I’ve been teaching high school for close to two decades now. When I first started teaching, Bill Clinton was at the end of his presidency, dial-up internet was still a thing, and there was no such thing as a smartphone. Some things have changed during that time, while other things have not. What follows is…
At our core, most people want to be seen as good with words. Some people want to be valued for their kindness and compassion. Some people want to be appreciated for their knowledge and expertise. Other people want to be welcomed for their charisma and presence. And other people, still, want to be known for…
Have you ever been in a conversation — maybe an argument, maybe just a talk — and felt like the other person was hearing something different than what you were saying? Worse still, did they accuse of you of not listening to them even when you were listening, and even when you could recite what…
I think that most parent-teacher interactions are positive. Teachers generally care about students, parents generally care about students, and when there is a misunderstanding or concern, it can usually be sorted out with a little communication. But just like the world has many kinds of people, so, too, are there many kinds of teachers. And…
“I keep warning you. Doors and corners, kid. That’s where they get you.” — Abaddon’s Gate (The Expanse, Book 3), by James S. A. Corey Most people don’t go looking into novels for life advice … and, generally speaking, that’s probably for the best. A novel is primarily about telling a good story, and…
Marriage is one of the more unique and, in some ways, mysterious things humans do. For those who are religious, it is a covenant before God, a commitment until, as the officiant says, death do us part. But for the religious and non-religious alike, it also represents a great many other things: a pairing between…
The following is a list that most people would say are good things. Putting your children in organized sports. Volunteering to coach organized sports. Attending PTA meetings. Volunteering to be the president of the PTA. Serving on a church committee. Volunteering to teach a church study. Volunteering to work at a church function. Volunteering to…
On a cold Saturday morning, my first grade daughter set out to spend some money. She’d come into a decent haul from grandparents during her recent birthday, and she’d decided she wanted to put it to use at Build-A-Bear Workshop, a popular place where children can assemble and accessorize their own stuffed animals. My daughter…
“Jane* had her baby.” It was my wife, speaking to me from her chair nearby. I looked over and said, “That’s cool. I didn’t see that.” I opened up Facebook, navigated over to Jane’s profile page … and saw why I hadn’t seen it. Sometime in the last few months, Jane had unfriended me. I…
My husband and I are accustomed to living frugally. We are primarily a one-income home living on his teacher’s salary, and I provide supplemental income through freelance writing and editing. My flexible work schedule makes it easier to raise our kids, but we forgo a lot of things in order to live within our more-limited…
