Articles

Parenting Perspectives: Celebrating a hero, friend

Sometimes heroes don’t wear capes, Spandex costumes or athletic uniforms. Sometimes they come simply dressed in a button-up dress shirt, jeans and a pair of big, ol’ Sorels.

• Devlyn Brooks

Parenting Perspectives: Taking nothing for granted this holiday season

It was Saturday and the kids were nearing the end of their church Christmas program rehearsal, not yet a full 24 hours since we learned the tragic news about the shootings in Newtown, Conn.

• Devlyn Brooks

Parenting Perspectives: Family doesn’t need to be complicated

“And how many brothers and sisters do you have?” the doctor asked Garrett during a recent trip to the clinic. “Four,” he answered nonchalantly, “a brother and three sisters.” “Four?” the doctor asked quizzically looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

• Devlyn Brooks

Parenting Perspectives: Family gets up to speed on girl things

Having raised two of them, I’ve mended my share of scrapes, dug rocks out of pants pockets before laundry, refereed my share of tussles, and on numerous occasions stopped my oldest son from feeding his younger brother an appetizer that would have involved bugs or an amphibious animal of some kind.

• Devlyn Brooks

Brooks: Insight found on a baseball diamond

It’s amazing the insight one can gain with a single, crisp crack of a baseball bat – a lifetime of wisdom, really, all sewn up into a small white ball sailing toward centerfield.

• Devlyn Brooks

Parenting Perspectives: A dad and his son: Two concert firsts, 25 years apart

As I looked at my son, jamming out to Nickleback’s hit song “Photograph” alongside his buddy at the Fargodome Sunday night, I was instantly transported back some 25 years in time to another rock concert just about this time of year but just a bit farther west in town.

• Devlyn Brooks

'How does a bunny lay an egg?' | Devlyn Brooks' Easter conversation with his son

“Dad?” the Bug asked, after we had sat down for Easter breakfast at our church. “How does a bunny lay an egg?”

• Devlyn Brooks

Forum Communications Co. launches news website aimed at the growing ‘Patch’ in western North Dakota

Forum Communications Co. today announced the launch of its newest website, thepatchtoday.com, a general news website designed for those living in western North Dakota's oil patch.

• "The Patch Today"

Parenting Perspectives: Dad's proud of teenager

Dear Garrett, It seems unimaginable, but this past weekend when my back was turned, you turned 14 years old.

• Devlyn Brooks

Parenting Perspectives: Child’s first cry still meaningful nine years later

My dear little Bug, Can it possibly be true? This past week I turned around, and inexplicably, my baby boy had turned into a 9-year-old little man who stands two-thirds my height and seems closer to adulthood than he does his days in diapers.

• Devlyn Brooks
• Carter Brooks, aka “Bug”

Columns

Parenting Perspectives: All this quiet is disturbing

At first the idea of catching two straight uninterrupted NFL football games was one to be cherished.

• Devlyn Brooks

Parenting Perspectives: 'Cab for kids' business concept can’t fail

I think if I were a young entrepreneur I would start a business that preyed on us overscheduled, weary parents who run after our children from one end of town to the other.

• Devlyn Brooks

Parenting Perspectives: Winter memory etched in snow

It seems our family’s favorite outdoor memories come from times when someone’s left some skin on the ground, a sacrifice to Mother Nature who likes to remind us that we can enjoy her woods, her rivers and lakes and even her snow-covered hills, but we should never get too comfortable.

Parenting Perspectives: Backyard discovery’s off the wall

On Sunday, I discovered that I have a climbing wall in my backyard. Well, OK, a section of a climbing wall … a big section.

Parenting Perspectives: Trying to be a happy camper

Summer camps for kids have become as ubiquitous as misbehaved parents at sporting events.

Brooks: Bunny queries abound

"Dad, how did the Easter Bunny know Garrett likes Chuck Norris?” the 7-year-old Bug asked as he watched his older brother peel open his newest DVD of his favorite action hero.

Parenting Perspectives: Dad finds losing sometimes makes you a winner

Looking smart in his colorful Cub Scout uniform, the Bug stood next to the other boys, some the same age and many older, crowded around the head table, awaiting the announcement of the winners of his pack’s annual Pinewood Derby.

Parenting Perspectives: Bang, bang! Children, the parents’ alarm clock

“BANG, BANG, BANG!” the house shook on a recent Saturday morning. Deep in sleep, snug in my bed, the noise and reverberations reached my subconscious.

Parenting Perspectives: Share day one-upmanship getting out of hand

I’d like to say thank you to the mom of the girl in my son Bug’s class who decided to send candy with her daughter to their share day.

Parenting Perspectives: Hiking with sons a relaxing getaway

Yep, we don’t go hiking enough.