Jay Payleitner Blog

Hey Friends: Let’s say we all sat in a big circle and started identifying the wide range of nasty stuff that has invaded our world in the last couple generations. […]

Hey Moms and Dads: I know it ain’t easy, but the goal is to stay one step ahead of what your kids need. I call it “anticipatory parenting.” Maybe this list […]

Right now, you and I really can’t have an eternal, omniscient perspective. That’s probably a good thing because seeing our entire future ahead of us would blow our minds. That’s also why, […]

Hey Friends: This pic made me laugh and I wanted to share it. That’s right. Rita and I have two granddaughters and six grandsons. And we were all together last weekend. My […]

Most fathers expend much effort to launch conversations with their kids — especially teenagers. But perhaps even more important than launching conversations is finishing them wisely and well. You probably shouldn’t expect your son or daughter to punctuate every conversation […]

With the recent passing of Norton Juster, I’m reflecting on the importance of The Phantom Tollbooth in my life.  It’s a must-read classic. Tollbooth was the first chapter book I read back in grade […]

You know Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. That passage begins “To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven  . . .” and follows up with a long list. Including a […]

Consider this healthy strategy for achieving greatness in 2021: “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”  This quotation […]

Friends: The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is not a bird. Yet, this one happily dines daily from Rita’s bird feeder attached to our kitchen window with suction cups. And by daily I mean constantly. […]

Friends: Watching LA win the 2020 World Series, my mind flashed back to the 1988 heroics of Orel Hershiser. During that season he pitched 59 consecutive scoreless innings. (A record that may […]