I sat to the side of my 4-year-old son while he was in a video conference meeting with his preschool teacher and classmates on my laptop and I watched with surprise to see my son be shy and soft spoken in the classroom setting when at home he runs around screaming with joy after he …
Monthly Archives: April 2020
Walking up a mountain
If you walk sideways on a steep mountain, it’s flat. The easiest way up a steep slope is to take the winding path of switchbacks that make a steep slope less steep as you zig and zag your way up. This makes the journey less steep but longer. You can do it the other way …
Conditions may change quickly
I was surfing once when it was supposed to be 4-6 feet, which is manageable for me, but then while I was out there, conditions quickly changed and I found myself next to waves that were 12-15 feet in height, which is a whole different story. I wanted to teleport myself to the shore immediately …
Gardeners
It’s easier to see a weed than to not see a weed. And it’s easier to see a gardener than to not see a gardener. But whenever there are no weeds, there’s a gardener.
Purple’s Turn
My 2-year-old daughter was coloring the other day with some dot markers and when she switched to purple, she said, “Purple’s turn.” I thought it was funny because she chose purple, purple didn’t decide to go by itself, but it got me thinking. Sometimes it is purple’s turn. We don’t get to choose everything. Sometimes …
Your deal
I remember playing cards in Europe once and when it came time to deal out the cards, no one dealt. The deck of cards sat in the middle of the table and each person picked up a card in turn. There was no dealer. But everyone got their cards. I had never seen anything like …
Any minute now
Ever since I had kids, I’ve been a lot more conscious of how I spend my time because it’s often the case that they could wake up for the morning or from a nap at any moment and need my attention and then I’ll have to stop what I’m doing and be with them. It …
What’s right?
“What’s wrong?” is an easy question to ask. It’s easy to walk into a grocery store and see the spilled milk on Aisle 6. It’s easy to notice a great product’s one flaw. It’s harder to notice that the football holder did his job perfectly and held the ball in a way that allowed the …
Use enough mayonnaise
A pet peeve of mine is when people don’t use enough mayonnaise. They spread it on a slice of bread covering it completely, but it’s only a very thin layer. What’s the point? This is not a paint job, it’s a taste job. You can’t taste the mayonnaise if you don’t use enough. Same with …
You’re already dead
“A dragon lives forever, but not so little girls and boys. Painted wings and giants’ rings make way for other toys.” —Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton I was singing Puff the Magic from a book to my 2-year-old daughter this morning and I was struck by these lines. Little girls and boys don’t live forever. …