We’re standing in a house somewhere in Minnesota. It has two more bedrooms than our condo in the Chicago area. It has an extra bathroom (and a half), a yard with a built-in barbecue, basketball hoop, two-car garage and property taxes so laughably low that it’s hard to believe this all comes for about the same price as where we live now. My third- and first-graders are running around claiming bedrooms for themselves and, for a brief second, it’s hard to think of any of the reasons keeping us where we are in suburban Illinois. A casual curiosity to see what we could get on budget during a … [Read more...]
About Kyle Eichenberger
Children Protesting Issues is Not Childish Behavior Adults Should Dismiss
My hometown in Ohio had what I thought was a heartwarming story a while back about preschoolers who were upset with fracking in the state's only national forest. So they sent drawings to officials involved in the process to be included in the public record. (A chilling testimony for the future, if you ask me.) It was a great piece on young minds caring about the world. Then I read the comments. I wasn't surprised that many people leaving messages blamed the parents for brainwashing. Or worse. They painted the preschoolers in the story as innocents who could not possibly understand the … [Read more...]
Short Hair Locks Daughter into Unfair Gender Assumptions
A mom at preschool was admiring my daughter's short hair the other day. She complimented the adorable style and turned to her own preschooler -- a girl with shoulder length hair -- to encourage her to get the same cut. "It's so cute and so easy and comfortable," the mom said. "Don't you want to cut your hair into a pixie cut like that?" Her daughter resisted a bit. "Yes, it is all that," I told her. "But are you prepared for it?" I think I genuinely shocked them with my brief warning. My daughter wanted short hair. We were encouraging and the kids' salon we use has a stylist who … [Read more...]
Bumpy Transition from Stay-at-Home Dad to Return-to-Work Dad
My youngest starts kindergarten this fall. It's the end of the Daddy Era and there has been some pushback. I began to dip my toes in the job market earlier this year. It's more of a casual browsing and applying for positions that interest me. Yet, the refrain from my kids is still: "No, we don't want you to work!" As luck would have it, I found a part-time gig. I work a few days a week at a local nonprofit that manages the historic preservation of a few of Chicago's architectural treasures. It lets me collect a paycheck without jumping into the deep end of the work pool. I get to educate … [Read more...]
When Reality Clashes with Teaching Generosity, Kindness
Preschool and early elementary school are obsessed with sharing, taking turns and learning cooperation. Yet, it's a skill set in very short supply among adults. _______ An old New York Times blog post really struck a chord with me. In "A Daughter Too Kind for Her Own Good," author Jerisha Parker Gordon writes about the flip-side of teaching her daughter to always be nice ... it only gets you so far. So how do we cope with people who just aren't affected by niceness? You don't have to look too far to see a world where people are selfish and lack the socialization to show concern for … [Read more...]