Teen

Trust!

Child jumping to Dad in pool

Long before the staple “trust fall” was used in team building exercises (where you fall backwards, blindfolded, into the arms of your teammates), there was the “trust jump”. “Daddy, catch me!” Our children jumping into our arms into the pool, trusting that we will catch them. Our sons never tired of this. Over, and over…

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Shame!

Monica

In March of this year Monica Lewinsky (yes, THAT Monica Lewinsky) gave a TED talk entitled: “The Price of Shame”. She launched her presentation by asking: “Can I see a show of hands of anyone here who didn’t make a mistake or do something they regretted at 22?”. Boom! No hands. I thought back to when…

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Screwed Up!

Mattress

I had put our old mattress on the basement floor, knowing that our sons would enjoy jumping on it. For reasons that defy logic, I decided that this would be an great opportunity to attempt a flip. I had done this move before, in diving, on trampolines, so what could go wrong. I didn’t have…

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Mow Child!

Lawnmower father son

Our youngest son was 7 when he asked me if he could help mow our front yard. I had just started and said yes. He wiggled in front of me and grabbed the push bars – I walked closely behind him, holding the top of the bars. Back and forth we went, slower than my…

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Grounded – Again!

I don’t remember why I was grounded, but I do remember that it was selective grounding. I could leave the house, I just could not drive the car. I walked in the dark about a mile to the house of my girlfriend’s grandmother and “picked up” my girlfriend. We walked in the dark back to…

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