Having a Son Has Ruined Football for Me

“My kid need his brain, I can’t take that risk.”

I wrote about football violence (I grew up loving it) and my fear about letting my son play (It scares the crap out of me) on Huffington Post. I hope that you can check it out and share, it's beginning to get a lot of attention on their site. Links are popping up on the front page, on Huff Parents, Huff Dads, Huff NFL. 

“That news when I read it on ESPN, made me sad for every time that I cheered him on. I felt complicit in his death and my love for football has been waning ever since.”

the article can be found here

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Update: 2/3/14

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The article is currently one of the most popular on Huffington Post!

Holiday Shutdown

Today as Cole and Arden prepared to leave for school, it appeared as though they had completely forgotten even that smallest aspect of their morning routine - and that's a good thing!

Cole overslept by at least twenty minutes and then proceeded to take a leisurely shower that did not reflect the urgency of his lateness. After fifteen minutes of coaxing, Arden was able to get out of bed, but when she appeared in the kitchen as I was packing lunches some time later - she stood before me without her socks. Arden went on to forget her CGM, supplies that she needed to take into school and the sweatshirt that she wanted, more than anything, to wear today.

This morning in our home must have closely resembled the scene that transpired just before the phrase, "You'd forget your head if it wasn't attached", was first uttered.

At first I was a little annoyed as I pressed the kids to hurry multiple times, but later as I surveyed the post-holiday clutter and formed a plan to get the house back into order, I realized that their confusion was a great thing. My wife and I had successfully created a holiday break that included a real break from reality. Children are so much more scheduled in today's world. Sports, school, friends and now social media - they hardly have a chance to stop. Well, apparently our kids stopped this Christmas season and I'm grateful that we were able to provide such a mind-numbing vacation. I don't think that I'll soon forget the sight of Arden standing, fully dressed, sans socks and saying, "Huh... I forgot my socks". Hopefully they are feeling recharged and ready to tackle the winter months in school.

I hope that your holiday was everything that you wanted and much more! May you have some difficulty remembering to put on your socks as 2014 gets underway...

Made our own pots and pans moment

About an hour after I wrote 'Pots, Pans, Baseball, Fathers and Sons' I decided that Cole and I should make our way down to Citizens Bank Park to make a memory of our own. Game one of the 2011 NLDS between the Phillies and Cardinals was without a doubt the most exciting live sporting event that I have ever attended. When Ryan Howard hit this home run to put the Phillies ahead Cole was standing in front of me, I put my left arm across his chest and we jumped up and down together, screaming like maniacs... I still don't have my voice back.

I hope that everyone gets to do something like this at least once... it's unlike any other communal experience I've ever encountered.

I've added some of the pictures that I took at the game to the Visual Record, I hope you enjoy them!

Cole is negative!

Arden’s brother Cole gives his blood every year to aid the research that TrialNet does...

“Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet is an international network of researchers who are exploring ways to prevent, delay and reverse the progression of type 1 diabetes.”

Cole’s blood is especially helpful because he is the sibling of a child with type I diabetes. His letter arrived today with his test results and he is still negative for "diabetes related autoantibodies'! It’s a happy day and a sad day all wrapped into one.

If you’re the sibling or parent of a type I child please check out TrialNet to see if you can help.