It’s a classic, Normal Rockwell image: Dad, home from work, relaxing after dinner with a newspaper. Of course in this day and age, who gets their news from a paper? Most commuters will still grab a paper to keep them busy on their way to work, and dispose of them before arriving at the office (and those cheapies who feast off the papers left behind on subway trains and buses are grateful for that). Those working in business and the markets pay careful attention to the printed word in places like the Wall Street Journal or Barron’s. But by the … Continue reading →

There is no question about it: May is the busiest, maddest month in my family, and for a lot of families. Many religious ceremonies such as first holy communion take place in May. Some couples get a head-start and marry in May (or maybe it’s that they waited too long and June was booked). May is also a time for college commencement exercises (and even some high school ones). And in the U.S., May finishes with Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial beginning of summer. But I bet no one is as busy as I am at this time of year. … Continue reading →

One of the more complicated subjects to talk to children about is death. Because we are a little reticent to speak about it more generally anyway, it’s not surprising that it would be not a favorite topic at the dinner table. There are many questions, some of which are not easy to answer. We have suffered a loss in our family this past week, and it was fascinating to see our oldest respond. My wife is never one to pull punches; she tries very hard not to use euphemisms for anything. We’ve talked about death and experienced it in our … Continue reading →

Okay, I actually started writing this post, “Part II,” a few weeks ago! But I am finally finished with it now! As I was writing my post about volunteering at my daughter’s school, I was thinking about who was here reading these posts. It seems pretty clear that the majority of people reading my posts are women, since they make up the majority of the regular contributors to this site, either as bloggers or forum thread posters. I was thinking about the fact that dads were not present, and how most dads still have fairly traditional roles: they work at … Continue reading →

It’s only a matter of time, right? Am I the first to write a blog about this place, and the process of blogging here at families.com? Well, in any event, I have many thoughts about this issue of my audience, and while people have left me comments and I am getting read fairly well, I am wondering about my blog and the function it serves here. A casual look at most of the other blogs will show you that the writers here want to inform the audience and be a resource for one another. There’s a lot of “how to” … Continue reading →

Yesterday we were heading out to visit the girls’ aunt/uncle/cousin, and when asked, who wants to go out with daddy, the girls responded with silence. They were much more enthusiastic and competitive for their mother’s attention and arms to carry them – mind you that both of these children are fine walkers and the car was in front of the house, though it was raining. I get this a lot, of course, being the dad, but I suspect I resent it more, being a dad who is around his children as much as he is, and has been for six … Continue reading →