How to manage uncertainty with children

May 8, 2020 |

As parents, we have all had that moment when our child repeats something we said in the privacy of our homes in front of the person we said it about. Hopefully, when this happened, it didn’t create too awkward a situation. The simple reality is that our children learn about the world and life through our deeds and our words, though rarely the words we speak to them directly. Our values become their values. Our principles become their principles. This means that racism and sexism and all the other negative -isms are learned from us. No child is born automatically racist. And, when you see a...

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I Quit My Job For My Children

Jun 18, 2016 | ,

It’s an ordinary Monday, in that blurry space between autumn and winter, when the sun seems to beat a hasty retreat into alternate hemispheres. I am sitting on a beat-up plastic chair watching a boy - my son - go through non-stop drills at football practice, his orange football boots reflecting the fading sun’s rays. Twice a week, most weeks, I sit watching my son at football practice. This particular Monday, when he is done, we hop into the car, rush through to pick up his younger sister from kindergarten and head through to swimming lessons. And, at home, I sit with him as he does his...

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Make Life Count

Nov 16, 2015 |

Sleeping in on weekends ended the day my son was born. At eight years old, now, he drags himself out of bed from Monday to Friday, sometimes trying to get an extra ten minutes by crawling beneath the blankets in my bed when he comes to say good morning. On Saturdays and Sundays however, he’s been known to get up at 05:30/06:00 to start his day, and often wants company. When I asked him why he wakes so early on weekends, his response was simple and, uncomfortably logical: “weekends are my days and so I want more time to do the things I like, which is why I wake up earlier.” As they say, kids...

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Win Tickets to ‘Inside Out’ Premiere

Jun 9, 2015 | ,

There’s nothing like having children to force you to tap into your inner child and stare her in the eye. And, finding the fortitude to watch the same programming or read the same book over and over again. There was a point in my life when I could recite the whole of Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham without having to look at the book. I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities. -Theodor Seuss Geisel With the...

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Don’t Leave Out The Dads

Jun 7, 2015 | ,

Becoming a father was life-changing for me. In a way, I finally understood what my legacy should be, is and will be - it is about creating a foundation for my children to be able to experience life to the fullest. It is about them being able to pursue their dreams. It is about them being able to grow up in a community, society, country and world that allows them to thrive. I may not be able to change the world but I will do everything in my power to ensure that I do my part in making my little patch of earth better for my having been in it. As a writer and speaker, who was raised by his...

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