I had a happy memory come up today.
As I was driving to see my youngest son sing the national anthem a cappella before the last football game of the season and walk on senior night with him and sit in the cold with my mom and my wife watch him doing his band thing I drove by the elementary school he and my other children went to. And in the archway where kids are dropped off every morning and picked up every afternoon they had the "book fair" sign out there.
The book fair was always an exciting time for our children. They always came home and wanted to buy books. They wanted to buy the new whatever series of books they were in. I always wanted to do it in every grade in the elementary school. My wife would read to them or they would read to themselves as they got older. It was always so much fun and so exciting to see that sign.
I don't remember seeing that sign when I was growing up. I do remember getting to go to the library and check books out and what a joy it was to actually buy books and get to read them over and over. But it was fun seeing that sign today. It was fun to feel that thrill of excitement that people will be buying books and reading them and having fun with them and hopefully reading to their children instead of just parking their children in their bedroom with a book in the phone. Such a wonderful time!
I love books! And I love happy happy memories like that!
Thursday, January 2, 2020
Thursday, December 19, 2019
I am an Uncle
I am the uncle of at least three boys and several girls. I don't know hardly any of them beyond seeing them on holidays in my brother's family's case and the once every 10 to 15 years for the rest of. I feel guilty about that.
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Generational blame
Recent post by a friend:
"Me, behave? Seriously? As a child I saw Tarzan almost naked, Cinderella arrived home after midnight, Pinocchio told lies, Aladdin was a thief, Batman drove 200+ miles an hour, Snow White lived in a house w/7 men, Elephants could fly, Popeye smoked a pipe & had tattoos, PacMan ran around to digital music while eating pills that enhanced his performance, & Shaggy & Scooby were mystery solving hippies that always had the munchies.The fault is not mine!"
How sad that people in my generation joke about this but then blame everyone else for issues and inconveniences in their lives.
Worse, the next generation blames us for destroying the planet while they produce more carbon emissions with their internet gaming, electric cars and devices, and processed food choices.
"Me, behave? Seriously? As a child I saw Tarzan almost naked, Cinderella arrived home after midnight, Pinocchio told lies, Aladdin was a thief, Batman drove 200+ miles an hour, Snow White lived in a house w/7 men, Elephants could fly, Popeye smoked a pipe & had tattoos, PacMan ran around to digital music while eating pills that enhanced his performance, & Shaggy & Scooby were mystery solving hippies that always had the munchies.The fault is not mine!"
How sad that people in my generation joke about this but then blame everyone else for issues and inconveniences in their lives.
Worse, the next generation blames us for destroying the planet while they produce more carbon emissions with their internet gaming, electric cars and devices, and processed food choices.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Disappointed by Netflix
I was disappointed by Netflix yesterday. I was excited to see the Arsenio Hall had a comedy special on Netflix. He was one of the comics that was friends with Eddie Murphy, came up and had his own Tonight Show or late-night show that competed against the Tonight Show, and he was funny on TV. And he had that grin that just made you laugh every time he told the joke.
But I got into the comedy special and the he cursed a lot. He used the N word. And it was constant. And I actually turned it off because I didn't want to fill my head with that.
I have enough trouble with my own language and my own thoughts, I don't need an entertainer that I enjoyed in the past filling my head with a bunch of junk that will echo for years.
I wonder if he realizes how he is a promoting the use of the N word? And all the other things that he said?
But I got into the comedy special and the he cursed a lot. He used the N word. And it was constant. And I actually turned it off because I didn't want to fill my head with that.
I have enough trouble with my own language and my own thoughts, I don't need an entertainer that I enjoyed in the past filling my head with a bunch of junk that will echo for years.
I wonder if he realizes how he is a promoting the use of the N word? And all the other things that he said?
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Communication
Communication in my family is done via various methods that are common today. And because those various methods are scattered and different for almost each person communication is hard.
My wife uses Facebook messenger to text. And so I may get a message from her on Facebook messenger, via text, she may grab email in the middle of a conversation and send an email about something, and for a while we tried Snapchat but that didn't work out very well. She will post things on Facebook and tag me in and expect me to catch it. And sometimes she'll leave me a written no that I'm supposed to catch as a flyby the table doing my thing.
My assignments in college informed me that I don't check the email account that I've used almost all of my life very much anymore, I use this other one now that you never sent email to but that's where I'm looking. My youngest son is all over the map and uses multiple things including the flip phone that we provide for him. My oldest son uses his work email and his phone for texting for the most part, and my daughter and son-in-law both use different methods of communication at different times.
With all of these methods of communication things still fall through the cracks. They will tell their mothers something expecting me to know it next time they talk to me. My mother will do that and expect me to know things and get upset when I don't know them. And what's hard for me is that I will get upset because they're operating as if I already know certain things and I have no idea about anything that they're talking about most of the time.
One of the most egregious examples for my life is when I was talking to my what mother one afternoon on the phone and she was talking about how wonderful it was what my brother and his wife were doing with their newborn son. And how I must feel so honored about what they had done. And I had to finally ask her what the hell you talking about? And she said the deed named him and made his middle name your name after you. This had not been shared with me at all. This is not been told to me by them, by my wife who knew and had known for several weeks, nor anybody else in the family. Surgeries have been that way, where people will tell my wife and then expect me to know it because they told my wife.
So I came up with a simple formula that I share with my family members: telling her does not equal telling me.
People laugh when I share that formula with them but it's true! And it's easy. And it keeps people out of trouble and keeps assumptions at a lower level.
Communication is fun! It's a lot more fun when it actually happens.
My wife uses Facebook messenger to text. And so I may get a message from her on Facebook messenger, via text, she may grab email in the middle of a conversation and send an email about something, and for a while we tried Snapchat but that didn't work out very well. She will post things on Facebook and tag me in and expect me to catch it. And sometimes she'll leave me a written no that I'm supposed to catch as a flyby the table doing my thing.
My assignments in college informed me that I don't check the email account that I've used almost all of my life very much anymore, I use this other one now that you never sent email to but that's where I'm looking. My youngest son is all over the map and uses multiple things including the flip phone that we provide for him. My oldest son uses his work email and his phone for texting for the most part, and my daughter and son-in-law both use different methods of communication at different times.
With all of these methods of communication things still fall through the cracks. They will tell their mothers something expecting me to know it next time they talk to me. My mother will do that and expect me to know things and get upset when I don't know them. And what's hard for me is that I will get upset because they're operating as if I already know certain things and I have no idea about anything that they're talking about most of the time.
One of the most egregious examples for my life is when I was talking to my what mother one afternoon on the phone and she was talking about how wonderful it was what my brother and his wife were doing with their newborn son. And how I must feel so honored about what they had done. And I had to finally ask her what the hell you talking about? And she said the deed named him and made his middle name your name after you. This had not been shared with me at all. This is not been told to me by them, by my wife who knew and had known for several weeks, nor anybody else in the family. Surgeries have been that way, where people will tell my wife and then expect me to know it because they told my wife.
So I came up with a simple formula that I share with my family members: telling her does not equal telling me.
People laugh when I share that formula with them but it's true! And it's easy. And it keeps people out of trouble and keeps assumptions at a lower level.
Communication is fun! It's a lot more fun when it actually happens.
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Visiting family
I enjoy going to visit family. It's challenging, it's awkward, it's uncomfortable, but I enjoy it.
We got to go and visit my daughter and son-in-law recently. It was great to do life with them for a few days. I'm proud of how well they are doing.
For my wife's birthday we had dinner at my oldest son's house. This was a special treat and made me feel especially proud of my son.
We went to visit my wife's brother and his family. Though we don't do this very often it was nice to spend time with them and see their new house. Very cool.
My wife and I argue about going. We don't want to intrude, then we remind each other that most people seem to think that about us. So we go ahead and intrude. I'm glad we do!
We got to go and visit my daughter and son-in-law recently. It was great to do life with them for a few days. I'm proud of how well they are doing.
For my wife's birthday we had dinner at my oldest son's house. This was a special treat and made me feel especially proud of my son.
We went to visit my wife's brother and his family. Though we don't do this very often it was nice to spend time with them and see their new house. Very cool.
My wife and I argue about going. We don't want to intrude, then we remind each other that most people seem to think that about us. So we go ahead and intrude. I'm glad we do!
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Tech driving society
At our game night recently we had five or six teenage boys come over to the house to hang out. It was a lot of fun, and we enjoyed eating waffles and the making waffle ice cream sandwiches at 10 o'clock at night after playing a game of pool in the basement.
One of the interesting things I noted was that when they came to my house they didn't knock on the door. They texted my son to let him know that they were there at the door. And then they just stood outside while my wife sat in the living room waiting for someone to knock.
This new generation has not been taught what we were taught. They've been raised looking at screens and programmed by people who want to addict them to their products.
They don't reply to personal text messages. They don't commit to anything until the last minute, and even then they tend not to commit to it they just show up.
It's a new time with a lot of the new rules in society. It's a puzzle because in order to survive there rewriting the rules and making things different.
I hope that we can adapt together.
One of the interesting things I noted was that when they came to my house they didn't knock on the door. They texted my son to let him know that they were there at the door. And then they just stood outside while my wife sat in the living room waiting for someone to knock.
This new generation has not been taught what we were taught. They've been raised looking at screens and programmed by people who want to addict them to their products.
They don't reply to personal text messages. They don't commit to anything until the last minute, and even then they tend not to commit to it they just show up.
It's a new time with a lot of the new rules in society. It's a puzzle because in order to survive there rewriting the rules and making things different.
I hope that we can adapt together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)