Author Archives: Jonathan Sircy

In high school, I loved the programs Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Cartoon Planet. I have introduced my daughter to both of them, particularly the goofy songs from the latter. Yesterday, I began singing “Everybody Wants to be Space Ghost,” and at a key moment, my daughter filled in the line supplied by oneContinue reading “Space Ghost”

Last night, we had dinner with our church family. Three different women told my wife and me about our daughter’s fantastic prayer from the week before. The Methodist Youth Fellowship crew had just learned about the passing of a former church member. When the grown-ups asked the kids who wanted to pray, my daughter raisedContinue reading “Prayer Time”

This summer, I read my daughter The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. For her birthday, my daughter received the film version and has been wanting to see it. Tonight, my wife was out to dinner with friends, so I took the opportunity to make Saturday evening a dad/daughter movie night. We got through aboutContinue reading “The Book vs. The Movie”

This afternoon, my daughter sat with my wife on our living room couched and geeked out over a dictionary. My daughter wants to write, but she doesn’t know how to spell many words. This wouldn’t be a problem if she weren’t so devoted to perfection. My wife broke her out her first dictionary, and together,Continue reading “The Dictionary”

My wife’s second cousin passed away Sunday. She had been sick for awhile, but it was sad to lose her. While she battled cancer, my daughter and I sent her postcards. Typically, I would write a short message, and my daughter would draw a picture and write, “I love you!” As we approached the funeralContinue reading “Postcards”

My daughter watched a cartoon today that featured a spelling bee. After dinner, she spent time working on a “book” (really, more like a worksheet) of her own devising and wanted us to help her spell numerous words. My wife and I are trying to teach our daughter to be a) more self-reliant and b)Continue reading ““Can You Give Me Some Words to Spell?””

Our daughter learned to play Crazy Eights last night. She even won two of the three games we played. But she needed help. She didn’t get the concept of matching, and strategy? She called out random suits when she played her Crazy Eight. Today, she and my wife played a few more games, and myContinue reading “Crazy Eight”

My daughter has an assignment. She must practice reading a book and then have us recording her going through it. She picked this book. As soon as we got home, she got the book out and read it four times. The only word she didn’t know? “Ultimatum.” Not bad. I particularly liked her self-motivated impulseContinue reading “Practicing”

Tonight at dinner, my daughter showed us a collection of photographs of her “friends,” the children in her kindergarten class. There are twenty-two people in her class, including her. Like a champ, she named each one. We heard familiar names: the two girls she spends the most time with and the boys she plays withContinue reading “The Lineup”

Dinner time has turned into an informal school debriefing. Because my wife and I have opposite schedules, one of us knows about our daughter’s day and the other doesn’t. When we sit down to eat, then, the one who picked her up gets to present leading questions and the absent parent gets to task follow-ups.Continue reading “The Dinner Debriefing”