The 7 Deadly Holidays

Last week, a friend of mine wished everyone on Facebook a happy Thanksgiving by calling it the “eat whatever you want without feeling guilty” holiday. She’s right, of course. Officially, Thanksgiving is about being grateful, but we all know the main focus is usually on making a ridiculous amount of food then trying to eat as […]

Sibling Torture Tactics: Psychological Warfare

My two-year-old daughter Bridget has been trying really hard to talk lately. She goes on long monologues at the dinner table, flinging her arms around and shaking her fist to emphasize her point. Frankly, I have no idea what she’s talking about. Whatever it is, she feels very passionate about it. Something about tacos and cats, which are […]

My Daughter’s Mutinous, Stabby Pants

So, I caught my daughter smacking her own butt this morning while yelling, “BAD! You’re WRONG! You need to STOP IT!” It was a perplexing situation, one I hoped to better understand. So instead of telling her to cut it out, I tried to uncover what strange manner of 4-year-old psychology had driven her to […]

Advice for Men: Cracking the Fat Pants Code

Many guys who have been in long-term relationships will, sooner or later, find themselves staring down the barrel of the following question: Do these pants make my butt look fat? According to male comedians, this is a very stressful problem. You’re not sure how to answer this question without either lying or starting a fight. It may […]

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Living Room

Being a parent teaches you a lot about human psychology. Toddlers, for example, think the world revolves around them. I’m not trying to be critical here, because this is a normal stage of kid development. It’s not malicious, they just live in a self-focused universe where everything is one giant movie starring them as the main character with everyone else in a supporting role only existing to […]

A Parenting Hack for Dealing With Stubborn Kids

Being a parent is a little like being a social scientist. You’re an anthropologist studying a strange tribe of lawless pygmies, trying to uncover why they need to take a single bite of every piece of fruit in the basket or rub spaghetti sauce into their hair. Or you’re a psychologist, studying how the human brain behaves […]

Six Word Story Challenge: Worship

After a hiatus, I’m back with the Six Word Story Challenges… These are so fun! You write a story using only six words, based on the weekly theme. This week’s theme is “worship” and the challenge is open from Saturday 19th November 2016 – Friday 25th November 2016. Anyone can play! Check it out at: Sometimes […]

My Liberal Hangover

“You should’ve been at the election night party. People were going CRAZY. Alice and Lindsay even started crying. Now, I’m not happy that Trump was elected or anything, but crying? That’s so over the top.” My buddy probably assumed I’d agree with him, since I’m usually more about logical, rational discussions than a bunch of melodrama. Except […]

An Open Letter to My Controversial Facebook Friends

A couple weeks ago, I finally had to block someone on Facebook. See, we all come from different backgrounds and have had unique life experiences, so I’m okay with different religious, political, and philosophical points of view. That doesn’t mean I won’t find them irritating, occasionally argue with you, or find myself trying to calculate […]