What I did on my summer vacation parental leave.
Some people who have not experienced the full time care of a small child may view parental or bonding leave as a vacation. Yes, there are many people in your own workplace that still views this benefit as a ‘perk’. I was not one of them but I, like them, thought it a bit of a bonus where you get to stay home and relax with your new child. (likely influenced by experience babysitting cousins and neighborhood kids) So I had a vast list of goals set out for myself when embarking on my leave, knowing that I likely would not accomplish most of them, but thinking I’d get a vast number completed.
Oh how silly this was looking back.
Books Read
| Image/Link | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 | How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius by Donald Robertson | This is a great book for any leader to read, even if you don’t lead a world empire. It has a great incite into how to lead with forethought, respect for your team, sharing of power, ability to make tough decisions and still manage political advantages. Aurelius strips away all the chaff from the though process of decision making. |
 | Verbal Judo, The Gentle Art of Persuasion by Thompson, George | Excellent for conflict resolution, this book helps to change the way you might approach a situation when two minds are not agreeing. Thompson gives great tools to the purpose of reducing discordant dialog to facilitate solutions. |
 | Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Mary Sheedy Kurcinka | Even though this may not seem like a book worthy of a workplace purpose, it also has great incite into how minds other than one you possess process facts and situations. This book helped me see more clearly the differences between disparate personalities such as introverts and extroverts and the needs and protocols for interaction with either. This comes in handy for inclusive and diversity opportunities in meetings at work, as well as forethought on how best to approach a co-worker on their own terms. |
 | Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress Steven Pinker | This just makes sense for the times we are living in… |
Learned to play the violin to a decent degree too
I bought an electric violin so that while my son slept I could practice… and I learned a great deal, enough to place some classics.
Completed Watch Dogs 2
I think this game came out just around this time, and I was able to single handedly finish all of the missions, even on the two person ones!