Father time

My friend Michelle gave birth to her first baby a couple of months ago.
Michelle is my age, (happy birthday!) which is to say that we both went to the Hudson High School Senior Prom 20 years ago this month, where the first song of the night was “Boom Boom Boom (let’s go back to my [...]

She likes spiders and snakes

An excerpt from Trish’s email to her family:
Today, (Ella) received a pair of hand me down shorts from Chase.(They are navy Blue, Ella loves blue).  She said, “These are long shorts”.  I said, “yes, they’re cargo shorts.  The pockets on the legs are there to put things in that you find and want to keep.”  [...]

A void-ance

When she walked out of the house without a diaper on, I knew what had happened.
I had my suspicions even before then, when Trish came outside and left Ella inside to finish a nap.
A kid, left alone, with her regular schedule … it was bound to happen.
A rough recreation of events: It was Sunday afternoon, [...]

Bonding

I was always wary of the fairy-tale family, especially the ballyhooed bond between father and daughter. But at first sight of my daughter I knew that I wanted to experience all of the romanticized, storied encounters for myself.
And, I have.
Take a recent, sweet ritual, for example.
When Ella fusses or cries, maybe because she’s tired or [...]

I know it’s sterile, but still!

Add this to the many things I don’t understand.
Ella’s a smart kid. She remembers songs — not just the lyrics, but the tunes — she solves problems. I let her do our taxes. At 2 and a half she’s inquisitive, sensitive, considerate (when she’s not acting normal).
So why can’t she recognize that she’s about to [...]

No answers for “why”

I’m just about as political as I am religious, and I dislike discussing both of them equally.
So, this isn’t a political post, it’s simply personal.
In 1973 I was 5 years old. Vietnam was still very much a part of Americans’ lives. My grandfather, a WW II veteran, was a frequent patient at the VA hospital [...]

I’ve been there … and nobody can make me go back!

A friend of mine at work yesterday told me that she and her husband are divorcing after 26 years of holy-shit matrimony. She told me she’s going to enter the dating world.
(Play music from “Psycho” shower scene here.)
Whoa. Memories. Bad, bad memories.
Is it safe? … Is it safe? … Is it safe?
No! It’s never safe! [...]

Holiday fun

Ella went to her first Easter egg hunt on Saturday.
Also on Saturday, during Ella’s first Easter egg hunt, I successfully suppressed urges to teach my daughter to beat down other 2 to 5 year-old children in the quest for gathering the most eggs and winning the best prizes. I also did not take matters into [...]

“Get it ouuuuut,” the nose version

Yesterday Ella came over to me, crawled onto my lap and started pulling at my nose with a Kleenex. She turned her this way and that with great intense concentration.
“Bears, Daddy. Bears in your cave. Biiiiiig bears.”
Her mother encourages these things.
And, no, there were no bears. No big ones, anyway.

Quienes mas macho?

I’m having those dreams again. Those dreams of being in high school, in ridiculous situations that resemble real ones, but which always turn out funnier, or just incredibly ridiculous.
Whenever they pop up it’s like being stuck on Nick at Nite, they recur night after night for maybe a week. I can usually peel away the [...]