All right, all right. It’s been too long since I put words on a page. I swear I’ve tried, but everything sounded so trite that I wanted to punch myself in the face. But my hands don’t work. So no punching or posting.

Scarlett was trying to drag Otto around yesterday when he wasn’t listening to her.

“Use your commands, not your hands,” I said, instantly inventing a genius rhyme that has probably already been invented. It made me think of something my friend Stephen wrote to me when I was feeling particularly down about not being able to run my household in a more physical way. I’m not talking about inflicting bodily harm on the child or the dog, but simply having the option to move things along with more than just my voice.

Stephen reminded me of a passage from the Ta-Nehisi Coates book Between the World and Me. If I could flip through my copy right now, I would get the quote right. But essentially it was the author telling his son that words are more important than hands when it comes to raising a child. If all I had over you were my hands, he writes (and I’m pretty sure I’m getting this right), then I had nothing at all. Read More>