Tag Archive for: happiness

Ballet Dads

We’ve got three sons and a daughter. They arrived in that order. By the time our daughter Emily was born, I had coached and/or refereed multiple seasons of Little League, Muni Basketball, and AYSO.   When our daughter arrived she showed…

Weddings and World Peace

My wife, JoAnn, and I started this year on the perfect note - we went to a wedding on New Year’s Eve. Essentially, we doubled down on hope. After all, what is more optimistic than two people sharing their love on a day that marks the beginning…

Five Easy Resolutions Every Parent Can Make

These are difficult times in which to raise children. We’ve become a culture that mistrusts authority, that believes individuals are often more important than the society, and that everyone deserves special treatment. As a result, it is up…

Making Marriage Work

In honor of the fact that JoAnn and I are celebrating our thirty-seventh wedding anniversary this week, I thought I’d reflect a little on what I think has allowed our relationship to survive. People express their understandings of a marriage…

Trickle Down Parenting

When my wife JoAnn was pregnant with Emily, our fourth child, my mother decided that JoAnn needed a “day off.” She invited our family (three boys, ages fifteen, twelve and, six plus our newborn) and my sister’s family to meet her for dinner…

Keeping Thanks in Your Thanksgiving – 10 Simple Ideas

Louis C.K. jokes that airline passengers often complain about slow Internet while sitting in a tube hurtling through the sky at 400 miles per hour. I am often frustrated by bad cell coverage, when 20 years ago I couldn't call anyone from the…

Sibling Rivalry – Pupdate 3

For a while my days were almost perfect. I could sleep wherever I wanted, wander the house at will and always find food in my bowl. I could daydream for hours while my masters talked or watched that glowing box.  It was peaceful, but there…

Parenting the Puppy – Pupdate #2

This puppy thing is a lot of work.  Just as with our children, we console ourselves by saying, “If we put the work in now, we’ll have less to do later.” But that doesn't diminish the magnitude of the required dedication at all. Our friend…

The Kid Pro Quo

According to Merriam Webster Online, a quid pro quo is “something that is given to you or done for you in return for something you have given to or done for someone else.” I believe in the Kid Pro Quo, which I define as “something that…

PUPdate #1

A lot can happen in a week.   Although the puppy has had her share of “accidents,” all in all she’s doing a very good job of being a puppy; chewing on things, fighting imaginary foes, running in circles – all the regular stuff. JoAnn’s…