Category: Parenting

The most gratuitous use of power I’ve ever witnessed occurred about four years ago when my then 12-year-old daughter was “dating” this Korean kid in middle school. This boy was gaga over her, and he was nice, and so she liked hanging out with him. It was a beautiful Saturday and we invited him to join us on a bike ride along the greenway. About an hour into it we were taking a break when my daughter said, “Hey Dad, John (not real name)…

I was brought to tears in the Bojangles drive through this morning where a green, letter-sized poster next to the ordering speaker featured two girls inside of a shamrock. Bojangles is raising money to combat Muscular Dystrophy, and the “ask” for a dollar donation is currently part of their pitch when you order. One of the girls featured in the photograph, named Natalie, was listed at 10-years-old. She had sparkling blue eyes full of life. The other girl was her sister…

For their whole lives, my teenage daughters have heard me talk about the idea of fate and how God is constantly talking to us, but that it’s up to us to have a willingness to listen. Mostly these little lessons have been met with some yawns. Yeah yeah, Dad, we get it. Only, they don’t. Few people do, I’d guess. Hell, I’ve had to learn this over 52 years, and I still have to remind myself daily. Last night we were heading into…

With respect to my daughter, I removed this post. But here’s the point–don’t rush your kids into adulthood. They will get there quickly enough. And they’ll never get to go back. (And no, my daughter isn’t in any kind of trouble. She’s not drinking. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. Way better than I did at her age.) *** jmitchem

My oldest daughter stayed home sick today. She’s never in her life been sickly, but recently she’s shown some signs. It started in early August, as she entered tenth grade, with a cold that morphed into bronchitis. She’s an honor student on an IB track. She’s smart, but not gifted. She works hard to get good grades. She’s also a year-round soccer player. However, unlike academics, she’s a gifted athlete. Still, thanks to her strong work ethic, she works hard at soccer too. Her club team this…

We’ve raised our girls to believe they can be anything in life, regardless of whether there’s an existing case study. We’ve raised them to believe that kindness and humility are weapons of peace, and that they should respect their ego but not succumb to it. We’ve raised them to be strong, ethical, and to lead with the truth. We’ve raised them to stand their ground, trust their gut, and always be willing to give in to love. I never did read…