The Sweet, Creamy Filling of America

Like Theodore, I have a dirty secret that involves having family in non-cool places. He apparently has to go to some swamp to see his mother. To see my grandfather, I trek to a small town outside of St. Louis to a convalescent home not far from what used to be known as Six Flags over Mid-America. There’s much to …

On poetry and three-year-olds

In case you are one of the few remaining holdouts (along with the world’s most isolated man) who haven’t seen this, I present you with a 3-year-old reciting the poem “Litany” by Billy Collins. And then, below it, Billy Collins reading his own poem. I had seen it, but DadWagon double-friend Rebecca M. (who prefers …

Should we let ’em cut the kid?

I think they call it cold feet. A month after setting a date—to have our 2-year-old son’s adenoids operated on and to have tubes placed in his eardrums—we are wondering if it isn’t somehow elective surgery. The procedure is a week away and we’re thinking of cancelling, at least the adenoidal part. I had the …