One Day at a Time

You know, sometimes, like this morning, I am blown away by the world in which my boys will grow up.

As I sit down with my 5 a.m. coffee, I see that a guy in my Grade 3 class, about 35 years ago, is a big fan of Bob Dylan, the Romantics and music in general. I see that a girl I went to school with in Grade 3 recently celebrated her 20th wedding anniversary.

My sister in British Columbia is home from Vancouver where she enjoyed an excellent dinner at the Dockside Brewery on Granville Island. My brother and his wife in the Niagara Region apparently have a new dog.

Two friends from our last RCMP posting, in Gimli, Manitoba are enjoying a trip to Disney Land, and another from the same posting now lives in Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, but wishes he was in Regina celebrating the Stampeders' win.

A friend from high school also recently celebrated his 20th wedding anniversary, another is living in the Grand Caymans and still another is suffering from pet allergies.

My sister-in-law, in Toronto, loves to sing karaoke, and I can listen to her sing in my kitchen in Thompson.

My nephew from Kansas has moved to Colorado and my niece in Niagara celebrated her 19th birthday at "The Pepper."

I'm not sure if that's the same Red Hot Chili Pepper where my friends and I, about 20 years ago, used to hang out in downtown St. Catharines, Ontario.

I don't know, because I haven't spoken to any of them. I'm just checking Facebook to find out what's going on in their lives.

About 25 years ago, when I was graduating high school, none of this existed. The internet was in its infancy, accessible by only a knowledgeable few. The latest video technology was the amazing VHS tape. And cell phones did not exist, at least not on the same scale. Apparently, today, they are a mandatory accessory for everyone over the age of 10.

Neomom is not a fan of computers. They are a necessary evil in her world, but she'd prefer to study in a library and write by hand.

I like computers and the internet. To me, it's an amazing tool, but at the same time, an amazing danger. It has opened up the world to my living room— the entire world; the good, the bad and, yes, the ugly.

My challenge, one of many in raising two boys, is to stay on top of this technology because, to them, it will simply be a fact of life. And, given that I started my family a little later in life, I know that I'm behind the eight ball right off the hop.

I own a cell phone but rarely use it. I don't know what, exactly 3G means or how useful it is. I own a DVD player, but not a Blue Ray. I don't own a plasma or LCD TV. And I don't understand texting. Why not just call?

But I must do my best to understand it all, so that I can introduce my boys to this world in an intelligent, positive, tempered way. It's good stuff, but it's not all good stuff. So much of it seems designed to part the fool and his money. So much of the stuff that was free when I was a child— television and radio to name two— can or must be paid for monthly, along with a cell phone and access to a video gaming network.

I don't know where the world will be in eight to 10 years when my boys will really start to "need" the technology. But I know that I must do my best to keep up and work to instill basic life lessons that I hope will guide them into whatever lies ahead.

When shopping for a new house, I start in the basement. If it has a solid foundation, I will overlook minor imperfections elsewhere. And I think the same applies to kids. I need to provide the tools for them to build a solid foundation upon which to base their life decisions. There will be mistakes— minor imperfections— but as long as they have the foundation to fall back on, I must trust that they'll be okay.

Wow, now my head is really swimming. Time to step back, take a deep breath. Sure, I have to keep an eye on the future, but live in the present. There's so much good stuff to enjoy with the boys right now and plenty of life lessons to be taught, each one a brick in what I hope will one day be a very solid foundation.

As Abraham Lincoln said, "The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."

Or, from Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present."

(And yes, I found those on the internet.)

Some things seem timeless. Sontoo and his truck. I had a truck when I was young too.

His has lights and sound. Mine did not.