The rain was absolutely hammering my kitchen windows last Tuesday, the kind of grey Portland downpour that makes you want to cancel everything and hide under a duvet, but Sam was turning seven and he had specifically requested a “terrifying but also sparkly” prehistoric bash. I was standing there, three espresso shots deep, staring at…
My twins, Leo and Maya, turned three last April 12, and if you saw my bank account afterward, you would think I hit the jackpot instead of hosting 21 sugar-charged toddlers. Living in a cramped apartment near Logan Square in Chicago means I have to be smart. I do not have a backyard the size…
Leo had flour in his eyelashes and Maya was trying to eat a raw stick of butter while I frantically scrubbed pink buttercream off my kitchen radiator. It was April 17, 2024, the day of my twins’ second birthday, and my Chicago apartment looked like a powdered sugar grenade had gone off. I thought a…
Leo stood in the middle of our Zilker Park picnic spot on October 12, 2025, with chocolate frosting smeared across his nose like a hungry grizzly bear. He was turning five. The Austin sun was beating down, the humidity was doing zero favors for my hair, and I was frantically searching for a woodland party…
@thomas_partydad: Hey everyone in the GINYOU community! Thomas here from sunny San Diego. Easter is coming up fast, and with three growing boys – Leo (1), Miles (3), and Caleb (10) – plus our goofy lab Oliver, the holiday budget always feels stretched thin. My wife, bless her heart, loves a beautiful Easter spread, but…
Glitter is essentially the herpes of the crafting world. It never leaves. Once it enters your classroom or your living room, it settles into the floorboards and waits for your grandchildren to be born so it can attach to them too. Last March 12, 2025, I learned this the hard way when Sarah, one of…
My living room looked like a rainbow-colored tornado hit it on April 12, 2025. It was my daughter Maya’s 7th birthday, and if you have ever tried to wrangle eight high-energy kids in a Denver backyard during a sudden wind gust, you know the stakes. I am that dad. I’m the one who reads the…
The humidity in Houston on March 12, 2024, was roughly 94 percent, which is basically like trying to bake inside a giant, wet lung. I was standing in my kitchen at 11:15 PM, staring at three layers of white cake that refused to stay stacked, wondering why I’d promised Leo and eighteen other twelve-year-olds a…
Standing on my back deck on July 12, 2025, I watched a single, translucent blue orb bob rhythmically against the pool skimmer. My five-year-old, Leo, was screaming with delight, but all I could think about was the pump impeller. I am that dad. I check the certifications on the toaster and read the fine print…
Twenty-two second graders staring at a stack of greasy cardboard boxes is the closest thing to a riot I’ve seen in my twelve years at West Oaks Elementary here in Houston. It was March 12, 2024, a Tuesday. I remember the date because it was “Pi Day” (observed early for Spring Break), and I had…
