Generally, when we go out to eat with the kids they drink either lemonade or milk. They rarely want water and we don’t let them have soda too often. When we go to a restaurant that doesn’t have lemonade, things get a little tricky.  I was at such a place with my youngest a couple […]

My youngest really does not like to get out of bed after he takes a nap. There has to be something really exciting going on for him to get up. Otherwise, it’s a struggle. He comes up with all sorts of excuses for not getting out of bed, also. There’s the ever popular “no, I […]

C’s fifth birthday is coming up soon, and he has been looking forward to it for quite a while. In fact, his little brother’s birthday was back in June, and C was talking about his own birthday even while we were planning that. For the most part, I must say, he has been good about not focussing […]

Lately, I’ve been having fun breaking out some of the old board games from my childhood. I’ve been holding on to these games for the past few decades, lugging them with me each time I moved. Now that my oldest is almost five, I’ve started introducing him to them. All that lugging was worth it. […]

Some time ago, we were given rollerboards for the kids. If you don’t know what a rollerboard is, don’t worry. Neither did I. A rollerboard, it turns out, is a square plastic platform, about 2 feet on a side, sitting on four wheels. The wheels are on pivots so the boards can roll in pretty much any direction. […]

One of my standing rules is that the kids don’t get to call me “mom”. If they do, I get to call them by other (not-so-flattering) names. Recently, this rule sort of turned into a game. I’m okay with that. I mean, games are kind of my thing. Last week, however, we were in a […]

This is one of those unusual tales that doesn’t involve me. It was funny enough, however, that I thought it was worth telling secondhand… I hope you agree. The other day, my wife took C to the audiologist to get a hearing test. Because she had his younger brother with him, she wasn’t able to […]

The names that the kids have come up with for their teddy bears have always astounded me. For example, a couple years back, C named his favorite bear “Big Schenckle.” I have no idea where that comes from. I’ve asked him a couple of times, only to be told (rather indignantly) that that is the […]

J worked this past Friday, which meant, of course, that I didn’t. Instead, I took the kids down to Epcot. I don’t know if you’ve been to Epcot or not. For those that haven’t, it has a really strange entrance. First you pass through what looks like a giant graveyard from some futuristic horror movie. I’m […]

A few months ago, I had what you might call a change in professional status. I work primarily out of my home office now. This has been quite an adjustment for everyone. The toughest challenge is maintaining the boundary: when I’m in my office upstairs, I’m “at work” and can’t be disturbed. My part of […]