I don’t know how to play Minecraft. Vian (5yo) decided he’s going to educate me. We’re now playing real-world Minecraft in the front yard without a computer. He’s narrating various aspects of the game as he’s walking around the front yard. A leather armor, iron ingot, wooden pickax, bedrock and so on. Then he delivers this pearl of wisdom. Vian: Here’s a good tip. When you’re in the game don’t mess with me....

The kids like to scare me by trying to jump out from under the covers and yell “BOO!”. I like to pretend that I’m scared of their tactics. The other day I decided to return the favor by suddenly entering their room and yelling “BOO!”. I managed to scare Vian and he started giggling in fear and shrunk back under his comforter. Me: Hey Vian, looks like I scared the bejeezus out of you....

Vian is back from school, wearing a button up shirt and slacks. Me: Vian, you look dapper today. Vian: Yeah. Today was picture day. Me: Oh yeah. Did you guys go out and take a picture? Vian: No. It was just someone else taking the picture. I didn’t take the picture. Talking to my kids is the best way for me to realize how imprecise my communication is. 

Me: Whoa! It’s very late, we should have started getting ready for bed 20 mins ago. Sempi: 20 minutes isn’t that much. If you think about it, it is only 4 time 5 minutes. Sempi: And if you think about it, 5 minutes is just 5 times 1 minute. Sempi: And if you really think about it, 1 minute isn’t that long. That’s the spirit. I should remind him of this conversation when he starts doing planks....

Sempi gets very creative when he’s building Lego structures. So I asked him about it. Me: How did you get so good at building these lego creations, Sempi? Sempi: I don’t know, I just like building things. Me: Would you say that I should just keep building things and I’ll get better over time? Sempi: It is easy to create something for yourself. You know what you want and you can make a place for a boat or an airplane in your creations....