I Never Expected I’d Become a Plastic Straw Kleptomaniac
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A slippery slope to a surprising compulsion
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I started writing down my life goals and it turned out to be a list of places where I want to nap, but haven’t yet
— Andrew Knott (@aknott21) February 12, 2018
Writing about parenting, fatherhood, life, and all things ambiguous
Congratulations to All the Participants but I Have Once Again Won the Colonoscopy Contest
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I suppose, considering my age and station in life, it was inevitable that I would eventually make the transition from “guy who writes about parenting” to “guy who writes about having a colonoscopy.” Well, at long last, here we are.
Read MoreHow to Fill the Space When Children Grow Up and Artificial Intelligence Takes Over
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I drove up to our local park one morning recently when my kids were all at school. This park with the playground tucked away in the back corner by the lake is where I spent countless hours with my children in what is slowly but surely starting to feel like a different lifetime.
Read MoreDiscovering Shame and Regret at the Bottom of a Popcorn Chicken Container in a Grocery Store Hot Case
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So, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up my chihuahua’s viagra prescription (it’s for his heart condition, to be clear).
Read MoreFor Better or Worse Another Summer Slips and Slides Away
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If you’re a parent who spends a lot of time online, it’s hard to escape the meme about making the most of the 18 summers you have with your children before they leave home.
Read MoreAre You a Leaf or a Dead Bat?
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My 10-year-old son and I were playing two-square in our driveway after I picked him up from school. It was one of those hot, muggy Florida afternoons where it seems like everything is melting at least a little. Even the bright yellow chalk we used to outline the court felt a little squishy.
Read MoreThe Bunnies and the Bees
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About eight months after getting our first pet rabbit, Apollo, we decided to get a second one. We always knew the bunny we added to our family would be a girl and she would be named Artemis. These were non-negotiables for obvious reasons.
Read MoreSometimes a Walk in the Woods Is All You Need
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When I was in my twenties and extremely bored, I came across a book by humorist Bill Bryson called A Walk in the Woods.
Read MoreWhen Your Child Has a Chronic Illness, It Changes Everything
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When you’re a parent, you eventually find some sort of rhythm. It doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, it probably takes years for almost everyone. The addition of another child at any point along the road typically requires a reset.
Read MoreThe Quiet Can Be Deceiving When You’re Parenting at the End of the World
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Most weekdays now I drop my kids off at school around 7:30 in the morning while the light is soft and the Florida winter air feels expectant.
Read MoreEventually, the Parenting “Lasts” Begin to Outpace the “Firsts”
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First words. First steps. First birthdays. First days of school. It’s no secret that “firsts” dominate the lives of parents of young children. Heck, we buy whole books about them and then forget to fill in anything because who has time for recordkeeping when there are hours of doll videos on YouTube to watch?
Read MoreIt Seems Like Milestones Aren’t What They Used to Be
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Sometimes we get so caught up in the daily minutiae of existing that it’s easy for the big milestones to sneak up on us.
Read MoreSometimes Tiny Yellow Wildflowers is Exactly What You Need
/I’ve been doing a lot of driving lately. After more than a year spent within a very tight radius of our home, we began to venture out more about the time school started.
Read MoreUnicorn Wallets, Tea Parties, and Brain Fog
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It only took about two weeks of kindergarten for my daughter to master the fine art of persuasion.
Read MoreWhat This Messed Up Start to the School Year Needed Was a Little Hoppiness
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The past few weeks around these parts have been rough. Just a couple of months ago, there was hope that this school year would be better than last. Nope. It’s remarkably worse.
Read MoreWe’re Going to Have to Slow Down and Take This School Year One Day (or Hour) at a Time
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My oldest son who is nine years old and just starting fourth grade entered quarantine four days after school started back.
Read MoreNews Flash: Kids Can Change Quickly
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It’s easy to forget how fast your kids can change until they remind you.
Read MoreHow My Son and I Are Growing Up Together This Summer
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The first full week of school summer vacation kicked off with all three of my children attending tennis camp for four hours each day. This might not sound like much, but it was monumentally significant for me because it marked the first time in more than nine years of parenting that all my children were away at the same time.
Read MoreIf You’re Struggling With Homeschooling a Preschooler, You’re Not Alone
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According to UNICEF, at least 40 million preschool children worldwide have missed out on early education because of COVID-19. This is a staggering statistic, but while I was searching for information on how missing preschool could affect a child’s development, I could not find any data on how many would-be preschoolers have started naming letters of the alphabet “Jeff.”
Read MoreHow a Tiny Dog Helped Me Find My Way
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Before there was a wife and three kids and everything else in this life that I type about on the blank white space of my laptop late at night and lay bare on the pages of the internet, there was a dog.
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