Activities Archives

No Is New Yes

Do you and your kid(s) find happiness in refusal?

Negative Responses Liberate Positive Energy

Okay, that’s it. Five minutes after eight, right when we said we’d stop the movie and go upstairs to get ready for bed. Girl Child acts panicky – “But this…  read on »

Loneliest Number Is Three

Why must triple-kid playdates end in tears?

Hold Line At One Friend Over At A Time

Can’t blame my one and only for saying “Yes” when Girl Child’s friend from up the block calls and asks if it’s okay to come over. Minerva spends less time…  read on »

Daughterized Dad #1

Has fathering female(s) changed your world?

Call That A Ballerina? Are They Nuts?

Somewhere, probably right here on Wrenmead Street, a dad and male progeny watch a playoff game on TV and scream abuse at some screwup idiot knucklehead jerk with no business…  read on »

See Daddy Run

Do you show off for your kid(s)?

Once In A While, Child Should Cheer For Parent

Apologies to Aesop, but slow and steady does not win. Rabbits dust tortoises. In a big citizens’ run like last month’s 8K in a suburb next to ours, rabbits win…  read on »

Shoot The Care Bear

A little twisted humor is harmless, right?

No Mercy For Pink Ursine With Magic Rainbow

Eyeballs from Minerva, meaning that Girl Child’s playdate friend might be disturbed and her parents, if they hear, will think I’m psycho. Sorry, Baby, but GC has already hauled out…  read on »

The Place Just Right

Is fathering better than you dared to hope?

With Kid, Life’s A Bigger, Better Beach

People are surprised at how long Minerva and I waited before we became three. We were years and years deliberately childless, then had more years wanting and waiting, to the…  read on »

A Lesson Too Far

How much organized activity is too much?

Parenting, Not Pushing, Really

You’d think that the dramatic arts pro who directs our Youth Theater could put on an act, like she’s not wondering if I’m another pain-in-the-ass pushy stage parent. But just…  read on »

Pater’s Plays

Father And Daughter by Paul Simon

Simon dead-on nails fathering a little girl. Chasing away bad dreams, standing guard as she goes back to sleep, loving everything that’s coming — “I’m gonna watch you shine/Gonna watch you grow.” Could be schlurpy, but just right.

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Pater’s Picks

The Hurt Locker directed by Kathryn Bigelow

The Hurt Locker cover

Fatherhood adds immeasurably to the hurt of U.S. Army soldiers portrayed in this Iraq War masterpiece -- N-O-T definitely not for kids -- that deserved more than…

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