Rachel Scott.It was a name foreign to me until a few months ago when I heard my 12-year-old son’s school was looking to present a program called Rachel’s Challenge to students. Rachel was the first student killed in the horrific Columbine High School attack in Littleton, Colo. in 1999. She was just 17 years old… Read more »

I have learned a lot from my kids since the pandemic hit.Most of all I have learned adults need to be more like children when it comes to resiliency. I marveled this week as I watched dozens of students and teachers leave Worcester Prep Tuesday with their facial coverings firmly planted. It was the first… Read more »

I have been thinking this week what’s more difficult – parenting a pre-teen or a special needs child.Each kid in our house comes with challenges, but they are as different as they come.Parenting a pre-teen is complicated. There’s some things going on with our 12-year-old that are mysterious and not always confirmable. We communicate a… Read more »

It was an eventful week for our 12-year-old kid and appears to be an expensive month coming up for his parents.On Monday, Beckett had a teeth cleaning and I wasn’t prepared for what I heard. Because I’m scatterbrained most days, I wasn’t thinking the topic of orthodontics would come up at this appointment.I fully expected… Read more »

Last week’s column about my desire to see my boys back in school brought a variety of feedback.If you are like me your mind is scattered these days, jumping often among subjects and concerns, but there is one thing I am certain of currently. There is a tremendous division currently about three things in our… Read more »

Parenting is mental warfare, but in the middle of a pandemic it’s borderline impossible.An article in the New York Times Wednesday got my attention because it hit on some topics many parents are working through these days.The article, headlined “How to Handle Anxiety Over Back-to-School Decisions,” is written by Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, a perinatal psychiatrist.My… Read more »

Carson’s first fish will go down as a sting ray. For the last three years or so, Beckett and I have fished with the Ocean City Guide Service each summer. We started with a couple two-hour trips followed by longer four-hour jaunts. With Carson’s behavior and overall temperament at their best levels ever recently, Pam… Read more »

Carson went back to school this week.We refer to it as camp around the house, but it’s the summer academy program at Cedar Chapel Special School. He began his second stint as “camp counselor” this week. He’s, of course, a student getting some summer enrichment, but it helps us because his brother does summer camp… Read more »

It’s always interesting to me how my kids react to things.At 12 and 10 years old now, most of the time my boys are calm and mellow about things, but there are some instances – usually unpredictable — when they are dramatic and extreme with their reactions.It’s the latter cases that make for better copy… Read more »

This is going to be a different summer for sure.Due to quarantine, my kids have become so accustomed to social isolation they seem content hanging at home most of the time. In pre-pandemic life, we would hear claims of being bored and wanting to do something fun much more often than we do now. In… Read more »