I remind myself often that I don’t want my boy to stay a boy forever and there is grief at each parenting chapter as it closes, which makes a moment like this special.

It is in parenting that I have noticed the limitations in my need for order. Or rather, I have seen the value of a different kind of order in other homes where instruments and craft supplies and books and games are piled on surfaces, awaiting the work of imagination.

There are just some emotions I prefer not to feel. But I want my sons to have a more robust experience of emotions. So, I have to start feeling the feelings.

Reliving my own childhood issues with school as I help my son with his.

Learning new languages in parenting.

Why I stopped telling my sons to “be careful” and replaced it with “pay attention.”