We left for school early so Lael could get some quality playground time. As we’re walking, we spot a friend of Lael’s up ahead. The kids decide to run after her. In less than a minute, Seth trips on the hard concrete sidewalk and immediately starts crying. Even before I ...

When my wife was pregnant with Seth, we did what a lot of families do: we went to Babies R Us and picked out our favorite crib. We wanted a drop-side convertible so that it would grow with our child. A relative bought us the crib, but it never made ...

I spent most of my afternoons last summer teaching my kids basic swimming: putting their faces in the water, holding their breaths, diving down to retrieve torpedoes and basic freestyle. In March of this year, I began schlepping the kids to the park district aquatic center for more lessons. By ...

My son wrote a song to bring into class. Apparently, Seth and two of his classmates are each writing their own version and then will pick their favorite. But it's not a competition. Here are the words: I'm a Gummy Bear Yes, I'm a Gummy Bear You should see me ...

In late October, my son Seth was invited to join a math club that specialized in word problems. (You know: If car X goes 80 miles, and Car Y goes 60 miles in the opposite direction in 12 minutes, how fast was Car X going? Bonus points: Why can’t dad ...

When I was a teenager, I decided to become a journalist for two key reasons – to better understand the world and to do as much good as possible. I’m not sure I’ve made much progress on the latter item, but I have learned a lot over the years. While ...

When I was a teenager, I decided to become a journalist for two key reasons – to better understand the world and to do as much good as possible. I’m not sure I’ve made much progress on the latter item, but I have learned a lot over the years. While ...

It was a quiet Saturday morning. The kids needed something to do, and I needed to go out and run an errand. My wife was asleep (she works nights.) I pulled out a small package of food dyes and showed them how to mix colors in jars. Then I showed ...

It was a quiet Saturday morning. The kids needed something to do, and I needed to go out and run an errand. My wife was asleep (she works nights.) I pulled out a small package of food dyes and showed them how to mix colors in jars. Then I showed ...

Months ago, Seth picked a firefly for this year’s school project on insects. About halfway into the project, Seth finally got around to mentioning that there was an extra credit project he could do. We still had plenty of time, so no panic. As you can see from the pictures, ...