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 →

Let Go & Let Them Forget Their Shoes

Having kids comes with juggling lots of accessories for daily life in school and extracurricular activities. Water-bottles, shoes, backpacks, basketballs, uniforms, library books, and more. Maybe that's easy for some of you, but coming from an adult who has been known to lose his keys multiple times per day, keeping track of other peoples stuff … Continue reading Let Go & Let Them Forget Their Shoes →

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? →

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? →

Want to Stop Reacting to Your Conclusions? Seek to Understand.

He did it. The coach told my son to leave the club sport. The story according to my six-year-old son was that he was hanging out, playing on the mats (not playing basketball,) and the coach asked him to leave. The school then called to pick him up early. Proverbs 4:7 says to get wisdom. … Continue reading Want to Stop Reacting to Your Conclusions? Seek to Understand. →

Who’s the Teacher and Who’s the Student Here?

Read books and blogs. Talk with other parents. Go to birthing classes, even parenting classes, before your baby comes. All a good idea, but nothing will truly prepare you for parenthood than actually becoming a parent. The weight of responsibility. The financial costs. The energy they have. The stubbornness they deliver. The temper-tantrums. All will … Continue reading Who’s the Teacher and Who’s the Student Here? →

A New Year’s Day Thank You to My Dad

Gratitude is good for your psychological health, and now researchers are even tracking whether or not gratitude could have physical health benefits, too. So I thought what better way to invigorate writing about fatherhood and faith than a thank you list to my dad. The job of parenting rarely receives accolades. I don’t think I … Continue reading A New Year’s Day Thank You to My Dad →

Working to Stay Poop Proud

It's amazing how excited kids get about passing a stool, a turd, a crap, a bowel movement. Whatever you call it, this is the one thing we all have in common but some may even consider the topic "taboo," as it does in the description of the recent movie Poop Talk. My daughter potty trained … Continue reading Working to Stay Poop Proud →

Why Short-term Memory Loss May Help You Be A Better Dad

I've told my son countless times when he's asked me where something is that he is going to have to learn to keep track of his own stuff, and that I have a hard enough time keeping track of where my belongings are. And I'm not just making it up to get out of helping … Continue reading Why Short-term Memory Loss May Help You Be A Better Dad →

Sticks & Stones May Break My Bones, but I’m Ignoring Your Words that Hurt Me

A teacher enrichment day following Thanksgiving added another day to the long Thanksgiving break to total six days off in a row. The last day fell on a Monday, and I drew the straw to take the day off of work. My first-grade son chose to go to The Works Museum, a children's museum focusing on … Continue reading Sticks & Stones May Break My Bones, but I’m Ignoring Your Words that Hurt Me →