What Makes Kids Happy?

Some encouraging news

When asked what one thing makes them most happy, 20 percent mentioned spending time with family — more than anything else. About three-quarters — 73 percent — said their relationship with their parents makes them happy. After family, it was relationships with friends that people mentioned most.

This came from a survey by MTV and the Associated press . It was an open ended question asked of 1,280 kids ages 13-24. When asked who their heros were, almost half named their parents.

What Age Am I anyway?

I have had some great discussions with people lately about generational differences. I heard someone say that 50 is the new 40. I had to laugh, my generation is no different then the ones before, we are just more vocal about it.

Some days, I still feel sometimes like I am still in my 20's. I am baffled by my aches and pains the next day after spending an afternoon in the garden. I am surprised to realize that my son is turning 21 next month. I just don't feel like someone who has a child that old.

What our kids don't know until they have kids is that although you become a parent, you are still yourself. I can vividly remember what it was like to be in college, and how I thought I was so grown up. I can understand my kids skepticism, after all, I have trouble remembering the name of the movie I saw yesterday, how can I remember something that happened 25 years ago?

I would never want to go back to my 20's. However, I can still feel like I am in my twenties with the wisdom and knowledge of someone in her 40's.

What is your commute time?

I thought this article about the cost of commuting was very interesting.

It may cost your life. We often think of that commute to work as a waste of time sitting in the car and spending a fortune on gas, but there is a hidden cost. There was a recent piece on Forbes about how unhealthy our commutes really are and what some of the consequences are.

The article goes on to mention hidden consequences such as air pollution, accidents, and lifestyle choices.

Ross and I were talking about this last night. He is working at Starbucks in the Minneapolis airport. Since he has to park in employee parking and take a shuttle bus to the terminal and go through security, he has to leave an hour earlier then he would if he was working for the neighborhood Caribou.

For Ross, a confirmed night owl, the commute issue is not the monetary cost of gas and wear and tear on the car, but it is all about the hour of sleep he misses.

I used to have a 50 minute commute to and from work (on a good day). What made it bearable was being able to work from home 1 day a week and the flexibility to alter my work time to avoid the heaviest traffic times. When I started my search for a new position, a short commute was one of the top 3 things I considered when looking at job offers. Like Ross, I resented the time spent commuting.

Life is full of compromises. The key is to really look at the trade offs you are making to be sure they are worth the risks.

I can't wait until I am in my 80's

When I was a kid, I hoped that my Great Grandma would live to be 100, just because I thought it was cool and so very old. I want to live to be 100 to see how Generation Y kids are going to handle their adult lives. Settle down little doggie, I can see the GenY hackles rising. I say this with love. I enjoy the Gen Y group. They are smart, articulate and ready to take on the world. I thought Modite summed up the attitude of a lot of Gen Y kids (I can call them kids because, well, they are) in this column.

1) Selfishly entitled. Guilty. Generation Y believes that we deserve everything the world has to offer. And we do. Paying dues when we enter the workforce is a joke. Not only have we already paid dues in high school by working harder to advance our standing in college, but we then work even harder in college to get ahead once we dive into the real world.

We’ve worked hard. We’re willing to work harder. We deserve success.

2) Impatience. Impatience is a virtue. Trust me. We need a sense of urgency and impatience to solve some of the world’s biggest problems within the next few decades… Now here comes Generation Y, urgency coursing through our blood. No waiting here. We’re ready to get things done. Just show us how, or let us take the reins.

3) Commitment-phobia. Our lack of loyalty has made employers mad. They have a generally negative view of us, in fact, believing the only thing we’re good for is fixing the faulty computer. Employers invest in our talent and potential and we usually quit on them within two years of starting…

For Generation Y, commitment-phobia is more about being realistic about a situation then a lack of desire to work to be loyal. We don’t see the point in staying in a relationship that isn’t mutually beneficial. We’re practical about the extent of our abilities and reach. Millennials approach projects with an attainable goal within reach. There is no long-term commitment, but rather we’re involved with the project to achieve that goal, and don’t find it necessary to stretch it out further.

Dare I go on? The paragraph above says a lot about this generation of twenty somethings and how they think.

As a parent of Generation Y kids, (the Jones Generation), I feel like the middle child I am, sandwiched between my older siblings the Baby Boomers who get all the credit and the younger ones Generation Y, who don't acknowledge that without my trail brazing, they wouldn't be able to enjoy the freedoms they have today (coming from a family of 6, my 2 younger brothers were able to get away with a lot more).

I have more sympathy for the girls who were a year ahead of me at Concordia Grade School. They fought hard for the right for girls to be acolytes just like the boys. The policy was changed, not in time for them to participate but just in time for my grade. We were less then thrilled with our new status (I was deathly afraid of tripping and starting the whole church on fire). They didn't feel appreciated and at the time, they weren't.

So in another 20 years or so, I will be sitting in my home by the lake, responding to work e-mails and listening to my grandchildren complain about their parents and how "they just don't get it". You know, I guess things really don't change.

Bridge 9340

It has been a week since the 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. I am still amazed at the low death count (5 confirmed, 8 missing, assumed dead), since it could have been so much worse. The stories of the survivors is also incredible. For me, it is more difficult to look at pictures from the scene now, then it was when it first happened. Tim, a local photographer and Civil Engineer, has an incredible website documenting the scene. Here is a report from 2001 about the bridge.

I am fortunate in that my work and home are far enough away, that I am not affected directly by the bridge collapse and the traffic delays that come with it. I didn't know anyone who was killed or injured. However, it happened to my town, in my state. It is something that we will live with for many years to come. Like 9/11 and the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia, it will be a question asked for many generations. Where were you when..

If you want to help

Pet Peeve - Ice Hockey

I have noticed recently that people who are from the West coast and southern states refer to hockey as "Ice Hockey". Why the modifier? I can understand street hockey, field hockey and even Rollerblade hockey but really, when someone says hockey, don't you automatically think of ice?

What Generation are you?

In recruiting, there has been a lot of talk lately about Generations in the workforce and how they interact (or don't). A couple of my co-workers are in their twenties and working with them has given me some insights into my own kids behavior and thoughts. I thought this quiz from Brazen Careerist Blog was interesting. I ended up with 12 points, so although I am a Generation Jones, I am on the cusp of Gen X/Y which I am sure would appall my kids.
Take the test and find out where you belong:

Do you have your own web page? (1 point)

Have you made a web page for someone else? (2 points)

Do you IM your friends? (1 point)

Do you text your friends? (2 points)

Do you watch videos on YouTube? (1 point)

Do you remix video files from the Internet? (2 points)

Have you paid for and downloaded music from the Internet? (1 point)

Do you know where to download free (illegal) music from the Internet? (2 points)

Do you blog for professional reasons? (1 point)

Do you blog as a way to keep an online diary? (2 points)

Have you visited MySpace at least five times? (1 point)

Do you communicate with friends on Facebook? (2 points)

Do you use email to communicate with your parents? (1 point)

Did you text to communicate with your parents? (2 points)

Do you take photos with your phone? (1 point)

Do you share your photos from your phone with your friends? (2 points)

0-1 point - Baby Boomer

2-6 points - Generation Jones

6- 12 points - Generation X

12 or over - Generation Y

A Prayer for Nick (part two)

I first wrote about Nick back in December. The story caught my eye because he was so close to my son's age. Like so many kids his age, he struggled with what he wanted to do with his life, but seemed to be on the right track. His body was found recently in a lake close to his home.

35W Bridge Collapse

Yesterday was a good reminder of how quickly things can change in the blink of an eye. A major bridge in Minnesota spanning the Mississippi river going into Minneapolis collapsed yesterday evening during rush hour. I heard about it as I was driving home, listening to the traffic report saying that 35W bridge had collapsed. I knew instantly what bridge they were talking about. I had driven over it daily on my way back from work. I never got tired of the view. Coming from the North, you had a spectacular view of Minneapolis skyline and the locks. No matter how hard of a day I had, seeing that view was a lift to my spirits. Incredibly, although there were many cars on the bridge, there are only 4 people confirmed dead and 20 people missing at this time. Initial reports were talking about a death toll near 100. There was a school bus on the bridge filled with children, but they came out OK. I am sure that people who were on the bridge right before it collapsed were thinking about getting to the Twins game, what to make for supper or how to handle a problem at work. Talk about a wake up call. We can't go through life in fear, we just need to remember our priorities. Life is precious, tell people that you love them and enjoy every day you are given. It truly is a gift from God.