Family Life

The other night after dinner Joel (4) wanted to know what was for dessert. This was accompanied by broad hints that candy would be an appropriate answer. Normally I’d defer to Debbie for that kind of decision. She has a pretty firm grasp on how long it’s been since the kids last had candy, and [...]

I was washing my four-year-old’s hands for dinner tonight when he cheerfully said, – “Daddy, I know a new trick that you don’t know.” – “Really Joel? What’s that?” – “I can lick my snot!” Why oh why did I have to ask? Being exceptionally slow and not yet having learned my lesson, I blurted [...]

I started to tidy up the Lego last night, clearing the floor in anticipation of vacuuming. Rather than throw everything into a box, as usual, I decided to do a more thorough job and take everything apart first. To understand how much peril this involved, you’d have to understand the rules of Lego. Rule #1: [...]

After tucking the boys into bed I try to disentangle myself from their incessant need to chat and leave the room without too much trauma. Often Joel will call out, “I just need to tell you one more thing, Daddy!” Joel’s “one more thing” can last quite a while, and I’m reluctant to get sucked [...]

So everybody is sick again. Coughs, runny noses, broken sleep, lethargic. I got to sleep at about 5am last night, kept up by Micah’s restlessness. For several months we slept Micah in a playpen in the office every night, as a way of getting some distance and several closed doors between a noisy baby and [...]