Sunday, September 25, 2005

Quiet weekend. Johnny has stayed home again this weekend. He is preparing for some mega-Sweet 16 party for someone in his ROTC class. They are all wearing their class A's and have rehearsals every Sunday. The time necessary for him to get back there by mass transit would mean his having to get up at 10 AM.

I am torn between letting him have the social interaction with no hassle from me and making a point about the obligation to our relationship. I want him to understand that at times you have to make sacrifices. Maybe it would mean his having to get up early but at times you have to do difficult things to get the important things in life done. His friendships and social life as a teenager are as important as our relationship.

I am, at the very least going to suck it up for the time being but have a conversation about this the next time he is here; which won;t be for another two or three weeks. SO you can look forward to two more weeks of my deep sighing and moaning. Ain't that what you come here for in the first place?

Speaking of which, I am a little over due in commenting on the counter at the bottom of this page. It recently rolled over the 1,000 hit mark. That impressed me. On average 10 people are looking at this blog an a daily basis. Makes me wish I had enough to write about every day.

When I once mentioned that I have a blog to someone they scoffed and said, "The most self indulgent thing on the internet!" Is he right? Do I feel what I am saying has relevance in other peoples' lives? Can my life really be that interesting to people?

I don't deny having a little bit of an ego. But, honestly, I have been writing this as a way of keeping distant friends up to date on what's happening. I write to vent. I write to work out feelings. I write to share. Keeping in mind that my life in no way can really be that interesting, try to write with a slant towards commenting on my own feelings and experiences in the bigger picture. I hope I am successful. I must be doing right since I keep getting hits. I have been surprised by some who have commented and even more by those who privately tell me they are regular readers. I appreciate each of you who stops by here to see what's going on in my crazy little corner of the universe.

Here's to another thousand hits!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You now have 1,112 hits on the blog your write. And let me tell you for the record, I will never know why you do not put pen to paper and get some of those thoughts on paper and get yourself published. Dave Berry has nothing on you Captain Jack...n-o-t-h-i-n-g!

Anonymous said...

Ummm maybe it is time for Dad to put the extra time and money into the relationship and not rely on the 14 year old to keep the relationship going. The train goes both ways.... It isn't up to the child to get to and from his father's house.

Jack said...

So you can understand the situation better. I travel 30 miles to meet him at the train station. In what would had been a 180 mile round trip in my car is now cut by 2/3'rds. With gas around $3 per gallon and more, it's simple economics. Another reason I go for the commuting method is that 180 mile round trip was also a 4 hours excursion back and forth. We would invariably get here and he would go to bed. Not exactly quality time. Now, we have two extra hours to ourselves.

The commute, IMHO, teaches him self reliance, and independence. Having to "endure this hardship" teaches him that, in life, you sometimes have to do things you don't necessarily like. Best part is, this will all end in two years when he has his own car. I think he will survive.