The Spilled Milk Test

Want to get a barometer on your spiritual life and how serene you are? Have your child spill their glass at the dinner table? No, don't ask them to, just wait. Eventually, the glass will spill because someone is screwing around or reaches for something or it gets set down on the edge of a … Continue reading The Spilled Milk Test →

What Am I Raising Children For?

I recently started the book ”The Gift of Failure,” by Jessica Lahey. She starts her history of parenting during early colonial settlement times, and this perspective had me thinking of raising kids during a subsistence lifestyle. Farming families or hunters and gathers necessitated having kids in order to sustain the pack. Farmers need additional hands … Continue reading What Am I Raising Children For? →

Empty Tomb or Empty Tube: They’re Listening Even When Signs Say They are Not

Easter is today, and it's like an Easter I've never experienced. It's an Easter that everyone alive on this earth has not experienced. Quarentined to stop the spread of COVID-19 has elminated family gatherings, church, Easter egg hunts, and almost everything traditionally associated with Easter as I know it. I did go out and obtain … Continue reading Empty Tomb or Empty Tube: They’re Listening Even When Signs Say They are Not →

Physically Apart During a Pandemic but Where are You Emotionally?

My sister flew in to town March 10 from Seattle, WA. At the time her part of the U.S. was experienced the first recorded COVID-19 case in the U.S. She landed in the Minneapolis four days after this first case. Data projections, comparing the U.S. coronovirus outbreak to Italy gives me the chills. Originally, my … Continue reading Physically Apart During a Pandemic but Where are You Emotionally? →

How Are You Taking the Test Given by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Today is the beginning of day four since schools have closed in Minnesota since the COVID-19 pandemic has reached middle America. There has been a shift in thinking, in work, in our communities and world as this virus has spread. A week ago, about 10 co-workers and I got together at a local restaurant to … Continue reading How Are You Taking the Test Given by the COVID-19 Pandemic →

Rythm, Ruts and Hot Air

Routines develop throughout life. We wake-up, drop the kids off at the prospective camps or schools and we go to work. Tuesday's are spaghetti nights. Movie and pizza nights are Fridays. Routines are good. They're comfortable, efficient, and allow us to build lives. There are rythms to dinner, to our work life, to our relationships. … Continue reading Rythm, Ruts and Hot Air →

Dad, What Can I Do?

Here it comes. There are occational moments around my house where my almost seven-year-old son will say, "What can I do? There's nothing to do." I'm a fixer, so I've always been quick to list off a number of things after suggesting he help with cleaning up. But here is why I'm thinking of switching … Continue reading Dad, What Can I Do? →

Parents Take Care of Kids by Taking Care of Themselves

According to this blurb, parents who practice self care help their kids by: 1. Lowering stress levels 2. Teaching our children to value their health and wellbeing 3. Being better, healthier, calmer parents That's all great in theory. And it makes perfect sense. When I'm in better health, I'm much more patient with my kids. I … Continue reading Parents Take Care of Kids by Taking Care of Themselves →

“Dad’s Dead,” But Don’t Get Heated

My almost-seven-year-old son was taking a bath with his sister. Bath nights at our house can drag for up to an hour, and I was getting tired of nagging to get out of the tub. I decided to lay down outside my kids' view next to the tub on the bathroom floor. After a minute … Continue reading “Dad’s Dead,” But Don’t Get Heated →

Economics Lessons from My Six Year Old

We live in an extreme climate where winter tries to kill you. We've experienced the polar vortex and now 32+ inches of snow in one month. So I made a comment to my six-year-old son while on yet another snow day at home from school that he should get to work and shovel snow for … Continue reading Economics Lessons from My Six Year Old →