Modern American Parenting Blows

Barring very few exceptions, the majority of young parents I know today are complete assholes. Everything in the universe focuses on the development of their child, as if the human race has not been perpetuating itself for the last age or more. The sad thing is that its not even their fault. I mean, what do you do in a society that tells you that everything your young child does, from pooping to playing sports will affect him for the rest of his life? Every stick of carrot, or drop of soda, is a potential key to worldly success, or a life of...gulp...mediocrity. Honestly, what is a parent to do?

Calm the fuck down is what. I have been a huge fan of Tom Hodgkinson's work for the last few years. His books, How to be Idle, and The Freedom Manifesto argue for a saner world, in which its inhabitants seek more pleasure out of life and spend less time fretting about the future. Recently he has written a series of articles entitled "The Idle Parent" in which he outlines his thoughts on parenting. We really should just calm the fuck down.

Oddly enough, this brings me to the Catholic Church. I am a recovering Catholic and in spite of the fact that I hold the majority of its teachings in disdain, I did get married in a church. Its a long story. Anyway, my wife and I had to take classes in "Catholic marriage" and most of what they taught was predictably total bullshit, HOWEVER, I was struck with one concept that above all made sense to me. Married couples should live for each other, NOT their children. This will lead to a happy marriage and by extension, happier children. The teacher explained it like this:

"Once when I was younger, I complained to my mother that I did not approve of her choice for dinner. She replied, 'I don't cook for YOU, I cook for your FATHER' It was right then that I knew my place in the world, and it was comforting."

So, yeah, calm the fuck down already, your kid will probably be just fine.

I Leave for Italy on Friday

Every year my wife and I take a group of students abroad for spring break. This year, its Italy. I'm not as excited as you might imagine about our trip. Sure, it'll be fun to watch the kids experience a new culture et cetera, but I've found Italy (at least the parts most frequently visited by Americans) to be entirely too touristy. I mean, if it were any more geared towards large tour groups, there would be actors dressed in large plush costumes selling candy.

Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those snobby backpacker types that needs everything to be as "authentic" as possible. I really don't like the idea of getting malaria, or being uncomfortable to prove just how worldly I am. I just find the major Italian cities to be a bit too much. In Madrid for example, one could find a really nice little spot to have a coffee and not feel like a total outsider looking in. A lot depends on our tour guide...will she shuffle us from site to site or will be permitted time to roam free? I swear that pun was NOT intended....Now I kinda wish it was...shit.

People just abandon their boats when the can't pay for them

Marriage is like bullfight...Half the people are on the outside, trying to get in, and the other half are on the inside trying to get out.

So goes an old Spanish saying... In light of a recent article in the NYTIMES this dicho can easily apply to boat ownership. A new problem for authorities is boat abandonment. Instead of paying for upkeep or having their boats properly disposed of, it seems many people are just ditching them in rivers and bays or trying to scuttle them.

“They say, ‘I had a dream of sailing around the world, I just never got around to it.’ Then they have some bad times and they leave it to someone else to clean up the mess,”

I don't know why, but this quote makes me sad. Maybe its because I too have dreams of boat ownership, and I don't like to think that it won't work out and I'll be just another asshole who had extra cash and no idea what the hell he was doing. I guess that's why I'm taking it slow and working with a sailing club first despite the fact that now would be the PERFECT time to buy a boat.