David Altshuler, M.S.
(305) 978-8917 | [email protected]

Category: Parenting

The North Wind

The vast majority of my running buddies have never been invited to put their hands in my mouth. A smaller number of my running buddies and I have breakfast together Thursday mornings, a tradition dating back 38 years. But some members of the group were in nursery school when Coach

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Reconciliation

How do we put together “he who hesitates is lost” and “look before you leap”? Side by side the two sayings seem contradictory. But maybe “look before you leap” doesn’t mean don’t leap—ever. “Look before you leap” might mean be cool, take your time, think it over. Then go ahead

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When in Disgrace

At my dad’s 85th birthday fete, he and the dozen other members of the poetry group gathered to recite. The titular head of the group handed out copies of “When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes.” My dad handed back the paper, not disdainfully but with the same grace

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How Do You Know?

 Whoever said, “life is hard and then you die” was a starry-eyed optimist in that those of us who have done the parenting thing for a bit would argue that the author left out a number of “are we there yets?” and a great many “how do you knows?” along

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Keep You Eye on the Wolf

I have never called my doctor at home on a Sunday afternoon to complain of a medical issue. But I could. Robin and I have been friends since elementary school. Robin’s sibling and I had lunch just the other day. I have been a guest in Robin’s house any number

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Ai! Se cayo!

My first abortive foray into learning Spanish was in elementary school. “He’s falling! He’s falling! Ai! He fell!” (Se cae! Se cae! Ai! Se cayo!) is all I remember from many years of instruction. Never one to give up easily, I am picking up the trail something over half a

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Alphabet Soup

Mrs. K’s narrative is overwhelmingly sad. Her son is underperforming in school. Her son won’t listen to her. Her son is smoking pot. Her son doesn’t come home when he says he will. Her son would rather do anything than do what she tells him to do. Her son’s friends

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Driving Me Crazy

It has been said that if you are a conservative under 30 you have no heart, but that if you are a liberal over 30 you have no head. I’m not sure I agree, but I have noticed a certain shift toward curmudgeondom as I march inevitably toward double digit

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Everything is a Marathon

Training is a marathon, not a sprint. Education is a marathon, not a sprint. Painting is a marathon, not a sprint. Writing is a marathon not a sprint. Is anything a sprint? With the possible exception of actual sprinting, maybe not. Maybe every endeavor is a marathon. Even sprinting is

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Strength of Schedule

“Everyone gets a trophy” remains controversial as does “everyone gets an A.” As a middle school math teacher, I was all about “everyone gets an A.” if only my students had cooperated. If everyone learned what x was then everyone could get an A and I could get on with

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Copyright © David Altshuler 1980 – 2024    |    Miami, FL • Charlotte, NC     |    (305) 978-8917    |    [email protected]