My niece stopped by for a quick visit on her way through to Burning Man. She was driving my sister’s 2003 Honda Accord. “Yup, it’s my car now,” my niece smiled. I knew she had been having problems with her 1993 Toyota Tercel . But I didn’t know what the problems were. “So what happened to your car?” I asked. “I ran out of oil.” Really? That’s what the problem was? Not an old transmission or faulty spark plugs? But…
This is Nathan. He’s playing By Loch and Mountain, one of my absolute favorite pieces he learned in middle school. That was five years ago. Nathan is now headed off to college soon and will not be taking his saxophone with him. So I’m selling it. Until today, it had been three years since he tooted a note. He quit band his sophomore year in high school. Even so, I’d been holding on to the sax in the off-chance that he might…
“There are three boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats. Are you not eating them, Nathan?” I was washing the breakfast dishes when Ryan opened the pantry door and noticed all the cereal. “I’ll eat them.” replied Nathan. “I just want to finish the Chex first.” I started to chuckle. A few weeks ago, this would have been a weird conversation between the two teens. But since Ryan has been doing all the grocery shopping, he’s beginning to notice things. Things…
Ryan just got back from Winco. He was grocery shopping. For me. My entire weekly list of items. For over a year, Ryan has asked me if he could do the grocery shopping. He knows it’s way down on my list below scrub the toilet and clean the hair out of the sink. But for some reason, I thought it would be more of a hassle having him do it than me just going and getting it over with. I…
“There’s no way I want to write down everything I eat.” That comment came from my 16-year old son, Ryan, as we were driving home from his sports medicine appointment a few weeks ago. Ryan is a runner. And recently he’s been experiencing extreme lethargy after his races. So, naturally, as a parent, I want to figure out what’s going on. After confirming with his pediatrician, the cardiologist, and the sports medicine doctor that Ryan is healthier and in better…