remember them for the next nine classes to come… Try as hard as you can to act like there is another dad in the room. You are the only one, but be as comfortable as if there were…