Dear future daughter and son in laws,
You might be a bit concerned about this letter, after all there are so many around that are derogatory towards you, how could you not be? If I were in your position I would be concerned too. This is not going to be a derogatory letter, this is not going to put you in your place or tell you about my shot gun (obviously that last part is only aimed at you dear son-in-law because, you know, gender stereotyping and all.) This letter is to tell you what I hope our relationship will be and how I think we can grow it into something absolutely wonderful.
I adore my kids, and I think they are the most amazing little people on the planet, but I don’t think they are perfect. In fact, I have no illusions that they will grow up to be perfectly imperfect just...
Lifestyle
Dear Hall,
On March 7th, 2011 our child will turn 18. I have some pretty strong feelings about that age and what that milestone really means for him, but more than that, I have spent the last 13 of those 18 year practically silent on the subject of your role as his father. As the day approaches I am filled with questions about his future that I can not answer, like who will he turn out to be, will he continue to be the conscientious and caring young man that he is today, will he find love, and employment, and happiness in a world so filled with obstacles and hate? Furthermore, will the sins of the father color his maturity as he rushes headlong into manhood?
Its been a long time coming, a lot of skinned knees and ear infections, a lot of late nights and early mornings, a bunch of...
3,019
Dear Teachers of my kids,
First I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for what has been a great year beyond our every expectation. Thank you for discussing important things and your willingness too to chat about the seemingly less important things. Thank you for your love of teaching, your love of my children, your interest in all they brought to your classroom and your seemingly unending level of patience for expressing and extending that love and interest over the course of an entire day to a room full of kids. I thank you for your embracing of all that they are; the good, the bad and the not so very pretty sometimes. And for your physical embraces too which I know have been forbidden or at least discouraged in too many schools these days.
This year my own kids have come...
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Dear anyone who claims that working with kids is not for them,
About four months ago, I would put myself in your category. The category of opting out of any event in which I would be forced to interact with humans under the age of 10 years old. The category of finding any other means of making extra cash besides baby sitting because you’re terrified of watching over and socializing with a tiny human. The category of being anxious about hanging out with small children at a family reunion because you’re not sure if they will want to talk about their favorite cartoon or existentialism. Up until May of this year, I was just like you.
Like any college student, my summer break required a much less glamorous endeavor than a beach house with your closest friends or a cliché road trip around...
6,831
Dear teachers,
There are many people who think you have a cushy job, with seven-hour workdays and two months off every summer. They say that you are overpaid, underworked, lazy and uncaring. Any time there is a labour dispute in the Ontario education system, like there is now, you are accused of trying to suck the taxpayer dry in order to line your own pockets.
Let me tell you what I think, teachers.
I think you guys totally ROCK.
Since my firstborn son started school in 2007, I have gained an appreciation for just how hard you work. I have come to understand that your workdays extend far beyond classroom hours, that report cards and IEP’s involve a lot more than simply punching data into a computer, and that a great deal of thought and time goes into the lessons you teach and the...
5,926
An Open Letter to My Ex-Best friend’s Soon To Be Husband
I guess I should start by saying that although at one point in my life I was vey bitter towards you, I am no longer that person. I think back to how everything fell apart and realized how silly I was to be bitter with you and her in the first place. I can’t even give you a good enough explanation as to why I acted as I did. Maybe it was because I loved her and you took my place in her life. Maybe there were other reasons that I can’t even remember any more. That’s how unimportant it is now that I look at the bigger picture.
We were best friends for 8 years. In those 8 years I got to know her better than I knew myself; we made future plans together and dreamed of the day we would meet our soul mate. That is exactly why she...
4,352
Hello.
It pains me to begin writing to you in letter format, because I cannot, even in the form of a pleasantry such as "Dear You" or "Good morning", bring myself to send you well wishes. THIS is the very reason I need to say this all one final time:
I have no respect for you and I hate this. Our relationship did not begin this way, yet has eroded over the years. How did it come to this? Let's start from the beginning.
In the beginning, I was just a twenty-something walking alone. I had no idea a chance encounter with a stranger would make me a parent, yet it did. That man I met was your husband.
Less than a week prior, over Christmas break, you had told he and your collective children that you were in love with another man and moving across country without them. At...
9,378
SOCIAL MEDIA
How it destroyed my life!!!
Facebook the social media for all, founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and fellow Harvard college students, although it on went out to the public in 2006. To anyone of the age 13 and older and if you have a valid email address that is.
Oh the hype awesome social media in Africa, great meet old school friends, colleagues from yesteryear. This is just what I need, haven't seen so many people in so many year. So as we all did joining was not an option but a necessity all the how you doing? its been years, how many children have you got, you married, so on and so fourth. You build up your relationship with your old pals, now you can actually see what they are up to all the time with just a click of a button and voila your on there home...
3,201
Dear Miles and Asher,
I need you to know something. I need you to know that I just can’t talk to you about this game. I don’t understand Minecraft at all and I have no desire to try. Sure, I want to be interested in what you’re saying to me, but I just can’t. Because you say things like, I built a chair! I saw a chicken! I got an egg, ha ha ha!!! and my eyes get that unfocused look because I’m staring past you and my brain has shut down. I can’t help it. I’m only human.
That’s why I say Uh huh with no feeling, over and over. I’m not listening at all. You probably can tell, because you’re smart. Whether or not you love this game, please know I still think you’re very smart. Lots of smart people do things that make no sense and then talk incessantly about those things.
That said, I...
2,690
Dear Boys,
Happy summer 2015 to you.
I’m so glad summer is here. I wish for you lots of fun and a (somewhat) schedule-free summer. I’m looking forward to our vacations and trips and swimming in town at the pool by the park.
I’m also looking forward to the new kinds of movement summer brings.
Summer is a great opportunity for me to encourage you a bit about some of what I mean when I say something is “good for your bones,” like when I talk about vegetables and water and getting outdoors.
Moving is good for your bones. And your brain and your heart. You get the idea.
Too many people stop moving and can’t see how to walk the quarter mile ahead of them, let alone across a field or a parking lot.
Please don’t stop moving. Not for too long, anyway. You can sit while you rest and sit...
2,665