3 posts tagged with "parenting"

“You’re invited. Be sure to come at 4:35 p.m.!” my 7-year-old told his three siblings. He pressed handwritten invitations for our “GALLERY OPENING” made from scrap paper into their hands. It was a few minutes before the event time listed for our formally informal affair. My son was enthusiastic about the photos we had just hung together in the hallway of my kids’ favorite stuffed animals: the bears.

My kids have imagined a whole universe around their plush toy bears; many of these personalities carry names derived from IKEA’s endearing Djungelskog toy. Minutes later, my son would sit on my shoulders and pull back a taped-up pillowcase to unveil the stars of our new hallway gallery.

Right as my son hollered for everyone to come upstairs for the ceremony, my youngest yelled from below, “DAD, I NEED YOU!”

I spent my summer as a fifteen-year-old working on construction sites in Southern California for my grandfather. Like many caring grandparents, he cared deeply that I learn to do things the “right way” in life. His way.

I learned how much he cared when he barked “Hey, what do you think you’re doing over there?” across the room and pointed at me in scorn while his other laborers kept working. My cousin worked beside me, but he knew what was coming and stopped to watch. It’s so hard to look away from a train wreck.

The house in Southern California where my grandfather’s ire taught me about his beef with ”put jobs”

Dedicated to my papa; a great man. 🩵

Today I taught my four kids how to build a PC. It was a good activity for a rainy day. As my son tightened the screw to fasten the power supply to the case, I thought “wow, these are third-generation PC builders.” and I started remembering how we got to this point.

For me, it started like this: