Category Archives: CHILD REARING

THIS DAMN DOG

Posted on January 23, 2024 by Kit Troyer

I’ve lived with a number of dogs across the years. Until recently I’d never lived with one who made me feel like I was being outsmarted. Or like I was somehow falling short. I don’t know, maybe Mocha only has … Continue reading →

Posted in ANIMALS, CHILD REARING, DOGS, DUMB SHIT I'VE DONE, SELF HELP, SPIRIT | Tagged | 25 Comments

CHRISSIE HYNDE

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Kit Troyer

Two songs remind me of a spring evening back in the late 1980s. The songs are “When Will I See You” and “Every Mother’s Son,” both by the Pretenders. But how can that be? Neither song had been released. And … Continue reading →

Posted in CHILD REARING, LITERATURE, MUSIC, MY CHILDHOOD, SPIRIT | 23 Comments

NEVER SHIRKED A TASK

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Kit Troyer

I’m headed to Montana tomorrow to meet up with my siblings and our mom. We’re going to spread the ashes of our father, Thomas A. Troyer, who died in May at age 88. Each of us had our own relationship … Continue reading →

Posted in CHILD REARING, DOGS, HEROES, MOVIES, MY CHILDHOOD, SPIRIT | 74 Comments

WHILE I WAS AWAY

Posted on May 17, 2022 by Kit Troyer

As I got ready to leave town for 10 days, I worried about the baby hummingbirds near my porch. I had watched them each day as they began to move around and make noise and ask their mother for food. … Continue reading →

Posted in ANIMALS, CHILD REARING, DUMB SHIT I'VE DONE, SPIRIT | 35 Comments

BACKYARD MYSTERY

Posted on March 3, 2022 by Kit Troyer

One springtime years ago, when my children were young and life was hectic, a small domestic mystery nagged at me for two or three weeks. Sometimes when I entered my backyard through a side gate, I would hear a sudden … Continue reading →

Posted in ANIMALS, CHILD REARING, SPIRIT | 28 Comments

SLOW-MOTION MIDLIFE CRISIS

Posted on August 5, 2021 by Kit Troyer

In an interview before he died, songwriter John Prine described his old age, his daily life, his relationships with others. “I’m good at hiding,” he said, laughing. He meant hiding from loved ones, from professional obligations. He meant slipping away … Continue reading →

Posted in CHILD REARING, COURAGE, LITERATURE, MOVIES, MUSIC, MY CHILDHOOD, SPIRIT, UNIQUELY AMERICAN BULLSHIT | 39 Comments

OH BOY

Posted on July 15, 2021 by Kit Troyer

Apparently the college where my kids are headed next month will attempt to enforce a 1-hour limit on parent help during move-in day. I say ‘attempt’ because I have a hard time imagining anyone limiting my Armenian-American spouse to just … Continue reading →

Posted in CHILD REARING, MY CHILDHOOD, THE ARMENIAN IN-LAWS | 34 Comments

GOOD-BYE, SWEET BOOM

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Kit Troyer

I woke up around 4:30am today to the sight of an owl swooping into the branches above me and taking away a rat, which protested loudly as it departed. The owl, huge and gray, vanished as quickly as it arrived. … Continue reading →

Posted in CHILD REARING, COURAGE, DOGS, HEROES, SPIRIT | 80 Comments

BOOMER THE INCONTINENT

Posted on May 3, 2021 by Kit Troyer

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But I’m learning that an old dog can teach an old man new tricks. My 14-year-old goldendoodle Boomer has deployed three strategies simultaneously to retrain me — senile barking, separation … Continue reading →

Posted in CHILD REARING, DOGS, DUMB SHIT I'VE DONE, SPIRIT | 28 Comments

WE’VE BEEN GIVEN HEARTS TO KNOW THE INCREDIBLE

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Kit Troyer

I thought of Ray Bradbury today while reading about the NASA helicopter on Mars. I thought of him not because of his first book, The Martian Chronicles, which he published in 1950. Instead I recalled the day 30 years ago … Continue reading →

Posted in CHILD REARING, COURAGE, HEROES, LITERATURE, SPIRIT, UNIQUELY AMERICAN BULLSHIT | 8 Comments