Good Bones United isn’t exclusively for parents.
Yes, we’re both parents and it informs a lot of how we think. How could it not?
It’s only 9 am and I’ve already:
“made” breakfast (see: toasted a waffle for Lucia and gave in to the boys wanting frozen Uncrustables for breakfast while reminding them this “won’t happen next week” even though who can make promises like that so far in advance)
packed Lucia’s lunch in Steph’s Bentgo Box because despite running the dishwasher every night for the past four score and seven years, neither of Lucia’s was clean,
got all three kids out the door fully clothed (including shoes!), and with only a single harsh reminder to Phoenix that it was time to put his shoes on and stop crashing the cars I CAN’T THINK STRAIGHT,
answered the same question from Wilder 17 times (“Can you turn it up?” will make my eye twitch forevermore,)
and realized I had a single sausage link for breakfast. I’m hungry.
There’s plenty to say about parenting but that’s not all I have to say. I'm more than a parent. I don’t only and always want to talk about my kids. Yes, they’re unpredictable and provide plenty to talk about. But if Steph and I only talked about them, we wouldn’t have a great bond. If I only talked about my kids to my friends, they would get bored and slowly stop texting me.
And if you’re a parent, I bet the same can be said for you. Your kids are great! But so are you! (Cheesier than I wanted it to be but I’m standing by it.)
If you’re not a parent, I bet you have more to say than whether or not you want to have kids and why.
It’s not a direct comparison–don’t @ me, please–but a few of our single friends have pets and I love hearing about them and seeing them on social media. But do I only want to talk about their dog when we hang out? No, though it can be nice to commiserate with a friend about getting stains out of the carpet. I assume the reverse is true and that they don’t only wanna hear about the three small chatterboxes living with Steph and me.
I’m Eli.
Dad.
Son.
Cook.
Uncle.
Writer.
Friend.
Singer.
Brother.
Reader.
Doubter.
Husband.
Ambivert.
Christian.
Neighbor.
GIF lover.
Freelancer.
Job seeker.
Playlist curator.
Amateur gardener.
Lover of “Survivor.”
Small business owner.
We all write and talk about what we know so if you’re watching “Bluey” (just one more!) and handing out fruit snacks like they’re vitamins and wondering why you ever wear nice clothes if the kids are awake because there’s drool and, oh, now there’s a mystery stain and you have to change again, you’ll find plenty to relate to around here.
But you’ll find plenty to relate to around here if you relate to any of the following scenarios:
You think AI is pretty cool but you’re worried it (they?) will take over the world but you also don’t know what that would even look like–”I, Robot” or “Smart House” or BOTH?!–so it’s probably all fine, everything is fine
You get stressed when you have too many plans but a little sad when you don’t have enough plans and you can’t find the Goldilocks amount of plans
You have (un)beliefs about the world, God, the universe, and humans but you also doubt and you doubt your doubts, and your (un)beliefs keep evolving which is annoying some days but you also like the mystery
You want a nice yard but that takes time and/or money, and watering it feels wasteful because lawns aren’t even natural and the dandelions just aren't *it* but they go away and at least the clover is green even if they attract bees
You try out new recipes and after buying all the ingredients, you missed a vital one (probably because of those damn recipe website ads) and the meal won’t work now so you make butter pasta instead and call it a day
You like discussing books, TV shows, and movies, and maybe you see deeper meaning in them than you need to or maybe you liked the book and that’s all you have to say about it and why is Eli tearing up talking about a book…??
There will be parenting content here to be sure.
But there are too many Good Bones in the rest of life to only and always focus on parenting.
Commentaires