The tooth fairy is a really fun cultural tradition. It makes up for the trauma of losing a tooth. I have vivid memories of my dad reaching into my mouth with his finger. “You’re not going to pull it?” I ask, afraid. “I’m just going to check it,” he would say. He would wiggle it […]
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The majority of Daddy and Mommy blogs I see are by new parents or the parents of young children. This is understandable. There are few things more exciting and life changing than becoming a first-time father. And then raising young children? The do such cute things. They say such cute things. They hold your hand […]
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The other day my nine-year-old daughter asked me if we could watch “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” together. I raised my eyebrows and said, “Um, yeah.” Where had this request come from? It’s true that I have received a masters degree in English and love literature and the arts, but my children have not been raised […]
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For those who are familiar with Christian scripture you are aware of the idea that children pay for the sins of their fathers (and mothers). Even taking religion out of the picture there are books of studies on how nurture (or lack of it) affects the lives of children. As a father and a dad […]
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When I think of my Dad many images come to mind, but one in particular stands out. He’s sitting on a rock next to small campfire cooking pancakes on a blackened griddle. The griddle is balanced unevenly on a couple of rocks over carefully placed embers. The pancake batter is running to one side of […]
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A movie is playing on the DVD. In our cramped living room our children have plopped wherever they can find room: on the couch, in the worn-out banana chair, on the floor, in the old wooden rocker, and one on top of the unfolded laundry. I take my gaze away from the TV to look […]
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I often read accounts of celebrity “new” dads. They often show the excitement and elation that most men feel when they become a dad for the first time. They use words like “awesome” and “greatest thing in the world” and “nothing could be more important.” Having become the dad to eight children I can testify […]
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I don’t know if you saw the show, “The Odd Life of Timothy Green.” I don’t think it made a big splash. I did happen to see it and it captured my attention as one of those shows that makes me wonder how Hollywood let it survive to birth. This isn’t because the show wasn’t […]
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It takes time to be a Dad or a Mom. Just one child will dramatically change the time allocation in your life. Two children will square that first result. What appears to be a pattern doesn’t hold true after that. Three children doesn’t necessarily cube the result. I’ve found that after three children the next […]
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Old people aren’t what they used to be when I was a kid. Now we are cool. Back then old people watched Lawrence Welk which featured tap dancing and the lovely Champagne Lady singing what sounded like opera. I dreaded Saturday nights when my mother turned on that show. I suppose kids could call me […]
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