Am I Going Mad?

Get Outside and Create your Own Stories!

When I get home from work I generally ask the kids how they are going and what they've been up to during the day.  Clearly this isn't remarkable; however I get concerned when they immediately enter into an exhaustive description of what they've seen on YouTube.

My concern is very simple - telling me about their favorite YouTube video is actually telling me about the fun  someone else has had, and to be honest, I'm not interested!  Call me old fashioned, but I want to know what my own kids have experienced in the real world!

Like everything in life, watching YouTube is not a problem in moderation; however the problems start when it becomes an obsession as would be the case with one of my children if I let it (ie. if I did not restrict access).  I would hate to think that my child was gaining all of their enjoyment through the deeds and eyes of someone else.

As I keep telling my kids, things happen when you go outside and interact with the real world, and these things then become the basis of your own stories.  Surely this is a much better and more fun way to live your life than to do so vicariously through the actions of others.

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

 

Going to the Gym - Why do we Bother?

Have you ever joined a gym, while temporarily suffering from a period of insanity, only to stop going within a few months?  I know I have - twice in fact!

On both occasions I started off well, three times a week and fully firing.  After a while my enthusiasm waived and I went less and less.  On the last occasion I had been discussing with my wife how are finances were a bit tight, and I made the generous offer to forgo my gym membership in the interests of our family!

Having considered why I, and most other people,  are a gym failure I have managed to develop a theory.  The theory is this - we fail because the reasons why we go are not strong enough. 

My evidence for this this is simple.  Remember back to when you were a kid and you played sport.  Did you play sport to get fit, or did you do it because you loved it?  I'm tipping that nearly all of us participated because we loved it.  Getting fit was just a happy by-product of playing and was given no thought.

Now consider this.  I am firmly of the belief that we only need to be as fit as we need to be to do the things we want to do.  I like playing golf, gardening, riding bikes with the kids and going on walks.  As such, I don't need to be an athlete and trying to become one would fail because I don't really want it.   If I can comfortably complete these activities then I'm happy and surely this is OK?

(I will add one condition to this.  This is no excuse for doing nothing if you don't want to.  You obviously have to maintain a level of fitness that is compatible with a healthy life)

So when my athletic friend who regularly participates in 12 hour triathlons talks to me about his training regime I feel no guilt.  He is simply trying to be as fit as he needs to be because he loves competing in triathlons. 

Both of our goals are exactly the same - to be as fit as we need to be to do the things we want to do!

Therefore I don't feel guilty when I see athletic people doing athletic stuff.  I just remind myself that I'm fit enough to do what I want to do!

What do you think?

Large Houses - Why?

I have been watching a number of these home improvement type shows of late, and I am the first to admit that what they do is absolutely amazing and magnificent.

My concern however; relates to whether what they are doing is necessary and the effect that this has on the psyche of the general population.  In other words, these shows have the effect of ramping up our expectations to an unreasonable level.  After all, do we all need to live in such luxury to be happy?

I don't know about you, but I would answer this question with a definite 'no'.  I live in a modest house where two of my children share a bedroom.  I don't think this is a bad thing even though it goes against the trend of bigger and bigger houses (I actually had someone come into my house and point out to me that there house was bigger than mine!).  In fact, I suspect it will do the two of them good.

My rationale is simple - I could get a bigger house tomorrow or perhaps put on an extension, but that would make my mortgage bigger which would in turn increase stress and mean that I have less money to do things with the family. 

Also, no matter how big my house is, we all tend to gather in the same few rooms most of the time, and after all, isn't this what a family should do - spend time together!

As such, I am going to keep my renovations realistic.  A bit of painting here and there, perhaps some new curtains and some time making the garden nice.  More importantly, we will take the odd family holiday and I should be able to retire sometime before I'm 90!!

What do you think?  Am I going mad?

 

 

Why Won't my Children Move??

What is it with kids and exercise these days?  It seems to me that they are so addicted to screens that they won't go outside anymore.

I'll admit that my kids are a bit on the heavy side which makes me feel pretty ordinary as a parent.  It just seems that if they are to exercise, then either my wife or I has to organise it.  This is in stark contrast to when I was a kid - I never wanted to be inside where I could be hassled by my parents!

These days however; if I send my kids outside they simply sit by the back door waiting to come back in - this is what my dogs do!  They seem to have lost the ability to use their imagination and just play.

All this means that our children don't get fit as a byproduct of what they're doing anymore - fitness activities actually have to be organised and structured!  This makes it all unnatural.  My parents didn't have to worry about my fitness - they simply let me go and I got fit because of what I was doing.   This problem is a bit like adults going to the gym - as you know most people go for a little while and then quite because the gym is simply not fun.  If however; you are out doing physical activities that you love, you will become fit without even thinking about it.

I'm not sure what the answer is here other than banning the screens and introducing them to as many activities as possible in the hope that they'll find one they like.  One thing is for sure however; we can't do nothing as this will set our kids up for a life of ill health.

What do you think?

 

Terrible Use of Social Media!

The other day I was shown a Facebook Post containing a picture of workers using a ladder to clean windows.  A careful examination of the photo revealed that they were wearing harnesses so there were no problems from a safety perspective.

The problem was that someone on the other side of the street did not notice the ropes and decided to take a picture and post it on Facebook with a massive rant about how they could fall to their death.

Now call me crazy if you will, but if you were worried about someone dying wouldn't it be best to ring up the company concerned rather than posting it on Facebook?  Surely the potential to save someone's life is of greater importance than getting a few likes for your Facebook post??? How would this person have felt if there had been accident and they simply sat there taking photos?

This propensity to record events rather than actively participating in events is one of the consequences society is facing as a result of social media. 

While the recording of events has its place, I think we need to remember the rewards that can come from actually helping someone.  These include the generation of positive feelings within yourself as well as the receipt (hopefully) of gratitude from another person.  In my opinion, these far outweigh a few likes on a Facebook page.

Am I going mad?

HELP - Childhood has Changed and I'm Not Keeping Up!

Question 1) When you were young did you ever notice your parents or grandparents (or old farts in general) complaining that the world was much better when they were kids?

Question 2) Now that your getting older have you noticed a tendency to look back on your own life and think that things were better when you were a kid?

Now come on, I need you to be honest!  A pair of 'yes' does not make you a sad or pitiful person.  In fact, you can absolutely love your life and still answer with a pair of yes'. 

The reason I ask is that I have been pulled up a couple of times by my eldest son after giving him the good old "When I was a kid blah, blah, blah" argument!!  Both times it has related to the use of computers, iphones, ipods and every other screen based device which seem to captivate 100% of his attention for 100% of the time. 

I inevitably get a bit annoyed by this and point out to him that we used to spend all our time outside playing sports or riding bikes and that we lived in the real work as opposed to the virtual one.  I have even told him that I'm worried that he's not  not having any adventures of his own (not much happens when you stay inside) and that he's getting most of his enjoyment from the actions of others (eg. YouTube).

What do you think his responses have been?  Well I'll tell you.  On both occasions he's pointed out to me that the world has changed, it is no longer like it was when I was a kid, and how can he regret it if he doesn't know any different!!!

How can you respond to such logic?  Personally I mumbled a few words and wandered off wondering when my son got to be so smart!

 

 

Hello, please call me the "Mad One" and welcome to my blog!

As you will note from my blog's title, the purpose of this blog is to get some stuff out there and to see whether or not I'm going mad!

The problem I have is that as I get older, I increasingly look at the world and think WTF! I'm not sure whether this is me falling behind the times or whether (and I can't believe I'm considering this) it's wisdom. Only you can be the judge so please let me know what you think.