Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

If you are in line to indict donald trump, stay in line.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

I really should read my own blog.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Republicans can’t even be trusted with their own money.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Everyone is in a bubble, but some bubbles model reality far better than others!

Optimism opens the door to great things.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

You cannot shame the shameless.

In short, I come down firmly on all sides of the issue.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Mid Afternoon Moment of Zen

Mid Afternoon Moment of Zen

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The godson, sporting his spiderman outfit:

Ryan and Sarah, the parents, are posting pictures almost every day on that facebook thingee, and I swear I have never seen one picture in which the kid was not smiling from ear to ear. I’ve never paid much attention to babies before, but young Cole strikes me as one of the happiest babies I’ve ever seen.

Reader Interactions

46Comments

  1. 1.

    flukebucket

    Just wait until you have god-grandchildren. They make life worth living for sure.

  2. 2.

    Corner Stone

    schrodinger’s cat

    Ask and you shall receive. Cole was recently posting about his cramps, now his babies.

  5. 5.

    slag

    Happy, carefree, totally oblivious the inequities and casual cruelties all around him. Imagines himself to be some kind of superhero. Young Cole reminds me of a young David Broder.

  6. 6.

    cmorenc

    Your small kids are all your cute little buttons to raise as you see fit…UNTIL the key threshold event happens when they start school and they begin spending a substantial part of most days being heavily influenced by the behavioral quirks, pathologies, and habits of numerous other people’s urchin spawn. They start bringing home behaviors and demeanors which are clearly “other” than those recognizably the product of your intentional designs for upbringing your own young’uns. Yes, you still retain a great deal of control and influence over how your own kids are raised, their attitudes, etc. Nevertheless, THAT’S the day looking back that’s the starting point from which your control and influence over how your kids turn out clearly began to slowly, inexorably slip away from you, progressively continuing over the next dozen years, culminating with high school graduation and going away to college or whatever.

    THAT is the biggest reason why some parents send their kids to “Christian Academies” instead of public schools; to safely contain their kids’ ideal upbringing from contamination from too much exposure to undesirable “others”.

  8. 8.

    Dave

    So how long before you start teaching him to be a curmudgeonly old bastard? In my opinion, you can never start too soon.

  9. 9.

    eemom

    I’ve never paid much attention to babies before

    Well it’s time you did, Cole. Find a nice girl, settle down, make a few cole-lets.

    I mean, it’s not like posting about shaving soap in the middle of the night evidences an entirely meaningless existence, but still. Room for improvement ‘n all that.

  11. 11.

    Linda Featheringill

    You know you don’t “have” your kids. You have only borrowed them. And they will probably wind up somewhere you had not intended.

  12. 12.

    Epicurus

    Reminds me of my youngest nephew; born with a smile, and will go out the same way. It brightens even the crusted cockles of my heart. Congratulations, Mr. Cole, you’re going to be one heckuva uncle.

  13. 13.

    Stuck in the Funhouse

    I’ve never paid much attention to babies before, but young Cole strikes me as one of the happiest babies I’ve ever seen.

    If you were still a wingnut, your first thought might be how much free stuff this kid was getting. Karma works in strange ways, and now you can write the word “zen” in mixed company and not have to look over your shoulder.

  16. 16.

    Yutsano

    Nam myoho renge kyo…

    Okay that brightened things up a bit. My sushi lunch coming up will do so as well.

  17. 17.

    slag

    Well it’s time you did, Cole. Find a nice girl, settle down, make a few cole-lets.
    I mean, it’s not like posting about shaving soap in the middle of the night evidences an entirely meaningless existence, but still. Room for improvement ‘n all that.

    Ack! What is this? A Cathy cartoon?

    Don’t listen to it, Cole. Spawning children to imbue your life with meaning is a ticket to a lifetime of therapy for them and an endless exercise in frustration for you.

    This has been a public service announcement for all would-be parents who think that, “What the heck? I’ve got nothing better going on,” is a good reason to have kids.

  18. 18.

    mai naem

    What a cuuute kid. He sure looks like he’s well loved and cared for(okay, I didn’t mean to sound like he was a pet.)

  19. 19.

    Citizen_X

    @slag:

    Young Cole reminds me of a young David Broder.

    Bite your tongue! I’m sure if Dougj ever trolled him, gushing ” You’re like the diaper David Broder!” happy young Cole would suddenly turn all flavors of nasty.

  21. 21.

    Amir Khalid

    Maybe we could have a Balloon-Juice photo feature of all the frontpagers’ and commenters’ young’uns who’ve been highlighted over the years. I’m sure it would be to squee…

    @Yutsano:
    I hope you mean that a meal of sushi is imminent, rather than that it’s coming back up. I would be somewhat disturbed if you were looking forward to regurgitating your lunch.

  22. 22.

    Arclite

    but young Cole strikes me as one of the happiest babies I’ve ever seen.

    Yeah, what’s up with that? With a name like Cole you’d expect him to be snarky, grumpy, and irascible, and would only be happy if he had a Lily to cuddle with.

  23. 23.

    Yutsano

    @Amir Khalid: The sushi lunch is in the very near future. Fortunately except for a couple of spells in the hospital I haven’t had any nausea at all.

  24. 24.

    geg6

    @eemom:

    I know you don’t care, but those of us who have no desire to have children find it incredibly insulting when people say shit like this. I don’t know if Cole wants kids or not (I’m thinking, at his age, probably not), but it’s entirely possible he likes being single and not having an anchor around his neck for the next 21 years.

  25. 25.

    geg6

    @Amir Khalid:

    Maybe we could have a Balloon-Juice photo feature of all the frontpagers’ and commenters’ young’uns who’ve been highlighted over the years. I’m sure it would be to squee…

    I much prefer the pets, thanks.

    And to Cole, yes, the god child is cute. Just like my nieces were/are cute, too. And I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to wallow in the cute for an hour or two and then hand them back to the suckers that birthed them.

  26. 26.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @geg6:

    And I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to wallow in the cute for an hour or two and then hand them back to the suckers that birthed them.

    This is what’s known as “grandparents’ revenge”.

  30. 30.

    TaMara (BHF)

    BTW, I’ve decided on strawberries for tomorrow’s recipe thread. I have a test batch of shortcake in the oven right now. If it’s as good as it was simple to put together, it’s a winner.

  32. 32.

    Cris (without an H)

    @eemom: Well it’s time you did, Cole. Find a nice girl, settle down, make a few cole-lets.

    Don’t listen, Cole. Know what parenting does to you?

    I compare the process to becoming a vampire, your old self dies in a sad and painful way, but then you come out the other side with immortality, super strength and a taste for human blood. At least that’s how it was for me. At any rate, it’s complicated.

    By the way, your godson is cuter than my own son. Prepare to find him switched out.

  34. 34.

    eemom

    @slag:
    @geg6:

    fer fuck’s sake, it was a joke. Lighten up gracies.

    Kind of thought “find a nice girl and settle down” would have made it obvious, but what-ev.

  35. 35.

    eemom

    @Cris (without an H):

    I seriously would be the last person in the world to ever try to persuade anyone to have a kid, least of all someone who didn’t think they wanted one.

    Parenting is the most serious commitment on earth. Look how horribly it gets fucked up by people who DO want to do it.

  36. 36.

    Randy P

    @Dave: When I reflect on my own childhood, I realize I started on the self-taught curmudgeon path early. “There’s no good Saturday morning cartoons but Bugs Bunny anymore. Why I remember back when I was about five…”

  37. 37.

    ruemara

    1. That is some weapons grade cute, right there. Just aim, smile and world wars are won.

    2. I HAVE INTERNETS! Living in a room, but I have cable and internets, plus, I can still cook. Zen about it.

  42. 42.

    gbear

    young Cole strikes me as one of the happiest babies I’ve ever seen.

    Just wait until he realizes he’s gay.

  43. 43.

    asiangrrlMN

    Awwwwww! Young Cole is a doll-baby! Look at that smile!

    @geg6: A-yup. It seems like every time Cole posts a pic of a baby or Tunchie, Lily, and/or Rosie, someone tells him to settle down and have kids. Glad eemom said it as a joke, but it’s kinda like Poe’s law in that it’s identical – including the ‘settle down with a nice girl’ to comments of people who say it in earnest.

    I also agree that some of us with no children are positively gleeful to be in that state (yes, I am one of them). It’s hard to convince some parents of that, though.

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