We all know bullying is very much a focus now. Lots of news coverage on this nasty epidemic. It is baffling the levels to which anger, fear, and hatred will go.
I have personally thought about this topic a lot. My children are young. That said, I am already starting to see some snippy little girl behavior out of my four year old and her friends:
“You’re not my friend Ashley… I like Jordan better…” Continue reading »
Ok my weekend was spent taking care of kids, issues at home and getting caught up on three major projects that I have due this week. Because of this I didn’t get a blog done that I believed would be of value to any of you. So here is my short and honest blog for you…
“Since silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone” I want to let each and everyone one of you know, how grateful I am that you read my blog each week and inspire me. That is my gift of honesty to you today.
That’s it until next week……. Continue reading »
Whenever I speak to groups, I always like to give them a little spelling test. It is really a very easy test, but one that everyone always seems to fail. My question is “How do you spell Love”? Most of the time everyone will proudly answer, L.O.V.E. Oh sure there are the occasional L.U.V.’s that come out, but in general L.O.V.E. is the answer. Each time I do this I have to correct the audience. The real way to spell L.O.V.E. is T.I.M.E. If you truly want to show your children, your family, your friends, yourself and others in your life that you love them, then you need to spend time with them.
If there is one thing that we never seem to have enough of it’s time. We all seem to be busy running around, taking care of ourselves, our kids, our jobs and are so preoccupied with life, that we just don’t spend enough time with those that are closest to us. Every year around this time, what is the one thing that we all like to say? “Where has the time gone”? Someone once told me that if you want to live forever then get married, because when you are single times flies by and once you get married, time slows down to a crawl:) That person by the way is now divorced! Continue reading »
Someone once told me, as I was becoming a parent…
That the guilt…
Never goes away.
I didn’t get it then. Continue reading »
Dear Sara;
It’s been almost three and a half years since you passed away, five years since we divorced and seven years since you left me to be a sole parent to Jack and Michaela. I figured that maybe now we should talk again. First let me update you on the kids.
Jack for the most part is doing great. He has friends that love him, a personality that you would cherish and and a stubbornness that you would respect. He is peaceful in his spirit, smart in his thinking but like you he occasionally plays the victim. If God didn’t tell you he had the 30th highest score on his high school entrance exam, out of 425 kids. He gets that from you Sara. Unfortunately school seems to bore him and thus his GPA is around a 2.something (he gets that from me). He is 5’7 1/2 ” and is committed to joining the US Army Rangers when he gets out of high school. I really want him to attend college but he is adamant that his calling is with the Rangers. I know that it is not what either of us would have chosen for him but I will support him all the way. I am actually very proud of him because how many 16 year olds are there that know exactly what they want to do with their life. I am so proud of him and you would be as well.
He is like you in so many ways Sara, but he is still so angry with you. I know that he won’t admit it to me but he misses you dearly. He needed a mom in his life to hold him when he felt sad, to comfort him when he was sick and to talk to him like only a mom can do. I worry about him because he has not had that female influence around since you died. I know that he is strong, but it’s one thing for me to know this, and totally another to understand it. Now that he is 16 I worry that I can’t help him anymore. I remind him daily of all the wonderful traits he inherited from you and how much you loved him, but I know that he tunes it out. Don’t worry though, I know deep down in my heart that he loves you with all his heart, and will one day make us both very proud. Continue reading »
A recent George Will column, “Lost In Electronica,” started me thinking about how often kids says they’re bored. “Are you kidding me,” said in my best Robert DeNiro accent! If anything, I find there aren’t enough hours in the day for me to begin to do all that I want to do.
But, it’s evidently a fact that many in this current generation are often bored, even with all that is available at their fingertips. Of course, every child doesn’t have access to all our current high-tech devices, but most libraries do have computer “labs.” Why is boredom more prevalent today? My first answer is MTV. Yes, MTV, which if you’ve forgotten stands for “Music Television.” When it began, in August of 1981, it ushered in a whole new world of fast-cutting short videos.
Until MTV, most videos that our children saw were in the form of television programs–1/2-hour sitcoms and 1-hour dramas–and movies which were anywhere from about 80 minutes, on the shorter side (usually comedies and animated films), to close to three-hours for the epics (like “Titanic”). MTV changed all that by providing little mini-movies, the length of songs, that were also produced and edited in a brand-new style–fast-cutting imagery in which the camera almost never lingered on one image for long. Continue reading »
When I was a child “Black Friday” represented that time each night, when the lights went out, and I had to go to bed. When I was in high school “Black Friday” represented the day that my report card came home ( I was a 2.something GPA kid). When I was in my twenty’s “Black Friday” represented the next day at work, after coming in from the night before at 1:30 am. Now that I am a dad to a fourteen year old “Black Friday” has taken on a brand new meaning.
Last week my daughter asked me if I would go to “Black Friday” with her? Why not, I don’t mind getting up at 6:30 a.m. to spend some quality time with Michaela. Then she informed me that we would be getting up at 4:00 a.m. What? “Only the crazy people get up at 4:00 a.m. to shop” I said. “No way Dad”, in order to get the best deals we need to be there no later than 4:20. “Alright honey lets do it” I said.
Well Friday morning came and Michaela handed me a folder detailing our agenda for the day. She had every store that we would be going to listed, coupons for each store, what I was required to get at each store, and believe it or not, the floor plan of each store. Needless to say she is a bit organized. We started out at Super Target. My first thought was who in their right mind would go to Super Target at 4:00 am. Don’t most “Black Friday” shoppers go to the mall or some electronics store? At least those are the videos I see each year on TV of the the ensuing chaos that accompanies “Black Friday”. How wrong was I? When we arrived at 4:20 a.m. there was not one shopping cart left in the entire store. Luckily for me my only job was to find the “Vampire Diaries Collection” at 75% off. Fortunately, this did not require a shopping cart. Unfortunately, Michael’s list did require a shopping cart, so there I am at 4:35 a.m. following shoppers out to their car to get their cart from them and head back in to meet Michaela. One thing that I learned about shoppers on “Black Friday” is that, although they may show up in slippers and PJ’s, do not underestimate their resolve. There is nothing scarier than a woman hopped up on coffee and Red Bull, coupon’s in hand, and a shopping cart without brakes headed right for you. I can personally attest to the fact ,that you are best served to stay out of the thier way, and concede the last I-Pod to them. If you don’t, I guarantee that you are going to get ran over. Continue reading »