Kouryou-chan was never like that.

[elfs]

Today was okay. We took the ill-fitting bicycle back to Toys'R'Us and got one that actually fits Kouryou-chan, and then I took Yamaraashi-chan out for some father-daughter time, going to the shopping mall and window shopping. I watched her closely to see what she focussed on, so that I would know what to get her for Yule. The answer is apparently "not much." Darn tweens and their lack of committal. At least I got her to actually practice on her flute today. She's been lax about that.

Omaha and I may be completely furious with the Quake 4 people; after upgrading to the latest revision, I cannot host games on my Linux box anymore. The movement algorithm breaks when negotiating between a Linux and a Mac, and the Mac client can't move. How annoying!

Burned out after a long weekend of building and letdown, we decided to head out to the Olive Garden for dinner. The experience was less than stellar. The family in the booth to our left had a baby and the kid screamed throughout our meal. I can understand why the childfree people get annoyed at such things. Omaha and I were pretty conscientious as the parents of infants; Kouryou-chan was rarely fussy; when she was, shoving a teat in her mouth usually worked; on the rare ocassions when it didn't, we took her outside. These people were just insistent that they were paying for their meal and all of the other patrons would just have to put up with them doing their societal duty of creating the next generation of taxpayers. Our waitress was only so-so, not nearly as experienced as some we've had in the past.

I did no writing this weekend; at first, I was dedicated to getting Kouryou-chan's party together, and since that I've just been... bleah. Like the kid.

Comments

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

On one particularly noxious occasion I made a point of thanking the parents for ensuring my continued employment, to applause from nearby tables.

Other times, I just think this very loudly.

[hydrolagus.livejournal.com]

I don't get annoyed by parents doing their best to intelligently address the needs or behavior of an unhappy kid. Parents who don't appear to care or have any clue get my hackles up. I'm childfree because I *know* I'd be a crappy parent, so if they have less parenting skills than I do, they're really blowing it.