I don’t wear a cape. Or fly. Or even have x-ray vision (although that would be a nice super power to have). In fact, about the closest I feel to accomplishing anything even remotely heroic is fixing my son’s lunch in time to take him to school. But I recently found out that even if I…
Tag: raising kids
If I’m not a dad, then what am I?
It’s a question that’s been hovering around me in recent weeks, pecking away. And it’s this: if I’m not parenting, if I’m not in full-on Dad Mode, then what should I be doing? And, more disturbing, who am I? For some time now my life has been defined as much by my role as a…
Son’s criticism of Davey and Goliath wildly misplaced
“Oh Boy!!” It was my birthday and I was so excited! It was a Saturday morning and I was cruising through the menu to see what was on TV when I stumbled across “Davey and Goliath” about to come on. Oh boy!! There’s nothing that gets me excited like bad TV. And on my birthday,…
We’re Going to Dance with What Brung Us
In my early days out of college, one of my first jobs was writing sports at a newspaper in the small town of Nashville, Arkansas. That wasn’t anything completely new to me because I had spent most of my falls in college doing radio play-by-play for a local high school. I’ve moved on to other jobs since,…
Son’s favorite fish dish reveals poor parenting protocol
At what point do you, as a parent, realize that you’ve (ahem, how can I say this nicely) totally flubbed up? You usually don’t need a card in the mail to let you know, plus I’m not sure Hallmark makes a card that says like “Despite you stupid parent that you are, I plan to…
Grilling with my son
My son often likes to help me around the grill, which is kind of strange because he won’t actually eat anything that’s cooked on the grill. I tried cooking some peanut butter on the grill one time, but I’ve been forbidden from ever speaking of that incident. So it was no real surprise when he…
Son finds use for seldom used words
You know the old cliché of boys hiding under their covers in bed, reading comic books with a flashlight. Well, I think my son might be doing that. But I’m afraid to pull the covers back because of what I might find him reading. I’m a bit worried that I might catch him reading (are…
Trying to Make the Grade
I woke up last Monday morning to something new – there was no sense of anxiety. At least it seemed new for the first day of the new school year. I’m not going to say there weren’t any problems at all. My son was already in full Do-I-have-to-go-to-school mode. But all-in-all, it was a good…
Kids Beginning to Decipher Dad’s Code Words
Pssssst. Are you alone? Good. I need to talk to you about something without any meddling kids around. If you’re wondering why I’m whispering, I’ll tell you. I’ve got some bad news: I’m afraid my kids are catching on to my Dad Code. And I’m afraid they’ll tell their friends, and before long all of us…
Blood, Sweat, and Toilet Water
As parents, we all have moments when we’re not always paying complete attention to our kids when they’re talking to us. But there are certain key words that always catch our ears. And that’s what happened to me recently. There I was, minding my own business trying to do something important like watch wrestling or…
Holding together the jello 