It was a busy period. You had a lot going on. It had been a very long day. It’s been a very long trip. It’s a brutal phase—tantrums, sleeping issues, teenage hormones, whatever. You just want to get somewhere. You’re just trying to get something over with. But you know what you’re doing? As we…

You don’t mean for it to be there. You probably didn’t even realize you were building it. It’s how you were raised. It’s what you learned from your father. It’s your culture. Maybe it’s even your gender. But it’s there. There’s a wall—a wall between you and your feelings, a wall between you and other…

For some people, it really is inconceivable. For some people, subsistence really is on the line. For some people, they really just can’t. They can’t do school drop-off or pickup. They can’t make it to every game. They can’t be home in the evenings. They can’t take an afternoon off to go do some fun…

It hasn’t been that long—just a few years since they were born. Just a few years since you thought about this last. But it’s undeniable. They have changed so much. They are bigger. They are smarter. They are taller. They look different. They talk different. That’s what kids do. They are always growing. But while…

The project isn’t due for a while. You can’t seem to motivate yourself. So you put it off. Sure, you could be putting in the work on it now, but nobody’s making you. The conversation is going to be tough. There’s a huge mess to sort through. So you tell yourself you’ll get to it…

It almost doesn’t feel possible to take this long for a kid to get out of a car. Or for a teenager to get ready. Or to choose what they want from the store. So what do you do? You find yourself rushing. That seems to be your role in the family, rushing everyone constantly,…

You saw it and you took care of it. Dishes in the sink. Laundry in the pile. Your partner was tired, so you took the kids. Dinner was coming up and you made all the decisions. A birthday was coming up and you planned it. Great! You did it! But now you want an award?…

They’re not being that loud. Or that obnoxious. They’re not listening any less than they usually do. They are not, despite what you think, trying to torture you. They’re being kids. And you? You’re just tired. That’s why your patience is exhausted. That is why you’re getting upset. That is why you’re choosing this battle….

It’s understandable. It’s reasonable. You’re tired. They’re tired. It’s been a long day or a long drive. You’re ready for the school play to be finished up. You’re ready for bedtime. You’re ready for them to be out of diapers. You’re excited for them to start college. In his incredible (and short) book Travels with…

Specialized kids are not resilient kids. It’s pretty simple why: If you can only do one thing, if you’re built for only one type of environment, you have trouble when conditions change. Our job as parents, we said recently (and also mention in The Daily Dad book—leatherbound version here) is to raise resilient kids who…