Gonna be a miserable day for the kids around these parts to go out trick-or-treating later on- cold, windy…they say there might even be some snow flurries. It’s too early for that. Or is it?

Gonna be a rather sad day for us as parents. Seems at times like we are losing control of our kids and I suppose that is somewhat normal with teenagers but it was never supposed to happen with ours. Last night was one of the worst nights we have had yet and it seems like it is a never-ending struggle.

Mixed in with all if this is yet another super-wonderful youth sports experience for our boys. There are a lot of thoughts and feelings on this but I need not bring those to light here. Not just yet. For the most part they are hanging tough and trying to do the right things in the right way so that just has to, yet again, run its course. On all of that I am proud of them for sure.

Oh, to be sure, there are some good things happening but we always seem to gravitate toward the negative don’t we? I guess that’s pretty much human.

So today is the last day in October and almost all that I had planned to get accomplished this month remains uncompleted. Well, that’s not completely true but pretty close. I am not being lazy; maybe just inefficient. Maybe just too much on my plate or just a lack of focus.

I have always loved Halloween although it marks the end of my favorite month and pretty much signals the coming of winter. I have some stuff to get finished outside before it gets too cold but I am running out of time.

Time is also running on (maybe not out?) for our family. It runs on and I try to catch up to it but am failing, I am falling. I feel that my kids are moving away from us too quickly. Such movement is normal, of course, but it just seems that it is happening too damn fast and our reaction to things and decisions are made too hastily and, too often no doubt, incorrectly.

Sometimes I wish that we had had more kids. Seems to me that there is a benefit in going through the whole process a few times so that you can finally get it down, get it together. Trial and error…and error…and error. And then more trials and many more errors.

Maybe I worry too much but I don’t know. This stuff all seems to follow a pattern and that pattern has been established for some time now and no matter what we do it seems to persist and grow stronger. Maybe there is still a solution. It might not be a complete solution but could still be a best solution.

For now, for today, for this Halloween and beyond I just need to stay calm and focus on just the most important things.

This may sound selfish but here is an idea. For a long time I have stayed mainly focused on others and maybe it is better to shift some of that attention back to myself. That way I will have a better chance to get more of what I need to get done, done; that way I will manage to leave other things that can be left alone, alone. That may indeed be the best, or at least a better, approach might you not agree?

Had to take a break to take the dogs out this early morning. It’s Halloween. It’s snowing.

Yes, snowing. It is cold and snowing.

The family is up and in the kitchen. In there it is not snowing.

But it sure seems to be pretty damn cold.