How can the kid who can’t find his shoes in the morning lock his eyes onto a soccer ball as if they were guided by a laser?
Why is it that the boy who routinely turns …

I’m not sure if Big Guy was being cunning or air-headed when he came to the Book Fair room where I was volunteering at school earlier this week and said he’s lost his lunchbox. “I …

When Big Guy was a toddler Elmo always was there for him – on his second birthday cake, on his Halloween costumes, on “Sesame Street” as Mommy fed That Baby Who Ruined His Life.
In recent …

So did you learn anything during sparring today, I asked Big Guy after karate class.
“No, not really,” Big Guy replied.
He was lying through his mouth guard.
He’d gone up against The Girl again. The Girl who …

He hates “Wonder Pets” but will concede to occasionally watching “Max and Ruby.” He admires Max’s sneaky ways and rails that Ruby is a control freak, which is ironic given that he’s one of the …

Given that Big Guy was fearlessly toddling to the top of tall structures by the time he was 14-months-old, I’ve long known that the day would come when he would surpass me athletically.
I didn’t expect …

There are teams, and then there are teams.
I grew up a Cincinnati fan, so the Big Red Machine era, of course, is one of my favorites in sports. But the 1990 Reds, who swept the …

There are two gray plastic bins in the garage, each roughly 2×2×2. I bought them several years ago, to preserve the guys’ keepsakes. Important stuff such as the first outfits they wore and their first …

It was the equivalent of memorizing the Declaration of Independence but forgetting when it was signed.
Or, closer to home, it was like the time his mother concentrated so hard on learning to tap dance in …

It was an unaccustomed role for Big Guy, who’s more used to being the one leaving than he is to being the one left behind.
This time, though, it was BFF’s time to move on. We’d …

Dear Mom,
I love you! Happy Mothr’s Day! I love it when you clim the montin. Have a special day! I like it when we ride bikes.
Love,
Big Guy

I should know by now not to let the guys have any say in my makeup – the results usually turn me into a clown or a punk rocker.
For some reason, though, nail polish amuses …

(All misspellings are by the author. Not that the Web master does much better on any given day.)
If i had a thing I would cich it.
I would take the kite away fron him.
If the thing …

When it comes to disappointing gifts, I’m a veteran.
Back when I was in my 20s, my grandmother gave me underwear for three Christmases in a row. The first year, I was amused. The second, I …

Big Guy’s had a loose tooth for more than a year now. Or so he thought.
He first “noticed it” early last spring and charged into the bathroom to ask me to examine what he thought …

He stood guard at the park for a half hour, pushing her gently in a swing and delighting at the toddler giggles. He was convinced that he couldn’t leave because a departure would upset her.
He …

This is another fine mess Dad has gotten me into.
Most nights before he deployed, the routine was for Big Guy to take his bath, brush his teeth and then curl up to another heart-warming episode …

It’s a lesson I should have remembered from when the guys were potty training.
I tried to start early with both, Big Guy because Boots was on the way and Boots because he insisted that wanted …

We’ve had ample reason to celebrate Big Guy’s successes over the years, both in the classroom and athletically.
I’ve never been as proud of him, though, as I was this week when he failed, admitted his …

When we last left Big Guy, his big mouth was causing problems at school on a daily basis. It’s a seasonal issue for him that’s going to crop up just as sure as the teacher …

Have you ever had the bad luck to be good at something you don’t like doing?
It happened to me once, between my sophomore and junior years in college. I’d accepted a summer internship as a …

When she rang the doorbell Monday after school, tears streamed down the second-grader’s face. I was shocked, because while I don’t know her well I do know that she’s a tough kid who doesn’t hesitate …

Mommy, BFF’s been lying to me, Big Guy said last night. He doesn’t really have a brother.
I had suspected as much for months.
In the fall, the “brother” was a teen-ager who’d left a few weeks …

Big Guy bounded down the sidewalk, Best Friend and B at his heels. The three raced to the park, for a real game of basketball instead of the lame ones featuring Mom’s feeble attempt to …

Big Guy does not play with dolls. They’re too girly-girl.
He instead plays with bears – but not babyish ones like the once-beloved Bear who got kicked to the curb after Big Guy’s kindergarten classmates laughed …

I have to admit, people who hide what they really want deep within layers of bluff and baloney drive me up the wall.
It’s tricky situation when you wind up living with someone like that – …

Big Guy has two passions in life: Soccer and D, who’s now been elevated to “the greatest friend on Earth.”
So imagine Big Guy’s joy when we went to a pre-soccer season meeting last week and …

Big Guy had big news just before the holidays. He’d been promoted to the hot-pink dots under the school library color-coded system for deciphering reading levels, meaning he now was allowed to check out “chapter …

The purest form of love? It’s not that of a parent for a child or of one spouse for another. It’s the love a little boy has for his first true friend.
Big Guy has had …

Thursday was a great day for Big Guy.
He won $10 and a chocolate bar at a bingo game then spent $8 of the take on Christmas presents for others. He volunteered to share the candy …

If I had a pet chicken I will eat pizza with it.
I will eat hot dogs with it.
I will have a cocoa with it.
I will play with it.
I will take it to The Box.
What would …

Notice to Big Guy:
Effective 10 November, 2009, the terms of your school-morning checklist will change. Please note this and make plans to adhere to the following requirements.

Put your lunch box in your backpack.
Be quiet on …

A 6-year-old begs for weeks to play in the front yard without mom skulking over him. Mom finally gives him a chance at a 15-minute test drive.
What happens during that quarter of an hour?

The 6-year-old …

One boy froze as if paralyzed when the plastic bag of foam spider parts landed on his desk.
“I can’t get it open,” the first-grader pleaded. “Can you do it?” I did, but uncertainty seemingly gripped …

I can’t remember why it started – I think my mom might have called earlier the day of the race and mentioned that it was going to be on TV that night.
But I do remember …

Two months and nine days after Big Guy’s summer fell from the monkey bars and came crashing to an end, he got it back.
He actually got lucky – his wrist was supposed to have been …

“Red and yellow and pink and green,

Purple and orange and blue …”

I hate you.
All of you, especially pink. The rest I didn’t despise until two weeks ago, when a note from Big Guy’s teacher gave …

For Big Guy, the only thing that could match the anticipation last year of leaving the baby school and going to kindergarten was the excitement of a potential school bus ride.
His dreams were destroyed before …