Like a helium balloon
Young children have no problem letting things go. It's a flaw built up over time, and it takes us years to unlearn it as adults. To correct a behavior, parents intuitively reprimand them when...
Dealing with frustration
Living with an 18-month-old is never boring. My son, Lucas, swings from one mood to another in less time than it took me to write the end of this sentence. One moment, he's happy reading a book....
Parenting is improv theater
Parenting is as live as improv theater. The rest of the troupe is here, the audience is here, and there's only one take. When I started my job as a dad, I thought I'd always be able to give it my...
It's fixable
It was super windy last weekend, and I was a bit agitated. I was on my way out to join my family at the playground. But as I was stepping past the wooden gate (I built it myself, and I'm a bit...
The best $4 ever spent
Kids get excited about things that are very different from those of adults. You probably remember your kid's first birthday. The members of the extended family all wanted to spoil her. They...
Everybody struggles
Life is tough. Most weeks come with their share of issues. From a tiny aggravation to an enormous problem. Human beings have been trying to find ways to accept it since... well, probably since...
Careful with that exaggeration
The language we use matters. Hyperboles and exaggerations can be tempting to use to make a point. Or if you're French... oh yes! Some of us have a sweet spot for drama. But our kids have yet to...
Boredom is an invitation to slow down
It's 3:22 p.m., and I'm sitting in the clinic's waiting room. They send you to this place when you have an emergency that isn't urgent enough for the ER. I'm here with my daughter, who needs to...
We've had a good day, haven't we?
Golly! Why is it so hard for us adults to acknowledge when things go well? Why do we seem to obsess over the proverbial late train? Modern science tells us that gratitude has health benefits...
Giving up parenting
Today's essay is a bit tongue-in-cheek. It's meant to achieve one thing and one thing only: to relieve you and me from a specific parenting guilt. It's for all of us dads who feel slightly ashamed...
Throw them a proper parade
I don't know about you, but some days, it feels like all I do is tell my kids not to do stuff. Or to be careful with stuff. Or to do stuff. Most adults implicitly know to abide by the etiquette...
Instill enthusiasm
Winston Churchill famously said that success is "the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm." No one ever cruised through life without facing challenges, hardships,...
Don't fix it without them asking
Think with me for a moment. Pick a time you presented an idea to your boss. Do you remember your excitement and motivation? Now, recall how you felt when your boss suggested "improvements" to your...
Men don't hug their kids
I remember this weird story my mum shared with me. When I was a baby, my father's mother got really upset because my dad was changing my diaper. To her, this was something a dad did not do. It was...
Conversation: Raising kids in a multilingual home
Hello friends, For episode number 3 of Papa Notes presents: Conversations, I had the pleasure to chat with Joao Aguiam. We covered many different topics, including raising kids abroad and the...
Vacation expectations
The moment you became a dad, you waved goodbye to your old way of vacationing. I recently talked to Jamie about vacationing with kids on the Papa Notes Conversations podcast. One thing stood out:...
Like looking in a mirror
You are flawed, and so am I. We carry our defects of character into fatherhood. But there's hope. Before we get kids, it's easier to ignore some of these flaws. People who care about us might give...
Gently pushing our kids past setbacks
Learning a new skill is difficult. In the beginning, enthusiasm propels us. It's new and exciting, and we are making progress quickly. But learning is never a linear endeavor. Our motivation...
Conversation: Fairness, injustice, and unshakable joy
Hello friends, Papa Notes presents: Conversations is back with a new episode! Listen to my very interesting and eloquent friend Mukom talk about parenting. You can find the full conversation on...
Good dads are researchers
Each of us adheres to an education principle that will act as a north star. This principle is often modeled after or against how we were raised. To some, this principle emphasizes the authority in...
You can't filter it all out
Humans are controlling animals. They try to shape everything to their liking. The environment, themselves, and the people around them. Especially their offspring, whether they admit it or not. As...
Conversation: Flow and teaching disciplined pursuit to kids
Hello my friends! For this first episode of Papa Notes presents: Conversations, I had the pleasure to have a conversation with my friend Jamie Howard. You can watch the full episode on YouTube:...
Should you teach your kid to cheat?
A friend asked if he's wrong to teach his boy to cheat. This question has the quality of punching you in the stomach. It leaves you slightly disturbed and uncomfortable because, deep down, you...
Bonding took time
Some events in life anoint you with a mission. You experience tragedy, luck, forgiveness, or grace, and you know that you won't be allowed to shut up about it. You have now inherited a...
Talking to strangers
Most adults don't like interacting with strangers. Some don't know how to open the conversation or are afraid to bother the person. Others live in a past trauma of being ridiculed at school as a...
The environment shapes the family
Two years ago, I moved my family to a house. Shy above 110 square meters (1,184 square feet for my friends living outside of the metric world), the house itself isn't what you'd call big. But it...
You will NEVER not worry
My friend looked me in the eye and said: "Now that you have a kid, you will NEVER not worry." Sophie, my daughter, was just a few weeks old, but I had already experienced more worrying for someone...
Kids are quite the personal development hack
Top coaches and motivational speakers make bread with the dough of thousands wanting to see them on stage. The book market is flooded with self-help and personal development books, from the most...
Thoughts and feelings of a good dad
Only fools believe that what they once felt, they will feel forever. And we are all fools. Youths fall madly in love only for a short while. A new job energizes a woman until she realizes it's not...
Attention is a proof of love
We can't stand regular stimulation anymore. We always want to be entertained. Reach into our right pocket and access an infinite list of things to watch, read, or listen to. People get sore thumbs...
Praising results, but not only
Sophie, my four-year-old daughter, loves chess. She has seen me play or do chess puzzles since her early days. There was always a chessboard on the kitchen table. When she was two, we would...
Find your group of dads
Being a father is an incarnated experience. You can explain what you are going through or share your emotions with guys who don't have kids yet. But they won't get it. It takes living the...