Tag: life with kiddos Page 1 of 14

Between the Ditches

By

On July 13, 2026

In diary

It happened faster than I thought.

After a long stint of what I can only describe as indifference toward completing driver’s ed classes, Julia suddenly lit a fire under herself, accumulated the requisite number of hours required to finish the online class, and found herself on the driving portion of the schedule. Then, she drove, and within three days’ time, she was holding a certificate declaring her eligible to earn her permit.

Which she did, hours after completing the driving portion of driver’s ed. Kelly let her drive home.

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Soccer, vibe coding, and DadStats

By

On May 26, 2026

In diary

Last summer, Julia and I drove to Bryson City for her first club soccer team practice. At the time, it felt like a huge moment–our daughter was a rising freshman, but in our minds she was still very much a middle schooler. And now, suddenly, I was dropping her off at a field an entire county away so she could go try out for a team with a bunch of high school kids.

Those high school kids looked decidedly older.

My nerves, my word, my nerves. Every sense of athletic inadequacy in my body welled up to see her jog out onto the pitch and start passing the ball around. What on earth are we doing here? I wondered.

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All Creatures Great and Small

By

On May 12, 2025

In writing

Giving in–and learning along the way.

After months–honestly, it was years–of avoiding what felt like our children’s inevitable acquisition of small, furry rodent animals to serve as pets, and after successfully weaving between the pitiful pleas of kids number one and two–those eyes, those knowing looks of disappointment–I finally (finally!) acquiesced. Annie wanted a hamster. And I was too worn down to object. I held out for what should have been an appropriate amount of time. Even the most dogged defenses, it turns out, have vulnerabilities.

Mine began with a PowerPoint deck.

It’s only appropriate. How perfect that the chink in my armor involved a slide deck and an impassioned pitch. How pathetic that at nine years old, Annie had me figured out.

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