There’s always a good chance that matching outfits with your kids will land you on awkwardfamilyphotos.com. But it’s worth the risk when the payoff is 20 minutes of pure joy jumping and playing around with your son.
Archive for the ‘ Parenting ’ Category
Joie de vivre
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012Happy Easter!
Monday, April 9th, 2012If there was a ever a day that deserved unreserved joy, it would be Easter. It was Easter when hope was born to man from Jesus’ victory over death. So we wore our brightest pants and played and celebrated life. Happy Easter Monday!
We should all spend more time at the beach
Sunday, March 4th, 2012In 45 minutes we can go from our home to the beach. Over the last 5 years we’ve made that trip nearly every month. It’s hard to imagine a place where our whole family finds more joy and release and love than in the time we spend running and building and toppling and swimming and bird chasing. Four sleepers on most drives home doesn’t hurt either.
As the weather warms and the days lengthen, we’ll start going from monthly trips to weekly trips. By the time summer strikes we’ll probably need all our fingers to count our waterfront back-and-forths. For now we’re just happy we could finally take the year’s first proper Atlantic excursion.
Par for course
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012
Someone’s usually upside down and it’s par for course that we’re all looking in different places.
School, restarted
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
As a kid the start of the school year was usually a terrible thing. As a parent, I have a little more appreciation for the benefits our entire family enjoys with the restart of the educational calendar.
Though the space and time we enjoy in the summertime is always a blessing, there’s some magical about the imposed schedule schooling provides. To boot we get to enjoy the delight our children still experience in seeing friends again, new teachers and the still-fun experience of school.
This year Sebastian heads back to Midway for second grade while Harper and Arden remain at Northland for Kindergarten and the start of preschool. Here’s to hoping this year is every bit as remarkable for our kids as the last years have been.
Happy fathers’ day
Sunday, June 19th, 2011
What would Father’s Day be without dads? Lucky me I got to spend time on Thursday with my dad and granddad, both of whom I see less than I’d like because of the distance between our respective homes.
Owing to some fortunate scheduling all three families ended up at my grandparents’ for dinner on Thursday. So though it wasn’t technically Father’s Day, we took advantage of our same-spaceness to celebrate.
My kids are lucky to get such great men in their lives. We don’t get to spend that much time all together, so my kids will never know my dad or granddad as well as I do. Then again, it’s hard to know me without knowing those two men in some respects. They both did so much to shape me as a man and as a father. I’m certain my kids encounter them both through their legacies apparent in my life every day.
That’s what Father’s Day is really all about. You love your kids and raise them as best as you can. You sacrifice and model what it means to be a Godly man. If you’re lucky one day your sons will grow up to be good men and your daughters will grow up knowing what a good man looks like.
So happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! If you’re really lucky maybe you’ll even get a happy fathers’ day like I did.
Parenting wisdom from the man who mastered sweaters
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011In spite of the six thousand manuals on child raising in the bookstores, child raising is still a dark continent and no one really knows anything. You just need a lot of love and luck – and, of course, courage.
-Bill Cosby
In the wake of a new baby, kids get away with all sorts of stuff
Sunday, May 22nd, 2011
Augustin!
Sunday, May 15th, 2011
At 3a this morning, Jenn’s water broke. At 5:30, Augustin Leander Cole Clark wriggled his way into the world. Though Harper cried at the reality of another brother, we’re all now delighted at this newest addition to our family.
8 pounds, 8 ounces and 20 inches of awesome makes Augustin the shortest and second-lightest of our children. He looks like Arden did when she was born, with less cheeks. (That may not mean that much since Arden was 90% cheeks at birth.)
Welcome to the world Augustin!
Mother’s Day
Monday, May 9th, 2011In the weeks leading up to Mother’s Day this year we’ve spent most of our family energies getting ready for a fourth child. Last night on Mother’s Day Eve we went ahead and exchanged presents in the event that baby decided to give his own present in the form of labor. But the morning came and the day passed and still there’s no baby.
Like every Sunday morning, the kids and I spent the hours leading to lunch at Northland while I worked. Jenn had what could be a final span of hours all to herself. It may not seem like much of a gift, but to a mom with three-going-on-four kids, time alone is a rarity.
Jenn’s requests for gifts were slight – she just asked for no whining and a clean room from the kids. We attempted to oblige, and to add general awesomeness in the form of a quiet day. With a child to birth in the days to come tuning our usual vim and vigor down a notch for the day’s remaining hours seemed like it would be a blessing to a woman who has done so much to bless us. So we took a family nap. (Even at nearly 7 years of age, Sebastian can be still occasionally coaxed into napping.)
We went low-key for dinner too and sauntered down to our favorite pizza joint. It’s down the street from home and right on Sanford’s riverwalk. The atmosphere is great and the pie delicious, so it’s usually a winning way to end a weekend. With all the post-nap energy we walked to a nearby pond and spent an hour feeding birds, chasing birds and just enjoying the quiet moments before this fourth child arrives.
There’s not much I wouldn’t do for Jenn. The kids, though limited by age and wisdom, would likely say the same. She’s the most remarkable woman I know and we all love her and depend on her for so much. Usually our manifestations of love are more ostentatious than a relaxed day. Hopefully we delivered something wonderful for her as she’s getting ready to deliver someone wonderful for the rest of us.
