Jason Kottke knows how to find stuff thatll make you stop, look and think.
Jason has two kids, Ollie and Minna.
Heres how he parents.
They split their time between their moms house and mine.
Tell us a little bit about your family and your career.
Did life happen mostly as planned or were there surprises?
Im not a goal-oriented person.
Ive always just followed my interests and made it up as I went along.
Take us through your morning routine.
What are your best tricks for getting out the door?
One thing we were very consistent about as parents is instilling a sense of independence into our kids.
Even as infants, they were encouraged to self-soothe.
We let them do their own thing at the playground.
If they fell down, we let them get back up by themselves.
They picked out their own clothes and dressed themselves as soon as they were physically able.
We trusted them to stop running or scooting at the street corner.
do it with minimal disruption and grumbling.
Has parenting changed the way you work?
I took two months off when my son was born and going back to work was difficult at first.
I had X amount of hours during my week to work and the rest was for family.
I realized I really had to focus.
Its more difficult for me to truly lose myself in the creative flow than before Ollie was born.
So theres definitely been a trade-off between productivity and creativity.
What does your evening routine look like?
I love reading to my kids.
Or any kids, really.
But I grew to really love the performance, the interaction, and the intimacy.
One of the toughest things about separating our family was not getting to read to them every day.
Even now that theyre older, we still read before bedtime.
We read the entireHarry Potterseries together (including the published script forThe Cursed Child & the Fantastic Beastsscreenplay).
Its one of my absolute favorite things Ive ever done with them.
Those books are a bonanza of interesting things to discuss.
Now were working our way through Emily Wilsons translation ofThe Odyssey.
Reading a childrens book aloud was one of the many things Id never done.
But I grew to really love the performance, the interaction, and the intimacy.
Whats been your proudest moment as a parent?
This past winter, Minna entered a free skiing competition at a nearby ski resort.
The comp started and her turn cameand then went.
A few minutes later, she showed upsobbingto where I was watching.
Shed missed the turn-off to the starting place and thought they werent going to let her compete.
So we skied down and hopped on the lift.
Can you see it?
Sort of… came the tentative reply from the usually quietly confident little girl.
I thought, Shit, I dont know if she can steady herself in time.
So we took a little timeout.
I pulled my phone out and put on a couple of her favorite songs.
We looked at the course from the chair and watched a couple of the other competitors go.
By the time we reached the top, Minna was her usual bubbly self.
Im so so proud that she was able to fight through being upset and ski so well.
What moment are you least proud of?
It resulted in a lot of unpleasantness that I am still, years later, ashamed of.
What do you want your kid to learn from your example?
Never stop learning and growing.
That theres something interesting about absolutely everything and everyone…you just have to keep digging.
What are your favorite funny/weird/special family rituals?
We do Summer Olympics events in the yard, including a timed sprint around the house.
I am still faster than Ollie but he is steadily closing the gap.
In the spring and fall, we head down to the river to skip stones and collect interesting rocks.
There are a couple of good spots with flat water and flat stones that have become our go-to spots.
Whats the hardest part about being a parent?
This has always been the toughest part of parenthood for me to come to terms with.
That and applying sunscreen to toddlers.
