The Power

Each one of us has the power to make others feel better or worse. Making others feel better is much more fun than making others feel worse. Making others feel better generally makes us feel better."

Anger Issues

Some people say I have anger issues, I say if your going to say stupid comments and do stupid things to piss me off then I have every right to be angry.

Accept Me

There comes a time when you have to stand up and shout: This is me damn it! I look the way I look, think the way I think, feel the way I feel, love the way I love! I am a whole complex package. Take me... or leave me. Accept me - or walk away! Do not try to make me feel like less of a person, just because I don't fit your idea of who I should be and don't try to change me to fit your mold. If I need to change, I alone will make that decision. When you are strong enough to love yourself 100%, good and bad - you will be amazed at the opportunities that life presents you.

Judgemental

Why do people feel the need to judge something they know nothing about. Before you get in my business get your facts straight. TRY ASKING ME ABOUT IT!!!

Kitty Snot & Poison Control

I was talking with a friend the other day laughing about the foolish things we had done in terms of parenting. While I will not toss him under the bus, I will share one* of my favorites.
When my daughter was like 8 or 9 months, I was being a good boyfriend and cleaning the house. I was working on the glass screen/storm door and it was loaded up with kitty snot. You know kitty-snot, when the cats press their wet noses against the glass. Well, it was not going to well with the Windex and the rag, so I unscrewed the Windex to pour it on to the rag for some serious snot scrubbing. All was going well until I realized that as my back was turned, Breana had decided to take a swig of the Windex!
Panic set in and I called Poison Control (being the responsible parent that I was) and was relieved to know that it likely was not a big deal unless she drank the whole bottle.  They suggested giving her some drink to get the taste out of her mouth and just keep an eye on her.  She was fine and really there was no need to stress out my girlfriend (at the time) about this.
Later that night, after my shower, I come down the steps and from my girlfriend  I hear the seven words that you know will land you in trouble–”Do you have anything to tell me?”  I knew I was screwed and put on my best sheepish look and was informed that while I was in the shower, Poison Control was just doing a routine follow up on the reported “poisoning”.

Ugh.  So, anyone else out there feel like sharing your stupid dad  (or mom) move?

* Only sharing one. One that my ex knows about because she reads my blogs!

Love Stinks

Well, I may be a bit jaded and cynical myself, but when it hits my kid, I feel awful.
My daughter has her first “real” boyfriend and things are going well (apparently) and then out of the blue, two days after their second date–the dreaded text message (yes, you read that right) “I think we should see other people.”
I felt horrible for her. He was a great guy and they were good together. As a parent, I thought she hit the jackpot– he was polite, not into drinking or drugs, social, and more.
So, now we are going through the whole post breakup routine–do I call him… what should I say… how should I do this…
It is an inevitable part of growing up, but still very sad to see nonetheless!

Stupidity Invades My Home!

Apparently, the Swine Flu left California and left a good dose of stupidity in its place. But adults are safe; apparently it is only affecting teenagers.

Stupid Act #1 I asked my daughter to turn on the gas grill for dinner. She comes to me and says it will not start. I asked if she tried to use a match to light it. (This is something she had seen me do in the past and even did it himself a time or two.) She looks at me like I am from Mars and says, “how do you light it with a match?” Here’s your sign!

Stupid Act #2 I am sound asleep and my daughter's dog hops off my bed and heads to where my daughter is watching a movie late at night in the family room. Apparently Shadow (the dog, not my daughter) begins to get all excited near the front door, starts to whine and bark a little, and scratching on the front door. So, what does my daughter do? She brings the dog up to my room, wakes me up and says, “he’s going crazy like he wants to go out.” I asked what she did and she said, “nothing, he was irritating so I brought him up to you.”  Here’s your sign!

Are Kids Really All That Dumb?

Sometimes I wonder. My daughter is brilliant. She always studies and never falls off the honor roll. She has a great group of friends. She does not do drugs or drink. She is witty, funny and generally fun to be around.
But sometimes I just have to wonder where her brain goes. Take last night. She asked me to drive her to a friend’s house so they could work on a “lab” for Applied Nutrition. Applied Nutrition is somewhat like the old Home-Ec on steroids. The “lab” was to make a meal (they chose tacos) and analyze all the nutritional information about it and determine how it could be made healthier or more unhealthy.
I picked her up about 11pm and headed home. While I did not expect it, she came back with the ground beef and the cheese I had sent with her. When we got home, I told her to “make sure she put it all away in the kitchen”.
This morning, there it is rotting and stinking on the counter!  As she might say, WTF?
When I asked, she informed me that i only told her to make sure it was put “in the kitchen”. Perhaps I did. Call it semantics. But really, can she be that dumb?