daily life
Shedding Their Skins
September 5th, 2013 | daily life parenting
Our 3 year old shot up three quarters of an inch in the last month, and has outgrown his pajamas, again. He’s 3’3″. The 6 year old hit 4’1″ and outgrew her car seat, so we took off the back and now it’s just a booster. It’s blindingly fast the way this flotilla of kid stuff becomes utterly obsolete.
It’s All So Interesting
July 24th, 2013 | daily life parenting waiting and wanting kids
I stayed up late finishing Meg Wolitzer’s The Interestings tonight, captivated by her lovely prose and the widescreen view she offers of a group of friends who meet as teenagers and stay involved through middle age. It’s such a gift, the ability to be so specific and detailed that there’s a simultaneous feeling she’s speaking of the universal, and about me.
Scootering to School
June 12th, 2013 | daily life
Most mornings our daughter dons her kitty helmet and rides her scooter to school, me trotting along beside her like a secret service agent keeping up with the presidential motorcade. We almost always make it before the 7:55 early bell, though sometimes it’s close. We line up with her kindergarten class, and the day begins; I wander back home, uphill, scooter and helmet in tow.
In Love with Chuck E Cheese
May 29th, 2013 | daily life holidays and celebrations
Why do I find Disneyland completely enchanting and mesmerizing, and even enjoy Bass Outdoor World, but get the creeps at Chuck E Cheese?
Sick Day
May 18th, 2013 | daily life
Today was the biggest event of the year at our daughter’s kindergarten. Spring Carnival! We’ve heard and talked about little else for weeks, selling raffle tickets, signing up for face painting duty, picking out the perfect outfit. What a surprise when the first thing that she did when we arrived early for carnival setup was barf. All over. Like a Disney version of the Exorcist.
Once More Into the Breach, Dear Friends
April 3rd, 2013 | daily life parenting
I never imagined how often day-to-day parenting would feel like the battle scene that opens Saving Private Ryan.
The Joy of Water
February 26th, 2013 | daily life
One of the great joys of growing up in the Southwest was swimming. There were quite a few pools in our middle-class neighborhood and we were lucky to have one. Most summers I was in the water nearly every day. There were pool parties and Marco Polo, cake and ice cream for my brother’s birthday, sparklers on the fourth of July.
Loving “Outdoor World” and Other Fake Places
February 2nd, 2013 | daily life
I’ve driven by the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World megastore on the way to the Sierras several times, but only last week did I stop. Wow! Now I’ll never not stop. I didn’t realize it’s not really a sporting goods store, but a themepark.
Essay on Camp
January 19th, 2013 | daily life parenting
No, this isn’t about Susan Sontag. It’s about how the kids change so gradually, even glacially, and suddenly something blindsides me and everything feels like it’s happening so fast.
“I decided I love you”
December 15th, 2012 | daily life
Our daughter was acting funny when we got home yesterday.
Fast, Fastly Forward
November 8th, 2012 | daily life holidays and celebrations
Halloween came and went, in a pumpkin-pulpy, sugary blur. The kids seemed stunned that we’d just knock on neighbors’ doors, asking for sweets. I guess it is strange. But so much of their new life mush seem strange to them!
Unappetizing Choices
October 13th, 2012 | daily life holidays and celebrations
I knew there was no winning this one: flu shot was not going to be popular. The sooner I told her what we were doing Saturday morning, the more the anxiety and upset could build. But the longer I waited, the worse the surprise would be.
In Praise of Doing Not So Much
October 12th, 2012 | daily life
I took a walk with a friend and fellow business owner this week. We encourage each other to be entrepreneurial, we have projects to discuss. You could say we had a good alibi.
These Clothes Don’t Fit
September 30th, 2012 | daily life
It’s a trivial problem that one could only have in an affluent society. At different times I’ve found myself staring at all the clean clothes in my closet thinking, there’s nothing to wear! Or packing for a trip, I get anxious that the “perfect outfit” for a particular day and a particular need will elude me. I’m a minor hoarder and purger, keeping clothes long past the time I actually wear them, whether they no longer fit, are out of style, or I’m just bored with them. Then I panic when I realize most of my clothes aren’t really “me” anymore. Suddenly that sweater I’ve always relied on seems definitively out of date.
The God of Obstacles
September 11th, 2012 | daily life
A huge weight was lifted from us this week. Our daughter has a kindergarten class! A mere 10 minutes’ walk from here!
Our Kindergartener
August 29th, 2012 | adoption daily life
Dropping her off for her first day of kindergarten was a shock. It was sweet, but like a punch in the stomach too.
Appendix A: Vocabulary
August 17th, 2012 | daily life
As of today our two year old has the following words. Is he brilliant or what?
Triumph of the Toddler Bed
August 14th, 2012 | daily life
One lovely, fairly reliable thing about hitting a low spot is that things shift, often right away. (Writing about it helps too!)
But We Are, Blanche
August 11th, 2012 | daily life gay dads
The “no strollers” sign was a wake-up call. We’d managed to Yelp a family-friendly seafood restaurant and then Google Maps our way to it. (Why using simple tools that previously required absolutely no effort is nearly impossible with two kids is a mystery to me, but I swear it’s a real phenomenon.)
Foster Grandparents on the Scene!
August 4th, 2012 | daily life takes a village
My dad and stepmom are in town to meet the kids. It’s been wonderful to connect them to my new family. So primal! It feels strange that they’re “only now” meeting the kids, which shows how huge the last three months have been in my life—years worth of changes in a blink. No wonder I feel like I have whiplash!