Off topic: THE NATURE OF DISAPPOINTMENT

My daughter had a play date today. She’s been looking forward to it for weeks. Late last night it got cancelled, because the familiy had another kid sick.

The play date was the first thing my daughter asked about this morning. I had to tell her it was no longer happening. She was devastated, just as I knew she would be.

One of the worst things of being a parent are all the disappointments, humiliations and broken dreams we have to watch our kids endure. Every scraped knee hurts, every cancelled play date. I feel it.

Looking forward to things is a childhood habit I’ve somehow been cured of. Perhaps I’ve been burned too many times. Who knows. But I try not to have to high expectations in life, to avoid constantly being let down.

When my first comic was released in Denmark in 1999, my editor was probably protecting me from the same disappointment, when he refused to get excited about my ideas for PR hype and press regarding the release. “It’s not going to work” he said. “Forget about it”.

In my opinion, my editor was a grumpy, jaded old man, who was setting himself up for failure. You have to at least TRY for greater things. Knowing full well, it may never happen.

It’s a delicate balance. Expecting the worst without being paralyzed by fear. Staying positive, when everything around you spells disaster.

We try. We try for our kids, to show them a good example. Maybe we fail miserably. Time will tell.

The worst things about parenthood are also the best. We have to at least try. And while I may feel my daughter’s pain, it’s impossible to stay in it for too long. I have another kid that needs breakfast and attention. There’s always a runny nose or a glass of spilled milk in my house.

Life doesn’t always meet our expectations. We try. We fail. We get hurt. We get up and go back to work.