By Michael I held up the photo and asked, “Who’s this?” Susan looked at me like I had just grown a second nose. “Who’s that?” “Yes, who is it?” “You really don’t know?” At which point, I’m taking one of those mental backpedals that sometimes save me from embarrassment but usually come much too late….
Author Archives: MichaelR
Feeling Good About Myself
By Michael There was a story in the paper last week about self esteem. It’s not pretty, even though all the children interviewed are very pretty. And bright. And incredibly talented. For those of you who missed the story, it turns out that the self esteem movement might not be as beneficial as promised and—I…
But Doesn’t Her Hair Look Great?
By Michael Bike path, Palatine, Illinois, Tuesday morning. Mom and four little tots on bicycles. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but I’m gonna assume for the sake of this post that the children are hers. I’ll also assume that she loves them. You can tell, because she’s at the street with all…
Chicken Butts are Forever
By Michael We’re sitting on the tarmac in St Louis. It was supposed to be Chicago, but one of those summer storms that sweeps across the Midwest sent us into a holding pattern and then we ran out of fuel and, well, American doesn’t fly ultralights, so we stopped at the nearest filling station. I…
What We Learned Here…
By Michael I had the opportunity to spend some time on the radio last week, doing an interview about life lessons and taking calls from listeners. We didn’t get a lot of calls in our short time on the air—some loudmouth was monopolizing the conversation to drive book sales—but it was interesting to see what…
$600 for Binoculars? YAKM!!
By Michael My Sunday magazine supplement had a great article over the weekend about the best gift ideas for “dads and grads.” Notice how dads rank so high that we don’t even get our own gift list. Even worse, note how graduating females are assumed to want the same gifts as both 18-year-old high school…
So Why Should I Thank You?
By Michael Ours was the solitary flag flying on my block yesterday, and I only counted two others as we headed out the various side streets to the main road. Yesterday was Memorial Day. I guess everyone else forgot. In my neighborhood, like 80% of the country, we tend to think of ourselves as Middle…
I Need a Fix
By Michael Every so often, I want to rent a baby. Or a toddler. Or a kindergartner. Just for a day, maybe four hours, but enough time to revisit the pure joy of an unexamined life. I suspect there’s not a real business like this, baby rentals, although I guess I could hire myself out…
The Parental Gods Have Spoken
By Michael Jill’s crib is in the basement. We took it from her folks’ house with every intention of using it when our first child was born. Then, the crib police decided the slats were too far apart, or maybe it was too close, and we had to go out and buy a new crib….
They Like Us. They Really Like Us.
By Michael I decided my book on life lessons would be the absolutely perfect gift for graduates this year, so we conducted a survey of recent graduates to find out what life lessons they wish they’d known before they reached the ripe old age of 22. People who graduated over the past few years provided…