What happened to plain old jelly beans? In my recent role as the Easter Bunny’s assistant, I needed to pick up a few things for the youngster’s basket and Easter morning egg hunt. Pretty simple stuff: jelly beans and Peeps. Not so simple. I went for the Peeps first. The sugar-coated sugar blobs have become … More The Great Jelly Bean Hunt — and overwhelmed by Peeps
The more things change, the more they truly do seem the same. Everyone has their own interpretation, based on your own life experiences. One of the wonders of being an older father with a younger child is watching how that young child grows and adapts to the world around her. I’ve talked before about her retro … More Age of Innocence: Spotless dresses, hair heaped high — and Bobby Sherman
“We’re going goat catching.” Hmmm. Blame this on friends who filled our heads with stories of the delightful hours they’ve spent goat catching. Wait a minute; that’s geo-caching — no goats involved. While we were attending a New Year’s Day pajama party, the host and hostess told us how much they enjoyed geo-caching and gave … More We went goat-catching and got a skinned elbow– but didn’t get skunked
There aren’t many occasions where you find yourself spending the evening with a plastic goblet in your pocket — and your pocket is in the slacks of the suit you’re wearing. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. The plastic goblet was grabbed early in the evening of my daughter’s Princess Ball, … More Pink goblets, Princesses and beautiful ringlets: A time to remember
Creak. Thunk. Creak. Thunk. Hear that? It’s the sound of the bandwagon lumbering by, pausing just long enough for me to vault myself over the backboard. I never wore I wouldn’t write about the anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s murder, I was only hoping I wouldn’t need to fall back on it, sprawled across my … More JFK? My generation’s sorrow was 1968, tucked between 1963 and 9/11
Another morning at the bus stop. OK, well it’s Halloween morning, but none of the kids are in costumes. Most of them consider themselves too old for that — at least at school — but you can bet they’ll be scooping up a little bit of candy tonight. This is only a stepping off point … More Halloween can be a great way to learn about — and conquer — bias
“I learned about compassion today,” the 6-year-old said rather matter-of-factly as we walked home from the bus stop. That stirred my curiosity. Not a word that generally comes up in 1st Grade. Perhaps they’re really moving ahead in language and usage, I thought. Just another reason I love our charter school. “How did you learn … More The source of pain and new vocabulary: Getting older or just plain clumsy?
“I was singing to the deer.” She had stayed in place on the trail and now stood about 50 feet behind us, where we had first spotted the pair of white-tail deer in the nearby woods. She stood still while her mother and I hiked a bit further up the trail. We turned to watch … More Through her family’s tears, a 6-year-old touches death
Happy Birthday, Jerry. One of the true joys I’ve experienced is sharing the music of the Grateful Dead with my now-6-year-old. She loves to dress up when we go to shows and dance with her Daddy. We even have a favorite passage to sing together: Sometimes the light’s all shining on me Other times I … More Jerry: The Music Never Stops
What few dim memories I have of my own summer camp experiences are for the most part worth forgetting, especially considering how much has changed in childcare and political correctness since the mid 1960s. As I drop off my daughter each morning at her day camp, I always have an idea of what she’ll be doing that day (thanks to … More Tick, tock, tick, tock: Screaming your way through summer day camp
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