The Joy of Parenthood!

Jessica and I celebrated seven years of marriage yesterday! We had an eventful day...

Actually it started the day before with Anne trying to be a hairstylist like her mommy. She got a hold of the scissors and trimmed her bangs. I didn't realize the affect her bangs had on her cuteness...oh well...hair grows back...at least for little kids.

Friday night is our date night with rotating babysitting at one of the four family's households. We dropped the kids off with the Christensen's and Jessica and I enjoyed a nice meal at Chili's and then relaxing hour-long massages at Massage Envy. At that point I was ready for a long nights slumber, so we picked the kids up an hour early and went home, excited for the next day's adventures.

We had purchased Jessica a bike a couple days ago and yesterday morning we ran over to Target and purchased a bike trailer to pull the girls behind my bike. We set off for a family bike ride adventure and picnic at the park. It was sunny and warm with a nice cool spring breeze. The kids had a great time! Life could not be better for a little American family.

After Victoria's mid-day nap, we hopped on our bikes again and headed for the neighborhood swimming pool. Again, we had a great time. We could barely force Kyle out of the water to head home for dinner. Everything was simply perfect, until...

As we road our bikes back from the community pool, Kyle swerved into me and we had a terrific crash. I stumbled off the bike onto me feet. When I got my balance, I looked back at Kyle just as he screamed, "Dad! My skin!". He had about a five inch flap of skin all the way to the bone just above his left inside ankle. My Boy Scout first-aid skills kicked in immediately and I quickly grabbed around his leg just above the injury to prevent it from bleeding.

Jessica had already parked her bike in the garage before the accident and she was standing in the driveway watching the whole scene. When I lifted Kyle in my arms with his leg elevated and clamped tight in my hand, I said to Jessica, "This is bad. We've got to get him to the emergency room.". She thought I was kidding to humor Kyle and replied, "Yeah right.". Then I showed her the wound and she went into a panic running from neighbor to neighbor trying to find someone to stay with the girls.

Our neighbor Brandon was home and Jessica had her wits about her sufficiently enough to recommend that Brandon drive Kyle and me to the ER. I took off my shirt and wrapped the wound tight, mostly to avoid looking at its ghastliness. I held Kyle in the back of the Honda Pilot as we drove to the hospital. Kyle and I were both suprisingly calm. Kyle was more worried that I was going to miss my church softball game that night than he was about his own deep cut.

When we got into the ER they directed me to sit at the chairs for check-in. I sat and an EMT noticed I had his ankle wrapped and elevated. He asked if he could take a look. He too saw bone and right away he got the ER staff working to move Kyle up the priority list. By this time I realized the my hand was aching terribly from keeping pressure on his leg. An ER attendant finally took gauze and wrap and bound up his leg allowing me to release my hand. All this time Kyle hadn't shed a tear. He was a real trooper.

They got him a bed quickly and we waited a bit for an x-ray. The x-ray showed no broken bones. We waited another half hour and a PA and nurses came in to clean and check out the cut. They gave Kyle an IV and local anesthetics and his only complaints were about getting "pokies". As they cleaned the wound they found all the muscles, tendons and ligaments all intact. That's when I was finally relieved about the dramatic situation. My many prayers were answered and my worsed fears allayed. "Twas but a flesh wound".

They used 40 or more internal stitches and many more exterior stitches. The last five stitches Kyle got to enjoy as the anesthetic had warn off. He just squeezed my thumb to deal with the pain. This actually did cause some tears. They made him a cast-like splint and he can't walk for at least two days. I have to carry him to the bathroom and to the table to eat.

He's getting kind of bummed out knowing the he will be missing t-ball and pre-school for the next week or so. Getting him to choke down his medicine is far worse than the accident itself.

Anyway, a full recovery is expected for him, but he'll have a great scar to remind him of the accident that happened on his mommy and daddy's anniversary.

We've had lots of calls and visits from friends and family for which we are grateful!

Gratuities & Standing O's - a social commentary

About a year ago, I, along with my wife and three kids spilled out of the van onto the curb at the Boise Idaho airport on our way back to Arizona. We had a piece of luggage for each person, an extra bag just for diapers and toddler stuff, plus two carseats. I still recall the strain of lugging that stuff around, but this curb side stop would be different...we were going to use the curb-side check-in for our flight.

We showed our ID's and received our boarding passes and the fellow there took our luggage and put it on a cart. As we began to walk away he held out his hand. I knew what he wanted. I quickly apologized and explained that I had no cash wherewith to tip him. Extortively he replied, "We'll just see if your bags make it to their destination."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Did he really think he could threaten me with intentionally misplacing our luggage? Well...I was ticked...but I believed that he would be true to his word. Reading the signs of internal conflict on my face, he generously pointed to a nearby ATM machine (as I'm sure he had done hundreds of times before). With a broad mischievious smile after receiving an enormously large extorted tip (because I couldn't get change for the large bills the ATM spits out), he was happy to provide me the assurance that my bags would surely arrive at their destination.

Since that day I have often pondered on the significance of giving someone a tip. The way I see it, tips should not be given to someone who is simply doing their job. Gratuities should be reserved for those whose service is exemplary and extraordinary, for one who goes above and beyond the call of duty, for one who is willing to go the extra mile to serve.

The motivation to provide the level of service required to create raving fans has been removed and has been replaced with a sense of gratuity-entitlement which troubles my soul.

This leads me to my next peeve...standing ovations! When is the last time that you attended a performance that did not end with a standing ovation?! I can't even recall the last time it has been so long ago.

A few years ago, after a pretty mediocre performance, I determined to remain with my derriere planted while everyone else around me slowly stood to applaud out of some seductive spirit of obligation. You should have seen all the crustly looks cast at me! So, I succumbed to extortion once again and reluctantly stood with all the lemmings and half-heartedly clapped my hands together until they stung with hypocrisy.

The standing ovation has lost its significance in society. The only way I can tell if a standing ovation is sincere or not is how quickly people jump to their feet to applaud. Jessica and I recently attended a performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet at the new Mesa Arts Center. The actor portraying Hamlet excelled above all the other high-quality actors. As he took his bow, the entire audience simulataneously leaped to their feet in praise of his passionate performance. That was a true standing O!

So, being the pragmatist that I am, may I suggest what we as society shall do to overcome these false traditions? Follow your heart, not the seductive spirit of obligation, when it comes time for you to tip or to stand.