Ten

Now you are ten. Two whole hands. I remember when you were one hand. You were so excited. Now you are both. You are all of the fingers. You are all of the toes. You are the base of our mathematics, double digits, which should be cool because you love math and are quite good […]

The Health Talk

Ruby has been dreading this day for weeks. She was so excited to learn that it would be happening on a Wednesday, when she would be at Forest School, but then very upset to learn that it would happen on one of those magical few Wednesdays between the fall and spring Forest School sessions. Yes, […]

Parenting: An Exercise in Taking Things For Granted

Every night for the past several years Ruby has jumped out to scare me as I walk upstairs to tuck her in at bedtime. It was scary the first time. It was sort of surprising the second time. After that it was cute for a while, then annoying, and then it just became a part […]

Being a Grown-Up: It Isn’t All Buying Chips

Yesterday Edward and I went over to the school to pick Ruby up from soccer. I was walking with the dog and he was riding his bike. When we arrived I walked over to help Ruby get her bag, and when I turned around Edward was gone. Any parent will tell you that there is […]

I Blinked and I Missed It

Hello, my name is Tenor Dad and I am an American. As a citizen of the United States I feel as though I am entitled to all of the things at all of the times in all of the places. The idea of choosing some things while not choosing others is only acceptable to me if […]

How I Became a Bully, and What I Will Tell My Kids About It

Middle school was rough. If you don’t relate to that statement in any way at all, then you clearly did not go to middle school. Junior high, grades 6-8, ages 11-13, this terrible time in any young person’s life involves their body and mind going completely insane, and a sudden, new social world emerging in […]

What I See When I Look at My Daughter

Have you ever looked at one thing and seen two? Have you ever stared at something so long that you could actually start to see its past as well as into its future? Is it possible to acquire some sort of second sight that, because you don’t know how to use it, causes you to […]

The Stories We Don’t Tell

I tend to be fairly forthcoming and open on this site.  In fact, I am often revealing far more than is comfortable or advisable, at least according to my wife and the internet.  I share stories about my life, and my thoughts on the world as it affects and applies to my children, and my […]

My Adulthood is All Grown Up

Today is my thirty-sixth birthday.  I suppose in the traditional and literal sense, it means that I was born 36 years ago today, but it also means that it has now been eighteen years since my eighteenth birthday.  I have been an “adult” for eighteen years.  My adulthood is all grown up. When my adulthood […]