When your 15-year-old is on spring break with another family for a week, the last click-bait you want to see on your phone is “Tornado Watch from Florida to South Carolina.” What are the odds, I fretted, as my thumbs speed-texted “U ok? Just heard about tornado watch for sarasota?” My daughter replied like King Kong casually batting away a helicopter parent: “yeah we r good.” Despite her nonchalance, shortly after her return home she admitted that my message had, in fact, alerted them to a coming storm, much to her amazement. Begrudgingly, she gave me credit for helping them take … [Read more...]
A Quantum Leap into Fatherhood
Almost seven years ago I became a father. I still remember the swelling mix of feelings – love, pride, exhaustion and fear amongst others. I remember, vaguely, getting the car to pick up my daughter and my wife. My daughter. I was a father. Oh, boy. The hospital stay was nice. Cozy. It was like Diet Parenting. People brought you food (free if you were a breastfeeding mom – which I may, or may not have, pretended to be over the phone when I ordered meals). Nurses would take the kid so you could nap (we never let her leave). Your child was LoJacked so people couldn't steal her without … [Read more...]