A Family Day of Reflection

I spied a cartoon on Facebook this week. Two kids shuffling through the snow with a caption "Family Day”. The one boy starts by saying “Family Day, that’s a joke…” and the kid walking behind says something like “I know... My Dad’s out of town on business, and my mother doesn’t give a shit!”. It was really quite powerful. They were illustrated to look about ten or twelve years old.

Goob, Jukebox, Me & Sweetie....
In the backyard on Toronto Street.
(Photo Credit: DAD)
Taken: October 1995

When it comes to how we raised our children, I think we were somewhat unconventional. 

We did live together first, so we knew we were good in that department. But we never expected to transition into a family unit as quickly as we did. 

Because we were so young, we didn’t have a whole lot of life lessons under our belt to compare to, so we winged it.  

By choice we lived in a small bubble with very little outside influence for a lot of years. Tony worked days, I worked evenings (in  the non street walking sense), which lasted right up until the twins started school. 

I'd love to say we structured it that way because that's what we wanted but from the very start money was sparse. In the very first year of marriage, we chose to invest in a home. I remember being elated when we were given our first mortgage at 12.5%! 

My post isn’t meant to be somber rather it's reflective. As we celebrate today I have to wonder: how will this generation of children make it to the middle? Will owning their own home be out of reach? How will they ever be able to support a family? I think it's all possible yet I feel that I am a broken record in saying that the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.

Back to the cartoon. I don't think my children will ever have the opinion that I didn't give a shit. In fact, I am confident that their opinions will always be the polar opposite. They will have wished I didn't have such an incessant need for structure and control. In fact, I am sure they feel that had I minded my own business (you know... by not keeping the rift raft away, nor the partying at bay) they would ALL have been far better off. 

Which in turn provides the reality at hand; I don't know anything. Truth be known? I'm okay with that. Let's face it. Did any of us realize that Mother's knew anything about life in general before we turned 30? 

I know I didn't.

Happy Family Day All!