Although he’s much better than he was, we continue to struggle to get our youngest to eat enough at mealtimes. You would think that a contest that has two adults on one side and one 4-year old on the other would be a bit one-sided. Unfortunately, the little guy has a surprisingly deep arsenal of distractions and […]

Both my boys were thumb suckers. We had a terrible time getting my oldest to stop, and now we’re fighting the battle with my youngest (who is four years old). He’s trying, but it seems to be a very difficult habit to break. This morning, I thought I’d take a quick look through my notes […]

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With the rest of the family off in Texas this week, I don’t have anything current to use as a DaddyTale. Instead, here’s a tale about something that happened to us several months ago, when we were in St. Augustine. More specifically we were at the merry-go-round at Davenport Park. Normally we all enjoy riding, […]

We have two manger scenes in our house – one for the kids and one that they are not allowed to play with. Their manger scene is kid-friendly plastic. I think it’s made by Fisher-Price. It has little figures for all the characters, including sheep and and an angel. The barn features a little flat spot […]

We have a strict rule in our house: no one gets up before 6:30am. Our two boys sleep in the same room. It’s the oldest’s job to make sure that no one leaves that bedroom before 6:30am. Though he hates the restriction, he likes the responsibility of being the clock reader. Yesterday morning, however, was […]

[This tale is running in the print edition of the Chronicle, but they don’t have it online yet. Enjoy!] DaddyTales:  Christmas SurprisesBy Patrick Matthews I love Christmas.  I love the traditions, the presents, the sense of anticipation, the whole thing.  Most of all, though, I love the surprises. Every year, Christmas brings us new surprises. […]

As I was cleaning up from breakfast the other morning, I noticed my four year old climb up to the counter and grab a Hershey’s Kiss out of the bowl there. It was an impressive climb. He started with a chin-up using the edge of the counter. Then he managed to get his sneaker on […]

Working upstairs at home, I get to overhear some interesting moments in my kids life. The other day, I heard an all-time classic. It started with a loud crash, complete with the sound of breaking glass. A moment of silence followed the crash, and then I heard my oldest son’s voice raised in an urgent […]

For a music teacher at a church-run preschool, Christmas is the most important time of the year. There’s a lot of pressure to put on a good Christmas show, but still create something that’s fun for the kids. I know all this because my wife is the music teacher at N’s Pre-K. Last night was the […]