Fatherhood

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Not sure where I picked up the tip but it stuck with me… always write like it will be your last interaction with someone.

This morning I asked my kids to cut their social circle in half for the month of August.

My son said he was already down to one friend. For one month, I asked him to limit himself to seeing his pal outside, on a bike, with a mask.

I said we’d know more after Labor Day.

What we don’t see => just like that, July is gone!

Today is the end of Week 20. I can remember when Bill G’s advice about a 6-10 week lockdown seemed so long that I doubted it was reasonable.

The speed of the summer passing is a reminder to take the initiative with creating the life I want to live.

“We’re going up there?!”

I got through most my summer essay topics. Saved a couple to get me going again in September.

I’d like to get the whole family camping in August. We will see if I can pull that off and get our oldest up a 14er.

Here’s a technique I use to motivate myself to give extra effort to my kids’ childhood.

Listen to people talk about the way they see the world.

When we’re under stress, and we’re all under stress right now, our deepest mental habits leak out. When it comes to deeply felt emotions, not much is deeper than negative childhood experiences.

So when you hear someone say things like: nobody likes me, I’m treated very unfairly…

…it is a reminder that our actions will endure long after we are gone.

Even if you only need the light for five minutes… there’s something exciting about waking up in the dark, putting on a lot of clothes and hiking with a headlamp.

What comes after => the death of our parents is one last time to own our lives.

Gordon Livingston has a great piece of advice, “set a date and put the baggage of your past behind you.”

Part of my kids’ kindergarten motto was “own it.” Never too late to start!

If you’re still having trouble then remember nobody is the villain in their own story. Each of us is trying to do our best, while being beset by the habits of a lifetime.

COVID is an opportunity to (re)set our children’s mental habits. They are spending a lot of time soaking up how we handle stress.

In our house, it’s been 100-weeks of Daddy-Time in the last 20 weeks.

The best decision I made for my COVID-kids was a little bit of school each day for the last 20 weeks.

A low bar, done first thing daily, gets results.

I’m not telling you what to do. I am sharing the choices I made.