Lost Outside

Lost Outside

It was all so perfect. We’d planned it for months! And as we hoped, the surprise brought more unfettered joy than I’d seen in a child for a long time.

She asked, “Is Christmas, um…nexterday?” As a four-year-old, she was searching for the word “tomorrow.”

“Yes,” I said, “Tomorrow, and tonight is Christmas Eve!”

Santa BagWe sat around the dinner table in the soft glow of candlelight. When I finished eating, I took some garbage out to the garage and snuck around to the front door to leave a small Santa bag on the doormat. Then I knocked hard three times, before running back through the garage into the house.

My granddaughter nearly jumped out of her pajamas.

“Someone’s here!” Her mother played along with enthusiasm.

“What! What’s going on?” I said.

“There was a knock!” she said to me, half-scared, half-excited. She wiggled down from her father’s arms, and we tiptoed to the door. I unlocked it and slowly opened the door a crack. No one was there. Only the Santa Bag! She shrieked with delight as Santa had brought an early present the same way last Christmas.

ErnieInside, wrapped in white tissue paper and tied with a red ribbon…Continue reading

The Short Rope

The Short Rope

Dr. Laura

Dr. Laura

One afternoon, as I drove to pick up my kids from school, I listened to Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s radio program. Her shock-jock manner felt caustic, though her counsel was often spot on.

I tuned in out of curiosity.

Boy confronts his mother

 

That particular day, a frantic mom called in because her 13-year-old son faked being sick so he could stay home from school and surf porn sites. Horrified, the parents “grounded him for life” and made him memorize countless Bible verses.

I winced. Here it comes…I thought.

Father Talking To SonDr. Laura, known for haranguing parents, spoke in a surprisingly calm but solemn voice. Essentially she said…Continue reading