How a kid handles losing says a lot. Although I don’t keep track, if I had to guess, I would estimate Beckett’s sports teams have lost more than triple the amount of games he has won in his young life. It’s to the point I think he expects to lose most of the time and… Read more »

A constant challenge for me is balancing expectations with my kids. In a perfect world, the same would be expected of both. That’s not our reality at this point with Carson’s unique special needs. That’s in part why, generally, I tend to underestimate Carson while setting expectations too high for Beckett. The end result is… Read more »

Are you ever truly ready for school to start? In Beckett’s case, the answer is definitely no. The good news is I know after the first day he will be happy to be back at school. It’s just that weekly camp life has been treating him well all summer and he likes the relaxed environment,… Read more »

As I dangled a couple hundred feet in the air on a ride called, “Griffon,” I was biting my tongue. One, I was scared so I was trying to refrain from cursing or letting on to my son that my aversion to heights was getting the best of me. Yes there I was two weekends… Read more »

“One perfect day” is how many families living in a world of children with special needs describe Surfers Healing. As a member of this world, I would agree wholeheartedly. It’s impossible not to be reflective and emotional on this day. It’s become an annual tradition for many families, including mine. It’s a time when there’s… Read more »

Never have I felt older than last Sunday night at the Boardwalk amusement parks. Over the last several years, I have noticed amusement rides — especially those of the Tilt-A-Whirl and spinning variety — have been leaving me wrecked when I get off. I get dizzy and nauseous and any other adjective that describes feeling… Read more »

I wonder if every parent feels like I do on this topic. If only my children would listen to me and their mother, we could help them avoid so many mistakes and problems. But, no, that’s not how it works evidently, especially with Beckett. At 9 years old, he is a stubborn child and is… Read more »

We apparently missed the best night of our son’s life last weekend. Pam and I got away for a night to Baltimore for a concert on Sunday. Weeks after we made our plans, we learned about a WWE event coming to Salisbury on the exact same night. That’s when Pam reached out to her brother… Read more »

My house is pet-free for the first time in about 20 years. Over the last several months, we had been dreading the day when Bailey, our 13-year-old black lab, would die. I was privately hoping to find him one morning or one afternoon passed away in our house. I knew the end was near for… Read more »

They might not have loved the 5 a.m. wake-up call but the boys had a great time crabbing the back bays last Saturday. I took Beckett, who was then 4, crabbing for the first time five years ago with our friend “Mr. Brad.” Although I clearly remember the experience and the 10 keepers we caught… Read more »