One of favorite conversation starters is to ask someone how they got their name or how they chose the names for their children. Sometimes people really don’t know, but often, there’s a decent story behind the name. It’s taboo to ask expecting parents what the baby name is, but it’s certainly fair game to ask […]
With a handful of vacation days to use, we wanted to take a short, local family vacation. After evaluating the options, we decided to make the short drive down to Monterey to see the Monterey Bay Aquarium and see the beach. We haven’t had many family vacations. In fact, we have only done overnights away […]
Currently, the only game that I’m running is at the local teen community center. It’s an after-school drop-in space for teens to play games, do homework, have a snack, and otherwise hang out. Although I have mostly been running for a consistent set of players, I always have to be ready for a teen to […]
I have had a difficult time explaining to my coworkers and friends without children how becoming a parent changed my life. In most ways, I’m the same person: I still like the same foods, have the same day job, and dress the same way. On the other hand, I now take a lot more photos, […]
This post is a followup to Part 1 where I reflect specifically on cases where I have learned, grown up, or adapted to new circumstances. Physical Books This one is a cop-out because I still actually prefer reading ebooks for myself. However, I have a new reason to want to have physical books around. I […]
Author’s Note: If you’re wondering why I say “My,” my intent with this blog is not to go into too much detail about either my daughter (for the parenting parts) or my players (for the TTRPG parts). Neither have given their consent per se to be discussed in this blog, so it’s just my side […]
I wish our first trip away from home was for leisure, but it was not. We had some work on the house that meant we had to stay away for two nights. As such, we booked two nights at the hotel about a mile away and prepared ourselves for traveling with children.
The first few weeks of having a newborn were wild. Previously, I had gradually been moving my life to more routines and habits, and all of those instantly disappeared. My daughter’s schedule became my schedule, and she had no schedule–only needs to be addressed. Fortunately, things settled in surprisingly quickly. I occasionally skim through the […]
I promise I have more thoughts on parenting than just watching TV and movies, but Old Enough! is a big enough that I have to stay topical. Old Enough! has apparently been on Japanese TV for awhile, but it just made a big splash on Netflix a few weeks ago. Children go on errands all […]
Like many others, I grew up on Disney movies. My family had an extensive collection of VHS tapes, from Snow White & the Seven Dwarves to The Lion King. And when we weren’t watching the movies themselves, we also had the singalong tapes to annoy my parents. My sisters and I loved those movies as […]