While everyone else makes me “sit,” “stay” or “shake” for a treat, you gave me bones just for showing up. When you called my name, it wasn’t because you wanted to know where I was. You actually wanted to talk to me. To play with me. And that’s why I came running. But you are growing now, Littlest Boy. Your pants don’t smell so bad. But you still slip turkey underneath the kitchen table. For that alone, I will follow you to the ends of the Earth. Or, at least the driveway.
Read moreFrom Team Mascot to Rookie: Hard Work Paid Off
From team mascot to rookie
After last week’s column, in which I left readers with a cliffhanger, everyone wanted to know: Did he make the team? The attendant at the gas station asked. So did the cashier at the grocery store and people at city hall. Even my oldest son Ford’s teachers at the high school and the doctor who removed his wisdom teeth several days later asked him if we knew yet. (Ford, still under anesthesia does not remember this conversation. Incidentally, he also doesn’t remember that he was humming Star Wars when he came out of the surgery room.)
Read moreFailure Teaches Kids Lessons
Last year, around this time, when the snow was melting and there were puddles in the gutters, my youngest son, Lindell, did not make the Little League team. Although this will sound silly to some people, it was a terrible thing to go through, and I have waited, as the snow started melting again, with dreadful anticipation for this year’s tryouts. I’m a big proponent of real competition and only giving winners the trophies they’ve earned, but that doesn’t make it any less brutal when your own child is on the losing side of things.
Read moreThe Physics of a Sunset, Mother's Love
I think the best part of the sunset is after the sun has gone down. That’s when light reflects off some clouds and casts shadows on others. The colors turn warm — orange, red, and sometimes purple. If the sky is just right, the colors can even cast a glow on people’s faces. “Yeah, but then the sun is gone,” Ford said. “It’s already set.”
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