August 17, 2010
- The Road to Degradation
By Michael
I think she was four, possibly a precocious three. She was up on the chair, playing on the touchscreen, trying to win a matching game and then a ring toss of sorts. (…)
August 10, 2010
- But you can't tell mom…..
By Michael
Parents are supposed to be a team, working together, presenting a consistently united front. As we all know, that's why parent and partner have exactly the same letters. (…)
August 3, 2010
- Chelsea Getting Married
By Michael
President Obama was on The View last week, chatting up the ladies about all sorts of earthshaking issues, when he was asked about his attendance at Chelsea Clinton's wedding. (…)
July 27, 2010
- Pushing Them Away, But Always a Fan
By Michael
I was watching a hummingbird feeding its young and I wondered when the clock would run out. (…)
July 20, 2010
- Only the Souvenirs are Different
By Michael
This morning, Susan dropped off her souvenirs from yesterday's family adventure:: three $5 chips from the Indian casino down the road from our place in Arizona. Jill and the girls were in town to visit a high-school friend of Susan's who just had a baby. (…)
July 13, 2010
- Life in the Past Lane
By Michael
I held up the photo and asked, “Who’s this?”Susan looked at me like I had just grown a second nose. (…)
June 29, 2010
- But Doesn't Her Hair Look Great?
By Michael
Bike path, Palatine, Illinois, Tuesday morning. Mom and four little tots on bicycles. (…)
June 22, 2010
- Chicken Butts are Forever
By Michael
We're sitting on the tarmac in St Louis. (…)
June 15, 2010
- What We Learned Here…
By Michael
I had the opportunity to spend some time on the radio last week, doing an interview about life lessons and taking calls from listeners. (…)
June 8, 2010
- $600 for Binoculars? YAKM!!
By Michael
My Sunday magazine supplement had a great article over the weekend about the best gift ideas for “dads and grads.” Notice how dads rank so high that we don’t even get our own gift list. (…)
June 1, 2010
- So Why Should I Thank You?
By Michael
Ours was the solitary flag flying on my block yesterday, and I only counted two others as we headed out the various side streets to the main road.
Yesterday was Memorial Day. (…)
May 25, 2010
- I Need a Fix
By Michael
Every so often, I want to rent a baby. Or a toddler. Or a kindergartner. Just for a day, maybe four hours, but enough time to revisit the pure joy of an unexamined life. (…)
May 18, 2010
- The Parental Gods Have Spoken
By Michael
Jill’s crib is in the basement. We took it from her folks’ house with every intention of using it when our first child was born. (…)
May 11, 2010
- They Like Us. They Really Like Us.
By Michael
I decided my book on life lessons would be the absolutely perfect gift for graduates this year, so we conducted a survey of recent graduates to find out what life lessons they wish they’d known before they reached the ripe old age of 22. (…)
May 4, 2010
- Plotting Against the Children
By Michael
Marketing a book of life lessons takes you to all kinds of websites; none of which can compare to this one, of course. (…)
April 27, 2010
- No More Opinions
By Michael
When the girls were younger, I told them they could be anything they wanted to be in life. They decided they wanted to be themselves. (…)
April 20, 2010
- And In the Spring, the Babies Bloomed
By Michael
The (Idunno) trees by the deck were flowering last week in an explosion of fluff that startled and enlivened as I stood in the kitchen, yelling “faster, faster” at the caffeine machine. (…)
April 13, 2010
- Where the Boys Are
By Michael
Last week, I attended a bris, the 3,500+ year-old rite of circumcision that connects every newborn Jewish male to hundreds of generations that preceded him. (…)
April 6, 2010
- The Road to Ruin Has Great Coverage
By Michael
There’s this ad on television that’s driving me crazy right now. A mom and her daughter are at the mall. (…)
March 30, 2010
- Who's a cutie wootie smootiekins? You Are.
By Michael
So this old lady with a face like a road map is heading out of the restaurant when she spots the baby. Not her baby, of course, or even her grandchild. (…)
