<![CDATA[Coffee with Dad]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!GL_4!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b7aca79-a0d5-4ac0-bfa9-a50471abbd0a_1000x1000.pngCoffee with Dadhttps://nathanielgier.substack.comSubstackFri, 04 Sep 2026 01:30:52 GMT<![CDATA[Tuesday & Wednesday]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/tuesday-and-wednesdayhttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/tuesday-and-wednesdayThu, 23 Jul 2026 10:01:27 GMT“I can’t wait for some warm weather” & then it’s here & then it’s hot & then it’s really hot & then you kind of wish that maybe it wasn’t so hot & then you wonder whether Mother Nature is paying you back for wanting something you didn’t have and not saying “I want nothing more than how it feels right now” & then you wonder whether life’s that deep.

Maybe…

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]]><![CDATA[A stranger's silence]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/a-strangers-silencehttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/a-strangers-silenceTue, 18 Feb 2025 14:06:50 GMTTrigger warning: this post involves pregnancy loss.

The story below is my perspective, and I am sharing with N’s permission.

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]]><![CDATA[Day of birth ]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/day-of-birthhttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/day-of-birthWed, 25 Dec 2024 05:20:44 GMT(This post isn’t really about fatherhood.)

And this year’s annual existential what-is-going-on crisis (not crisis) question of the year is . . . Why do I love basketball so much?

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I’m serious. Why?

I’m there at the gym to…

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]]><![CDATA[Pie for breakfast]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/pie-for-breakfasthttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/pie-for-breakfastMon, 02 Dec 2024 11:03:04 GMTI did two things this week that typically only happen this week and this week only: I ate pie for breakfast, and I took a nap on the couch.

Eating pie for breakfast is a family tradition for me. Though it took me awhile to come around on pumpkin pie, I got there eventually, especially when I realized it was practically a perfect breakfast when paired wi…

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]]><![CDATA[Grief]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/griefhttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/griefThu, 07 Nov 2024 03:59:06 GMTWhen I arrived to my polling place at 6:58 am on Tuesday, it was still dark. The day was a dreary one; a persistent damp chill lingered as the minutes passed. A line was forming by the time I arrived, and around me I heard Portuguese, I saw a dad with his daughter, and an older, heavyset gentleman was commenting to the dad that he remembered the first t…

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]]><![CDATA[I'm writing again]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/im-writing-againhttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/im-writing-againFri, 18 Oct 2024 03:10:50 GMTA picture is worth a thousand words.

Sometimes it really is.

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Maybe two thousand,

or even three thousand.

But sometimes it’s not.

I wish I had kept writing.

Three hundred words is worth . . .

Part of a picture?

Or a video?

Some…

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]]><![CDATA[Saturday ]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/saturdayhttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/saturdayMon, 17 Jun 2024 10:02:50 GMTSo our new kitchen is not small but also not big, but the one thing it has is some space in the middle, enough space for L to be there in her bouncer and for N and I to be sitting on the floor next to her with half eaten bowls of leftovers and beers that are currently cold but on their way to warm. It’s 4:45, our new favorite time for dinner, and I’m pl…

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]]><![CDATA[A short break]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/a-short-breakhttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/a-short-breakMon, 01 Apr 2024 10:02:13 GMTI have so much to write about, so many memories to capture, and too little time to do it all. So, I’ll be taking a short break from this newsletter—primarily because I’m exhausted by the time it comes time to write, and also because every last minute I have right is either being spent packing, parenting, resting, or spending time with my lovely wife.

Gi…

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]]><![CDATA[Overwhelmed (with gratitude)]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/overwhelmed-with-gratitudehttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/overwhelmed-with-gratitudeMon, 25 Mar 2024 10:02:16 GMTSo, we’re almost there on buying a house, and I’m really grateful for that. For a while there I was (greedily) feeling really bad that we couldn’t find a home—millennials stuck in the wrong market at the wrong time. And part of that is true, I assume, because the economists say it is. But now that’s neither here nor there because soon, the home will be …

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]]><![CDATA[RSV]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/rsvhttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/rsvMon, 18 Mar 2024 10:00:43 GMTI think that, without a doubt, “helplessness” has to appear in the definition of parenthood, right next to the words “relentless” and “exhausting,” but also next to “indescribable love” and “joy.”

That acute sense of helplessness is at its most noticeable when your kid is sick. Your heart outside your body, they say—that’s real.

Coffee with Dad is a read…

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]]><![CDATA[A refreshed perspective ]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/a-refreshed-perspectivehttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/a-refreshed-perspectiveMon, 04 Mar 2024 11:00:36 GMTEarly in L’s life I wrote about how I had underestimated the amount of joy she would bring to people outside our small family’s life. Observing the unbridled happiness that folks felt when meeting her for the first time is something I’ll never forget—one of those special moments that sticks with you.

These reactions still happen, for sure, but there’s s…

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]]><![CDATA[That smile]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/that-smilehttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/that-smileTue, 27 Feb 2024 01:59:21 GMTI know, I know. At this rate, I need to change the title of the newsletter from Coffee with Dad to Exhausted Evenings with Dad.

This week is short. Thanks for reading.

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]]><![CDATA[Laughter as a relief again]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/laughter-as-a-relief-againhttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/laughter-as-a-relief-againTue, 20 Feb 2024 02:03:26 GMTComing to you a few hours later than usual because . . . Well, I was going to write about how we tried to buy a house and then didn’t get it and how stressful that was—it really was—and how the mental load of going through the emotional ups and downs caused me to be totally and completely taxed come Sunday evening. I also had some good lines comparing N…

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]]><![CDATA[Another basement escapade]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/another-basement-escapadehttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/another-basement-escapadeMon, 12 Feb 2024 11:01:48 GMTIt wasn’t that long ago that I wrote about my recent encounter with an exceedingly troublesome blowout that resulted in some parent improvising. Well, I was back at it again on Friday.

This time, N was in her office, taking an interview. Unlike last time where I felt and later saw the poop I needed to clean up, this one I simply smelled. N had at least a…

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]]><![CDATA[A punt]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/a-punthttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/a-puntMon, 05 Feb 2024 11:00:17 GMTI’m punting this week—there’s so much to write about. Rolling over! Day care! Playing with the dog ! But I’m just too tired.

Here’s one striking moment from the weekend for me.

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I came down with a stomach bug on Friday.…

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]]><![CDATA[Bedtime]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/bedtimehttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/bedtimeMon, 29 Jan 2024 11:01:00 GMTIn fairness to this last week, the moment I describe below was the hardest one of the week. It was an otherwise fun week—one I’ll tell you more about later.

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]]><![CDATA[Shorts in January ]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/shorts-in-januaryhttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/shorts-in-januaryMon, 22 Jan 2024 11:00:52 GMTI wasn’t going to write about the ocean, but I changed my mind, even though if I had to bet on how many people have written about the healing vibes of the ocean, I’d take the over, for sure, not because they’re cool or popular to write about but because they’re real.

It’s not that I needed “healing,” really (though don’t we all?), but I needed something.

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]]><![CDATA[Ignorance is bliss]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/ignorance-is-blisshttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/ignorance-is-blissMon, 15 Jan 2024 11:01:26 GMTThe look on people’s faces whenever I talked about becoming a dad before I actually became a dad was always funny to me. Even some of the most genuine people I knew looked at me with an expression that basically said, “you’re so naive; you have no idea what’s about to happen.”

A fair expression, in my mind, because it was obviously true. It’s just like a…

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]]><![CDATA[Crying (or) laughing]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/crying-or-laughinghttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/crying-or-laughingMon, 08 Jan 2024 11:01:44 GMTThe thing about our setup at home is that it’s not perfect.

We have a lovely place, but the kitchen is off the room where L sleeps (for now), so clanging around—as I have the tendency to do—is off limits for the better part of the day. There are steps at each door, so we have to carry the stroller down each time. Temperature control can be a bit of an is…

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]]><![CDATA[Looking ahead]]>https://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/looking-aheadhttps://nathanielgier.substack.com/p/looking-aheadMon, 01 Jan 2024 11:01:18 GMTIt’s been a busy week since I last wrote! Christmas, travel, recovering from travel, and all the things. So, today’s post is short. Happy New Year!

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