Practical Love

Crying. Babies do a lot of crying. I remember my first experience with a crying baby. I had never watched a baby before, but my sister-in-law came to visit to help Cory buy a wedding dress. They left me with the baby. I was 22 years old and never held a baby before. I tried not to let on that I was terrified. She gave me some very simple advice that made it all sound so easy. If the baby cries, he only wants one of three things: food, potty or love. For food, here is a bottle. For potty, check his diaper. For love, hold, rock, talk sweet or if you just fed him, burp him. "I got this!" He cried for three hours straight as my head slowly split in two. I tried all three things in methodically monotony, one to the next, to the next, to the next, for three hours to no avail. I don't think I was adequately equipped for this ... as a man. Crying is not something we are taught to deal with. That is something to sweep under the rug. When you are young and a male, you cry and...

We just had Valentines Day. Woohoo! BTW Is there an apostrophe in Valentine's Day? Valentines' Day? Anyway, I have never been a fan of the day. I am of the "Hallmark Holiday" camp. Trumped up holiday to sell cards and flowers. But you can't write a blog about love and poo-poo the only internationally recognized day for demonstrative affection. You see the commercials; you hear the radio spots; there's a lot of pressure to be romantic. So what do you do. Send roses? A card? Give out Nerds, candy hearts? Chocolate?! I know, get your wife/girlfriend/mistress some lingerie! Thanks Victoria but the secret is already out. That is the gift you give yourself. So what is a lover to do about romance on a day like this? I read somewhere (probably a trashy men's magazine) that the way to a girl's heart is not all those things. Women like a little note that shows them that you were thinking of them. HUH? Yeah, that's right. You see we are talking about a wom...