Just A Guy Farting: Part Two

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Bruce Sallan

I hope you all read my first blog on guy farting and especially watched the attached video. We’ve attached it again, along with another favorite of the “genre.” What is it about farting that is so funny?

So, my wife still does NOT think it’s funny, though occasionally she will snicker in spite of herself. She’s seen the video of the couple in bed and the other morning, I swear, we ended up mimicking them almost word for word!

It was that just before dawn time when you’re only half-awake. Our three dogs were lying on their beds, in our room, peacefully sleeping. One of them, our oldest, actually snores slightly. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, while in my sleep, I farted. Woke both my wife and myself up.

Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Bruce Sallan

I love that song. Who can’t help but love it? It’s nearing summertime by this dad’s astute intuition and the school calendar, and that tells me it’s summer once again and what are we going to do with the kids? A stay-at-home parent’s life is dictated by driving. Driving his or her kids to and from school, to their various extra-curricular activities, to doctor’s appointments, etc. We live in the car, so summer is actually my break, too.

However, each summer poses a challenge of what to provide to best occupy my boys and possibly add positively to their life experiences. I’ve given up on any sports-oriented activities as they’ve rejected all of them. I signed up to coach a baseball team when Will, my older son, expressed interest in playing ball at around age eight. It ended with me continuing to finish the season as coach while he quit halfway through. Now, we all know that my allowing him to quit was a failure of mine as a parent, but we also know that parenting is an ongoing learning experience and one we might succeed at, finally, with our grandkids. And, that’s only because we can send them home after a while.

Just A Guy Dating With Kids

Posted on April 5, 2009 by Bruce Sallan

When is it time to introduce your kids to your new “friend,” someone you’ve been dating a while, and when is it okay for them to sleep over? One is relatively simple, in this dad’s opinion, the other more dicey.

It’s easy when you have split custody; date, have sex, do it all when the kids are with the ex. It’s not so easy if you have the kids all the time (as I did). Then, the choice is a secret life or earlier introduction than the therapists all advise (and, remember, every therapist has a dysfunctional family, so why are you listening to them). It’s not good for the kids if you are not happy. So, as with most things in life, there’s a middle ground on when to make that introduction.

It’s the Economy Stupid, I Mean, Son

Posted on February 4, 2009 by Bruce Sallan

I had naively hoped never to live through tough economic times like my folks did, with The Great Depression. And, while I still believe that we’re far from those stupid dark economy days, it is clear that we are in the midst of the worst financial crisis of my life and certainly of my boy’s lives. There are lessons for them, for me, for all of us.

I recently got in a debate with a close friend about his wanting to get his not-yet-16-year-old a car. “He’s done well in school; he deserves it,” my friend says. This same friend is financially strapped, in constant debt, yet wants to please his son whose many friends “all have cars.” This is the ultimate juggling act for my generation of parents, who seem inclined to pamper their kids, delay their growing up, and otherwise give them everything they desire. It seems we’re all trying to compensate for some perceived slight our kids are suffering at our hands, whether it’s the dual-working parents or, in my case, the ugly divorce and absentee Mom. I feel bad for them, so I buy to assuage those feelings.