Newfangled Dad

When our beloved retired racing greyhound passed away a few years ago we always knew we'd be getting another one day. The question was when. Unlike throwing away the baby bottles and giving away the diaper covers, we quietly put away many (but not all) of Kieran's old things in anticipation. Now, we have reason to get them back out. We're getting a dog!  It's been a quick, odd journey to this weekend that started a few weeks ago with some wishful browsing of the adoption organization's website. We saw a big, pretty boy who we thought we may like and sent a quick e-mail to see if we could drop by to use a kennel visit to decide if we were "there yet" on the new dog front. There was some confusion because protocol had changed immensely in the decade since we adopted Kieran. Now, you must first submit an application and access to the dogs is limited to people who are seriously considering which dog to take home. Instead, we thought maybe we'd just go t...

Looking back on the Democratic Primary... Now that the primary season has entered a "zombie mode" where the front-runners are slowly inching toward their inevitable nomination, the analysis of what happened...and why...is in full swing. It's been a crazy election already with massive amounts of ink spilled trying to figure out the rise of Donald Trump and what makes his supporters tick. On the other side, the conversation has many side branches. The debates have side debates and those side debates have side debates. And one interesting line of conversation is about how the narrative has gone one way despite the results going another. A few strange pieces of information...Donald Trump is actually farther from winning his nomination than Hillary Clinton despite him no longer having competition and her rival staying in the race. Odd. Another oddity...we've lost sight of just how dominant Hillary Clinton ended up being in the fog of "Bernie Sanders did better tha...

Prior to starting lessons with the park district, my kids had been on the ice a grand total of once. We'd gone to a family skate and--even with the skating aids to hold onto--it had been a brief adventure with me trying to alternate holding each kid up. But there's only one of me and they wanted to go home. Now we're on our 3rd week of 30 minute lessons and I'm pleased to say we're quite proud of both their progress and attitudes about it. Ice skating was something they picked. And they could be in the same class together, which is rare, as a 4 year old and a nearly-6 year old. Our attitude as parents was they could try it, see if they like it, but the rule would be no quitting. We warned them numerous times before signing up that...there's no way around this...it's going to be hard. It's going to be frustrating. It may hurt. It's difficult. Are you sure? That was really our greatest fear was that we'd be taking them home after one lesson.  ...

A mom at preschool the other day was admiring my daughter's short hair. She complimented the adorable style and turned to her own preschooler--a daughter with shoulder length hair--to encourage her to get the same cut. "It's so cute and so easy and comfortable," the mom said. "Don't you want to cut your hair into a pixie cut like that?" Her daughter resisted a bit. "Yes, it is all that," I told her. "But are you prepared for it?" If her daughter isn't into it, it's not something I'd push. I think I genuinely shocked them with my brief warning about what we've encountered. My daughter wanted the short hair. We were encouraging and the kids' salon we take her to has a stylist who does an amazing job complete with berry-scented glitter and free hair clips as we leave. My little girl feels great about herself and proud of how she looks...all sparkles and shine. This is the same little girl who frequently refers t...