Sports really do provide special moments.Beckett’s middle school lacrosse team traveled to Easton last week for a game and got crushed. There was a wonderful silver lining though. With the game well in hand, the opposing coach called time out with five seconds left. What could he possibly need to do in the last five… Read more »

Inspiration comes in all forms, and a source this week was Elizabeth Bonker.A 24-year-old woman from New Jersey with non-verbal Autism, Bonker was one of Rollins College’s five valedictorians, achieving a perfect 4.0 GPA. The four other valedictorians requested Bonker deliver the speech during the graduation ceremony. Her speech was six minutes long and presented… Read more »

Take everything day to day.It’s what parenting reminds us daily about life.I view each day with my boys, 13 and 12, as restarts. Each kid is different, and most of the time I can tell where their heads are first thing in the morning.I always strive to be steady with them, or “Even Steven” as… Read more »

There are negatives with raising teens, but I try to be a glass half full type in my life. Therefore, here are some positives I have noted of late with my soon to be 14-year-old eighth grader. With a big research paper project underway for English, Pam and I were curious what Beckett would select… Read more »

When I reflect back on parenting years from now, I am certain there will not be a longing for the morning rush hour around the house.A friend and I caught up recently over some local politics. After we solved all the current issues, the conversation quickly divulged into a commiseration about our early mornings.It went… Read more »

FOMO is a real thing with kids.It stands for Fear Of Missing Out. I had to research to learn more about it. According to ChildNEXUS, FOMO is “a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent. FOMO is characterized by the desire to stay continually connected with what others… Read more »

On World Autism Awareness Day on April 2 in a previous year, my wife posted on Facebook, “Autism is a journey we never planned, but we sure do love our tour guide.”Although she doesn’t claim to be the writer in the family, her words were incredibly poignant.Through a display of the color blue, whether it’s… Read more »

Monday was one of those days.There were a handful of stressful situations throughout the day involving my kids. Individually minor and forgettable, but merge them all into a short time span and stress, pressure, second guessing and frustration ensues.What makes handling these matters complicated is the communication side of things and varying ways we need… Read more »

A fun week was spent at Universal Orlando Resort. I figured it would be a great time for the kids, but my goal was to also score some relaxation while away.When Pam was making our travel plans and securing the park passes, I encouraged her to allocate at least one full day for nothing. I… Read more »

(This article is a reprint from June 21, 2011)Pediatrician visits with little ones are always interesting, but when both kids go on the same day things are even trickier.In this particular case, taking the efficient route was not the path of least resistance, and we learned a valuable lesson in the process.A while back, Pam… Read more »