Pat Kose

Do My Daughters Love Me Too Much?

I had always heard there was a special bond between dads and daughters. Of course I’ve never been a daughter, but I did watch a lot of Full House growing up so I’m pretty sure I got it. Now that I am on the daddy side of the daddy-daughter relationship, I can affirm that thereContinue reading “Do My Daughters Love Me Too Much?”

But Where Is the Real Mickey Mouse?

An important part of creating fun experiences for your children is lying to them. Some of them little – “We’ll only be in the store for a minute.” Some of them big – “Be good or Santa won’t bring you anything.” A major reason is because it benefits us, we do it to get ourContinue reading “But Where Is the Real Mickey Mouse?”

Movie Lawyers: A Source of Parental Inspiration

For most people, their own parents are the primary model for how to be a parent – good or bad. After that, we are greatly influenced by the characters we see in TV and movies. As I’ve mentioned before, the current gold-standard for TV dads is Bandit Heeler, but sitcoms and movies have forever beenContinue reading “Movie Lawyers: A Source of Parental Inspiration”

Have I Created a Middle Child?

As soon as we had our third kid there was nothing we could do about – we’d have a middle child. Stupid math. In my mind I tried to tell myself that we would fall into the traps of creating the stereotypical middle child. Having two older girls and a baby boy, my second daughter,Continue reading “Have I Created a Middle Child?”

Can a Dad Cry? Yes, But I Probably Won’t

While playing a game of “Would You Rather”, my daughter asked me – would you rather cry glue or sweat maple syrup? My initial response was sweat maple syrup. While it would make exercise more challenging, It’d be delicious. However, when I thought about it for a few seconds I changed my answer to cryContinue reading “Can a Dad Cry? Yes, But I Probably Won’t”

Stoic Saturday: How Do You See Your Kids?

There is, without a doubt, a gap between how we see our children and how they really are. We may see the smartest kid in class, a teacher may see a kid who won’t listen. We may see an athlete, a coach may see a kid who sure does try. We may see kids playingContinue reading “Stoic Saturday: How Do You See Your Kids?”

Waiting for Medical Results and Momento Mori

A few weeks ago I had something of a medical concern. I am usually one to take a wait and see if it goes away approach, but this caught my attention in a way that I thought would be best not to wait and see. I’m sure you’re curious what it was. Don’t worry, itContinue reading “Waiting for Medical Results and Momento Mori”

Stoic Saturday: Don’t Wait for Another Instant

When you have kids it becomes easy to fall into the trap of planning ahead. It is easy to think of the next milestone or how much easier life will be once they are out of diapers. While planning can be wise and often necessary, the future should not be your focus – this momentContinue reading “Stoic Saturday: Don’t Wait for Another Instant”

Working From Home When Kids Go Back to School

Like many people in the modern workforce, I can work from home. Going into the summer, I knew I’d be working from home with at least one of my kids three days a week. My wife’s schedule allowed for her to be home with the kids the other two. Having two “normal” workdays in theContinue reading “Working From Home When Kids Go Back to School”

Stoic Saturday: Be The Good You Want to See In Your Kids

Parenting essentially comes down to two things: keeping your kids alive, and making sure they grow up to be good people. There is plenty of help available for the keeping them alive part – car seats, baby gates, child-proof everything. Little kids are even designed to so bendy and squishy they are hard to break.Continue reading “Stoic Saturday: Be The Good You Want to See In Your Kids”