Catchup! Catchup!

It’s amazing how far behind I can get, just because of a couple of bad nights of sleep and a dash of procrastination.  If I get below a certain threshold of wakefulness, I can’t bring myself to tackle anything above and beyond mere survival, and nighttime has been crowded in the Loblaw bed. Max must have grown again, because when he crawls into the family bed at 11:30(ish) things get tricky with all the contorting, pushing and wiggling. Eventually, K or I end up on the floor, which is just as comfortable as you would think. I am no friend to the ascetic path: I like my fluffy comfy bed.

I know this is another sign of the impending arrival of the inevitable war to get Max sleeping in his own bed in his own room.  I wish I didn’t loath crying in the middle of the night so much. So, thanks to a kind wife and a statutory holiday, I slept in to the luxurious hour of 8:30AM and I’m good to go. It’s ironic that by the time I can finally wake up routinely at 8:30Am, which is my body’s preferred rousing time, I’ll probably be too old to sleep that long anymore. Sigh.

Other things to eventually talk about here: How Anonymity is Unnatural, what I thought about the new LCD Soundsystem and Band of Horses albums,  and one other thing that I can’t quite remember at the moment. Oh now I remember, The return of Rock’n’Roll to my heart.  Stay tuned, gentle reader.

Keeping Me Honest

Max and I did our first charity event today, a walkathon to support people living with an acquired brain injury. He rode most of the way in his stroller, but he was on the scene and a part of the action. This is the first of hopefully many volunteer and charitable activities that we’ll share. I want him to have enough familiarity with helping other people that spending time volunteering becomes a normal part of the way he sees the world. And, in the act of encouraging him, I’ll have to get off of my duff and chip in myself. I talk a big game about community involvement and generosity of spirit, so its time to back it up with action. Watch out,people in need-I’m getting into your business!

It can’t always be sunny

Explaining mortality and dealing with the death of a loved one is a situation I’d like to avoid going through with Max for as long as possible, but I know it’s entirely out of my hands. One of our close friends (and Max’s aunt by appointment) has her mother in Intensive care right now, and it will be a tense few days as she waits to see if her mom will improve.

As much as I want to shield my boy from profound sadness, I can’t isolate him away from the essential parts of human existence. Instead, I have to examine my own feelings for this wonderful woman who is perilously ill, and sort out how I’m going to deal with her loss.

Its one of the secret challenges/blessings of parenthood: you no longer have the luxury of being crippled by your own emotions. No matter how sad you are, toddlers keep toddling along, and you have to keep moving with them.  In my case, this emotional immediacy has  been the catalyst for a pretty significant amount of improvement in how I deal with my own feelings and my old hangups. I’m able to handle situations now that I would have gone to great lengths to avoid in the past, and I know it makes me a better parent.