Overall, the kids are doing great in school. Sometimes, however, one of them will ask me "Why are we studying xyz? We'll never use it in real life. Who cares about the date of a battle or when Train A left Station B?"How do you respond? I tell the kids they’re probably right in some instances. But I also go on to tell them that academics isn’t just about memorizing facts. It’s really about learning how to learn and building perseverance to get through circumstances they may not enjoy. Very few classmates master these character traits. And it’s these students who go on to change the world.I'm … [Read more...]

One of the guys that I've had the honor to get to know while at Quest Software is one of our SQL Server SC's named Darren Mallette. Darren is extremely talented with SQL Server and, without even knowing it, he's made my job a lot easier by doing things to make his job easier. For example, he's created scripts and demos to highlight certain problems on SQL Server. But by doing so, he makes it much easier for me to do the big webcasts and customer visits that I do all the time.One of the really cool things about Darren is that he's very active in the "World's Strongest Man" kind of competitions … [Read more...]

The AllProDad website quotes author William Hendrickson's 6 primary ways to embitter your child. Read this list and think about examples you've seen or experienced in other families:Over-protecting your kids Favoring one child over another Constantly discouraging your children Not letting your children be unique individualsNeglecting your kidsBitter words and physical crueltyIt's funny how so many of these behaviors, except for #6, crop up out of good intentions. So I'm going to list each of these again and then chip in a few cents of my own.Over-protecting your kids: Most parents who are … [Read more...]

Albert Einstein said, "Most people think that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong. It is character." This is true in so many ways and not just for the making of new scientists. To succeed in life you must have a cup of perseverance, two cups of integrity, a healthy dose of self-respect, a balancing dash of humility, and at least a teaspoon of goals/ambitions.Yet most parents are focused first and foremost on the grades and the scores on those standardized tests of their children. My kids' intellect is very important to me, but it's only the foresail their ship … [Read more...]

There's nothing more troubling to a parent than watch your child suffer. Sadly, I had to watch Anna Lynn suffer after surgery on her belly button hernia last Monday.Her mom kept her from the night before and took her down for an early 6:00 am prep. I got the other kids off to school and came down to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital straight away. I arrived about 8:00 am to find that they'd just taken her back for surgery. Kelly and I patiently waited and took the chance to catch up a bit.She came back quite drugged up, but still in a lot of pain. She gradually came around and, as she did, she … [Read more...]

In a Newsweek interview, Johnny Depp (that's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow) says, "When I became a dad for the first time, it was like a veil being lifted...I was never horribly self-obsessed or wrapped up in my own weirdness, but when my daughter was born, suddenly there was clarity. I wasn't angry anymore. It was the first purely selfless moment that I had ever experienced. And it was liberating. In that moment, it's like you become something else. The real you is revealed."Let's face it, I became a dad at a rather young age. And it was something that I'd always wanted to do. But now more than … [Read more...]

The magazine Glimpses had an interesting true story: Nathaniel Hawthorne is famed as the author of one of America's greatest novels — The Scarlet Letter. But it was something entirely different, a small kindness, that influenced his daughter Rose the most. Nathaniel visited an English poorhouse where a diseased child rubbed his legs and held out hands in a plea to be lifted up. Although shrinking from the child's repulsive sores, the author nevertheless picked the boy up and caressed him.Nathaniel said later that he felt as if God had promised the boy that kindness, and if he refused it, he … [Read more...]

If you know Katie Jo, you know she is very, very shy in new situations or with strangers. It takes her a long time to warm up. (Just like her old man, it seems!) Well, she made me very proud with her performance at the Vacation Bible School program on Sunday morning back in late July.When the time came for the kids to get up on stage and sing, she went right up without hesitation. I was amazed and proud! She didn't really sing much and she didn't make the hand gestures, but she hung in there until the end, despite her discomfort. What a trooper! ... Anna Lynn, on the other hand, was her usual … [Read more...]

There's no doubt that San Francisco is one of the USA's most beautiful cities. It's also a pretty weird place because the average temperature in the summer time is LOWER than the average wintertime termperature.I recently took a long weekend there to enjoy the city to its fullest. I went with my friend, Jenny Grant. We flew first class and stayed in one of the city's oldest and finest hotels, right in the heart of the action, the Sir Francis Drake, as the place to start the adventure.I also tried to pack in as many other fun experiences as possible - Lombard Street, the Golden Gate Bridge, … [Read more...]

I wouldn't expect anything from Phillips-Norelco to be this edgy and funny, but it's just hilarious. Check out:http://www.shaveeverywhere.comandhttp://bodygroom.philips.com/en/index_flash.html And, btw, it's definitely rated PG-13 or even higher.-Zebraman … [Read more...]