A Sprintime Public Service Reminder
This weekend begins Daylight Savings Time.
And this year that includes you folks in Indiana.
THAT guy… continued
Yeah, I am going to continue on here about the “poor husband” that felt he needed to go on strike. On his website, he starts out with saying that “All I want is respect from my wife when it comes to raising our children!”, and on the surface I could agree with that sentiment.
But then I read his posts (which are now gone, the domain points nowhere, and only a test post is up at husbandonstrike.blogspot.com), and then I read the interviews he gave to Fox News, KUTV, and Good Morning America, the only issue he has with how his children are being raised is that they are in in his bedroom. It really got summed up for me in this quote from KUTV:
When asked what the biggest problem with his wife is, James said, “No intimacy,
that’s number one.”
This is not, as I see it, even about a “family bed” situation. That I can understand more if she wanted the kids to always be there and he didn’t. The baby is 2 freakin’ months old, and I am willing to bet that this poor suffering husband isn’t the one to get up for the middle of the night feedings.
What I see here is a guy that marked the “six weeks after” on his calendar, and decided, that’s it six weeks, and everything else be damned, “I want my sex life back”. So basically he has been waiting, what 2 weeks? Let me ask you, was sex on the top of your priority list immediately after you “could”? (Or was your wife? - for the one or two male readers I have) Do you think maybe he could have spent a LITTLE more time trying to work this out before “going on strike” and calling the media about it? Give me a break! He is making a “statement” for all other husbasnds suffering in silence? He may have to stay on that roof, because with his ego, he may never get back in the door.
Oh… THAT’S Why!
You know I often wonder why the Dad’s often get (in my opinion) the short end of the stick when it comes to being able to take care of a child. I mean a man can learn, adjust and be just as flexible as a woman when it comes to these things. I have a simply spectacular relationship with my daughter. My wife can come and go as needed and never have to worry that I have the mental competence to deal with the ‘chore’ of being a parent.
Thursday Night is my “Night Out”, I go bowling once a week. And even on those days, I am home for supper and spend as much time with my daughter as I can, which leaves her only usually about a 1/2 hour before bedtime before I actually go out. It is the best situation as I see it (and even my wife seems to agree), since I do not really lose any quality time with her, and still get my night of interaction with adults so that I am not singing Get’cha Head In the Game by the end of the week. With all of that, I still get a song and a dance from LatteGirl begging me not to go (which is more a show at this point I think than actually not wanting me to go), and I feel bad for wasting time that I could spend with her.
Then as I go on my daily blog reading binge, I found a link to this story over at Hey, You. At first glance, it appears to be a joke. At second glance you realize it is not a joke, but hey it is just a blog by a man, who’s children will need therapy for years to come. It gets worse as you read that he is “On Strike” because his wife will not follow exactly what he has decided is spoiling them (a 2 month old sleeping in their bed, and a 2 year old with a pacifer). It gets worse (yes it really does) because this clown has garnered some media attention with his stunt. Now you (well I did anyway) go into the comments (over 1600 on his most recent post), and read all the sick bastages that SUPPORT his opinion and cheer him on for “saying what too many people are thinking but afraid to say.”
It is at this point, I realize. “Oh, That’s why…” so many people can’t come to terms with a doting father. Blockheads like this dope are apparently STILL out there if not ACTING like an idiot, then at least THINKING like one.
My apologies to all the women I have taken umbrage with for questioning my wife on the wisdom of leaving our daughter in my care at times, I didn’t think dolts like this still existed, and that was an egregious mistake on my part.
Instincts
If you do not believe that people are still guided somewhat at least by animal instincts, then you only need to look as far as a parent (I will acknowledge that this is typically the mother, but since some of us Dads fit in here to I will say ‘parent’), that is protecting their child. As as example, I will point to Jenn of Mommy Needs Coffee fame, and her essay over at dotMoms.
But the situation does not necessarily need to be that dramatic to kick things into gear. Yesterday (after having already posted my most lame of posts), I received a phone call from the head of the after-care program that LatteGirl attends two days a week. Please let me take this momment for a Public Service Announcement to School Officials of any sort that contacts parents about ’situations.’ After announcing who you are and where you are from, do not stall, pause, stammer, give me a long drawn out, “Ummm”, or go into background facts UNTIL you calm me down and let me know that my daughter is ‘Fine.’
Anything you say, between “This is Ms. SoAndSo from P.S. ###” and “You daughter is fine” is only background static that I am not paying attention to and you will only have to repeat yourself later when I THEN crave the details of how this occurred, and you wind up only having to sigh and say, “Well, as I just said…” True, you may have said it, but when you did, I did not care and was not listening, I was simply scanning through your static to hear what was at that momment the only thing that matters. My baby (Don’t tell LatteGirl I called her that) is OK. Thank You for your cooperation. Now back to our regularly scheduled post.
So, I receive the phone call, ‘You daughter had an accident’. A child had pushed my daughter to the sidewalk as they waited for the bus that transported them to the aftercare program. I am not happy already, but they are not done with the facts yet. She has a lump on her head, scrapes on her cheek, a bloody nose and her jeans are torn. An accident report has been written, and she if fine. “I just thought you should know.” Well, yeah I should know.
{The following occurred only in my head — well mostly in my head}
I also want to know who the hell was on duty watching these kids as they waited for the bus! I want her fired. And who is it that knocked down my daughter… I’ll teach that little [expletive deleted] to put his hands on my daughter. And where are his parents, I think they need a can of Whoopass opened on them too! Calm Down? Calm The [deleted] Down?!? Don’t tell me to calm down, I want heads to roll!
{/End of self rant}
Yes, let me say now I am aware, once my rational side kicked in, that “kids will be kids” and that even with the most attentive teacher, that kids being who they are will cause and get into mischeif from time to time. But that doesn’t mean that I have to like it, or that I can control the rage I feel (I can control what I do with it, but not how I feel), when I feel my child has been wronged by another. Instinct at that point takes over… to protect. If I even think you might try to hurt my little girl, I promise you I will hurt you back… exponentially.
What really drove my recognition of this home was, not only my personal reflection once I had calmed down, but several hours later, when TheWife returned home from work, and I got to watch her go through the same cycle. Normally we go through these cycles at the same time, but this time I had a rare opportunity to watch it while having already come to terms and calmed myself. And I will say for anybody that needs to know, while my wife may be 6″ and 150 lbs lighter than I am, that in no way will prevent her from inflicting the same (if not greater) level of damage as I may, should she feel you were the cause of our child’s pain. Even the caves of Afghanistan would not keep you hidden and safe for any lenghth of time.
Sleep Please… and I’ll pass on the funky dreams
Sleep was very difficult to come by this weekend, and when it came along, it came with some rather strange dreams. I will bore with only a little of it.
First of, my wife has been hinting (OK, more than hinting) about getting another dog. Her justification is that our dog Sweetie is getting up there in years and that it will improve the quality of her life to have another dog around. We have (up until now) always been one to rescue a dog from a shelter, but now she wants a Weimaraner. You know. The dogs that they always dress up for Greeting Cards and the like? (Of course I can’t find a picture right now to post of the “Weinmaraner is Suits” I am talking about) Anyway, I guess this has been sitting in my head as I had a dream that I lost my job… to a Weimanger. He was sitting at my desk. And in a suit. Yes, it sounds absurd (as surely it is), but I must tell you, such a scenario playing out in your brain leaves you quite distraught when awake.
The second is much easier to understand, and probably has infected other parents as well that have, as I have, watched “High School Musical” one too many times. And while I do not recall the exact situation of my dream, let me just say that having Zac Effron and Ashley Tisdale (and whoever it was that played Chad) in your dreams, seemingly fitting into your everyday life, can leave you looking over your shoulder at breakfast the next morning.
Oh, and while I am on High School Musical for a momment, I have to ask, what is up with Marilyn Moss and her simply awful review of this movie? I mean, c’mon this is a made for TV movie, and one targeted (primarily) at kids. When she calls this, “This is formulaic, cookie-cutter television moviemaking at its most obvious.” I can’t help but wonder, What the hell has she been watching? What was the last made for T.V. show that actually took a chance on a “musical”? CopRock? (I was sure CopRock had destroyed any chances of a musical being on television ever again). This was a definite pleasant change from what passes as entertainment for kids, and introduced many to a form of entertainment that unless they have the opportunity to see a Broadway show, will never get to see again. Was it the greatest movie of the year? Well, no. But you know what… when I see (people’s) reviews of movies like, “The Shaggy Dog” and “Curious George” it seems to me that Disney has a decent release here, and not making us go to the theaters to see it was only a bonus. The songs were fun and despite having them drummed into my head during commercials (Disney Style), were still enjoyable while watching the movie. I think Ms. Moss needs to take it down a notch.
-
Sponsors
