Opposing Points of View

Overwhelming Proof that I'm mellowing out as I get older:

Ryan's friends were over playing while I was out of town. Ryan says that one of the boys was trying to keep them all out of Kaitlyn's room, which is empty because Fran is still hand-painting flowers on the wall. In trying to keep them out, the boy piled a bunch of paint cans against the door, which the other boys knocked over, spilling a gallon of white paint on the carpet.

I walked in a week later to the hardened layer of paint across a square yard in the room. I laughed and thought to myself "You know, I bet we could replace the carpet in here with something that goes much better with the room."

Overwhelming Proof that I'm still a high-strung jerk sometimes:

It was time for Ryan to go to sleep, and he wasn't listening to my requests that he get into bed. Although I am a little worried that he's been sleep deprived because he stayed with some friends while we were out of town, I have been more irritated with his not listening to me, and he was just playing without acknowledging that I was talking to him.

So, instead of patiently explaining again to him that it was time to go to bed, I reached out, grabbed the cable, and unplugged his video game from the TV while he was playing it. He didn't really say anything, but I could tell it really hurt his feelings.

After I had put him in bed, I thought to myself: This isn't the kind of dad I want to be. That just seemed like such a violent and ugly way to treat my son, and I really regretted it.