by Michael Holland - As our kids hit momentous milestones in life, we often reflect on how fast they are growing up. They pass these milestones- your preschooler “graduating” at the end of the year; your middle school daughter going to the school dance; your 17-year-old son driving off for his first solo drive after [...]
By Michael Holland There are times as a father when I believe I'm being very open and un-controlling. I express my concerns or thoughts and then leave it up to my kids to make the decisions they think best for themselves. But there are subtle ways that we still control our kids, even if [...]
By Michael Holland There’s the old coach, sitting on the top row of the bleachers watching the game. He smiles slightly, watching the players move gracefully across the field. He admires the intensity of the coaches as they offer quiet encouragement or bark out directives. He remembers his early days on the sideline, and [...]
By Michael Holland In college I had the “opportunity” to take a ballet class for a semester with my girlfriend at-the-time and my two very single roommates. My understanding and experience in the field of ballet was non-existent, and my appreciation for a dance as a sport was less than mature. Throughout the course I [...]
by Michael Holland "Why is it so hard for my friend who's Catholic to understand I'm a Follower of Jesus Christ?" What a great question my then son brought to us late one night. I love these fathering moments: the ones when you are put on the spot to answer for a 15-year-old a question [...]
By Michael Holland We fathers work hard to provide for our families. We work to instill core beliefs in our kids that will ideally guide them to develop critical thinking skills. So when my 17-year-old daughter came to me one night and asked for a favor, I was a bit surprised: she wanted to [...]
by Michael Holland As fathers, we race through our days, slaying the beasts in the wilderness to create a safe home at night. Sometimes we're so busy protecting our kids that we forget to take the time to actually see how they engage with the environment surrounding them. More importantly, we sometimes forget to watch [...]
by Michael Holland As you eat breakfast, make mental notes on some aspect of each of your kids’ activities from the previous day or evening. Visualize the situation and make a mental movie of the impact of the activity or behavior had on them and/or others. During your afternoon commute home, take [...]
By Michael Holland We plan and guide and push and pull our kids towards paths that we envision will help them be successful in life. What's been so interesting for us over the last couple of years is how different the paths our kids have taken have been from our vision. I find myself in [...]
