Search Results for: blog what i learned from my dad

My Fake High School Wedding

This is the story of how I planned my wedding in high school. I’ll give you all a moment to recover from the shock: Families.com’s laid-back marriage blogger, she of the gender stereotyping rants and “what’s the big fuss” attitude toward schmoopy romance and wedding culture planned a wedding in her high school days. Never fear: I did it because I had to for class. My crazy gym/health teacher, the same woman who’d also make us write papers for our self-defense gym classes, made all of her students plan weddings as part of our sexual health education unit. It had … Continue reading →

My Five Month Old Daughter Part II

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At five months my baby girl reacts to various stimuli in her environment with an assortment of facial expressions. Almost anyone can illicit a smiling expression by making a funny face or a interesting sound. She also expresses curiosity, confusion, concern, fear, contentment, joy boredom, excitement, and tiredness. In five months she has learned to use body language quite effectively. If she is tired of her position whether she is sitting in her bumbo, playing on the floor, or sitting reclined in her sleep and play rocker, she has several signals that she is ready for something new. She might … Continue reading →

Mommy Puts Her Foot Down

I was walking the dogs tonight and all of a sudden I see four running feet coming towards me. Yes, my two children. I just knew they didn’t tell my husband they left the house to come meet me down the street. Since they are 6 and 3 this makes me very uncomfortable. They just think they can open the door and start running wild in the street. It’s unacceptable. I was willing to look the other way on it with a stern look and warning that they will never do that again. However, the next thing they do just … Continue reading →

Who Are You and What Have You Done with my Child?

For a child who doesn’t handle change well, divorce can be a huge setback. They are experiencing so many changes all at once that they can easily be overwhelmed with the emotion of everything. As young children they have not yet learned how to express what they are feeling and as a result often lash out. This is common even in children whose parents are still together. However, a divorce is often the trigger because of the intensity of the changes that they are going through. I remember how hard those first few months were for my son. All of … Continue reading →

My Husband is a Daddy

When we learned I was pregnant for the first time, my husband and I talked about our dreams for the future and what we wanted our family to be like. I wanted him to be involved in the raising of our children. I wasn’t interested in having a husband who read the newspaper in the corner while I did all the work—I wanted him playing with the kids, taking them places, and being a part of their lives. I didn’t want my children to just have a father—I wanted them to have a daddy. I’m delighted to say that’s exactly … Continue reading →

My Grandfather Was a Purple Heart

It really is possible to learn something new each time you have a chance to go and visit family. This weekend, I went to visit my mom and dad and during my trip I also attended a baby shower for my cousin and visited with one of my uncles. While we were sitting in my uncle’s living room, I noticed a very nice picture of my paternal grandfather, whom I never met because he had passed away before I was born. Until this weekend, I never really knew how he had passed away. I had assumed that it was cancer, … Continue reading →

Lessons from My Father

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I’ve always been a bit of a daddy’s girl. As a little girl, I chose repeatedly to attend the “cow sales” (livestock auctions) with Dad over shopping with Mom. Maybe it was because I felt so special being the only little girl in the midst of all those men, but whatever the reason, I loved spending time with my dad. I loved the way he took care of me and, although my memory may be somewhat skewed by age and time, the way he seemed to take pride in my being there. I grew up wanting to be around Dad … Continue reading →

Dad’s Work Chair

One of the few realms Dad has a good amount of control over is the desk. It is readily observed as Dad’s desk and everyone treats it as such. Proof of this can be found simply by leaving a mess of books around the house. Inevitably those books, when my wife finds their current placement angering, will end up haphazardly stacked on the desk. Shirts and sweaters left around the house will eventually be thrown either on the desk or in the desk chair. This small little realm is a joyous and necessary place for Dad. The rigors of graduate … Continue reading →

Day with Dad (Part II)

If you missed Part I of this two-part blog you can read that here. For those of you already caught up we’ll start at the beginning: My son and I just looked out the door, staring blankly for a moment. Neither of us could believe she was gone… but she was. If memory serves I looked at my son who was still staring out of the front door before looking over at the clock. The clock itself told a somewhat terrifying story: We’d both be without mom for the next twelve hours or so. That’s a long time. Now, it’s … Continue reading →

Exercise Time with Dad

I’m overweight. It’s true. Not horribly, but enough. I’ve needed to work out for a long time. Back when I was acting with greater frequency my workout was part of my work. I would be learning dance choreography for a musical or repeating the same physical motions with ever greater precision over and over and over again. Now I sit at a desk mostly. I read, I write, I think. You know that statue of the guy thinking (yep, that’s it) it’s kind of like that… except looking at me would not immediately remind someone of a work of art. … Continue reading →