So my son’s teacher handed me an essay he’d written about someone he admires today during their end-of-year holiday party. The essay starts: Have you ever thought “oh man! My dad sucks! I hate my dad! I want a different dad!” Boy, that is a rough start to an essay. Who knows where it’s...
Continue readingCategory: Kids
The “Worst” Year Approaches
This is kind of apropos of nothing, except that I’ve been having a few more conversations about the topic lately as the kids get older and have older friends. As my son enters his 13th year this month and starts to act more and more like a jaded teen and less and less like...
Continue readingThe Music Dilemma: how much to press
So my kid is ramping up for his first orchestra concert of the season this week. He loves performing and the feeling of getting applause at the end of a show in a crowded hall (diva!) and so I think he’s looking forward to that. However, he hates to practice so much that he’s...
Continue readingRunning and Yakking with Tweens
I often try to get the kids to walk or jog with me when we’re going to school or it’s a nice morning out or there’s some kind of race or an event coming up I’d like to train for. They almost never want to do it, and I usually let it go after...
Continue readingSquidstorming for November 14th show @ GFT
Getting ideas together for our benefit show for the Autism Society of Central Texas. Saturday, November 14th at 8pm. More ink to be spewed over the next two months. Stay tuned… ...
FronteraFest 2015 winds down/up
All right, so the trombone musical didn’t make it all the way to Best of Fest. That’s okay, it happens. I’m always disappointed when a piece doesn’t go all the way, but I’m happy we had a couple of solid performances, and I learned from it too. This other piece, Ravings of a Six-Year-Old...
Continue readingFirst acting gig since college (sort of)
The month of firsts continues tomorrow with my first acting gig in someone else’s play since college when I played Nobody #One and That Guy In Armor#2 in Mary Stuart. This time it’s another short play for Out of Ink by the estimable Carolyn Kennedy who does stuff with this group. Anyway, I play...
Continue readingFirst strikeouts
So proud of this kid today. He’s been quietly excited about it for days, since the coach told him he’d get a chance to pitch on Saturday. We’ve been practicing at the park, in our driveway, in our backyard. The 8-yo blew me away today. Struck out two and walked one in his first...
Continue reading“Baseball never gets old…”
9-year-old has taken sudden and dramatic interest in baseball. Off to get new glove and bat this weekend. He says “Baseball never gets old like reading a book does.” 7-year-old the most patient and encouraging coach ever, probably aware that this fragile interest is one errant throw away from withering. And then he’ll be...
Continue readingOn top!
Oh man, what a game that was. So stressful. So amazed and impressed that the team pulled through and beat the previously undefeated kids. Way to go!...