We’re pretty big on summer goals in my clan. Because you can blink and the summer’s gone, I’ll sit with my boys at the beginning of summer and find some meaningful things we’d like them to accomplish. They can span academics, athletics, and general life skills. There are always some groans, especially when I’ve decided […]
The Key to Achieving Goals Read More »
Gratitude has been called the shortest lived emotion. I’ve seen enough in my many years to agree that statement’s pretty spot on. However, I don’t think that gratitude has a short lifespan. I still feel deeply grateful to a handful of people from even decades ago. So gratitude can live for a long time, but
I must start today with a confession: I would be considered a child of privilege by most of the world. I grew up in a solidly middle class household in one of the richest countries on the planet. I never lacked anything truly needed to be a healthy and happy little guy. However, that doesn’t
Thank You for Spoiling Your Child Read More »
There’s a word for people who brag about their kids. That word is boring. You’ll pretend to care as you hear about “reading at age 3” or “5 goals in a single game” or “won a Nobel Prize”, but you don’t. You’ll mumble your go-to phrase (mine is a glassy eyed “That’s AWESOME!”) and hope
Skip the Training Wheels Read More »
Raising children isn’t always fun. If it weren’t for the whole survival of the species angle, humans might even have given up on it long ago. Since we do need them, though, it’s good to study best practices for raising them. A schoolteacher friend once shared with me a quote from Dennis Mitchell, an expert
Someone Will Discipline Your Finances Read More »
Many moons ago, I dined with a British partner of the consultancy I called home. This was supposed to be a reward of sorts – if you had done well on the engagement and/or he heard good things about you, he’d invite you to dinner. Just the two of you. On the plus side, you’d
The Case for an Inheritance Read More »
A few years ago I took a trip with my eldest son to Washington D.C. I had hoped for a 1:1 trip with him as soon as he was old enough to really enjoy the experience, so when he hit Kindergarten, we pulled the trigger. It was one of the greatest trips of my life.
TGIF: Travel Adventures (and Happy Holidays) Read More »
Earlier this week, in an instant, my net worth dropped by $28,000. I didn’t smash up an Apple store (though that would have been fun) or share 100 bottles of Cristal with some homeless folks under a bridge (funner!), or buy a Trefecta bike and forget to lock it up at the store (not fun
TGIF: A Big Blow to My Net Worth Read More »
Summer is here. Warm weather, the grill, vacations galore. But each summer I also cringe, because I know I’m going to starting seeing stories about kids being left in cars and dying. Before I became a parent, I couldn’t understand how this could happen. How could you possibly leave a kid behind in a car?
A Low-Tech Fix for Hot Car Deaths Read More »
Every once in a while, something related to home maintenance actually goes your way. Let’s start our story with toilets. Used to be, I didn’t give them a whole lot of thought. Once in a blue moon they stopped up, and even more rarely you’d need to replace a flapper if it started to fail.
Leak Detector 1, Overflowing Toilet 0 Read More »