By Jack Edwards I belong to a pot-bellied demographic that doesn’t need to seek out thrills to satisfy my desire for excitement. I don’t need to climb Yosemite’s El Capitan free handed, run with the angry bulls or skydive from the edge of space to feel the rush of adrenaline. You see, I’m teaching my […]
By Jack Edwards My wife recently informed me that I’d volunteered to help out at a fundraiser. This has happened before. So far, I had narrowly survived these bouts of my wife’s generosity of my time. In this case, they needed parents to staff the concession stand at our daughter’s school during a football game. […]
By Jack Edwards Few things are more fundamentally wholesome than a high school fundraiser – a bake sale, a bottle drive, or, in the case of my daughter’s cross country team, a forced run of out-of-shape parents over a grueling 5K race course. And if you aren’t a runner or haven’t used the metric system […]
By Jack Edwards My daughter attends a university which is conveniently located two thousand miles away. This year, I didn’t think I’d be able to attend “Dad’s Weekend” until the last minute, which meant that scheduling flights was a challenge, but luckily, I was able to book an airline itinerary which only included 25 legs. […]
Parenting is difficult. It requires numerous skills, not the least of which is gazing into the innocent little eyes of your child and telling a big, fat lie. Unfortunately, not everyone is born with this skill. When my wife and I were preparing for our first child, we bought a copy of Dr. Spock’s Baby […]
I have never served in the military. I have never experienced the nightmare of fighting for my life in hand-to-hand combat. But I have experienced my share of struggles. Not of the least among them is the unspeakable horror of confronting an over-exuberant parent brandishing an ugly baby. Okay, save the lecture. Yes, I know […]
Every major civilization and religion throughout history has frowned on lying. And I wholeheartedly agreed – generally speaking, that is. Nevertheless, I was taught that if you are going to do something, do it well. Take pride in it. Give it 100%. It is in this spirit, we begin Lesson 1. Whether you are 14 […]
The hoopla surrounding Miley Cyrus’ artistic performance at the Video Music Awards show is quickly dissipating. Experienced media experts predict her foam finger will stop making headlines in only three to five more years. Unfortunately, I missed the VMA show. A scheduling conflict prevented me from enjoying this year’s program — I had to clean […]
It doesn’t take long once your oldest kid enters those joyful teenage years to realize that, for all practical purposes, you have unwittingly engineered a panhandler into your home. Sure, the kid doesn’t carry a cardboard sign saying, “Anything Helps! God Bless.” (Frankly, most parents wish their kid would throw in a God Bless now […]