The Ben Affleck Meme: AKA Life Right Now

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

I'm tired of "this" too, but for different reasons. I'll turn 50 in the spring, and the past 5 years have been the absolutely bonkerest-busy years at work. Trouble getting enough bodies for the work. Diverse projects that eat up tons of time more than expected. Procedures and standards falling to the way-side just in efforts to keep the "fires" down to a minimum. Zero emphasis on training, development or succession planning.

Then add COVID into the mix for the past 18 months and suddenly you're also trying to facilitate / gear-up 200 people trying to work from home with mixed success. All while doing all the other stuff.

The golden lining is I should be able to retire @ 55.

Will I have a stroke or aneurism first? We should start a pool...

I hadn't yet read your last line when I thought to myself, "sounds headed for a heart attack three months after retirement". Sorry.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

I hadn't yet read your last line when I thought to myself, "sounds headed for a heart attack three months after retirement". Sorry.

I try not to complain too much because I know many are struggling MUCH MORE with depression, anti-vax/vax family issues, loss of jobs, health problems of their own, children/schooling stuff... and I don't really have any of those. I don't have any kids. I love my wife (and dog). I make good money. I have a pension lined up. My health is pretty good, all things considered. I just need the tilt-a-whirl to stop soon.

[esquire]

I feel the need to chime in here and point out that having kids is not a bad thing. I have a son and a daughter and in many ways they have provided a lot of joy, happiness and companionship through the last year and a half. The time we've spent together has been one of the major silver linings to the pandemic. Obviously the periods where the kids were remote learning (about 3 months in 2020 and 2 months this year in Manitoba) were a challenge, but in general it's been good.

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by esquire

I feel the need to chime in here and point out that having kids is not a bad thing. I have a son and a daughter and in many ways they have provided a lot of joy, happiness and companionship through the last year and a half. The time we've spent together has been one of the major silver linings to the pandemic. Obviously the periods where the kids were remote learning (about 3 months in 2020 and 2 months this year in Manitoba) were a challenge, but in general it's been good.

Sorry, didn't mean to imply that (and I can see how I might have). I've always been a fan of "keep it simple" (especially mentally) and not having kids (never really had a desire to have them in the first place) is allows me more mental "space". I just meant that having kids in this specific situation (COVID/lockdowns/etc) must be stressful. Net stressful? I wouldn't know, I admit.

[esquire]

^ No question it would be simpler without kids, for sure. But sometimes I get the impression that people here think having kids during the pandemic is a nonstop drag when that couldn't be farther from the truth... at least for me.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by esquire

I feel the need to chime in here and point out that having kids is not a bad thing. I have a son and a daughter and in many ways they have provided a lot of joy, happiness and companionship through the last year and a half. The time we've spent together has been one of the major silver linings to the pandemic. Obviously the periods where the kids were remote learning (about 3 months in 2020 and 2 months this year in Manitoba) were a challenge, but in general it's been good.

How old are your kids? The silver lining of the lockdown was (particularly for working dads) being able to stay home and see your kids way more than you normally would. It's been an adjustment going from seeing my son the entire day to only a few hours per day. My fondest memories from the pandemic lockdowns were walks with my wife and my son in the baby bjorn carrier like Zach Galafianakis from the Hangover. Now he's a toddler so walks are much different.



This picture would be fairly accurate to my pandemic look as well except I lost weight instead of putting it on.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ No question it would be simpler without kids, for sure. But sometimes I get the impression that people here think having kids during the pandemic is a nonstop drag when that couldn't be farther from the truth... at least for me.

Oh I don’t think that. The pandemic is irrelevant to my disinterest in having kids But obviously most people love them.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

How old are your kids? The silver lining of the lockdown was (particularly for working dads) being able to stay home and see your kids way more than you normally would. It's been an adjustment going from seeing my son the entire day to only a few hours per day. My fondest memories from the pandemic lockdowns were walks with my wife and my son in the baby bjorn carrier like Zach Galafianakis from the Hangover.

8 and 5. My son is the older one, and I have to admit we share certain common interests... we spent a ton of time out on the rink last winter, on the golf course, going for bike rides, going to soccer games once the CPL started up, taking him to his baseball games and hockey camps, playing video games, now we're going to hockey games with the WHL preseason under way and the AHL/NHL soon to follow, he never gets enough of those... basically reliving my childhood

I do include my daughter in as many of those things as possible, but being younger, her world is a bit smaller and she is more content to stay at home and play, which we do.

It has been great to have that time with the kids, and I am floored by how well they continue to get along considering they have been pretty well joined at the hip for much of the last 18 months. They don't always play together but when they do it's kind and positive. I have been chanting "be gentle...be gentle... be gentle" to them like it's my mantra.

It was admittedly harder to keep them stimulated during the lockdowns but it's much easier now that things have opened up in Manitoba and they're back in school. They come home tired and happy. I think having kids as young as yours and mine might be a bit of a blessing, because their lives are mainly at home... I'm sure this must be more challenging for middle school and up kids where they have been deprived of social lives to varying degrees.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Vorkuta

Sorry, didn't mean to imply that (and I can see how I might have). I've always been a fan of "keep it simple" (especially mentally) and not having kids (never really had a desire to have them in the first place) is allows me more mental "space". I just meant that having kids in this specific situation (COVID/lockdowns/etc) must be stressful. Net stressful? I wouldn't know, I admit.

More of my son's life has now been spent in pandemic times than not. We had 9 mths of normalcy. You definitely have more mental 'space', as you put it, when not parenting. Pandemic parenting is more stressful than parenting in normal times.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by esquire

8 and 5. My son is the older one, and I have to admit we share certain common interests... we spent a ton of time out on the rink last winter, on the golf course, going for bike rides, going to soccer games once the CPL started up, taking him to his baseball games and hockey camps, playing video games, now we're going to hockey games with the WHL preseason under way and the AHL/NHL soon to follow, he never gets enough of those... basically reliving my childhood

I do include my daughter in as many of those things as possible, but being younger, her world is a bit smaller and she is more content to stay at home and play, which we do.

It has been great to have that time with the kids, and I am floored by how well they continue to get along considering they have been pretty well joined at the hip for much of the last 18 months. They don't always play together but when they do it's kind and positive. I have been chanting "be gentle...be gentle... be gentle" to them like it's my mantra.

It was admittedly harder to keep them stimulated during the lockdowns but it's much easier now that things have opened up in Manitoba and they're back in school. They come home tired and happy. I think having kids as young as yours and mine might be a bit of a blessing, because their lives are mainly at home... I'm sure this must be more challenging for middle school and up kids where they have been deprived of social lives to varying degrees.

I'm excited for the phase you're in. My son is only 2 yrs old so I have not had the fun experiences of playing sports or video games. He's still at a very dependent age and developmentally is in the process of potty training, teething and learning to speak. It's been a tough month.

Your kids are probably the ideal age for 'lockdown living' as they have just enough independence to occupy themselves or be able to play sports but are not quite old enough yet to have to deal with the disruption to social networks that teenagers or older kids would have.

On another note someone asked me the other day if I'd watched any of the 20th anniversary 9/11 specials on TV and I was barely aware of the date. My television is now controlled by the Wiggles so I barely see relevant worldly info.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

On another note someone asked me the other day if I'd watched any of the 20th anniversary 9/11 specials on TV and I was barely aware of the date. My television is now controlled by the Wiggles so I barely see relevant worldly info.

Haha... the Wiggles... I see your son is a young man of good taste, they are definitely top-shelf children's entertainment

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by esquire

Haha... the Wiggles... I see your son is a young man of good taste, they are definitely top-shelf children's entertainment

Funny enough their music isn't bad. The absolute bottom of the barrel is any of the user generated crap on YouTube kids. Obnoxious, terrible English (usually asian or eastern european content). The bane of my existence / only thing that will stop my son from having a meltdown at times is an awful group called D Billions.

Here's a taste:

• Video Link

[ScreamingViking]

^ I think we now know the cause of Affleck's expression.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Funny enough their music isn't bad. The absolute bottom of the barrel is any of the user generated crap on YouTube kids. Obnoxious, terrible English (usually asian or eastern european content). The bane of my existence / only thing that will stop my son from having a meltdown at times is an awful group called D Billions.

Never heard of those guys! They look like the Dollarama Wiggles

YouTube is pretty wild. When my son was little he used to love watching the little singalong animated videos ("the wheels on the bus" by HooplaKidz, that kind of stuff). But weirdly, as the autoplay goes along, it inevitably descends into some crazy hellscape of weird elsagate videos where Mickey Mouse is boiling Peppa Pig alive in a vat of water or something equally disturbing.

So needless to say we keep a tight lid on YouTube. My son likes to watch Nintendo gamers finishing his favourite games, Dude Perfect (which I had never heard of until last spring but is huge and admittedly pretty cool), and hockey/soccer highlights. And music videos too, I suppose.

Cartoons on streaming services like Netflix, Disney, CBC Gem and the like are the go-tos. You don't have to worry about crazy crap on those services.

But yeah, the Wiggles are pretty entertaining and their music is fun. Funny thing is those guys are A list celebrities in Australia, I was there around the time that Emma and Lachy split up IRL, it was literally front page news down there.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by esquire

Never heard of those guys! They look like the Dollarama Wiggles

YouTube is pretty wild. When my son was little he used to love watching the little singalong animated videos ("the wheels on the bus" by HooplaKidz, that kind of stuff). But weirdly, as the autoplay goes along, it inevitably descends into some crazy hellscape of weird elsagate videos where Mickey Mouse is boiling Peppa Pig alive in a vat of water or something equally disturbing.

So needless to say we keep a tight lid on YouTube. My son likes to watch Nintendo gamers finishing his favourite games, Dude Perfect (which I had never heard of until last spring but is huge and admittedly pretty cool), and hockey/soccer highlights. And music videos too, I suppose.

Cartoons on streaming services like Netflix, Disney, CBC Gem and the like are the go-tos. You don't have to worry about crazy crap on those services.

I have the kids app which seems pretty good at filtering that kind of content but I still try to limit his viewing to when he's nearby but I need to get something done. Speaking of CBC have you seen Big Block Singsong? One of my favourites. Has catchy music, is clever and teaches kids important lessons. Sesame Street is another classic that he likes.

But yeah, the Wiggles are pretty entertaining and their music is fun. Funny thing is those guys are A list celebrities in Australia, I was there around the time that Emma and Lachy split up IRL, it was literally front page news down there.

Yeah they're like the highest grossing musical act in Australia or something. Haha I just found out that they had been married recently. I'm reaching a weird age where some of the female children's entertainers seem mildly attractive lol.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

I have the kids app which seems pretty good at filtering that kind of content but I still try to limit his viewing to when he's nearby but I need to get something done. Speaking of CBC have you seen Big Block Singsong? One of my favourites. Has catchy music, is clever and teaches kids important lessons. Sesame Street is another classic that he likes.

Haven't heard of that one... I am always pushing CBC Gem and CBC Kids (AM cartoon block) on my kids but they resist my can-con overtures ... they watch some stuff there but their favourite shows are mostly on Netflix.

Yeah they're like the highest grossing musical act in Australia or something. Haha I just found out that they had been married recently. I'm reaching a weird age where some of the female children's entertainers seem mildly attractive lol.

If we have to sit through all that kids programming, the least they can do is throw us dads a bone

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

^ I think we now know the cause of Affleck's expression.

Yes listening to D Billions on a loop could be used by the CIA to get terrorist confessions.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by esquire

Haven't heard of that one... I am always pushing CBC Gem and CBC Kids (AM cartoon block) on my kids but they resist my can-con overtures ... they watch some stuff there but their favourite shows are mostly on Netflix.



If we have to sit through all that kids programming, the least they can do is throw us dads a bone

Lol yes indeed. Here is an example of Big Block Singsong. They’re cbc shorts.

• Video Link

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Yeah they're like the highest grossing musical act in Australia or something. Haha I just found out that they had been married recently. I'm reaching a weird age where some of the female children's entertainers seem mildly attractive lol.

I'd be shocked if they were higher than AC/DC, but they are extremely successful.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by jonny24

I'd be shocked if they were higher than AC/DC, but they are extremely successful.

Bigger than Air Supply Who would have thought it.

I'm showing my age. Air Supply music always accompanied good quality 'relationship' time when I was a teenager.