Kids

Gotta love 'em, can't kill 'em

Why is it that kids are the ultimate yin and yang of love and ......? One minute they are all loving, want to hang out, play or just talk and the next they have sprouted horns and you want to strangle them?

When they are 3-5, they are like moody, bi-polar nutcases going from quiet and affectionate little angels to hyper, angry, crying and unsoothable demons. This is my daughter, angel and demon. She is also damn cute, knows it and manipulates me with it...she's good.

6-10 isn't too bad as they aren't as likely to be as unstable as the last age bracket, but you start to deal with them wanting independence and you have to learn to not be so over protective and give a little. Really not too much to report here.

11-15 has been interesting, now you begin to deal with a real push for independence, a struggle with control, big mouths and bigger attitudes. They know it all and let you know it every chance they get. They are learning to be adults and the trials and tribulations that come with it. You try and steer them clear of dangers and pitfalls that life offers them and give them guidance, all the while they are telling you, "I know". You have to let them try and swim here and they might get a gulp of reality from time to time, but you pull them up and dust them off. This is where my son is, with his complete knowledge of life, yet he can barely butter toast right.

16-18 is the time I worry most about. For my son, it is being stupid and getting killed, killing someone else, going to jail, getting a girl pregnant, wrecking my car and getting a girl pregnant (yes I mentioned it twice). For my daughter it is getting hurt, getting killed, getting pregnant and getting pregnant. The reason I mentioned it twice is this would give me a third kid to look after and I will be well out of the phase of my life at this time. Secondly, having a kid at that age is tough, cause you are still kid yourself.

Being a late teen kid is tougher now then ever I think. Kids know less now than in my day and yet they are are exposed to more than I ever was. Kids see sex and violence so much and the desensitization to it is common place and frankly it is scary. Kids don't think about their actions with many consequences. Shootings, stabbings, bullying, STDs and teenage pregnancy are so prevalent and on the rise (not that I have stats to back that up here) and it makes me worried for my children. Kids, just so you know, getting involved with these things hamstrings mom and dad in helping you, so don't fuck up that big.

18+....you're on your own ;-)

The best I can do for them is to give them some morals and values that make them see the right path and choices.

Public Transit and the Jumper

While I am all for public transit, its ability to haul a large number of us human cattle to and from places and its huge role in saving the environment, it doesn't always work in practice

It doesn't work when there are general delays or some nut bar jumps in front of a train or cold weather freezes signals or I can't get a goddamn seat. Don't get me wrong, if some sucker throws himself on the track and I have my ass planted comfortably with my tunes playing, life isn't bad. Now put me in the same situation at the end of a long day with no seat and 1 hour trip that is exponentially longer due to the sad lump of human goo on the rails, I'm not happy.

This might sound like I don't care about the goo, and you would be correct for the most part, as it is a sad thing when someone offs himself, but shit, you're wrecking my day and others as well you selfish bugger. So what is the answer to this? More mental health counseling for the masses? More social assistance? No, more seats on the trains. Plain and simple let me sit and relax and everyone can rest easy.

Tonight I sat stuck on the subway because apparently some sad sack decided to chuck himself on the tracks, making me miss my desired GO train by 15 minutes, At this point in time though all was good, I had a seat on the "Rocket" and my trusty tunes to get me by the impatience. When I get to Union Station late, I walk around waiting for my train as are all the others that missed the same desired train I had hoped to catch. I didn't factor in these cattle and so I get to the platform, amongst the herd and get on my car like a good Lemming only to find I have no seat. To top it off, we all trudged in the winter slop, so you can't sit on the steps.

So to the sad fucker who took the swan dive, life has its challenges, but you have to suck it up. If you can't make it, do it somewhere else, because "your statement" only puts others out and your selfishness shines through making a short period in others lives miserable. Was that your goal?

In all my genius, I whip out the morning paper from my bag, plant it on the floor and VOILA...a seat, that after 10 minutes froze my butt. Anyway I am writing this as I sit on the steps that I have cleverly covered while all the other sheep stand......bbbaaaahahhhhahhahah.

If you could only see the faces of the corporate slaves, praying they have picked the car that will empty the quickest, thereby allowing their trouser bumps to score a seat. Let the competition begin.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It’s the first day of the New Year, and as “quick” (i.e. 6+ weeks) as it came, it went out in a flash. The spending, the stress, the chaos that is the holiday season is over and now it is time to deal with the aftermath; more junk in the house, a little more debt and a bigger waistline. So, in traditional fashion, it is time for the New Year’s resolution to begin undoing all of your wrongs of the previous year.

We’ve all been there; you will eat better, you will exercise, you will spend less, you will save a bit each month for next Christmas…feel free to add your own. For the most part, people view a new year as a chance to start again and you can interpret “start again” however it fits you. I have been at this point for some 20 years of my adult life and I don’t think I’ve ever made good on any of my resolutions for more than a few days, weeks or months. Will this year be any different? I would like to say yes, but in my typical self-defeating posture, I know it won’t.

Case in point, only moments into the new year I broke the eating better resolution with a(n) (un)healthy plate of sausage rolls and cheese cubes. Way to go resolve, you let me down again. Damn, it was tasty though. Puffed pastry stuffed with pork and cheese on the side, what better way to crash and burn. Then it is fried eggs and ham for breakfast. Hopefully I remember the Christmas resolutions 11 months from now, because the eating seems in a precarious position.

Despite all the stress and headaches, it was a pretty good holiday season, I can’t really complain. I have my health, my wife, my kids, a good job, a roof over my head and food on the table, so I can’t really be richer.

Happy New Year to all!!!!

Christmas - a time for cheer and capitalism

Christmas, it is a magical time of year. At least until you grow up.

I grew up in your typical middle class family in Southern Ontario during the 80's and I didn't have much to complain about this time of year as Santa always came with a good sized sack of loot. It wasn't until my later years the stress and debt that Santa endured annually so that my brother and I could be surrounded by copious amounts of junk became abundantly clear. As I grew up, got married and started my own family, I can see behind the scenes of Christmas and I think Santa has been eating to cope which has led to his health issues. Poor guy.

I don't know when the uber commercialization of Christmas started, but I think I seem to recall it beginning with the addition of American big box stores to the Canadian retail sector during the early 90's. Since Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Best Buy, among others, started cropping up everywhere like corner stores, competition has become stiff. Canadian retail chains have expanded rapidly and, in some cases, moved to the big box format in an attempt to compete. To top it off, Christmas sales and decorations start showing up around Halloween so retailers can get first dibs at the throngs of keen shoppers. "Get out of my way Halloween, I'm Christmas, make room for my crap". Eventually the Christmas Season will be hanging in stores year round, just like Christmas lights that never seem to get taken down.

Each and every year, like migratory birds, the unwashed masses go through the ritual of spending countless hours trekking through malls searching for 'that perfect gift'. Why do we all feel the need to spend time we don't have, buying stuff we don't need for people we love using money we don't have? I just don't get it and I never will. We are brainwashed from day one that this is the way it is and we all stoke the flames of the capitalist fires.

As I remember, isn't it 'tis the season to be jolly....not indebted and stressed? I view Christmas as a time for joy and family. We should make the best of the time we have with our loved ones for the most precious gift we can give them is free, it's ourselves. To put it all in perspective, if a natural disaster came and took your stuff, would you be looking for your 50" Plasma TV or would you be looking for your family? I would hope the latter and if you don't agree, you are selfish and have serious life priority issues, please seek counselling. I personally would look for my family first and then for a decent 50" TV that would be laying amongst the ruins.

As the real meaning of Christmas is chipped away, revealing the materialistic buying frenzy fueled by North American greed I become more jaded and bitter each and every year. Having stated that, I still do think there is a lot of magic remaining. As a kid, the excitement of gifts and the arrival of Santa was simply the most exciting thing all year and as and adult, I love to see my kids feel the same, taking me back to those days of innocence and happiness. I feel so satisfied when the kids rip the paper from the presents and their eyes sparkle with amazement. That is Christmas encapsulated into a split second that makes everything else disappear and makes it magical again.

In the end, it's not about stuff, it's about the simple things in life.

Finally, I wish you a Merry Christmas and non of the other PC bull that has been accepted by society over the last decade so that 'others' won't feel excluded because "Christ" is in the name of the holiday. If I start seeing calendar's with the 24th as "Seasonal Eve" and the 25th as "Seasonal Day" I will snap and people should look out ;-)