Breaking the silence of the night, the unmistakable small voice of my seven year old daughter Skylee called out, “Daddy.” Immediately, instinctively, I was up and striding toward her room. I never knew what the midnight call would bring. About a year ago, and a year before that as well, she had wet her bed [...]

They are some of the most vivid memories of my childhood. We carried piles of chopped wood into the house, stacking it next to the fireplace. My father mashed newspaper and leaned kindling on it, shifting the logs into the flames until the entire room glowed and warmed. Stockings dangled on the mantle.

The instant I saw my daughter’s face for the first time, I almost fell over. Slammed directly in the chest with the proverbial two by four, I stood there enamored, trying to breathe. I stammered out her name in a near whisper. I was a completely stunned, happy idiot. My eyes watered. My knees went [...]

I’m lucky for many reasons. Among them is that The Wife rarely travels for work. Last month was a bit unusual in that she flew to Washington, DC, for a daytrip and had an overnight excursion in Columbus, OH. She attended training seminars on both occasions. For plenty of stay-at-home parents, this sort of business [...]

Image by: Steve Woods For big savings amid a tanking economy, I suggest thinking small. Really small. The stock market has plummeted. People are losing their homes and retirement savings. Most of us are doing all we can to save a few dollars. That includes driving less and trading in SUVs for cars. Even General [...]

When our kids are young they think we dads are gods (well, for the most part anyway). We’re smart, strong, handsome… it’s really nice, isn’t it? But, come the teen years, things can get complicated despite the best of intentions. The “because I’m your father, that’s why” argument no longer holds much water, and we [...]

Work life… In previous jobs I traveled quite a bit and although it felt good to make the phone call back home, I always wished I could do more to connect with my family and be with my family even though I was away. Through a healthy number of emails, SMS/IM messages, and webcam sessions, [...]

While I have written many articles on what it feels like to leave my three year old twins to go to work or the challenges I’ve faced in helping them to sleep on their own during the night, I have been avoiding one particular subject that is a major part of our lives. The main [...]

As a kid, I remember hearing adults reminisce about 8-track tapes and watching The Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” I also remember thinking these adults sounded very old. I found myself reminiscing similarly this week. Even as a young dad (31 to be specific) there are many things I grew up with that my [...]

Spending time with our children is obviously a huge part of ensuring a child’s self-worth as they grow. When we are spending that time with our children though, are we truly engaged with them or just taking up space in the same room as them? var linkwithin_site_id = 39140; (function () { var elem = [...]