A couple of weeks ago, I had an awkward conversation with my daughter. She asked me if I believe in Santa Claus. I said yes. Then, she announced that she was skeptical. She asked some more questions which I ducked, dived, and avoided. I wasn’t ready for this. I knew this was probably going to…
Here is the first story for 2020’s 12 short stories in 12 months challenge. The prompt was “coalition” and the word count was 1,200. I usually like to make the prompt a central part of the story, but that didn’t happen this month. Everything about this was a struggle this month, so I hope it’s…
Ever since I had a kid, I’ve considered writing about fatherhood. I never actually go through with it, though. Sure, I’ve written some things about my daughter, or about some parenting decisions I’ve made, but nothing about being a father. There’s a simple reason for that. Being a father is such a unique experience that…
My daughter is having her second sleepover of her winter break. A couple of days ago, she hosted. Tonight she’s staying at a friend’s. I don’t know how it is for other parents, but I find hosting a sleepover to be a lot of work. I feel a lot of pressure to make sure they…
Yesterday, I went to see my daughter perform in The Nutcracker. The past few years I have brought her to watch The Nutcracker, but this year she got to be onstage. She was a reindeer, a trumpet playing angel and a bon-bon. Technically she wasn’t the star of the show, but why get hung up…
Gail had finished her dinner, but, like always, her father still had food on his plate. She always got a head start as he never had everything ready when he thought he did. “Can I be excused, Daddy?” “Don’t you want to stay and talk?” “Ugh. Okay.” “That’s not very…
