Finn

 I don't do much writing anymore. Once writing was a joy, before Minnesota Public Radio basically beat it out of me thanks to writing 17,000 blog posts there over the years. That's work. Writing shouldn't be work.

Even so, it was a surprise to note today that I haven't written since 2020, a year after I retired. So there's nothing in this journal about Finn, my second-born grandson, born July 23, 2022. More accurately: Finley Robert Collins, his parents honoring me and an uncle.

Like Dex before him, Finley got an autographed baseball to mark the occasion.

With any luck, the ball will survive enough for Finn to appreciate his grandfather's gift. Not so much for Dex, whose ball disappeared into the clutches of the amazing Reggie the Wonder Dog. No matter, Dex is none the wiser at his age.

Anyway, I dig the grandfather scene. We're fortunate to be nearby both kids, having decided a long time ago we weren't about to flee to the disgusting South, leaving our family behind, so we can survive a Minnesota winter. Frankly, I wonder what snowbirds are thinking.  But maybe they just don't love their kids and grandkids as much as we do.

This is a great age for kids. They're cute. They still love you, and they're not shy about telling you.

That, of course, will all change in the teenage years.

The other night I read a tweet from an online acquaintance who was divorced a year or so ago, but still maintains a good relationship with the father of their son. Still, she's hurt that at the moment, he prefers Dad over her.

This, of course, is not unusual. The teenage years are a time when kids realize they're going to be leaving someday and they have a way of starting the process a little too early. We've all done it. You can argue that Mom bearing the brunt of that process is actually a sign that the son is closer to Mom than Dad, which, by the way, is the first thing any new father should accept.

Parenthood can be non-stop heartbreak at times.

Your time with your kids is a bank account. The "cute years" are deposits that you withdraw to get through the teenage years.

But, eventually, they "come back" as pretty neat and interesting adults. And sometimes they give you pretty neat grandchildren.