Pat Kose

I Left My Kids. It Was Nice.

Today I abandoned my children. It felt good. I thought I would feel more anxious or guilty about it, but I was really fine with it. And so were they. It was actually their idea. It is a fine balance to strike between giving your kids what they want and what they need. Usually theyContinue reading “I Left My Kids. It Was Nice.”

A Calendar Never Forgets

There are some things that I’ll never forget – birthdays, home run totals, movie quotes. On the flip side, there are some things I can never remember – passwords, when was the time I changed the furnace filter, what my wife said is for dinner tomorrow. Generally, I tend to remember the stuff that isContinue reading “A Calendar Never Forgets”

Do You Reward the Effort or the Result?

I recently helped my eight-year old daughter learn one of education’s greatest lessons – the importance of cramming for a test. Well, not exactly cramming. Its not like I had her up until 3:00 AM memorizing her multiplication or something crazy. I might be a bad enough parent to let her fall behind on herContinue reading “Do You Reward the Effort or the Result?”

There Are No Off Days for Dad

I was recently reminded of something about being a parent – you can’t have any off days. That is not to say that you can’t get some time away from your kids. My wife and I try to get out for date nights as regularly as we can, and at least once a year takeContinue reading “There Are No Off Days for Dad”

2024 in Review: From My Kids’ Perspective

2024 is in the books, and while I have thoughts on the year, I thought it might be fun to see what my kids thought about what happened in the last 12 months. Or more accurately, the last 3-ish months. Come to find out my children had a really hard time with the concept ofContinue reading “2024 in Review: From My Kids’ Perspective”

Dad Writes a Short Story

While writing fiction is not my sweet spot, I do have something of a soft spot for it. I’m pretty sure anybody who has ever put pen to paper has had at least some small aspiration to write the next Great American Novel, and I’ve always wanted to write a screen play. While I’ve notContinue reading “Dad Writes a Short Story”

My Son is Like Jesus

My four-year old son, Brooks, is in pre-school, and has recently wrapped up his first trimester of the year. With that comes a parent-teacher conference and a report card. I had his parent-teacher conference a few weeks ago. It took about two minutes. At his age there really isn’t much to go over other thanContinue reading “My Son is Like Jesus”

Other Kids Like My Kids. Weird.

I think I may have under-estimated my kids. One thing I (and probably a lot of parents) worry about when their kids to go school, is if and how they’ll make friends. Or even worse, if they’ll get picked on. Much to my delight, it seems my kids have had no problem making friends. WheneverContinue reading “Other Kids Like My Kids. Weird.”

Stoic Saturday: Choose Your Own Injury

Once of the central thoughts in Stoicism is that you can’t control what happens, but you can control how you react. Not just how we physically react, but also how we react mentally and emotionally. As a parent, I know it is hard enough to get your kids to control their bodies. My son wentContinue reading “Stoic Saturday: Choose Your Own Injury”

A Proud Moment for Dad: Kids Taking Pratfalls

Sometimes I wonder if I am raising good people. Not just good kids that listen or eat their carrots, but good people. My wife has gotten the into the habit of doing “Kindness Wednesday”, where they’ll do something nice for somebody. That usually ends up with them getting some kind of treat for their teachersContinue reading “A Proud Moment for Dad: Kids Taking Pratfalls”