Life lessons

This week, I wanted to talk about a certain radio announcer and the jokes he tells and how unfunny they are. He starts talking and you just wait for the punchline and you just know you are not going to laugh. Kelly likes this announcer and says he reads her column every one and a while, so I can't mention his name. Anyways, Kelly said I'm not allowed to talk about it, so I won't. Kay-lyn got to go to her first big concert last week and by all accounts had a great time with her aunties and cousins at Hedley. While they were off at the concert I got to hang out with my nephew Dalton. He had is minor hockey wind-up at the Moose Jaw Field House. I had never been there before, but what a nice facility. The artificial turf is great and the kids had fun running around on it for an hour. The place is big too. They had us in one quarter, some sort of baseball practice in the other quarter and the other half was being used for a soccer game. When we got back to my sister's place, the Oilers game was one. Dalton is a big Oilers' fan. I might have had something to do with that, of which I definitely make no apologies for. It was fun to listen to him talk about the Oilers and their players. "Did you know the Oilers beat the Flames last time?" "I know that Dalton, did you know the Oilers actually beat the Flames two games in a row?" He was really excited to hear that. He like to talk about his trip to Edmonton and the game he went to. He talked how a player should have got a bigger penalty when he kneed an Oilers player and how Taylor Hall scored a goal. He was full of Oilers information. A couple hours later.... "Uncle, did you know the Oilers beat the Flames two games in a row? Oh right, you told me that." Haha, too funny. Yup, he likes to brag about his Oilers, especially when they beat the Flames. The game we watched, the Oilers blew a 2-0 lead and the game went to a shootout. Dalton had his Oilers foam finger on and did his best to cheer his team to victory. The disappointment on his seven year old face that the 29th place Oilers lost was something to see. It was like they just lost the Stanley Cup. Finally, I found out this week, as a single father, that raising a soon-to-be teenager daughter is going to have it's challenges. I try to teach her what's right and wrong. I also encourage her to think for herself and make her own decisions. But, sometimes she makes mistakes. Sometimes I do too. Some are bigger than others. I hope we can both use it as an education, learn from it and be better for it in the long run. A few quotes before I finish things up: “If you want children to keep their feet on the ground, put some responsibility on their shoulders.” - Abigail Van Buren "It is one thing to show your child the way, and a harder thing to then stand out of it." - Robert Brault “We are apt to forget that children watch examples better than they listen to preaching.” - Roy L. Smith