thedorkydaddy

You can do it, Josh!

For several years we’ve had a weekly tradition of a movie night together. We rotate who’s turn it is each week and everybody gets a pick. Can it be a challenging battle of tastes when the youngest is in kindergarten and the oldest in fifth grade? Absolutely. But as we reiterate every week – don’tContinue reading “You can do it, Josh!”

The Fast Friendships of Youth

If you’re lucky, and I certainly feel I was, your childhood may have been spent running through yards, riding bikes down the street, jumping on the playground, or maybe thrilling to the latest episode of your favorite cartoon, all alongside a friend or two. Those playground days seem so simple when we look back. YouContinue reading “The Fast Friendships of Youth”

A girl and her dog take to the skies…again!

Let’s be honest. I’m not above a little shameless self-promotion every now and then. Perhaps you’re a parent, like me, reading this. And perhaps, also like me, your kids love reading and can’t put down a good book or graphic novel. And maybe, like me, you’re always on the lookout for graphic novels that provideContinue reading “A girl and her dog take to the skies…again!”

Life is What Happens to You While You’re Busy Making Plans

It was a Friday evening toward the end of summer. The sun was not quite setting, but was on its way there shortly, the sky a pinkish hue dotted with scattered cotton balls of clouds. I decided that if there was a chance to get the lawn mowed before a weekend of forecasted rain, thisContinue reading “Life is What Happens to You While You’re Busy Making Plans“

Yo-Ho! Sending Christmas cards!

If you got the reference in that title – congratulations, you lived through the 1980s and are more than likely to ache when you get out of bed in the morning. “The Twelve Pains of Christmas” is a song from the 1988 humorous Christmas album Twisted Christmas by Bob Rivers and is the song fromContinue reading “Yo-Ho! Sending Christmas cards!”

The Sunday of Summer

With a quick flip, the calendar recently turned to yet another month. The Norman Rockwell painting of “Magician” (or sometimes referred to as “Card Tricks”) accompanying the outgoing month of July on our kitchen wall calendar, gave way to this month’s “Dreamboats” – two young women look longingly at movie star photos. And, like theContinue reading “The Sunday of Summer”

Seven Relatable Parenthood Moments with Bandit Heeler

“Flowers may bloom again, but a person never has the chance to be young again.” This Chinese proverb reminds us that we won’t have this moment again, and that refusing opportunities to connect with our childlike sense of wonder, imagination, and just plain carefree fun, even for moments, will only become rarer as the yearsContinue reading “Seven Relatable Parenthood Moments with Bandit Heeler”

It’s not easy building green (robots, that is!)

Sometimes you spend the weekend cleaning. Sometimes you’re outside in the street going for a walk or riding a bike. Or sometimes, like one recent weekend, you build a robot. No, not the kind with the square head, a few stories tall, running berzerk from the science fair and causing chaos in downtown Metropolis. ThisContinue reading “It’s not easy building green (robots, that is!)”

Racing to the finish line of ‘normal’

Sometimes I have these moments. They feel low, like a disappointment you can’t quite correct. You just ‘feel’ something that doesn’t feel like it should be that way, but yet it is, and you’re left just watching it play out with a sigh, wishing you knew how to make it all work. Let me prefaceContinue reading “Racing to the finish line of ‘normal’”

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

For some it’s tearing open wrapping paper on Christmas morning. Others, it might be downing turkey with friends and family or hunting for some eggs on Easter Sunday. For others, it might be dressing up in costumes on Halloween, or knocking back a few pints with friends on St. Patrick’s Day. But for me, theContinue reading “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”