I know the worst thing a blogger can do is go silent. Extended breaks—especially disappearances—are a slap in the face to regular readers and undermine any credibility to those who just pop by for a peek. There’s really no excuse.

Except, I’ve been busy.

I am not a professional parent, and I have no commitment to this blog other than my own narcissistic desire to write and share. I don’t owe anyone a story or article. And, I try to write about timeless topics, so the content isn’t technically stale.

There are two promises I made to myself when I started this blog:

One, I wouldn’t ever tell my family I’m too busy to be with them because I need to write. That would single-handedly contradict everything I believe about fatherhood; nothing is as important as being present. This blog is simply a writing hobby.

Two, I would try to offer an optimistic perspective about things that matter to me, and hopefully other modern dads. This is my soapbox, but it’s not in my nature to rant about the topic-du-jour unless I can offer a little insight. I don’t need to jump on the social issues of the day with little more than ill-informed rhetoric, and I certainly don’t bring any authority to parenting skills such as a Phd or years of experience.

In the course of being busy, I was also struggling to find topics to share authentically and intelligently. Blogs, it seems, love a controversy—sometimes even a contrived controversy. Blogs that get attention have a simple strategy; take an extreme opinion, poke the bear, let the rhetoric fly, close comments, and set up the next issue. I really didn’t have the capacity or mindset to defend my opinions—and some issues are just too important for a flippant remark—so I went quiet for a while.

But I’m back, now. And I have a few things I’d like to share.

Thanks for reading.