Category Archives: Stories

When you play with fire…

Posted in Stories
16
when you play with fire...

Amber and I have been feeling quite smug, of late.

I’m not sure what it was. I think it was probably the 70% rule. We’ve been trying really hard to ensure that 70% or more of our interactions with our kids are positive.

But something has changed in the boys. They fight less. They express affection more. They’re quicker to apologize to each other and to us.

It’s been quite blissful, actually.

On Sunday, after returning from church, Amber and I decided to take a much-needed nap. In the past, this has been extremely hard to do. Just when we fall asleep, the fighting begins. But this time, we were confident our newly reformed boys would leave us be.

And they did. Read more »

Funnel or failure? You should be failing.

Posted in Stories
6
funnel or failure

Howdy! What follows is a blog post I wrote several months back. I had just returned from a campus interview for my dream professor job. I was certain I’d land it. But, they rejected me. Feeling dejected, I wrote this post. I decided NOT to post it at the time, because I thought it was a bit whiny. But, after reading it again, I see that there are some great insights in this.

And, not to mention, I landed an even better job just a few weeks ago.

Persistence pays off, my friends.

Enjoy! Read more »

Don’t be deceived!

Posted in Stories
12
ignorance

When you walk in darkness, you will be deceived.

What do I mean? Lemme esplain.

The Story

Amber and I had just become engaged. It was December in Fairport, NY and we wanted to escape from everything “normal” and bask in our newly established change-o-label. So we donned our winter coats and walked around her neighborhood. It was around 8PM and quite dark. The only light was the occasional street lamp.

I don’t remember what we talked about, but it was awesome. We stuffed our interlaced fingers inside the pocket of my winter coat and she pressed her torso against my arm to keep warm.

And then it happened.

Something moved. I squinted in the darkness and saw him. Halfway up one of her neighbor’s yards, I saw a little white dog. I felt bad for the thing. He shivered in the cold air and trembled with every gust of wind. From the looks of it, he was a teeny tiny shih tzu.

I crouched to the ground and with the most soft, tender voice, I called to him. “Come here boy. Come here.” Read more »

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 »