Fancy

I'm not sure why all groomers feel the need to decorate the dogs when they go in for a bath or haircut.  I'm guessing some owners and possibly even some dogs love it.  I'm not that owner.  Olive isn't that dog.  That said, when I brought Olive home like this, Lucy had never been happier to see her.  After all, who doesn't want their best friend to show up with two new chew toys strapped to their ears??

So Much Fun

You know how you reach a certain age where you really have to make an effort to keep up with your kids when it comes to technology?  I'm certainly at that age.  Don't get me wrong, I can still hold my own when it comes to video games, using the Internet, etc.  The issue comes in how long it takes me to learn all the tricks when I get new technology.  I know this...and Amelia knows this...and thus, she knew when she secretly set the face of my new Apple watch to a rainbow unicorn, it would be staring at me for a few days until I figured out how to change it.   Have I mentioned how very, very, very fun it is to have a 13 year-old around the house.....

Full Contact

 When you have a 10 year-old son, you just have to accept that you won't always know what is happening in their heads. For example, I came across this creature in my living room.  I'm not sure if he was preparing for some full contact video gaming or if he just really likes his new lacrosse equipment....maybe both?

Back For More

 As I said in my last post, I needed to take a few weeks off to handle some things at work before I started back up with the posting.  As it turns out, in order to catch up at work, I actually needed to take a few years off to handle things.  Since that isn't going to cut it, here I am...and I bringing pictures from our snow a few weeks ago with me...

Amelia beginning to make a snowman....

Everett plotting his next snowball attack on me and his sister...

Everett finding out you don't bring a snowball to fight a guy who has a snow shovel...

When One Thing Ends....

They say when one thing ends, another begins.   In this case, when one thing ends, it starts back up again. Over the break for New Year's, I decided it was time to end this blog.  There are multiple reasons I started to feel this way.  First, this is only called a blog for ease of reference.  It was never meant to attract followers, influence culture, or teach lessons.  It was simply meant to be a space where I could share the exploits of my children, the growing pains of being a dad, and allow those close to us to be a part of the kids' lives (and vice versa) even though we live apart.  Secondly, the irony of the situation is in order to have the kind of relationship I want with my kids, it takes away a lot of the discretionary time I have to actually write posts about that relationship.  Lastly, content is scarce.  I'm 13 years into this thing.  That's roughly 450 blog years old.  I'm approaching my 3,000th post.  My daughter, who not coincidentally is also nearly 13, no longer thinks it's cute to put up pictures and videos of her.  My son, who wasn't even a remote thought when this started, is now in double digits.  That's 23 combined years of kids I've talked about.  I could only imagine how boring it has gotten for all of you....or at least that's what I thought.  However, when I started telling people I was shutting it down, I learned something from their reactions - the folks who regularly read the blog, actually really enjoy it.  They don't read it out of obligation.  They aren't bored with hearing about the kids.  They don't want it to end.  Now, don't be mistaken, I completely understand this has nothing to do with me or my commentary.  This has everything to do with the lens it gives them to watch my children grow.  It makes them feel pride when they read Amelia got straight A's.   Seeing Everett doing a silly dance takes their minds off the troubles of the day.  Looking at a picture of Olive and Lucy snuggling on the couch reminds them there are pockets of pure love and joy in this world.  The post isn't about the words on the screen.  The post is about the shared experiences created.  I almost stopped blogging because I began viewing it as a chore.  I've decided to start back up because now I realize it is a privilege.  

I'm likely not going to suddenly begin posting daily again.  I am going to take a couple more weeks off to deal with a few things at my day job and then I will start back with a few posts per week.  For now, I'll leave you with this handsome devil who just turned the big 1-0.

A Little Rusty

For the first time since the pandemic began, the four of us braved dining inside a restaurant for Meggan's birthday. It felt great to be back "around" other people.  The kids were clearly rusty at things like ordering, cloth napkins, free refills, etc. Luckily, they were able to get it all sorted out by the time dessert came.   

Every Day is a School Day

When the chain pops off your kid's bike, you have two choices as a parent... fix it for them so you can be their hero.... or teach them how to fix it so they can be someone else's hero one day.  I chose the second option.  This falls in line with what I tell Amelia all the time (although I'm probably not supposed to say in 2021) - Learn the things that make you never NEED a "man".  That way, you can only have them around when you WANT to.