Brain Games, Strong as a Girl & Built Different

3 Things I'm Loving, Reading, Watching or Doing

1. Morning Brain Games
Part of my morning ritual is eating my breaky while working my way through NYT games. Normally I kick things off with the Mini, but since we only have one paid account in the house (and my wife has dibs), I’ve had to adjust. My current order:

• Wordle – I race one of my teens every day. We alternate choosing the starting word, not shying away from terrible starters like today’s “llama.” I gotta say we’re both pretty good. Most of the time one of us gets it within a minute. I think I’m slightly ahead in the win column. Highly recommend trash talking your kid to start the day.

• Connections – Meh. My least favorite. Too many wacko correlations.

• Pips – A new one I really enjoy.

• Strands – Solid.

• Spelling Bee – I stick around long enough to find the pangram. If I don’t get it in two minutes, I’m out. Same snobbery for Letter Box: solve it in two words quickly or move on.

2. Teen Chat
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, I had good discussions with my kids, but not about the politics or media noise. Instead, I reminded them it’s ok not to have a fully formed opinion on everything right away. Complex issues take time. I suggested writing down their first thoughts and revisiting them whenever new perspectives surface. It’s a good practice in patience and learning, especially in an era of hot takes.

3. Strong As A Girl
My friend Kate Rope just wrote a new book, Strong As A Girl. Parenting expert Lisa Damour calls it “A must-read for anyone raising, caring for, or educating young girls.” I already pre-ordered my copy, and you can grab yours here.

2 Quotes Worth Pondering

"Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you."
— Robert Fulghum

"The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other."
— Mario Puzo

1 Big Dad Idea

We’re Built Different

Last week, one of my kids and I were having a rough couple of days. We were basically beefing over what I thought looked like entitlement and what he thought was me failing to understand his stress and situation. OBVIOUSLY, I was correct and my teen was dead wrong. After a few days, we worked through it and got back on track.

In the middle of the back-and-forth, I pulled out a line every parent swears they’ll never say:

“I don’t care what other kids do. I’m not their parent. I’m your parent."

But what I really meant was deeper than that. I was making the case that our family does things differently. In essence: we’re built different.

For our family, that’s always been implied. Not “we’re better than other families,” but this is who we are and what we do. That distinction matters. It gives us a foundation, creates a place of belonging, and it sets some guardrails because of what we value.

Sometimes “we’re built different” shows up as us against the world. Other times, it’s we’re built to help others. But always, it’s a reminder that our family identity makes us stronger.

And the beauty is, every family can make this claim. You get to decide what “built different” means in your home. If your kids buy into that shared identity, it becomes a blueprint that’s way more powerful than an endless rulebook.