Last night at the bar Steve Steketee, Steve Durrell and I were talking about all of the toys we had when we were kids. We had matchbox cars, wood blocks, Lincoln Logs, Legos, cardboard bricks, action figures, big wheels, and of course the wide world outside of our houses. Lots of these were simple toys, requiring us to use our imaginations, and we loved it.
Are toys like that anymore? All of the Lego sets I see come with a "final design". You buy the blocks to make a particular thing. Gone are the sets of miscellaneous geometric Lego bricks (in red, blue, yellow and green) that we would use to build whatever we could imagine. Our finished designs weren't as cool as a replica Millennium Falcon, but we didn't need that.
Do kids even find these toys fun anymore? Those simple toys now need to compete with fancier toys, video games, and 24 hour kid's television. Can a parent keep their kid interested in these simple things, without turning them into a social outcast?
I admit, I'm a tad bit lazy. I've been planning on getting on the excercise bike for the last 4 months. I've used it once. When I come home, I want to sit out the couch. Maybe take a nap. Being a parent is a lot of work. Being a good parent is a ton of work. Am I up for the challenge? Will I be a great parent? Will my kid play with simple toys, have an imagination, want to play outside? None of this will happen unless I (and Bobbie Jo) really work at it.
I know that all of these feelings are things that
all other soon-to-be parents think about. I don't think that any of these thoughts are unique. All of my friends are great parents, all in their own ways, but they have all made it work. They are raising their kids to be upstanding members of society. I see it in all of my interactions with them and their kids. I still question how I'm going to do it.
I've been wanting to make this post for quite a while, but had difficulty putting it all into words. I've disabled comments on this post as I know we will immediately get lots of "You are going to be great parents" posts. I'm not fishing for reassurance, I know we'll be a great Mom and Dad, but I'm still terrified.
Thanks for listening, and know that we will be asking you for advice sometime in the near future.
-James
It's been an exciting 2007! It was only 6 months ago that we learned that the Reinhardt Household will soon be adding one more to the gang. We fully expect that 2008 will be unlike any year that we have ever experienced; a New Year of many new challenges, adventures, and excitement. While we still aren't completely sure how we are going to handle all of the changes that are coming, we are so thankful for all of our wonderful friends and family who have helped us in ways we can't begin to explain. Your well-wishes and advice have been priceless. We can't thank all of you enough for being there for us, it means the world to us. We couldn't be surrounded by a better group of people.
We had our regularly scheduled ultrasound this morning, everything went well. He was well behaved and didn't move around too much. The ultrasound was not nearly as clear as the last one, though we could see a good deal of the skeleton and, very briefly, some of the detail on his face. Unfortunately he chose to not cooperate, and they were unable to get some of the measurements that they wanted. They are very comfortable that there are no problems, but we will have another ultrasound in a month to see the things they couldn't see today.
Little Mort weighs 13 oz. and is developing exactly as he should be.
