leading like ginger

and dancing 'the backwards fred'

Social media can be cruel. It can prompt jealousy, longing and desire. I’m easy prey to its influence.

The hardest things for me to see were images of families engaging in activities I love - surfing, riding bikes, downhill skiing. I wanted to share what I knew with my kids. I wanted them to love what I love and want to do the kind of things I wanted.

And that is the mindset of the oh too common fool. As a result I’ve spent money on things - skiis, passes, bikes and wetsuits that are currently being listed on Zuckerburg’s marketplace as ‘lightly used’.

I wanted to do stuff with my kids, with my family. They didn’t want to do the things I enjoyed. That was disappointing. I could have wallowed in my disappointment. I could have just gone about engaging in my passions and merely let them do what they wanted on their own or with their mom.

Instead?

I decided to be Ginger Rogers. Ginger did everything Fred did, only backwards. These days, instead of offering activities and imposing plans, the …