parenting

Scream
|

Scream

It comes in waves. When you watch the ripples on a lake, and two big sets of waves come together and it’s all foamy and turbulent? That’s the state we reached this morning. The screaming was epic. New year, post vacation, then Monday was a holiday. It sounds nice, but getting out of the routine…

The Breaking Point

The Breaking Point

The school secretary sounded serious. “Your daughter is ok, but I think she needs to be seen by a doctor,” she told me. She’d slipped in the mud playing football and her arm hurt. In the office, the principal and I asked her to wiggle her fingers, and how much it hurt. It didn’t seem…

Labor, and Rest

Labor, and Rest

As an anxious person, I spend a lot of time trying to calm myself (and others) down. As a loving person I long to be in synch with and connected to people. I watch with envy those who seem calm and at ease with themselves, and strive to make myself that way too, but I’m…

My Children Far, and Near
|

My Children Far, and Near

We’re just back from a week at family camp. It was our eighth year, and there’s much to love. For one, the corny entertainments. There are singalongs and sketches and silliness that benefit from being performed in such an improbable spot, tucked into the trees in the Sierra Mountain wilderness. There’s barely electricity, but these…

Travel Madness

Travel Madness

We’re just back from a whirlwind 4-day trip to Boston, and I know I should be celebrating keeping the kids alive through airplanes, subways, Ubers, and staying with friends. We had fun, we all came back, we didn’t get kicked out of anywhere. That should be a win, right? But it’s been hard to stop focusing on…

Quitting
| |

Quitting

Two recent endings have me feeling a bit deflated, though it’s been tough to figure out exactly why. First, I’m giving up standing at work, or at least most of the time. I’d had great hopes for the benefits (health! vigor!), but after more than a year trying it, I think it’s mostly substituted back stuff…

Coming Out

Coming Out

It was time to start telling people. Probably past time. There’s a dull pounding in my ears. I take a breath, and steady myself. As nonchalantly as possible, I say “Yeah, Jaden’s in kindergarten in the fall…” Pause. “…Again.” It’s strange how vividly every time I ever told someone I’m gay flashes before my eyes when I’ve…

My Bad

My Bad

One of the perks of writing — and I guess parenting — is that I get to be right so much of the time, or imagine that I am. School dropoff is time for the adults to share war stories, and these don’t tend to paint our little dears in a great light. They’re headed to class, unable to rebut…

Time Out

Time Out

I’ve stormed out of the house again. Standing by the garage, I see my neighbor up the street wrangling clippings into the green bin, and I think maybe I’ll head up there. Make conversation. But I’m not sure. There’s a wet dishtowl over my shoulder, and probably a fire in my eye. I might seem…

Animal Story
| |

Animal Story

In my (priviledged) experience, you have to look pretty hard in Berkeley to find somebody who’ll object to gays, or two guys raising children, polytheistic and vegetarian. (We’re actually omnivores, that last bit just an example). I don’t think my expressive dance therapy, Ojai psychic, or Reiki training could manage a rolled eye for at…

Flying, Prepared
|

Flying, Prepared

I thought I’d be one of those prepared dads, with a little pocket screwdriver, duct tape, some crayons and a bunch of grapes at the ready. But I often fail to have even the essentials. This is compounded by the new math. Getting two kids to one school at the same time sounds easier than getting two…

The Baby
|

The Baby

I can remember only a few things about kindergarten. Making paintings with string, all of us in our painting aprons. Somehow getting poor Mrs. Gibson in a conversation about whether God exists. (She and my mother became lifelong friends, so whatever that was about they worked it out.) I barely remember how it felt to…

Skin

Skin

Is it normal for parenting to feel like you’ve got absolutely no skin? We went for Shayla’s 8-year-old checkup this week, and she kept up quite a brave front. “Am I doing a great job?” she asked, at least 4 times, as we drove there, parked, and got to the waiting room. “You’re doing awesome.” She…

Throwback Parenting

Throwback Parenting

I love the Throwback Thursday photos posted by friends when the nineties seemed so “now.” How young/cute/clueless we all seem! But parenting is giving me a different kinds of flashback, and lately it’s been to high school, 1978-1982. (Yikes!) [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″…