Dad on a Lark Blog

by Rand Richards Cooper

Lark (lärk): noun. 1. a carefree or spirited adventure. 2. a harmless prank

Dad on a Lark Blog

Lark (lärk): noun. 1. a carefree or spirited adventure. 2. a harmless prank

Hilarious

Posted April 14, 2010

Sometimes I worry that in all the writing I do about the challenges of life with Larkin, what goes missing is the simple fun, the sheer daily hilarity of hanging out with her. This is especially true now that the Terrible Twos and Furious Threes have yielded to the Fabulous Fours. Larkin is a four-year-old through and through.

I'm no longer surprised at being surprised by her. We're in the car, I've got "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch" by the Four Tops on the CD player for the fifth time in a row -- at Larkin's insistence -- and I glance back to see her doing a pretty good air trumpet, fingers flipping in front of her mouth, cheeks puffed out.

"Daddy," she says, "you sing the words and I'll play the trumpet, OK?"

"OK," I say. "But since when do you play the trumpet?"

"Oh, I know my instruments," she boasts.

I love these dead-on imitations of adults and… Read More
2 people found this post helpful 1 Comment

Big Questions

Posted April 13, 2010

So 4 is the age when they start asking the big questions. You know, about the past and the future, your soul, the nature of time, what happens when you die, where were you before you were born. No sooner had Larkin turned four than she began probing these metaphysical mysteries. "Dad," she'll ask me, "why do people only grow older? Why don't they grow younger?"

The big questions aren't always easy to discuss with your just-turned-four-year-old. Partly because you've managed… Read More
5 people found this post helpful

Survival of the Smartest

Posted April 12, 2010
OK, time to acknowledge something distressing: it seems I want Larkin to be smarter than other kids. Not just some of them, but all of them.

Molly and I went for a parent-teacher conference, our first since Larkin began pre-K-3 last fall. All year her teachers have marveled over her precociousness. "She knows everything!"they say. "And her vocabulary is amazing."

Gratifying, of course. Who doesn't like hearing that his child is amazing? But apparently it wasn't enough… Read More
1 Comment

Spanking is Bad. But What About Pinching?

Posted November 04, 2009

It's 5:30 p.m., and Larkin and I are in a restaurant, having a scene. I'm tired and hungry and trying to eat... but she won't let it happen. She pushes her plate of chicken fingers away. She lies down in the booth, dives under the table. I plead: Can you please behave? But things get worse.

She spills her lemonade. Sends the salt and pepper caddy crashing to the floor. Whines and wails for ice cream. The scene ends with… Read More
7 people found this post helpful 9 Comments

Schooled

Posted September 09, 2009

Three of my best friends sent their daughters off to college recently. I sent mine off to pre-K-3. Molly and I weren't sure how it would go. Months back, when we enrolled her at our neighborhood public school, just three doors down from us, Larkin liked the idea. "What's happening in September?" we'd ask, and she'd chorus: "I'm going to school!"

We knew it couldn't be that simple. I recalled her initial miseries at the kiddie room at my gym:… Read More
7 people found this post helpful 1 Comment

Hip Dude Finds Life after Basketball

Posted August 07, 2009

Posted Friday, August 7, 2009

Becoming a father at my age -- I call it "late-onset fatherhood"-- has its trade offs. You're wiser... but wearier. Physically, 2009 has been a rough year for the late-onset dad. Partway through a dismal season of rec-league basketball, I began to notice that my left hip ached after every game. I took Advil, cut my playing down to once a week. After the season ended, I gave my body a 10-week rest, no running, no… Read More
2 people found this post helpful 1 Comment
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About Me

I began as a fiction writer (my first novel, "The Last to Go," was made into a really bad TV movie, starring Tyne Daly), then branched out to other writing. By now I've written for over 50 magazines, including "Glamour." "The New York Times Magazine," "Bon Appetit," and "Commonweal." Away from my writing desk, I'm a chess fanatic and hopeless basketball addict. Oh yeah, I'm also the family cook.

My next blog update: December 24, 2008

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