Grizzly Adams...and other childhood role models

Yes, it's true. I wanted to be like Grizzly Adams when I was a kid.

I remembered this suddenly on Sunday night. I said to Susie, "Remember Grizzly Adams?" To which she replied, "Huh, what, no...who's that?" The generational gap between us engulfed me. I gasped and launched into my vague memories of the man, his beard, and his bear-friend. Funniest part was that I also remembered thinking as a kid, "I can't wait until I live like Grizzly Adams; in the woods, alone with nature, helping people"....in the woods? Whatever, I wanted to be him, no matter how strange this may have been considering I was probably 5 years old. Besides he wasn't totally alone, as I suddenly remembered on Sunday just before going to bed. I shouted to Susie, a good while after the original conversation, "oh yeah, and Grizzly Adams mentor was Uncle Jessie (Denver Pyle) from Dukes of Hazzard who wandered through the woods often giving help and advice to Grizzly when struggling with moral dilemmas!" Susie was now scared or maybe a bit concerned for me.

I was happy to remember my role model...I think I liked him at such a young age because I loved nature but I also loved that he was a helper. He always attempted to help those in need (and there were a great deal more people than one would think needing help in those woods). I also thought, until about 2 years ago (embarrased to admit) that I would do every job, travel to every corner of the world/universe, and experience every lifestyle (criminal to holy man). I would watch Grizzly Adams and think, "I can't wait until I live in those woods"...then I would watch Star Wars and think, "I can't wait until I learn the Jedi secrets from Yoda", and so on.

I still wonder, dream, hope and expect to experience some of these things. But I certainly have lost the feeling of, "I can do anything and will do everything". I wish this wasn't true but perhaps it's part of becoming an adult or maybe it's just unfortunate or maybe it's just temporary.

I know that I hope Jack always feels like he can do anything. Perhaps, I'll just have to get back to feeling the same in order to make sure of that.

Jeez Zhoo!

This is what I say now instead of using profanity as Jack is repeating every word we say. That includes the word Jeez Zhoo. Why would I want to use profanity you ask...the boy whined from Friday evening until this morning when I left for work...all weekend! No cold symptoms are present so it was hard to empathize with the little guy. He whined at the park, in his toy car, in his high-chair, in our cars, and pretty much everywhere else we took him. Perhaps he's teething again but it's impossible to know because his mouth is already filled with teeth...maybe he's getting his wisdom teeth early!

On a cute and more pleasant note...Jack has begun using expressions like..."I don't know" when you ask him where his truck went...or, "Oh, cooooool!" which he said when I hung a big colorful flag in his playroom last night.

Maybe the whining means he's ready for more independence and he's sick of being treated like a baby? After all, he has learned the Oliver North defense..."I don't know".


All I know is Jeez Zhoo, I'm tired!

Election 2008

Will we have a new woman president or maybe our first president with African descent? Will it be neither? All I know is the future looks bright in contrast to the dark ages known to most as the Bush years.

It's nice to hear issues come to the forefront seemingly of why people want to vote for one person or another rather than personalities as it seems is happening of late.

I know that this next year will be filled with extra doses of racial epithets and bigotry. On my way to work, a local radio talk show host was trying to link Obama to Muslims and "radical Islam"...I suppose having a name like Obama (sounds a great deal like Osama) is not exactly an advantage in this day and age. I have a feeling our country will be engaged in some very heated exchanges regarding "political correctness" surrounding race and gender over the next year. Perhaps this dialogue will be a good thing but I have a feeling it will ultimately lead to more division in a country which is already becoming more and more divided.

I'd be surprised if the Republican party with members like Trent Lott, can restrain themselves for a whole year without committing political suicide as their true feelings about race and women resurface.

Kids, Death, & Women's Rights

Yesterday one of my little ones at the school I work at had a parent die tragically in a motorcycle accident. The 9 year old boy, full of energy, always talking about family gatherings and video games, learned his father died before school started on a Monday morning.

Today, I spent the first hour at the school processing this with 3rd graders. Some of them wanted to talk about their loved one who died tragically. Some of them wanted to share about how they would help. Some of them didn't want to talk about it at all. One said he wanted to give the grief stricken boy a card that read, "I'm so sorry and we love you" with a lolipop taped to it. Once again my life's difficulties were abruptly put into perspective.

Also, yesterday, at The Homework Club, a 13 year old boy indicated that he wondered why women had never been president and solicited my opinion. This launched me into my not so well polished history lesson of how women have been oppressed for thousands of years and only recently have they been able to fight through those oppressive systems to be in positions of power. I went on to say that I thought we would have a woman president within my lifetime and maybe much sooner than one might think (Hillary Clinton?).

All of this made me think about the world Jack is headed into and the questions and issues Susie and I will be helping him prepare for...or prepare to not be prepared for.

Judah Barry

The bird is back. Well, he/she never went away. For the past 3 nights, seemingly all night, the bird a.k.a. Judah Barry (no explanation as to why we named it this) has been terrorizing us. Last night, JB chirped all night but it wasn't until around 4:30am when my wife was found cleaning cat puke off the carpet that I woke up. Only to stay awake for the rest of the day. Jack awoke at 5:30am and Susie got up with him. She had already been awake since, I think 3 days ago. I layed there, pillow over head, devising a name for The Bird...for no reason Judah Barry popped into my head and there you have it.

How can we turn this wheel of unrest, this cycle of bird hatred, this sleep deprived fog into something positive? How can we stop the madness? Will life ever be the same again? Will I hate birds for the rest of my life?

Answers: We can't, we're doomed, no, and yes!

Screaming Birds and Upchucking

If you have been reading my wife's post you know...she was sick all weekend...Jack wore me out from Friday until Monday.

Monday night, a bird decided to die, we thought, keeping us up from about 3am until 6:30 when we get up to start our day.

Tuesday night...after my sister visited with Jack during "get ready for bed time" and great fun was had by all, Jack yacked up all his dinner (this meant he stayed up an extra 1 1/2 hours)...why do babies eat dirt and why do babies puke for no reason?

Fast forward to the middle of the night last night....the bird we thought had died, which I swore I would kill violently, returned. I decided to go outside at about 5am and track it down. Weapon (knife sharpener for beat down) and flashlight in hand, I quickly realized the bird was far, far away, not dying, and in the middle of a swamp behind our house...further, maybe not even a bird!

Jack woke up at 6:30...smiling and saying bye bye to me...as if to say hurry daddy or you'll be late. Susie muttered, "alduad"...which I think was "I love you" and I told her the floor was slick and to be careful due to being cleaned of puke late last night....she then stared at me and both of us seemed confused.

Question: What do we do about the mysterious vermen living in the swamp keeping us up all night and rendering us incapable of meaningful communication whereas only our baby seems to know how to speak???

New Year Resolutions cometh late

Here are a few of my resolutions for this year:

Be less reactive (especially to comments from family about how "Maybe Jack would be better off if...")

Rid myself of my hamster nest tendencies (the pile of dirty clothes I like to keep next to my bed)

Drink less Coke (one Big Gulp is enough for one day, every day, two is a bit excessive)

Read more books (I haven't read since Jack was born)

Watch less tv (I haven't read since Jack was born)

Keep my toe nails cut so Jack is not afraid to go near my feet for fear of being slashed.

Have less socks with holes in them (see-keep toe nails cut above)

Why do kids eat dirt? Over and over again!

I know that they are curious...but why would a human child continue to put large amounts of very dark, mineral rich dirt into their mouth even after trying it several times before? The same human child that will not eat delicious foods even when covered in sugar, butter, or salt!

Here is my theory...somewhere down the evolutionary line, our sapien friends did not know about nutrition and therefore did not necessarily keep their offspring filled with all of what they needed. Further, they themself were lacking in diet and a woman's breast milk also lacked proper fortification. As a result, babies ate dirt out of curiousity and those that ate the most mud pies lived due to the abundant minerals that resided there. This resulted in the more curious, dirt eating babies living longer and, voila, modern day dirt eating babies now run rampant amongst us!

Or, maybe, we just have a gross baby!