Ah, summer. Those sweltering, lazy days of respite from the rigors and anxiety of the school year. Summers in Carmichael were like that: days filled with nothing but time and opportunity. Right in our own neighborhood we had loads of opportunity. For just up the street and around the corner civilization ceased and a vast, [...]

Caught a mouse this morning. Humanely; I was able to release it into the wild later in the weeds near a pond some distance from our house. I’d heard this particular little guy Wednesday morning as I was making breakfast. He was scrabbling around under the stove, no doubt snacking on whatever little bits of [...]

Today, for a variety of reasons (not the least of which is the fact that I am temporarily devoid of inspiration), I am opening wide the doors to the archives of Being Michael’s Daddy. Below you will find a veritable Vegas-style buffet of musings from months past; some amusing, some poignant, most picayune and all [...]

Last night Michael, his mom and I went to his Kindergarten orientation. It marks the start of his public school career; the point where he is added to the official rolls of a brick-and-mortar learning institution. He is growing up. He could have started Kindergarten last year. In fact, we had signed him up. But [...]

It is said that you are shaped by your environment, particularly the one in which you were raised. I wholeheartedly agree with this. As a man I very often find myself referring back to places and things in my childhood, using them as a point of reference for comparison to where I am now as [...]

The morning was warm, for January. Michael even said as much as I buckled him into his car seat for our trip to school. That’s when we heard the geese flying overhead. A flock of maybe 40 Canadian geese were honking their way across the sky, heading vaguely eastward. “That’s a good sign, Michael,” I [...]

It’s three days until Christmas. I have the week off from work. That is, I have a week off of my normal job. This week I’m full-time daddy. And to make things even more fun, I have a cold. On today’s planner is “Make Cookies” Since my wife is working, it’s just going to be [...]

There is little that can compare with the excruciating torture that is attending a civilized function with a bored five year old. Having bamboo shoots run under one’s fingernails is about as close as I could imagine. Last night sister S sang in her high school choir’s Christmas program, along with I believe seven hundred [...]

Or, the virtual dumping of the junk drawer onto the clear surface that is my blog. There’s actually not much to write about lately; it’s sad. Michael still asks fifteen gazillion questions every day, questions about everything and anything and nothing, questions that have no logical answer, questions that make no sense, questions to which [...]

Michael’s five. He’s going to be starting kindergarten this fall. He’s not a toddler or even a preschooler any more. Not too long ago it hit me how much I miss the time when Michael was very small. And I’m not as much wistful about it as I am annoyed. Despite my very vocal proclamations [...]