Don’t. Just don’t.
Never give yourself a nickname. Like, ever.
Unless you’re a doctor, don’t lead with your status or qualifications. People really don’t like that.
Children
For children under age four, reread the same page at bedtime just to spend a few more minutes with your child. After four, they’re onto you. Right, Georgie?
A squirrel can’t live in a fish tank, regardless of how adamant our daughter, Julia, is. Go ahead. Tell me I’m wrong.
Dog showers work just as well to clean up kids when they come back in the house.
Our daughter, Nora, taught me that some kids like to wave from the parade float while others much prefer to catch the candy thrown to the crowd.
Relationships
Whenever you’re not where you should be, you’re not just absent but noticeably absent.
Relationships are the foundation on which life either flourishes or withers away.
I need to dedicate more time to the friends who make me belly laugh.
Don’t let someone you love hit a homerun in an empty ballpark. Be there to watch them swing for the fences.
To my surprise
Funny has more to do with sentence structure than I originally thought.
Your ability to finish a book faster than a beer says a lot about you.
I feel unreasonably proud when seeing our kids look a person in the eye, smile, and firmly shake their hand. Extra satisfaction if they stand when a person approaches.
The older I get, the harder it is to tell how old another person is.
I have no hidden talents and very few that are actually observable.
Business
Clients hire you for their future, not your past.
Every business has figurative dials. Turn one down so you can turn another dial up. Just don’t turn any of them off.
A “seat at the table” is conditional. Your seat is predicated upon the value you provide.
Soapbox
Buy a box of Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry every October. You’re welcome.
I'm the kind of person who will wear jeans until my last days. Don't expect to see me in khakis or chinos late in life.
Family
Sometimes someone sees something in you that you didn't see in yourself. Spend more time with said person. That’s you, Anne, my love.
The best gift I ever received was the family histories my parents wrote. The absolute best part is the seemingly mundane details like a name or place that bring beautiful specificity to the story. Thanks, Mom and Dad.
Bare isn’t the only way to lay your vulnerabilities, but it is the best way.
Everything else
Changing minds is hard work. Especially your own.
If someone – your partner, child, boss, etc.– isn’t getting hard truths from you, they'll get them somewhere else.
The loudest among us should be trusted cautiously or not at all.
An answer is a closed room. A question is an open door. This isn’t original, but no less profound.
A community is made of people who don't just like you but love you as you are.
My work here is done. For now, at least.
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