Up To Speed - February 4th, 2026

First off, a massive thank-you to Tyler and Heath for carrying the load this last week while I've been parenting. I guess technically I've been "grandparenting", but I've been parenting. My wife and I watched the grandkids for five days in Idaho while my son and daughter-in-law were out of town. That was the sunset from their front porch on Sunday night.

As you may know, my wife had three boys who were 7, 9, and 11 when we met and 9, 11, and 13 when we got married. So I'm an "adopted the boys just before they became teenagers" parent, never a "change the diapers and navigate bedtime meltdowns" parent. Take him to the ER after he breaks his wrist? I know how to do that. Turn your head for three seconds and the 18 month-old has climbed on the couch and is ready to jump off the end? This is all new to me.

Well, not anymore. I've completed boot camp and am pleased to report that both my 3.5 year-old granddaughter and my 1.5 year-old grandson are alive and well. I even think they're gonna miss me. My grandpa name is "Bolo", and I'm guessing there's gonna be a moment in the next week where the oldest is gonna ask for more goldfish crackers, get denied, and say "but Bolo would give me all the goldfish I wanted." Because Bolo would give her all the goldfish she wanted.

I'm on the flight back to Illinois right now, having successfully completed my mission of keeping these two alive for a week: