A to Z Challenge: T is for Time

EP

Our kids have the capacity to amaze us, don’t they?

Today for the A to Z Challenge, T is for Time. It’s like we wind them up as babies, and spend the rest of the time watching them go. Just imagine how things will be around the dinner table as they get older and begin to explore the world around them. Time starts ticking and it won’t ever stop.

CD loyalist Janine Huldie wrote earlier this year a post titled Happy Lily Surprise.

She rightfully gushed about the surprises her daughter has bestowed upon her in a few happy years on earth. If you’re an aspiring parent who can’t shoulder/stomach/manage surprise by the dumpsterful … You might reconsider.

A to Z Challenge: S is for Sand in My Toes

EP

Sometimes you read a blog that you wish you’d written. Or that your kids would write.

Today on the A to Z Challenge, S is for Sand In My Toes. As in, the blog, by Tarana Khan Siddiqi. Ever read it? She first appeared on the Coach Daddy scene in a comment on Michelle Nahom’s brilliant guest post about sports parents.

Today, Tarana is here to share five parenting lessons she learned from her dad.

She shares with me a background in journalism and content writing, as well as copy editing. She’s an incredible and expressive parent who has written so many poignant posts, especially on toddlers. You’ll love her style as I do.

A to Z Challenge: R is for Rockies

EP

For me Rockies is a baseball team. Not a place to ski.

For the A to Z Challenge today, R is for Rockies. My beloved baseball team, yes, who got off to a rip-roaring start this season (7-2!) only to lose three straight (they’re losing 5-0 in the first inning as I type this and try to ignore it). My Colorado Rockies cap is well-worn and well-loved. But also the western foreground to the most spectacular sunsets I ever saw as a kid. A nod to the majestic mountains that never let me forget which way was home.

Corporal Max Klinger would fist-fight with a dude who dared insult his Toledo Mud Hens.

I’m not that kind of fan. I can’t really, because 93% of insults to my baseball team come from my kids.

A to Z Challenge: Q is for Questions

GP

Questions? I get plenty.

For the A to Z Challenge today, Q is for Questions. I’m loaded with them here at the CD. Every Friday, I pick five questions at random from a list of 400 from my kids to answer. It began as a Five for Friday feature I stole picked up from Katherine Roady’s blog.

I knew the day I ran a guest post on a Friday instead of Go Ask Daddy and got negative feedback that my kids’ questions were here to stay.

Grace created today’s main art, as she has several times during this challenge. She also gave me an idea for today. “Pick your 25 favorite Go Ask Daddy questions!” (She aims for the stars, that one.)

A to Z Challenge: P is for Posterized

EP

Sports fans among us will need no explanation for the term Posterized.

For the A to Z Challenge today, P is for Posterized. Ever stood your ground on a basketball  court in the face of a fast break, only to have some cat slam dunk over your rattled skull? Well, then you’ve been Posterized. The term emerged in the 1980s, in the age of sports posters in boys’ bedrooms.

An NBA player, a Craig Ehlo or Larry Krystkowiak type, saw himself on a poster in a big-city airport – directly under Michael Jordan, grimaced faced and helpless. Posterized. For all eternity.

The term infiltrated other sports.

A to Z Challenge: O is for Obstacle (Go Ask Daddy)

EP

“Aren’t you a little short to be a stormtrooper?”

For the A to Z Challenge today, O is for Obstacle.

After fourth grade, one of my obstacles was height. I slumped from power forward length in elementary school quickly to shooting guard and all the way back down to point guard before finally settling in on, “chess club meets in room 102, buddy.”

I’ve always embraced my low center of gravity, although for years I fought for the right to be 5-foot-7.

⏭️ #AtoZChallenge: N is for Next

EP

I watched Marie, then a toddler, try to pick up all her toys in one armful. She lost a stuffed bear or ball every time she added play food or a doll.

For the A to Z Challenge today, N is for Next. It’s in homage to growth, progress, and the journey, not just the destination. Next makes me think of Marie’s toddler struggle that day, although I’m sure she doesn’t remember it.

Her flowing brown hair fell in her face as she tried.

She lost her balance and toppled to the side. Everything fell to the ground. I stayed back. She tried again. She got close. She lost things again. Then, after more struggle, I could see it. Her endeavor shifted.

👨 A to Z Challenge: M is for Man (a Guest Post from Alyson of the Shitastrophy)

EJP

Sometimes our sports heroes are role models. But not always.

Today in the A to Z Challenge, M is for Man. As in, being the man. Not in a Ric Flair kind of way. Not even in a “You Da Man!” kind of way we react to a strong swing off the tee.

Being a man requires strength, yes, but it’s often a gentle strength. Or at least a compassionate one. It’s doused with humility. It shows an appreciation for the human condition, the value of every moment you can make a difference.

Today’s guest post is from Alyson, from The Shitastrophy blog.

Yes, you read that right. Alyson has eight bad words – including the F word – in her banner. She’s kind of badass. She’s a bully of a blogger, too, a Jersey girl living in a Midwest not ready for prime time. Not this sort of prime time.

A to Z Challenge: L is for Learning

EJP

Leonardo da Vinci once said learning never exhausts the mind. We’ll see about that.

For the A to Z Challenge today, L is for Learning. My friend Kelly at Just Typikel blog challenged me with the Mustache You Some Questions blogging game.

It came in handy as the letter L made its pass through in the A to Z Challenge orbit.

You’re about to learn more about me than recommended by the Surgeon General. Thank Kelly!

A to Z Challenge: K is for Kindness

EJP

Kindness will get plenty of play today on Channel K of the A to Z Challenge Network.

In the A to Z Challenge today, K is for Kindness. Roughly 37,000 bloggers will pick this word today, over gems such as Koozie, Keg, and Knuckles. That’s okay. Words on kindness are sort of like big floppy slices of cheese pizza. Is there really ever too much?

This post, though, will reveal a time kindness escaped me.

It’s not the first time and definitely won’t be the last.