Skip to main content

Say Uncle

Five years ago today, my sister and brother-in-law became parents for the first time, my parents became grandparents for the first time, and I became an uncle for the first time to fraternal twins.

And it wasn't until this year that I signed my name as "Uncle Eric" on respective birthday cards. I'm still getting used to writing "Uncle" in cursive, but I have plenty of opportunities down the road do that again.

But for certain people I know who don't have kids, they see kids as cute little angels until the crying starts. At that point, these people label the kids as "shits" as Mom and Dad (or a grandparent) take over. Seems unfair to reduce a growing child into sheer annoyance. Alas, that's coming from people who haven't seen the whole perspective of parenting.

To the childless, hearing about a temper tantrum at the grocery store or a birthday party is enough evidence to never procreate. I disagree because as annoying and frustrating as it might be to be around an unruly child, people tend to overlook the good qualities a child can bring out of an adult. I'm not talking about how some parents change their communication skills into treating everyone like a child. I'm talking about seeing growth in a child, step by step, and appreciating that progression from an adult perspective.

For example, while spending time with my family at Thanksgiving, I wanted to take an afternoon nap on the couch. My nieces were playing and drawing near me as I started to lay down. I merely stated how I was taking a nap and one of my nieces said she and her sister would be quiet and draw. How awesome was that? Plenty. I have one of their drawings up on my refrigerator, serving as a reminder of many things -- and not just a talented budding artist.

When you recognize the person you were as a child in your own child, a lot of things make more sense in adulthood. You understand why you were the way you were -- and you can understand how or why your parents responded. Like when I see my nieces act shy around people, I remember what it was like to be incredibly shy at their age. Instead of forcing them to come out of a shell, I try to make them laugh with impressions. Whether it's Elmo or drama queens I know, my nieces pick up on the silliness. I'll do anything to get a laugh, especially for them.

In only five years, I've seen plenty of progress with these two little girls. I'm thankful I've been to every birthday party and have been with them on Thanksgiving and/or Christmas because you don't get to reschedule those sorts of events. They'll be asking for the car keys sooner rather than later.

So even if there's an occasional post-lunch meltdown now and constant door-slamming in the future teenage years, there will be plenty of other things to be proud of. That's worth seeing.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Catherine Wheel

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 Despite managing to release five proper albums, Catherine Wheel was one of those bands that always seemed to slip past the mainstream rock crowd. Yes, they got some nice airplay in their day, but people seem to have forgotten about them. You may hear “Black Metallic” or “Waydown” on a “classic alternative” show on Sirius or XM or maybe even on terrestrial radio, but that’s about it. For me, they were one of most consistent rock bands of the ’90s, meandering through shoegazer, hard rock, space rock and pop rock, all while eluding mainstream pigeonholing. Led by the smooth, warm pipes of vocalist/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), Catherine Wheel featured Brian Futter on lead guitar, Dave Hawes on bass and Neil Sims on drums. They weren’t a pretty-boy guitar band, but they weren’t a scuzzy bunch of ragamuffins either. Though the band hailed from England, Catherine Wheel found itself more welcome on American air

Best of 2021

  Last year, my attention span was not wide enough to listen to a lot of LPs from start to finish. Too much went on in 2020 to focus on 10-15 albums, so I went with only a couple to spotlight. Well, 2021 was a little better, as I have a list of top four records, and a lot of individual tracks.  (I made a lengthy Spotify playlist ) So, without further ado, here’s my list of favorites of the year: Albums Deafheaven, Infinite Granite (listen) Hands down, my favorite album of the year. I was not sure where Deafheaven would go after another record that brought My Bloody Valentine and death metal fans together, but they beautifully rebooted their sound on Infinite Granite. The divisive goblin vocals are vastly pared-down here, as are the blast beats. Sounding more inspired by Slowdive, the band has discovered a new sonic palette that I hope they explore more of in the future. It’s a welcome revelation. I still love their older material, but this has renewed my love of what these guys do.  J