10 p.m.

• So just whenever I fret about my child-rearing abilities, I come across an experience like I had yesterday. The better half and I went to her one friend’s house to deliver Christmas presents to her two kids. We got her five-year-old son an easel/art set and her two-year-old daughter a Cabbage Patch Kid. Well, when the kids opened their gifts, the daughter (Terri) went straight for her brother’s gift (I’ll call him Mike). No surprise. Who wants a doll when your sibling has this cool thing that you can scribble on? Well this of course brought a bit of the sibling rivalry, as Terri was badgering Mike by drawing on his canvass. Mike countered by yelling and the two were pushing each other around. Now Mrs. kkk’s friend’s boyfriend was getting annoyed by this. I make it a point not to criticize a person’s parenting style, but when Terri took one of Mike’s toy magnets that helped keep his coloring picture on the easel board and ran into the kitchen, which prompted Mike to give chase, the boyfriend got up from watching the televised NHL game, picked both kids up off the ground and nearly tossed both into the corner of the living room. Jesus Christ. Now I don’t live in this house, so I don’t know firsthand of the craziness that goes on 24/7, but this was harmless. Hell, Terri had a smile on her face and was giggling when running into the kitchen with Mike’s magnet. Anyway, this prompted both kids to start screaming and crying hysterically, and for what? For being kids. The boyfriend shouted out a number of obscenities, and I could tell if we weren’t there Mrs, kkk’s friend would have gotten into it with the boyfriend, who was also Terri’s father. I’ve said my fair share of negative things about kids, but I do know that kids will be kids. As long as they’re not monstrous trolls, then you should expect them to do what they do. But hey, they're not my kids. And they weren't getting beaten.