There's nothing quite like watching your children.
They can be doing anything: Eating, playing, coloring. Whatever it is, you're convinced your child is a prodigy and, surely, there are no smarter children of the same age anywhere else in the world.
My boys are both playing hockey now, and let me tell you, that illusion has come quickly crashing down. Don't get me wrong. I still well up a little bit each and every time I watch them skate, but clearly, there are better hockey players out there. I hear my dad's voice: "Son, there will always be someone better than you."
Michael is the slow and methodical skater, making sure each and every motion is done to perfection. His skills are developing but he doesn't have speed yet. Anthony, on the other hand, is all about speed. His form is ugly, and he is known as "crazy legs" in the KOHA learn-to-skate circle because of his complete inability to control most of his body as he jets around the ice at top speed.
They both make me smile and I love them both more than I ever thought possible. Perhaps that's why I'm able to laugh at their shortcomings while revelling in the absolute joy of fatherhood.
It wasn't so long ago my wife and I had the conversation about what kinds of "hockey parents" we'd be. Of course, she was convinced I'd be the dad in the stands coaching his kids, berating the other team and correcting the officials, all at the top of my generous and well-exercised lungs.
Actually, quite the opposite is true. I don't like to yell. I enjoy watching them and smiling... or frowning, if the occasion calls for it. I guess it all boils down to this: I don't need my boys to play hockey. I just want them to find something they are as passionate about as I am about hockey. The tuba, sculpture, cars, ballet or hunting. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as they're passionate about it.
But hockey was a logical place to start, don't you think?
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
You might have heard these before, but they made me laugh
PONDERISMS
I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.
Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.
Life is sexually transmitted.
Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"
Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm going to eat the next thing that comes out of its butt."
Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.
Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead.
Life is sexually transmitted.
Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.
Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.
All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.
In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.
How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"
Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm going to eat the next thing that comes out of its butt."
Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?
Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Sorry
Apparently, the newsroom election-night slideshow link didn't work in a previous post.
Sorry about that.
It wasn't that big of a deal anyway.
Sorry about that.
It wasn't that big of a deal anyway.
Friday, November 10, 2006
A step in the right direction
Voters nationwide were so mad at Republicans, they voted the Democrats into power.
Forget what Gee-Dub said last Wednesday. It was ALL ABOUT the war in Iraq. How else can you explain the world's most liberal Republican losing to a Democrat?
But it wasn't 72 hours and already Bush was up to the same "I own the world" bulls--t. I'm not sure if he really thinks getting rid of Rummie will secure Bolton's confirmation, even if Gates has been a vocal opponent of some of the President's moves.
Ah, yes. Politics.
Forget what Gee-Dub said last Wednesday. It was ALL ABOUT the war in Iraq. How else can you explain the world's most liberal Republican losing to a Democrat?
But it wasn't 72 hours and already Bush was up to the same "I own the world" bulls--t. I'm not sure if he really thinks getting rid of Rummie will secure Bolton's confirmation, even if Gates has been a vocal opponent of some of the President's moves.
Ah, yes. Politics.
The election is over, and Democrats rule!
So, aside from my obvious elation at the Democrats reclaiming Congress, Tuesday was a long day.
And by long, I mean about 18 hours. Phew. It's over, and here's what the newsroom looked like for most of the evening.
Thanks to Dana Jacob-Carter, assistant metro editor at the Enquirer, for the cool slideshow.
Also, it's kind of ironic that I asked you all to tell me what you thought about my blog, including should I post more frequently.
That was, what, like a year ago?
And by long, I mean about 18 hours. Phew. It's over, and here's what the newsroom looked like for most of the evening.
Thanks to Dana Jacob-Carter, assistant metro editor at the Enquirer, for the cool slideshow.
Also, it's kind of ironic that I asked you all to tell me what you thought about my blog, including should I post more frequently.
That was, what, like a year ago?
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