This week is probably the busiest for me as I have at least one outside commitment that keeps me busy from just about Thursday morning through late Sunday evening. I told myself I would not sign up this year and here I am preparing to go through it all again. After nine years you would think I would have learned my lesson. I guess I have a hard time saying no when I know people are counting on me. I have already decided to retire my position this year and I expect I will inform the powers-at-be later tonight. That is the only way I can be sure that I don't have to go through all this again next year. I have mixed emotions about the whole thing as this is an event in which I have invested a great deal but I have just come to the conclusion that it has passed me by and it is time to move on. I hope for a successful year and a graceful exit.
The other big event coming up withing the next 10 days is my daughter's 5th birthday. I started this blog a few months before her birth with the thought it might chronicle my growth as a father. Then, I learned, that I don't like talking about my family too much around these parts. It just seems weird to have people ask me questions about what I have written and I don't think my family should have to deal with the same thing. That is not to say I am completely anonymous, which I am not, I just decided to keep certain things personal. I should probably keep more things to myself. I'm not exactly known for my good judgment.
I am really excited about this birthday. Not the party so much especially considering I will have to interact with quite a few parents I do not know and probably wouldn't be friends with outside of the reality distortion field that accompanies parties full of classmates but I am excited that my daughter is really growing up. She is becoming so much fun to be around and I look forward to just hanging out with her. We pretty much spent all day Sunday together, just her and I, and it was really fun. We went to the movies, to the bookstore, and other places and basically just had really good daddy/daughter time together. I missed so much of her early life due to school that I still feel like I am catching up. Of all the things I am, I like being a father the best. I am still not sure if I am a good father yet, but I enjoy the process and right now it is only getting more fun as she gets older. I know people who see children as a burden but not me. Given the opportunity I would be the stay at home parent. As it is, however, I am glad we have time together everyday and the weekends. I suppose that is another reason why I am dreading my work this weekend. It takes me away from the one thing that makes me really happy, my family.
Which brings me to my final thoughts. If the mother/father of Emma Hartman are out there I need you to know you really need to step up in the parenting department. I basically babysat your daughter for half an hour at the Barnes & Noble at Patton Creek on Sunday. I was trying to spend some time with my child, not yours. I think I saw you, the mother, twice during that period and the rest of the time you were off somewhere else far away from the children's section. It seems like she would really like someone to interact with her as she would not leave my daughter and I alone. Maybe this is a cry for attention, I don't know. It sure was obvious that you weren't interested in being around her at the time. I find that sad.
Please understand that although the children's section of the store is self contained it is NOT a drop off point for parent's who want to browse the bookstore. You might wonder why I know your daughter's name. Well, she wouldn't stop telling me. Probably not a good idea to drop your kid off somewhere and leave her if she likes to talk to strangers. I hope you also enjoyed your recent trip to New York City. Yes, she told me that too. Finally, you might want to teach her the proper way to handle books. Stepping on them and using them like skates is not the proper way to handle books nor is it the accepted handling of someone else's property. When I asked her why she was doing that she told me "Well, I like to". Great attitude there. I finally got frustrated and left with my own child who was, quite frankly, getting annoyed with "Emma" as well. By the time we left, your child was pullling every book off of the rotating rack and throwing it on the floor. I am sure that makes the staff happy. Please, for the rest of the people who know how to act at a bookstore, monitor your child, teach her respect for other people and other people's things, and above all tell her to leave other people alone.
For all the parent's out there, please don't subject other people to your children when they are out with their family. That will be all
The other big event coming up withing the next 10 days is my daughter's 5th birthday. I started this blog a few months before her birth with the thought it might chronicle my growth as a father. Then, I learned, that I don't like talking about my family too much around these parts. It just seems weird to have people ask me questions about what I have written and I don't think my family should have to deal with the same thing. That is not to say I am completely anonymous, which I am not, I just decided to keep certain things personal. I should probably keep more things to myself. I'm not exactly known for my good judgment.
I am really excited about this birthday. Not the party so much especially considering I will have to interact with quite a few parents I do not know and probably wouldn't be friends with outside of the reality distortion field that accompanies parties full of classmates but I am excited that my daughter is really growing up. She is becoming so much fun to be around and I look forward to just hanging out with her. We pretty much spent all day Sunday together, just her and I, and it was really fun. We went to the movies, to the bookstore, and other places and basically just had really good daddy/daughter time together. I missed so much of her early life due to school that I still feel like I am catching up. Of all the things I am, I like being a father the best. I am still not sure if I am a good father yet, but I enjoy the process and right now it is only getting more fun as she gets older. I know people who see children as a burden but not me. Given the opportunity I would be the stay at home parent. As it is, however, I am glad we have time together everyday and the weekends. I suppose that is another reason why I am dreading my work this weekend. It takes me away from the one thing that makes me really happy, my family.
Which brings me to my final thoughts. If the mother/father of Emma Hartman are out there I need you to know you really need to step up in the parenting department. I basically babysat your daughter for half an hour at the Barnes & Noble at Patton Creek on Sunday. I was trying to spend some time with my child, not yours. I think I saw you, the mother, twice during that period and the rest of the time you were off somewhere else far away from the children's section. It seems like she would really like someone to interact with her as she would not leave my daughter and I alone. Maybe this is a cry for attention, I don't know. It sure was obvious that you weren't interested in being around her at the time. I find that sad.
Please understand that although the children's section of the store is self contained it is NOT a drop off point for parent's who want to browse the bookstore. You might wonder why I know your daughter's name. Well, she wouldn't stop telling me. Probably not a good idea to drop your kid off somewhere and leave her if she likes to talk to strangers. I hope you also enjoyed your recent trip to New York City. Yes, she told me that too. Finally, you might want to teach her the proper way to handle books. Stepping on them and using them like skates is not the proper way to handle books nor is it the accepted handling of someone else's property. When I asked her why she was doing that she told me "Well, I like to". Great attitude there. I finally got frustrated and left with my own child who was, quite frankly, getting annoyed with "Emma" as well. By the time we left, your child was pullling every book off of the rotating rack and throwing it on the floor. I am sure that makes the staff happy. Please, for the rest of the people who know how to act at a bookstore, monitor your child, teach her respect for other people and other people's things, and above all tell her to leave other people alone.
For all the parent's out there, please don't subject other people to your children when they are out with their family. That will be all
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