How Hard We Had It

Every so often I get this email, and everytime I read through it and laugh because its SO true.

Enjoy....

"When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot...in the snow...BOTH ways. yadda, yadda, yadda... And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty++, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a dang Utopia! And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it! I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email ! We had to actually write somebody a letter... With a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents!

Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents spanked us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our butts! Nowhere was safe!

There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then sometimes the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig?

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it! There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a darn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOD !!! Think of the horror... Not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are. And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600, with games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on television! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to actually get off your behind and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

There was no Cartoon Network, either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-finks!

And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no; no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!

And car seats - Oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were luckily, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!

See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1970, or any time before!

OUCH!

Every summer our Friday nights belong to the track and to Ethan's races. We plan around his schedule, not to accommodate him, but to teach him when you make a commitment to something you stick to it.

Well this summer is going to be different. The race season was set to begin last Friday, April 16th. Ronnie decided he should take Ethan out to the track to let him practice before the race, always a good idea, except for maybe this time. Ethan was riding hard, trying his hardest, and came down hard off a jump. He was so tough, got back up on his bike and rode away. But as tough as our E-Dog is, he's no match for a broken bone. Yes, he broke his right collarbone, or in medical terms he has an "angulated displaced clavicle fracture." For now we've been told our options are to opt for surgery, which includes a metal plate, or the wait and see method, we've chosen the latter.

Ethan's pretty bummed he won't be racing, at least for six weeks, let alone doing much of anything else. He's such an active kid, and he really shouldn't be doing anything he normally does; riding, skateboarding, anything that could damage the injury further, and because it's his right clavicle, he really can't even draw. Both our kids are so energetic, I have no idea how to keep an immobile child busy....any suggestions would help.

I do have to say this, I know riding isn't the safest sport, but in our defense, he has been riding for 5 years and this really is his first injury. And as for the collarbone, it's one of the most common broken bones in children, in fact newborns can break their collarbones coming through the birth canal. Yes we will continue to let him ride and race, and hope this is the only injury, but we'll be ready for anything that comes our way.

Changes are Coming~

In some alternate universe there is a complete opposite of me, a free spirit, that goes with the flow, takes things as they come, and doesn't worry the least bit. I picture her with her hair flowing, no makeup on, dressed in an almost a "hippie" type flowing floral dress, twirling in a sunny meadow somewhere. There are times I wish I was her.

But in this universe, I'm an over the top, insanly irrational control freak. There is something in me that makes it impossible for me to feel comfortable "going with the flow", which is why I dread change. Change for me is jumping into the unknown, with no life vest on, and why would anyone in their right mind do that!

I know change is inevitable and that's what I'm looking at right now. I'm hoping this change brings amazing new opportunites for me, Ronnie and the kids. Afterall, that is the only reason I allow us to take these leaps of faith, for my family.

JaDaKenn Update

Being an Aunt is awesome! There are no words to tell you how much I love this little guy. He had his two month check up yesterday, he is 19 1/2 inches long and 7 lbs 9 oz! He's in the 50 percentile which is amazing considering he was a preemie. He is doing fabulous!

A couple weeks ago I was over visiting and he fell asleep in my lap all sprawled out. Everytime I tried to bundle him up or hold him cuddled he would fuss, so now I know, he likes to be streched out, once I let him be the way he wanted he didn't even make a peep. Of course I just sat back, let him sleep and enjoyed my time with him. I had to get a picture of him like this, all arched back with his arms over his head.

(Isn't he perfect)

I've been amazed at the changes I've seen in my brother. He's matured so much in the last two months, being a parent will do that to you. I'm so proud of them!