Weeks

My first week at home with the two kids concluded this week. I think it took me the whole week to re-figure them out. They've grown by a year (no kidding). But that year has led to rather different children. I think my greatest challenge will be to not get lulled into a false sense of security: they entertain one another and themselves so well it's easy for me to relax and disconnect. They don't realize they're bored when they do get bored. If anything, this will be a summer of acting preemptively.

Frankly, I think my job as a dad was average. I'd give myself a B or a C. But I did learn from the week, and one of the most powerful lessons I've pulled from teaching is to not let one sub-par week infect or pollute the next. Learn from a weak or disastrous week, treat the next as a great reset learning from and disposing of the week that was.

Speaking of the week that was, my time without op-eds was therapeutic. The world didn't change much: the NFL is still in lockout, the Republican field of candidates looks similar to what it was last week. the big boys and girls in Washington still don't know what the heck to do with our debt, the economy is still stuck in irons. It was a good week off.

The hidden surprise was how good it was to step away from personal finance news for one week. I think that is what has made me best calm down my appetite for news.

Oh, and the week certainly helped me chew through 400-some pages of East of Eden.