Some people got upset when they heard I said I am a better father than you are.
They told me it is obnoxious and not right to say such a thing, but I didn’t care. I just went about my way and did it.
Ask my daughter if she still has her spoon or if she remembers the I Told You She Is a Bitch conversation.
Flip through the older posts and look at A Letter To My Children- Things That Matter or  A Letter To My Children-2011 and you’ll gain a glimpse into things that we hard and some that were helpful.
That is all part of the blog, it is a place to get Useful Information Used Usefully.
Or maybe it is safer and smarter to say it is part of why I blog.
Some years ago I would never have admitted to finding meaning in a Winnie The Pooh quote but I am not the guy I was some years ago.
These days I admit there are moments where I could have made life much easier by asking for help and that I probably still don’t ask for it often enough.
It is not to suggest that I have tons of them that I could or should refer to but I am no different than anyone else.
Challenges and problems are part and parcel of the human condition.
There is no way to avoid all of them so we have to learn how to manage and respond to them if and when necessary.
That is a lesson I am really working hard on teaching Steiner the minor. It is not one I am ignoring with my daughter, but the focus is different.
Women and girls are better at leaning on each other about things than we are.
And since I know I am Steiner’s primary role model I try to pay extra attention to the things I think I are less favorable qualities so that I can try to help him avoid taking those on.
The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
Somewhere in the archives is a post I wrote about gratitude and trying to instill it in my children.
I don’t have time to look for it now but I’ll probably go searching for it later to see what I said then and ask myself if I feel the same now.
My life is different from what I thought it would be like in more ways than I can express. There are more than a few areas in which I shake my head and wonder how the hell things worked out as they did or as they are doing.
But I try to remind myself to maintain some perspective and to look at the roller coaster of the past ten years in terms of how far I have come and not how far I have yet to go.
The majority of my complaints are what we can refer to as First World problems.
Almost every one of my problems can be fixed or mitigated with money.
That is worth repeating.
Almost everything can be fixed with money.
Why Is That Important?
It means there are solutions that can be obtained and that I am not facing a terrible health issue that baffles doctors.
It means that there is opportunity for growth, change and improvement.
You can argue and debate how much comes from luck and how much comes from hard work but don’t expect me to spend a lot of time mulling that part over.
I am too busy looking at what is so that I can identify what I want and what I need. That is my fancy schmancy way of saying I don’t let my day dreaming (and I do a lot of it) prevent me from taking action.
This is all part of why I blog.
Final Words For Now
I need to run because the real world calls and I can’t sit here and read old posts like How To Become A Better Writer- Build Your Vocabulary or Bad Content Is Like Bad Sex.
I want to.
I really want to sit here and read and write and then do it all again.
But sometimes you have to get out of your chair and head off into the abyss to see what lies beyond and that is what I am off to do.
Look out world, I have taken off the chains and am running amok.
Larry says
Running amok – watch out world.
I think I’m a better father – for my children! I’ll argue that till I’m blue in the face.
Jack Steiner says
I think you are too. 🙂
Tamara says
I love your point about things being fixed with money, and not having a baffling health condition. I haven’t always felt the same, because I have anxiety (although maybe that can also be fixed with money, but I’ve never tried), but I remember my mom once telling me that all of the strife I was in was at least contained in one place – my head. Or heart? Two places? And that it could be resolved there, without hurting others or being some global catastrophe. Perspective!
Jack Steiner says
I figure if money can solve the problem I am in decent shape, might not always have enough cash to fix it, but solutions are available. It is the stuff that money can’t fix that can be crazy and complicated.
But that is just life, so we do what we can/
Kristen Hewitt says
LOVE this. “But sometimes you have to get out of your chair and head off into the abyss to see what lies beyond and that is what I am off to do”.
And you probably are a better father than most, but what you say about others says more about you! ;0)
Jack Steiner says
I always wonder about people who have time to sit and wonder who is a better mother or father. I like teasing some people about it. Such a silly thing, but sometimes silly is good. 🙂