-=> Quoting Daryl Stout to Nancy Backus on 29 Dec 13  01:00:04 <=-

 NB@> activity... but I'm still here...  not a single father (obviously) nor
 NB@> even a single mom... married with one grown son, no grandkids yet...

 DS> Chicken pox at 20 ruined fathering kids for me. It put me in the
 DS> hospital for a week, and out of work at a local restaurant, and out of
 DS> class at the local college for 2 months, by order of the health
 DS> department. 

You obviously had a particularly bad case of it.  I thought it was mumps
that was the fathering-killer disease... since it affects glands.  Daddy
had that when I was in kindergarten, some college student at Wabash
College (where he was teaching) gave it to him, and he brought it home. 
After me the rest of the kids at the time got it... but Daddy went on to
father 4 more kids, so he didn't have the bad effects, after all.  He'd
had the chicken pox as a kid, when his brother brought it home from a
playmate...  

 DS> With some people, their pets are their kids...and discipline is
 DS> important with both.

Particularly the loving training part of that...  :)  And the
consistency... 

 NB@> Even kids raised in "normal", two-parent, secure homes can end up
 NB@> broken... sometimes it has less to do with the raising, and more to do
 NB@> with the person him/herself...  But a child being lovingly raised even
 NB@> by just one parent can grow up to be a really well put-together person.

 DS> The peer pressure nowadays is horrendous...and I thought it was bad
 DS> when I was growing up!!

Always has been, always will be... but one can learn how to not let peer
pressure push one into doing things one shouldn't be doing, and possibly
provide peer support for others wanting to do the right thing as well...

 DS> Whether a single Dad or a single Mom, it still is a big
 DS> responsibility. Even married, it's still a responsibility. 

Quite true.

 DS> Sadly, nowadays, most kids think a relationship and committment is
 DS> measured in seconds, not decades. I've heard of cases where they got
 DS> married Friday night, and were in divorce court on Monday. :(
 
Dunno about "most kids", but there is a disturbing trend to not
understand the concept of commitment... or to give up on it even after
years of marriage..  I've known too many friends and family members that
have gone that way...

 DS> The Grinch stole my Christmas...basically, when my dentures broke.

That's a bummer...  :(

 DS> And, with the place I get them prepared being closed until after the
 DS> new year...not to mention having to then set up an appointment to go
 DS> in, it may be 2 weeks before I can "fully graze" again. 

Sigh...  Hope they can fix things efficiently for you...  

My New Year's got a bit disgruntled, with my getting sick Sunday night,
and only now starting to be almost back to normal...  Ended missing out
on my extended family's Christmas get-together on Monday, too...

ttyl          neb

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