The Startling Rate of Spoilage.

Giving my ambiguous title, I could really talk about pretty much anything and it would make sense.

I could talk about milk.. Did you know that milk will go bad after being out on the counter for only a few hours. That is startling. But, no, that's not today's topic. Maybe tomorrow I will delve into the startling nature of spoiled milk.

What I want to talk about is children.

While I'm legally an adult, I am still a child in many ways, so this is not me pretending to be above them.

However, it seems to me that children today are more spoiled than they have ever been in history. And things don't just seem this way; this is the truth.

I dare you to go ask your parents how they were treated when they were a child. Then ask your grandparents. Yes, times were different. People were poorer (or were they?) and the world wasn't as complicated as today. But that isn't the main reason.

Parents are simply getting lazy. When I was a child, if I did something wrong, I was punished. If I did something wrong repeatedly, I sometimes even got spanked. And I am very thankful for it. Kids today however, seem to think they run the place. They do whatever they want, and aren't reprimanded, so they feel like this is ok. And its not. Instead of cutting their child off at the start, they go down the path of looking the other way and shrugging it off. They comfort themselves by telling themselves that their children aren't as bad as other kids.

These aren't the people I want running my world down the line. These kids grow into men and women who don't feel like they should have any responsibility. They think that if they don't want to do something, they shouldn't have to. This just leads to laziness. And its plain to see that it has already had a major effect on our society.

It's not all the parents' fault however. It seems like even the topic of spanking is a sensitive one nowadays. Even ten years ago, most parents spanked their child. And rightfully so. There comes a time when telling a child to stand in the corner just isn't good enough anymore. I'm not saying you should go full tilt on your child, but an occasional spanking in a regulated manner is a respectable way to parent your child.

Parents like to think that if they just give their kids whatever they want, the child will love the parent that much more. But this is so untrue. Look at the kids who get new cars for their 16th birthday and forget five minutes later when their mom asks them to clean their room and they throw a temper tantrum like she just asked for them to donate their spleen to charity.

Spoiling your child does no good for anybody. Parents become disrespected a whole lot more, and the relationship between a parent and child is almost non-existant. Kids learn early on that everything in life will be given to them, they don't have to work for anything, and if they don't get what they want, they should pout until the decision is changed.

Child spoilage is a dangerous thing. More dangerous than salmonella ever could be.

Groundhog Day.. again?

A little more than six weeks ago, Punxsatawney Phil gave his long-awaited prediction on the matter of whether or not Spring was on it way.

"Six more weeks of winter!" he declared triumphantly.

Not a surprise. At that point, we had had a pretty rough go of it. Lots of snowstorms, frigid weather, slippery roads. Who wouldn't think it would continue? And continue it has. We are now mere millimetres from breaking the snow accumulation record for Ontario, and in what might be the worst news of the year, there is no end in sight.

I have been told to expect six more weeks of colder than normal temperatures. And not by a groundhog either.

This means that while we aren't expected to have below zero temperatures for much longer, we shouldn't expect warm weather until at least a week into May. Who knows what this will do to our trees, flowers and etc. Most families with pools open up on the May 2-4 weekend or soon after. Where am I going to swim?

And what will this do with the morale of the population. I know this winter more than any before has been bumming me out, quite frankly I don't feel like being bummed out for another six weeks.

Let's just hope whoever decided this to be true is wrong, and that warm weather is coming sooner rather than later. Otherwise, I'm off to California.

Departure.

I'm not ready. At all.

This is what I find myself saying more and more as the day approaches. The "day" I am pertaining to is Saturday, for this is the day that Ben and Alec, two of my most solid friends, leave for Fort McMurray for who knows how long.

I am not going to pretend that I am one hundred percent enthusiastic that they are going, but I am far past the point where I am going to wish they weren't going. I'm past being selfish. Despite what this entry may apply.

For me to say I'm not jealous would be lying. It will be the adventure of a lifetime.
For me to say I don't want to go would be lying. I just don't think I'm ready yet.

I don't have much more to say. I just hope they come back.