05 Sep

Dad and Buried Posted in Fear 2 comments

Door Stoppers and School Shootings

Last spring, Mom and Buried found an unopened package of rubber door stoppers on the street.

In my neighborhood, people put stuff they don’t want on their front curb, and it’s understood that it’s all up for grabs until the garbage man comes. Sometimes it’s old books and DVDs, sometimes it’s random bits of clothing, sometimes it’s a gently-used AC unit or a TV or a bookshelf.

Door stoppers are not something I would have even looked twice at, and needing them had never really occurred to Mom and Buried either. But she grabbed the package anyway.

Because the door stoppers aren’t for us. They’re for our brand-new third grader.

05 Apr

Dad and Buried Posted in Fear No comments

Allergy Awareness Is Terrifying (And Necessary)

Parenting is scary.

If you care about your kids, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the responsibility – of keeping them alive, of keeping them safe, of teaching them not to be cruel. The world is full of infinite potential for disaster, and if you allow anxiety and paranoia to take over, it can paralyze you and cripple your kids’ development.

The good news is that most of the stuff you fear probably won’t happen! Most of it is purely theoretical, and if you use your best judgment and common sense, odds are you’ll do a fine job of protecting your kids. But some fears are legit, and require extra vigilance. Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not after you!

Especially when your kid has a food allergy.

14 Mar

Dad and Buried Posted in SERIOUS! 2 comments

Arming Teachers: This Is the Best We Can Do?

A couple of weekends ago while we were visiting my parents in Connecticut, my oldest brother made a cameo after work.

He’s a sixth-grade teacher and he’d just finished his school day, so he stopped by our parents’ house to say hi to his nephews and grade some quizzes before heading home. I was working at the kitchen table and amidst my typing and his red-pen scribbling, I suddenly heard him say, “98! Way to go, Mia!”

He was genuinely happy that she had done well on his quiz.

Teachers are amazing. Arming them is idiotic.

09 Mar

Dad and Buried Posted in stress No comments

Desperately Seeking Solitude

Sleep. Money. Silence. Peace of mind. Snacks.

These are just a few of the things you sacrifice when you decide to become a parent. (Don’t worry, they are replaced – by exhaustion, debt, headaches, scraps, and stress! Yay!) A lot of that is a side-effect of getting older – most of us accrue responsibility with age, whether we have kids or not – but there’s one thing that having kids takes away from you that you can never get back:

Solitude.

31 Jan

Dad and Buried Posted in stress No comments

Stress Actor

Stress isn’t a competition. Newsflash: We’re all stressed out of our minds!

Adulthood is stressful. Work is stressful. Marriage is stressful. The state of the world is stressful. Life is stressful!

And, of course, parenting is stressful too, in more ways than one. But parenting stress is a little different, because being a parent is both stressful in and of itself and because the presence of children adds an extra layer of stress on top of everything else. It’s fun!

Dad and Buried

Tag: health

Door Stoppers and School Shootings

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Allergy Awareness Is Terrifying (And Necessary)

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Arming Teachers: This Is the Best We Can Do?

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Stress Actor

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