Let's Make Some Choices, Daddy

Originally when I came up with this concept I thought, "That would be fun to put on Facebook." Then I realized it would take far too many words and Facebook, as we all know, is not a good medium for the short attention span. So it's off to the slowly, rolling blog that amazingly still exists. In the past three hours I have made many choices that impacted my life, my children and my wife, but it was nothing new or unusual. More like a survival mechanism or a method of trying to get things done before it has gone too far. Tonight I have a sample of choices presented in the classic Good Idea/Bad Idea format. Let's take a look. Good Idea: Managed to feed all three of us on five dollars and fifty cents. Bad Idea: It was McDonalds. Good Idea: Refuse the option of getting happy meals for the kids. Bad Idea: Go along with McD's apple pie for dessert. Good Idea: Make sure the lawn is mowed since it was already past due. Bad Idea: Let the kids eat crap food (and fresh apples) while watching tv to stay out of trouble. Good Idea: Convince the kids to go outside after dinner and run around playing frisbee. Bad Idea: Still have to finish mowing the lawn while keeping an eye on them. Good Idea: Stay outside with them when the lawn is done and play together. Bad Idea: I don't think crawling under a moving tire swing is something to encourage a kid to do when retrieving a thrown frisbee. But I did it anyway. Sasha and I both have solo nights with the kids and that's not a bad thing. But the number of choices and decisions that are made on the fly in these situations are astounding. And each one builds on the next. Alya was brought to tears twice - she's the crier to Mommy & Daddy - and Marcus was only made truly upset once. And that is all to be expected. After all, I am their Daddy, not their buddy. But I was also barking the instructions for them to make that belly crawl under a moving tire swing. I think we all got a kick out of that. And then that final choice. Write this post up instead of doing dishes/making lunches/sorting laundry. But once in a while I have to make a choice for me too.