Red's Wrap
Happiness. It's relative.
Tag: Parenting
I Lost the Rule Book
When she’s here, I make a bed on the floor next to our bed by stacking comforters and pillows. I turn down the blankets and put a stuffed animal on the pillow and my nine-year old granddaughter climbs in and goes right to sleep.… Continue Reading “I Lost the Rule Book”
Father’s Day Post #1
I think being a father is a tougher proposition than being a mother. I think mothers do more work, carry more burden, actual and abstract, and spend more time on a very sharp hook. But I think fathers have a harder row to hoe.… Continue Reading “Father’s Day Post #1”
High Minded
Among the many admissions I would have to make in court if this child had fallen and broken his neck was that I was the one who took the picture. However, my co-defendant can be seen watching from the porch. This is our son balancing… Continue Reading “High Minded”
Dear Young Mom
Dear young mom, You look at me and see a grandmother who had her chance. You figure what I could tell you about being a mother would begin and end with a rotary phone. Nothing I know would apply now in this whole different… Continue Reading “Dear Young Mom”
Saturday Afternoon
Sometimes you have to wonder if completely losing control of one’s temper to the point of beating on the steering wheel of one’s car might possibly be therapeutic like having a colonic or one of those facials that extract every morsel of unpleasantness from… Continue Reading “Saturday Afternoon”
My Father’s Day Message to Young Dads
Here’s my Father”s Day message to Dads, especially young Dads. You matter. It doesn’t matter what your wife or your girlfriend says. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how to do anything useful or even if you have a job. You matter. Don’t… Continue Reading “My Father’s Day Message to Young Dads”
Ms. Fix-It
Every time I see my kids, I want to fix something. Give advice, make a plan, counsel, analyze, and assess. This is a habit that I am trying to break. There are easier things. Tonight, I had a plan to dash from my class… Continue Reading “Ms. Fix-It”
40 Years in the Desert
I grew up in a praise desert. My people, my folks, aunts, uncles, grandparents, didn’t indulge in compliments or praise. I wouldn’t say they never praised anyone; it was just a rare, rare thing like that flower that only blooms once every ten years.… Continue Reading “40 Years in the Desert”
Back Up
Once in the mountains of Colorado after nearly two weeks of traveling in our ’48 Ford, after days of my mother’s infamous silent treatment, and after an hour of trying to get his notoriously temperamental light meter to work so he could take a… Continue Reading “Back Up”
Snow Door | wisconsinacademy.org
Listen to Jan read her essay “Billy” presented on WUWM’s Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “At the Breakfast Bar” on WUWM Lake Effect
Jan’s essay “The Parish Hall,” on WUWM Lake Effect
“Fury Cannot Touch Me,” Modern Love, NYT, 9/29/11
Recent Comments