In Favor of a Little Boredom
Sunday, January 29th, 2012School can be boring. Let me put the emphasis where I mean it: school can be boring. So can work. So can life. I’m not going to say that the purpose of school is to be tedious. But learning and mastery aren’t supposed to be effortless. You have to learn things that maybe you don’t [...]
Quaking in Their Boots
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011We’ve got a situation. Last weekend, Annie and Kimberly attended a birthday party at Castles ‘n’ Coasters and they went together on the log ride. I stood on some stairs so I could get a good view and cheer them on. Unfortunately, the first time I saw them they were both wailing and freaking out—even [...]
Last Day at the Public Pool
Sunday, August 28th, 2011Today, Sandi decided to give the kids a special treat and so we took everybody to the public pool. It was really fun watching all of them doing the same things that we used to enjoy when we were children. Annie jumping off the high dive (doing dives, cannonballs, and pencil drops), Kimberly racing me [...]
Well Excuuuuse Me!
Monday, April 18th, 2011“She didn’t say, ‘That’s okay!’” — Paul He accidentally stepped on our standard poodle Lucy’s paw. He hugged her and said, “I’m sorry, Lucy.” Apparently, he didn’t get the response he was seeking for his thoughtfulness.
One and a Half Men
Monday, April 18th, 2011Two weeks ago, Paul’s preschool had a Guys Night Out. It was considerably more bittersweet than last year’s, but we made the best of it. It really was a lot of fun: the teachers had devised a series of “experiments” for us to do together. Alka-Seltzer bottle rocket using a film canister, dancing raisins using [...]
Little Voice
Sunday, March 20th, 2011“I can’t find he.” — Paul, said while looking for his Bullseye stuffed animal. One of Paul’s little verbal idiosyncrasies is an inability to use the objective case of pronouns. It’s quite adorable.
The Cute, The Wild, and the Feisty
Wednesday, March 9th, 2011Since people seem to like to see Lucy, our standard poodle, here’s a picture I snapped the other day. I call it the Mexican standoff because I went up and down the stairs twice and these guys never moved from this position.
Grooving
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011As Sandi related already, me and The Girls went to a Father-Daughter Dance last Friday for the Girl Scouts. We had a very different experience from last year: we went with 10 other girls and 9 other fathers. (This meant that The Girls had other people with whom to divide their attention—no all dancing with [...]
Kee-Yah!
Monday, January 24th, 2011It’s hard to believe that it’s only been two weeks since Annie started taking a kung fu class. She has really taken to the lessons, as I knew she would. She has befriended the only other girl in her class: they warm up together and Annie was even watching eagerly out the window the one [...]
The Birthday Girl
Saturday, September 25th, 2010In honor of Sandi’s birthday, her mother Gwen offers this guest post. September 25th is one of those days I will never forget. Nine months earlier, you were given to me as a Christmas gift. Your father said I could open it in 9 months. And nine months to the day, you wanted out. I [...]
Beach Practice
Thursday, June 10th, 2010After dinner tonight, I took the kids over to a playground while Sandi attended a gluten-free cooking class. They played for a while and then it was time to head home for a bath. As I spun around the parking lot, I spied something intriguing: I stopped the van adjacent to it and everyone was [...]
Play Like It’s 1979
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010Yesterday, we six Browns were talking about playground activities and how they’ve changed from when we parents were kids. You know, “back in my day…” stuff. Sandi told them about penny drops and other monkey bar fun. I told them about jumping from high up on the jungle gym and launching from swings. I was [...]
Contrasts
Thursday, February 25th, 2010This last weekend I witnessed two episodes that made me so proud of my girls (and, by extension, our parenting efforts). One took place at a bowling alley and the other at a McDonald’s. They were the exact same scene, but they played out very differently. We were waiting patiently at the bowling alley to [...]
The Torch Gets Passed
Saturday, February 13th, 2010Today we had the third annual meeting of the Brown Family Chapter of the Polar Bear Club. As President, I was honored to induct a new member: Madeline Brown. She was very hesitant about the initiation ceremony, given that the water was a frigid 51°F, but she jumped in and got it over with as [...]
My Kind of Guy’s Night Out
Friday, January 15th, 2010Last Tuesday was Guy’s Night at Madeline’s preschool, an event you may remember where the children bring the important fellows in their lives. To say that she was excited is an understatement—she had been counting down the days for weeks. I think it stemmed partly from following in her big sisters’ footsteps and partly to [...]
Par-tay
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009Paul’s birthday started off nice. We did the traditional opening of presents prior to school. Paul got a lot of Thomas the Tank Engine toys, at which he exclaimed “choo choo!” and pointed each time. He loves trains, to put it mildly. Once The Girls got shipped off to school, he finally could get some [...]
The Film Critic
Sunday, October 4th, 2009“Every kid movie has a happy ending. Because they don’t want us to be scared.” — Kimberly
“I Will Shut Her Up For You”
Thursday, September 3rd, 2009“Man slaps stranger’s crying kid”: I’m speechless. [UPDATE (1/21/2010): Going to big-people time out.]
Mr. Mom Does Lunch
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009Sandi was sick today so I stayed home to take care of the children in her stead. Let me tell you, the phrase “herding cats” ran through my mind several times in the course of getting Annie and Kimberly ready for school and Mimi and Paul ready to take them to school. I was freaking [...]
Browns & Noble
Sunday, August 30th, 2009Our next-door neighbor gave us some items today that she no longer needed, one of which was a heart-shaped wooden end table. We had it sitting in the living room when Kimberly had the bright idea of using it as a book store: Since Sandi and Mimi were sitting on the couch nearby eating chips [...]
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