In the midst of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln went to visit the defenses that ringed Washington DC. As he inspected the front lines, a Confederate sniper took a shot at him—and thankfully missed. A soldier nearby shouted at Lincoln, “Get down, you damn fool!”  It was a pretty remarkable moment in presidential history, Gerald…

Remember when you were in school and that obnoxious kid would remind the teacher that they had promised to give a quiz? Or that the teacher had forgotten to collect the day’s homework? Ugh! We had so many names for that kid. Teacher’s pet. Goody two shoes. Nerd. Loser.  Of course, with distance, we can…

The legendary John Wooden grew up in Hall, Indiana. His father was a farmer. At John’s eighth grade graduation, his father handed him a piece of paper. On that piece of paper were seven handwritten rules. “Son,” he said, “Try to live up to this.”  The rules? • Be true to yourself. • Help others….

Being a dad is a demanding job. From the moment they’re born, you have been responsible for so many things. For making sure they eat, for making sure they are learning, for making sure they are safe, for making sure they are having fun. You work hard to provide for them. To teach them right…

One of the joys…and the curses…of fatherhood is reading children’s books. Some are good. Some are terrible. Some might have been good the first time you read them, but by read 651 you want to gouge your eyes out.  But you read to them because it’s important. The books don’t matter, the time does…until eventually…

Even those of us who don’t think of ourselves as strict parents should stop and think about just how often our kids hear us say the word “No.” As in, “No, stop that.” “No, you can’t go out tonight.” “No, get off of there.” “No, we have to go home.” “No, I’m not buying you…

Sean Lennon, the youngest son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, had to grow up without a father. Tragically, John Lennon was assassinated when Sean was just 5 years old. In some ways, Sean was luckier than most kids who have lost a father in that there is so much footage of his father and…

Did you know DJ Khaled has a son? And his name is Asahd? Of course you did, because if you’ve heard of DJ Khaled even once in the last couple years, it’s probably come up. His social media feed is like 100% photos of his kid (Asahd had his own Instagram account with nearly 2…

One thing you get good at as a parent is seeing past the behavior. You realize your kid is not a mean person, they’re just really tired. Strangely, you can even tell that sometimes when they’re running around like a crazy person that they’re actually not hyped up—they’re just really really tired. You know that…

When she was about 13 years old, Condoleezza Rice and her family moved from segregated Montgomery, Alabama to Denver, Colorado. It was a radical change, which introduced this young, brilliant girl to an entirely new world. One where she actually had white classmates, where she had equal opportunity to realize and explore her potential. But…