Tannishblog

One of the most challenging aspects of any adult life is child rearing. To spend years dealing with the consequences of our behavior, intended or unintended, is our primary existential quandary. Having and raising children is what gives life meaning. Ensuring your offspring has all the tools needed to succeed is of paramount importance.

Seeing as this is a central part of what is means to be an adult in society, one wonders why people are so unprepared for the job. What I've seen on the playground, in the malls, during vacations and everyday places like the grocery, I ponder the collective ignorance of parents. Often when I see a child misbehave in public, I look toward the parent and see them behaving badly as well. I guess they don't understand that a parent is the child's first role model.

Generally, people of all ages tend to act inappropriately. As I love to point out: "Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional." Many parents need to mature themselves.

As a Buddhist, being compassionate is of equal importance, and to instill that value in my offspring is vital. Happily, other people are attempting the same. CNN has an article for the newly expecting or the seasoned pro on how to raise a compassionate child. But the most important instruction is to be compassionate yourself. You children will naturally reflect the values you hold, whatever they may be.

For those emerging from their self-induced post holiday hangovers, its the second day of the year. The new Democratic majority is commencing and - already - the Republicans are whining.

If congress was a playground, and who says it isn’t, the Donkeys are the new bullies and the poor underdog Elephants are crying "They’re not letting us play!" Apparently, the play book written by the 109th Congress, used intensively for gain in a "means justify ends" manner, is no longer valid now that the sides have changed. Poor losers.

"The new year is a blank slate upon which to write," or some such… That is the gist of a nice email greeting from Dailyzen.com. I awake this late morning to a slate written upon with a sloppy hand. Things like "I could get used to Jamison’s Irish Whiskey," and "Two in the morning? Most days I get up at four," vying with the perennial "Work tomorrow, playtime’s over." If it wasn’t for the familiarity of the blocky "N’s" and the rounded "E’s," I might wonder who was so callous.

Last night’s annual movie fest, a Tim Burton/ Johnny Depp affair, worked for the ladies - Daughter, Wife and a girlfriend of hers - but this lone dude kept gravitating around his PC games. The magic hour came and all three shouted the incantation "Happy New Year" and returned to the final feature, "Willy Wonka." I stood with empty shot glass in hand thinking the usual Tannish drivel.

New Years is an arbitrary demarcation. Nothing is new at all, we’ve been here before. Finally, Zen thoughts emerge from the bog: Beginnings are meaningless as all things arise and fall continually. In a world where there are no beginnings, there are no ends. Each moment gives rise to the next in an endless cycle of causation and karma. Life rides a river of time marked only by continuing changes, whether looking at a microcosm of individual existence or a macrocosm of galactic movements, no real beginnings can be found.

Thus there really was no good reason to get sauced last night.