Kids Skills, Handy as a Parent

When I was a kid technology wasn't in so much abundance. When we wanted to have fun on a nice day we went outside. On the days that required more than one layer to survive , time outside was limited. The best days were when you can go outside and be creative , and get dirty. We traveled the neighborhood everyday like we discovered the area for the first time . There was no gaming system to hog all your time or, any of the social media crap to cloud your judgment and form your opinions for you. Only the fresh air and the world around you.

I had a particular set of skills that came in handy in the neighborhood . I could build a fort out of anything , anywhere I wanted. The size of the area did not matter , simply tell me where it should stand and I could make it happen. I built forts for all my friends and even some for kids i did not get a long with so well . I was the fort contractor.

 I'm and adult now and, no my fort building days are far from over. I don't build in the woods much anymore do to the fact that there isn't really a good wooded area near my house to do so. I am a dad and my kids love to build tents out of blankets and all that fun stuff. Recently I have found my self being a little bit of an over achiever. I brought home a good size box from work and made a fort for my son. He is happy with it and loves to play in it but, here comes the fort building kid in me. I can't help looking at this box fort and thinking about what it could be , MORE!

So my three year old son's box fort will have the following :

1. A cut out for a phone to act as a movie screen
2. An exhaust fan to pull out hot air
3. Lights mounted on the inside and outside 
4. Shelving for his drink and snacks 
5. and the list is growing...

Hopefully i can achieve greatness as did the following people.

 

What to do....What to do... So many Choices!!

One of the worst things that could happen during the work day!!! Your hungry and all the choices around you are pretty much the same or just worn out. That's what happening right now ! Like most, my current place of employment has a strip of asphalt lined with quick stop grease marts. For those that are a little more sophisticated , fast food facilities. Then there are the bolted to the ground not going anywhere cuisines, again for those that require proper terminology , staple cuisines. Yes, the food is good and will accomplish the goal that your body has required but, this is not so when your brain says hey shut up, I'm trying to decide!

So lets see the choices:

McDonald's

Burger King 

Wendy's

Taco Bell

Popeye's

Subway

Then there are the staple cuisines:

Asian

Pizza

soup and sandwiches

BBQ

Latino

and gas station food

These choices may do the trick but , there is one question to be answered!! 

Which one are you tired of the least!!

Just Stop Talking

Have you ever had those mornings where you are not quite ready to talk or carry on a conversation? That's usually not the case with me but , today that's how I feel. Its not specific to anyone person . For some reason I'm not ready for the questions or small talk.


I hear.....

Response.....

And how I  feel....

Like I said , how I feel this morning is not specific to anyone person. I'm sure i will be over this soon!!

Why Forgive if You Can Never Forget

When I was younger forgiving was easy , even though you didn't forget. I just wanted to have as many friends as possible even if they were not the best friend they could be to me. I was very accepting and knew that no one was perfect, not even me. You look at what you can do, where you can go , and all that is measured in fun, not friendship , or family. You form bonds , some as strong as family some as strong as the alcohol or drug you may consume together. That's just kids stuff though, we are still learning at that point . Being an adult facing the same things , minus the drugs and alcohol of course, the results are a lot different .

As an adult I Require fewer friends. This wasn't an over night achievement, more so a gradual reduction of useless weight on my life's journey . Which means the friends I have remaining and currently have, I consider family . We have our differences, which can sometimes lead to arguments but, like family it can't cause a divide.

The reason for this post is because I had a friend that was family to me and there was a falling out. Someone that she had brought into our lives and the lives of those around us decided to do something that was not acceptable by no means . When confronted, there was denial that slowly turned into a war of words . I simply asked for a time to talk about this and find out where to go from there. Like most people these days she only wanted to do this over the phone and the douche bag in question couldn't even grow a pair and talk to me. I offered several chances to fix things and nothing was done.

The final decision to part was when she decided to try to drive a wedge between me and my fiancee by making accusations. when that didn't work she then changed lanes and try to accuse my fiancee of things . Like the other attempts she was shut down and then decided to put the final nail in the coffin that contained possibilities to fix the situation and also our friendship. she decided to say that I was a shitty dad .

Say what you will about me but, keep my kids out of it. Its been two years and we haven't talked . She has contacted my fiancee a couple of times but made no attempt to talk or see her. Today she decided to text and say that her daughter misses us and wants to try to fix things. This to me is an insincere attempt to make amends. I feel she has burned other bridges and we are her rebound friends.

I have a hard time forgiving if things are taken to far. When you know what words can do the most damage to hurt another you tend not to use them if you care. For me, she used those words and chose someone she barley knew and , had fucked up royally , over the family bond she had formed with us.
I know I will never forget but, worse than that I don't think I can forgive.

Opportunity Minus the Brain

We have all heard the sayings, " There's no time like the present" , Why do tomorrow , what you can do today", or as Nike states " just do it". These statements are all pro active and meant to get you going. I don't believe they are aimed at lazy people to become motivated or ambitious rather, aimed towards those that have these attributes and just required that little post it note of momentary inspiration before they dive in head first.

We see examples of this in good and bad decisions. You know, the momentary thought you have before you do something . For instances , I know  this needs to be done but....... well , "there's no time like the present" , and boom your off to the races and the task is complete. Great , right? Then there is the down side. I know I shouldn't be doing this but......... "just do it", and Oh shit I shouldn't have done that , ouch it hurts, am I bleeding , Is it bad ? You left looking stupid, as well as other emotions i sure, with a lasting physical memory of how you applied a simple statement to the  thought process. We now know what opportunity minus the brain looks like.

Guess what? Hidden between the lines underneath that motivation and ambitious attitude lies the secret message! 

Wait for it........wait for it....... oh there it is....."Do it right the first time " !

This is where those with brains fall into the "minus brain arena" . My job it to take information given to me and use it to supply more detailed information so an issue can be resolved . This is easy to do when the people providing the information stay in the positive end of having brains. Everything that needs to be resolved is, in an orderly and fluid like fashion. When they start to evade those ever so popular sayings , you know the ones mentioned in the beginning of this post, things start to become difficult. so you try will good intention and your best foot forward to retrieve the information you require and you find a cavity forming in the skull. As the person speaks you see this cavity grow larger . Then there is the reasoning why they don't have the information or why they can not give it to you at that moment so you can resolve the now pressing issue.

All this time goes by and without a good reason , retarding the fluid like process that maintains a productive day. The next time you or anyone else are working towards a goal or are resolving and issue make sure all hands on deck are vaccinated for short term cavityskullatitus!! Treatment also includes doing it right the first time!