Talk, talk, talk, Kiss-n-Ride and a guilty pleasure

Talk, talk, talk, Kiss-n-Ride and a guilty pleasure with no fear of judgment, the Carr blog is up for the Week that was number 29.

The talk
It happened, and we are not all that happy about it. We just felt that we would have more time to prepare. More time to plan an approach or come up with a unified strategy. Time to come up with the answer to the “going to happen” question about the magic of Christmas. This week it happened in the car, with not only our kids, but the little Shea people as well and that is what made it very difficult. These are four smart kids, and having the questions hanging in the air like a bad scent, only caused a ripple effect of more questions. “How does he…” and “How can that be…” and “What does it…” This cannot end well, the belief and power of this festive season and the mystical properties of the man himself all in question and nothing to divert attention or change the course of questioning. Nathalie and I just look at each other horrified and threw in an “of course we are not the ones who…” but that is all we said. How do you follow that? Leaving it and letting it blow over, turned out to be the best approach, but it was close, far too close and that only means one thing. It will come up again.

Guilty Pleasure
What is your guilty pleasure? What is it that you like or crave, or need in your life that if your friends ever found out may result in unspeakable judgment to the point that you are voted off the island? Nothing illegal here, but right now, my audio guilty pleasure is a song by Owl City, called Fireflies. When I hear it on the radio, I turn it up loud and sing along and I don’t care! It is what I might call a slightly corny attempt at a pop song with odd but memorable lyrics, and although it is doing (or has done) well on the charts, most I simply mention it’s name too, scoff in disapproval of this melodic little ditty. So for now, I will keep my fondness of the song one of my guilty pleasures and I will do so, with no fear of judgment, unless of course it ever gets out that I like it.

Talking dog
Bentley the super dog is 13, and for the last 7 years or so, he has stayed at home by himself during the day while we go to work and school. Before that, he would go to doggy daycare but that is a story for another blog, some other day. For now I would like to share a typical conversation we have with him as we arrive at home to find him waiting for us, or at least what I think it would sound like if he talked in words we could understand.

“Ohhhh you’re home, you’ll never guess what I did all day, ohh I am so happy to see you, today I heard a sound and I barked at it and scared it away, (lick, lick, lick) I heard the mail man and I told him to go away, then I ran upstairs and I looked for my toy and played for a bit, then I ran downstairs because I thought I heard you coming home, and then I slept and I barked and ohh I am so glad to see you, can you fill my water dish, I am thirsty, did you bring me anything, oh I missed you, sorry about the accident I left downstairs, ohh I am tired, how was your day (pant pant pant)?”

Kiss-n-Ride
A smile. Boundless energy and an excitement to arrive at school and sometimes even a kiss goodbye. I see it every morning while I open the doors of the cars, dropping the kids off at the St. Richard, Kiss-n-ride. That great energy and spirit of youth, seemingly thankful for education and for the most part excited about getting it started by first getting out of their parents car. For my help with a backpack, or a “have a great day” wish, I get rewarded with a smile and a little voice “Thank You” and it makes my day. You can’t have a bad day after volunteering and that’s why I do it. If you get a chance to somehow “give back” do it, and do it with force because it makes you a better person from the inside out.

In closing
This week, after having a conversation with a couple of my 3rd semester students about the need for a personal verbal filter, I was reminded of a conversation I had with Nathalie on the same topic. It is amazing that kids just say what they think or feel and never are concerned how the people around them will react, so they can get away with no filter. It is one of the things that is so enjoyable about having children. The other side of not caring what they say, is sometimes they say things that make you react, but not for the way that they might think. Julia said this week “I love living in the closet”. Ok, yes she is talking about the front hall closet and the fact that she enjoys hiding in there to scare anyone who makes the mistake of walking by, but still no filter, no worries, and not a care in the world and still funnier then most, even if she doesn’t mean to be.

Thanks for reading, please feel free to comment and have a great week!
Jim