How early is too early to talk to your kids about drugs?If you’re like me, you are scared to death of the future when it comes to this topic. This is particularly troubling for us as both our kids were adopted and born to opiate-addicted birth mothers. They were both have addiction in their background… Read more »

We enjoyed a relaxing family vacation last week.That’s the first time I can ever recall thinking that way after a trip with my children. I usually am relieved to a degree to get home because I’m so exhausted.Family vacations with kids, ages 10 and 9, are simply not known for being restful, but in our… Read more »

(Editor’s Note: I’m on vacation this week, so we are reprinting a column from four years ago this week.)The family is packed up and headed to Disney World.This has been planned for months, but we didn’t let the kids know about it until a couple weeks ago for a few reasons.One, we didn’t want them… Read more »

Listening to Beckett sing in the shower is a highlight of my day.If I have the time, I will sit outside the bathroom and listen to him bounce from song to song. He typically sings a few lines he knows and then ad libs a bit because he can’t remember all the words. When he… Read more »

Many parents, including me, live in disparate worlds vacillating between the realms of guilt and anxiety and pride and love.If you read this column weekly or semi-regularly, you well understand this has morphed into a journal of sorts. I view thoughts and experiences shared here as something that a reader may identify with and feel… Read more »

Families are built in many different ways.That’s why I am a grandfather at 43 years old and Beckett and Carson are uncles at 10 and 9 years old, respectively. For the record, Pam is entirely too young to be a grandmother as well. However, she, and we, wouldn’t have it any other way today, as… Read more »

“Embrace the laziness.”That was the mantra around our house last week as soon as the doctor confirmed Beckett had the flu and should miss an entire week of school.When the doctor said he needed to do nothing but relax the rest of week, and possibly more depending on how he felt, I wondered to myself… Read more »

I came across a column this week about youth sports that I thought was worthy of sharing.Beckett, 10, has played multiple sports most of his life. If you ask him which sport he likes the best, he will tell you whatever one he is playing at that time. When asked recently by a friend what… Read more »

A few minutes into watching the Super Bowl as a family, I became doubtful my boys were going to make it beyond the first quarter.While there was sleep to worry about on a school night with the game starting well after 6:30 p.m., I’m referring more to the patience level it would require to even… Read more »

Prior to becoming a parent, I admit to never thinking much about the term inclusion.However, it’s a big part of life now with our special needs son, Carson. For us, inclusion means being part of a community that is understanding of him, supportive and genuinely caring.Inclusion means our non-verbal son is still able to participate… Read more »