Recent Columns

Several girls appear to be flat out in love with my son. They’re in his class. He’s 7. Two have proposed. The third has asked him if he’s ever kissed a girl on the lips. This unfolded when Jon was class VIP the other day. He was in front, in his VIP chair, answering questions […]

Dear Hannah –   It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than three years now since you came into our family, into our home, into our lives.   I can still picture the moment a few months before that when we first met, when you reached up to me and tapped me on the […]

So, Jon is his class VIP all week, which gives him great power and prestige.   For one, he can bring things from home to give a picture of his off-school life. So he brought Sam, his rabbit.   Sam, you’ll recall , is one result of our place turning into a sort of funny […]

And now the conclusion of the Great Underwear Caper.   Faithful Reader will recall that I recently found six helpless, yelping puppies in the middle of the night after I went onto our garage roof and nearby water-tank hill in my underwear   After this rescue, and under the threat of our cat, these six […]

Friends, this is the first official post of the new DADDIN’ IT TODAY! (not to be confused with Psychology Today, Christianity Today or the prestigious medical journal Babes Today). This is simply an outgrowth the very, very, very popular Single Daddin’ It, which is still expected to go viral sometime before Greece goes bankrupt (although […]

I am fatigued, lost, convalescing and having strange nightmares about talking trees and Martians eating cheesecake, but otherwise in good shape on this, my last full day of Single Daddin’ It. I’ve already told the children how immensely proud I am of their great accomplishments and fine behaviour in their mother’s absence, because, whether this […]

My wife is back in two days. Yeah. Thanks for reading during the last couple of weeks. I did hire pollsters to query my many, many, many, many readers, and found that 2.39 (with a .00000000623 per cent margin of error) of you want me to continue. With this sort of overwhelming support, I do […]

To be a Good Dad, one shouldn’t be afraid of a little nudity. I mean, you know, depending on the time and place. There is a pool I often frequent here in Uganda where the female massage therapists, to get to their treatment room, have to walk through the men’s change room. For the most […]

Thinking about my wife, who we all know is a babe. I’ve always appreciated this, along with other things, namely her heart. You also likely know that my wife is really, really famous. The Globe’s front page, Maclean’s feature, Global TV’s 16×9, Teasdale-Corti Award, G8 Summit speaker, advisor to the PM … these sorts of […]

We’re listening to the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe on the drive to school and the kids are into it and the dead wolf is at Peter’s feet and it’s just a moment before that line is spoken. I pause the CD and ask the kids what Aslan is now going to say. The girls are […]

All the puppies that in our care are now gone to the gardener, Paul, to find good homes for them. The decision was hastened when our cat ate a gecko lizard in protest of all the attention the pups were getting. I don’t have to tell you how much power the cat wields in this […]

... if America ever had greatness, if America ever was a modern republic to emulate, it’s largely because it’s been a nation united with rather different peoples and regions and perspectives.

So it’s 1:30 in the morning and I’m outside in my underwear up on the roof of the garage, then up on the hill by our outdoor watertank, flashlight in hand, looking for something, for I’m not sure what. I’ve heard something, some kind of animals yelping helplessly out here somewhere. Thought some animal was […]

It’s after the ceremony today and the bride and groom are at my place because they like what we’ve done with the stonework and flowers and all. They’re having photos taken when the groom, a long-time Ugandan journalist friend, asks if I’ll give a speech at the reception. It’s in two hours. When the moment […]

So my wandering cat is back, and while I’m relieved, there’s little doubt at this point that he’s playing with me, toying with the situation, making me go more crazy while I lay in my bed alone all these nights and wonder if I will somehow lose the children before morning. But I am not […]