Posts Tagged ‘confession’

Cool Baby’s welfare: Feeling convicted by vacation photos

April 20, 2009 |  by cool dad  |  parenting  |  5 Comments

Some pictures from the Cool Fam Vacation Photo Album showed me that we could probably do a better job of keeping our son safe and warm.

continued...

Cool Dad confession booth

March 16, 2009 |  by cool dad  |  reality check  |  4 Comments

Reality shows love the confession booth, where their contestants sit in front of a camera annoyed, teary-eyed, angry, talking about how the situation or their fellow contestants are making their lives miserable.

This is my confession booth.

I tend to exaggerate, but since I’ve been up since 4:00 AM trapped in a studio apartment with a screaming toddler, I feel like I’ve earned the right. So do our neighbors.

1.5 jobs. $1500/mo rent on top of a house in FL that won’t sell. A whole lot extra for insurance every month.

If this were a Cool Home Showdown post, I would give NYC a -1000 right now. Call it complaining, call this whole ‘chasing a dream’ thing stupid, call it having no idea where our lives are headed.

I just know that there are things about City That Never Sleeps that are starting to get old.

If you knew us, you wouldn’t like us

March 2, 2009 |  by cool dad  |  reality check  |  6 Comments
  • We only eat at cheap restaurants or ones that we have coupons for.
  • We talk about our flaws too much.
  • We ask a lot of questions.
  • We don’t get haircuts as often as we should.
  • Our clothes are not very fashionable and are a little run-down.
  • We like to talk about the places we’ve been.
  • We don’t like the beach.
  • We use PCs.
  • We prefer game nights over movie nights.
  • We have cheapo cable and a TV that we found on the sidewalk.
  • We three are crammed into a little studio apartment.
  • We’re a little paranoid.
  • We don’t drink coffee.
  • We almost never watch movies, even though we’d like to.
  • Our furniture is either second-hand or really cheap.
  • I like nerdy sci-fi that you probably don’t.
  • We actually eat the food at parties instead of playing it cool.
  • We don’t play hard-to-get.
  • I don’t have a career.
  • We write vague, self-centered posts.

I’ll explain.

Cool Dad confession: Being judgmental stinks

December 21, 2008 |  by cool dad  |  the Life  |  2 Comments

The elevators to get to our top-floor office take FOREVER. So, it annoys the heck out of me when someone hits the ‘3′ button. I’m thinking, “What?! You can’t walk up two flights of stairs?!”

It was me, 2 guys chatting, and a fourth guy who just got on the elevator. Mr. Fourth hits the 3rd floor button. Ugh. We make our two-floor ascent, which I imagine my grandmother could complete faster in the stairwell.

Mr. Climacophobia* exits, and the two chatting guys start talking about it. They talk about how often people use the elevator for the third floor. Wow, I didn’t realize so many lazy people worked in our building. I’m about to chime in with some zinger remark, sure to get laughs from this audience of two (and God, I’m sure, too).

Then they mention that it’s unfortunate that the stairway is locked between the 2nd and 3rd floors, making the 3rd floor impossible to reach by stairs unless you have a key. OK, I’m a judgmental jerk. [-10 cool points] Praise God that I didn’t open my mouth. I’d rather learn my lesson in humility without looking like a complete idiot.

I’m quick to judge others, and it stinks. I won’t go into it, because you know what it’s like, whether you’re a judger or judgee. I want to be better – the lesson in the elevator was a start, writing this post is another step.

Care to share your snap judgment story with us?

* Actually mentioned in a Charlie Brown Christmas, watched this very night

Trying WAY too hard to be cool, but finding out you’re a prideful dork

October 23, 2008 |  by cool mum  |  the Life  |  4 Comments

I think I’m a darn cool mum these days. Peek into my head for a moment.

I live in the greatest city in the world. I walk down the street and see my neighbors Bono and Michael J. Fox. I stroll a happy baby around and laugh at the thought of all the people (actually, probably just lots of movie scripts) that said, “You can’t raise a baby in New York City!”

I’m surrounded by well-educated people, world-famous museums, and streets that have rich cultural significance. I left the city for a week to visit my family and all I thought about was, “Well, in NYC, we have…” and I tried really hard not to speak these comparisons where NYC is always “superior” because I became annoying even to myself.

Then I realized the hard truth. (If anyone is still reading this self-aggrandizing post.) I am becoming a prideful dork-slash-jerk. Here I am being protected, cared for, and blessed by my God and I respond by getting full of self-coolness. This, my friends, is why I think I haven’t posted in a while. The latest post ideas haven’t come to life because it would be a challenge to hide the yucky reality of Cool Mum. [-20 cool points]

A few years ago I was hit hard by the pride chapter in CS Lewis’ Mere Christianity. He talks about how pride is a root of so many sins. And it’s just not something that people naturally have mercy on when they sense it in other people, Lewis says. Think about how rare it would be to encounter someone who seems to be completely full of himself and say, “Poor guy, he is really struggling with pride right now.” Pride is just that gross.

In my analysis of pride of few years ago, I remember thinking that Jesus Christ is the only answer. Without Jesus, there is no logical reason to not be prideful. For instance, if I thought I could work my way to God or to being a good person, then there would be no reason for humility. But, because I know that Christ’s death is the only way I can be saved, then pride is seen for what it truly is, and it makes sense that prideful attitudes would be universally bothersome.

Are you struggling with pride right now?

As you pursue the crazy things that you feel God wants you to do, do you ever find it sneaking into your heart? Or in the past, how have you dealt with it?