Monthly Archives: February 2016

Chasing the bus

Posted in Stories
6
chasing the bus

Frantic–that’s how mornings are with the boys. Every morning feels like a rush to the last chopper out of ‘Nam. The second oldest lays in bed sulking about how tired he is. The oldest yells at his younger brother to hurry, conveniently forgetting he’s still in his pajamas. More than a little shouting occurs at times from hurried parents (though the shouting has diminished drastically since I instigated the 70% rule).

The baby girl is crying because the youngest boy woke her up by running through the house pretending to be superman.

One parent is smeared in peanut butter because a flailing child bumped into her leg. The other parent is jumping between the open door, looking for the bus, and the boys’ bedrooms, looking for shoes. Read more »

On being human

Posted in Stories
4
on being human

When I began this blog, I guess I somewhat viewed it as my online journal of sorts–a way to remember things that have happened in my life. I suppose it’s evolved a bit such that I feel some pressure to make a lesson out of every event.

But sometimes there’s no lesson to be learned. Or, perhaps, it takes time to see the lesson.

Maybe that’s where I’m at. Maybe I just need some time to process things.

Alright, I’ll quit my yapping and get to it. Read more »

The 70% Rule

Posted in Stories
4
The 70% rule
The 70% Rule.

Speaking of failures, amidst my many shortcomings, I’ve had this nagging something plaguing me of late. It’s okay to fail at writing, it’s okay to fail at my profession, and it’s okay to fail at losing weight and exercise. But I cannot accept failure at being a dad.

But I’ve felt like a failure lately. It seems that 90+% of my interactions with my kids are contentious. And all the while, I keep thinking, I’m one of those dads. You know what I’m talking about, right? The sort of dad that’s always butting heads with the kids, the sort of dad that the kids are conditioned to resent long before maturity sets in (and with it, the humble realization that dad may have been right after all).

But, I did little about it. I suppose I was so preoccupied with my other endeavors to do anything about it. (Bad idea). Read more »

When to give up

Posted in Stories
6
when to give up

I’ve seen a lot of failure lately. (And if you haven’t checked out my post on Shawn Smucker’s blog, please do).

In fact, I have actually written a lamenting post about how much failure I’ve seen recently. It’s still in “draft” mode because it sounded a bit whiny to me.

(Boo hoo, suck it up, dude.)

It’s been tempting to give up in so many areas. But I’m still here. Sort of. Kinda of.

Barely.

I’d better get to the story before I start whining 😉 Read more »

Goals should be attainable? It’s a lie!

Posted in Stories
4
why goals shouldn't be attainable

As I’ve said, I’ve been on a goal kick lately. I’ve been making some massive changes in my life and it’s exciting and I want to share what I’ve learned with all of you. So, with that…

Lofty Goals Spawn Creativity

It’s true. But only when you’re absolutely, 100% committed.

I learned this as a young missionary. My companion and I were sitting down prepping for the day and decided to make a goal. I don’t recall what inspired said goal, but we were 100% committed. We were going to teach 10 lessons to non-Mormon-folk in one day.

It was ambitious. We’d never done even half that. But, for some reason or another, we decided we were going to make it happen.

Except, here’s the thing–we didn’t have any lessons scheduled.

Well darn. That puts a damper on things. Read more »