I hated smiling in photos. I didn't like my smile and made sure never to do it. I felt like I looked like an idiot.
It's not hard to avoid smiling if you're unhappy with your life. It was the last year of my marriage, and I was going through old photos of myself with my daughters.
I enjoy washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen after eating. Seeing the kitchen and dining area after it’s all done is satisfying. This first became a “thing” when I read an article by Leo Babauta in 2010 that impacted the way I approach all the mundane but necessary tasks of the day. wash your bowl “Have you eaten your rice porridge? Then you had better wash your bowl.” It’s become the default...
I'm 45. If anyone asks me in conversation, I freely answer. I never say: Oh my, you know that it's not polite to ask a gentleman his age, right?
Knees weak, arms are heavy. I stood there. Nervous and sweaty in front of a room full of little boys and girls.
As a young father, I came across so many individuals who despised their family and family name. I found this heartbreaking.
I had to change that with my daughters. If I could instill a sense of pride in being an Aguirre, then many other lessons would be easier to teach.
That scarcity taught me to appreciate and maximize everything. I only had a few hours with them. It scared me straight since there was little to no time to waste. It’s almost as if there’s a countdown every weekend. Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock… Every conversation mattered. Every choice mattered. Every activity mattered. A little dramatic, I suppose, but it kept us engaged...
My marriage was my best and biggest failure. It sounds so dramatic, but it’s true. Growing up, I always wanted to be married. It’s heavily ingrained in my culture, and I was looking forward to having my own family. My mom was putting a ton of pressure on me to get married. NOW! I was 25 and getting older every year. I was a wee bit desperate. I was clueless about dating and how to be...
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I am the father of two brilliant young ladies. Anyone following me knows this withing 5 minutes. But I get this question fairly often, “Are you working on having a son?” or some variation of it. I am not at all. I’ve never felt that I had to have a son to feel complete. Part of the argument is that a boy will carry my name and my legacy on. I don’t completely believe that...
Small Trips in Time October 2008. Fe (5) and Anastacia (3) I was divorced and working on my side hustle. I became intoxicated with the idea of quitting my job and being more involved in my daughters’ lives. I would be an idiot to quit my steady job. Or would I be a genius? One thing that I’ve always been guilty of is being ok with looking like an idiot, especially for them. These pixelated photos...
Khan Academy Helped My Daughters Through Distance Learning My kids, like everyone else’s, are doing distance-learning. Basically, it’s the idea of learning away from an actual school and mainly online. I was worried about my daughters keeping up with the work and being able to stay on schedule since I’m not there with them to monitor their progress. So, I asked them how they...
The months leading up to 2010 and the new decade were stressful. I had quit my job earlier in the year so you can imagine how I was feeling. I was living in my parent’s garage and it was a huge hit to my ego. I originally left in 1995, assuming I would never go back. I left to build my own life and family. 15 years later, I had to return. Divorce left me in with nothing, which was a...
On Fatherhood, Manhood & Becoming Better Ancestors.