And They Were 3

The title says that! I'm back!  Back from what?  Well, back to writing that's a first. To going back to sleep at decent hours and waking up at 4 in the morning! Trying to be productive and jump-start the day! That's what the pundits say that we should do to be successful  To try and make some sense out of what's going on. Not knowing what the future holds.  To starting doing exercise and feel better about myself in a while.  My last post was on March 25th and ever since I've become more numb to the current situation. Going through different emotional stages, from anger to tiredness, frustration, to little moments of happiness and joy.  People have been struggling out there, there are people losing their jobs, starving and I'm complaining that I'm going through different stages of grief. Well, suck it up! Because I'm actually pretty fortunate. There is food on my table every day. I have a beautiful daughter that lights me up every day. I can go out now an...

It's been 11 days of lockdown here in Madrid. Although the government did not officially announce it on March 14. We have been confined at home, only to go out for basics, like groceries, for work, to take your pets out. We cannot go out for walks, do exercise, and everything else that does not apply to the established State of Emergency protocols. Things one has always taken for granted have been stripped away by the government due to the circumstances, but it makes you think, doesn't it? All the countries one knows have authoritarian regimes or dictatorships live under these circumstances every day of their single lives. Stripped away from their freedoms and freedom of speech and free-thinking, we take things for granted in free countries. The current situation has imposed a social distancing that some experts have expressed concerns in the past, referring to the adverse effects of social networks and it's addiction to modern society. Now everybody is confined, ...

I was talking the other day with one of my old-time friends. We came together to Spain for work. He was recalling the time he started at the company he is still working for after 22 years!! Wow. Congratulations!! He was telling his students that when we started back in 1998, we were still handling stuff pretty manually. The fax was still a thing to send copies of documents and proof of payment. We were collecting payments over the phone with credit card data flying around. We would send documentation to clients via paper mail. Everything was still paper. We were a small team, we were all in our 20s, and we were happy. We were very good at what we did, and we had fun while doing it. So rare these days. Every time I hear people talking about work, they just complain and complain. I cherish the moments we laughed so hard only by looking at each other's faces. We were in the middle of the transition to electronic. The online business model was bubbling, and our role as salespe...

The fear of dying has never been so much in my thoughts as it is now. The fear that something may happen, some kind of disease that will put you down. When you have kids, something changes inside of you. Your protective instincts increase by 10 fold, and it is exhausting, living in fear that something may happen to your kids. Since I've been dropping Olivia at kindergarten the guilt of leaving your kid, so little, so defenseless, crying, and clinching to my arms every time I had to leave her before going to work, it was the worst feeling! Ever! The teachers would tell me that after a while, she was already fine and happy playing with the other kids. With that idea, I left every morning feeling less guilty, less worried that some strangers would take care of your child for the next seven or 8 hours, but that tiny little tear on the corner of your eye is there. And as you move along the halls, you try to put on a straight face, but it doesn't matter, because everyone knows. And...

Traveling to my hometown is somewhat traveling back in time.  I like to go for breakfast at a place right across the street from my parent's house.  They make the most buttery toasts you'll ever have.  The other thing is that I'll end up meeting someone from the past.  Either a friend, a neighbor, every single face is a page of the history of my past life.  The conversations are usually concise. Most people don't recognize me.  I sometimes have to remind them of who I am. It's normal, I've been away for 20 years and visit my hometown a few times a year. A lot of things have changed, the people have changed, they're older!  Some have passed away.  It's melancholic to come back. It also creates some temptation of coming back due to the familiarity, the sense of routine.  I was going through many old photos of me in my fourteens up until my nineteens when I realized that I had that part of my life completely blocked from my memories. There were...

Hello again! Where did I leave you last time you were here? Last time we spoke, I was telling you about some rough shit. I was going down a rabbit hole that literally took me almost a decade to recover. When I came to Spain for work, I really was just running away from all the bad things that were happening in my life. I was starting to accumulate some debt, had to get a second job because I couldn't pay my bills anymore on one salary. My girlfriend at the time had lost her job, and we were running on fumes. At about the same time, my parents were going through a rough patch and eventually got separated. My mother was a stay home mom and she took care of me and my sister while my father was the one bringing any income to the house. When he left, everything started to crumble. My mother was totally lost, my sister and I didn't want to get involved. We never talked much about those times.  They met at a very young age, got married, and had me when they were in their 20s. My ...

The way we raise our children nowadays is very different from the way our parents raised us, and even more how they were raised.   Things that were socially accepted then, are no longer acceptable now.  There is no one right way to parent a child. Different parents have different beliefs, values, and goals for their children. Some parents are more strict and authoritarian, while others are more lenient and permissive. Some parents are more involved and supportive, while others are more distant and detached. Some parents are more traditional and conservative, while others are more progressive and liberal. Each parenting style has its pros and cons, depending on the context and the personality of the child. However, research has shown that some parenting practices are more beneficial than others for the child’s well-being and development. For instance, studies have found that providing emotional warmth, setting clear boundaries, encouraging autonomy, fostering curiosity, and...