September stress

Whew! I am sure glad September is over! Historically, September is the busiest month for me.

Now, I can imagine that all of you reading this will collectively ask, “Why is September so busy for you Dale?” To that I will invite you come along on a journey.

For many reasons this past month feels like it has stripped another year off my life. One indicator is my hair. No gray yet, but there is sure less of it. I have come to a point in my life where simple minutes can add up to a lot. Therefore, my wife Lizabeth decided that we shave my head completely bald – right to the skin –or as some would say, “right down to the wood.”

Shaving my head shaves minutes off my morning grooming prep, which is then constructively used for preparing lunches or making breakfast. Is my hair thinning? I don’t want to know, let’s just keep it shaved. However this is the first time in my life where the thought of going bald actually bothered me. My dad was bald, my Lolo was, too, so why should it be a surprise if I lose my locks, too? I, unfortunately, have experienced what many men experience, and it’s the thought of getting older. I have my kids to keep me young – that and my convertible.

But getting to the real reason of why I am glad September is over. After two months of moving at a snail’s pace during the summer when we enjoyed the beach, the cabin, many days off and a ton of family outings, it takes a couple weeks to get back in the swing of things. I mean, all of a sudden we find that we have to adhere to a strict daily regimen. Wake up at 6:30 am and spend 20 minutes wrangling the kids of out bed by promising them they have a treat waiting for them downstairs. They don’t usually fall for that after the first few days since eggs and toast isn’t much of a treat. Some days, I like to mix it up with Freezies and Pop Tarts. I bet my mom is proud now that she knows. We then get them dressed and out of the house and to school while trying to get to work fashionably late. Fast forward to the end of day, where we get home from school and work, make dinner, bathe the dirty kids and get them to bed at a decent time so that Lizabeth and I can catch up on our TV shows. Repeat this process for another 200 some days. A weaker individual can get depressed about it very quickly. For me, I just need a couple hours of down time after the kids fall asleep for me to decompress and just relax in front of the tube.

Speaking of TV, there is another stressful issue. September is an exciting month for television. It’s a time where our favourite shows return and a slew of new shows try to prove their worth to an audience that they hope to find. Millions of dollars are spent on producing these shows and marketing them to the mass population. Some catch and some don’t. Where does my stress lie? I get invested in a new show, I start to feel for the characters, I fall prey to the storyline and then – bam! – the networks decide to pull the plug because the program only garners five million viewers. Isn’t five million of anything good? How do these TV execs get the idea to cancel a show when it’s been on for only four or five episodes? Who do they think they are? Do they have any clout? Don’t answer that, because we all know they can do whatever they want.

On the positive side, it looks like the world is evolving with the invention of social networks and the everyday Joe having some sort of platform to have their say. Online petitions set up on Facebook for example have helped bring a show like Chuck off the chopping block or how Betty White is now enjoying a resurgence in her acting career since being the subject of a Facebook campaign wanting her to be a host on Saturday Night Live. But sadly, there wasn’t enough support for Grey’s Anatomy as this is its last season.

In closing, I wanted to share one thing that has helped bring my stress level down, my PVR. It is a lifesaver! You set it and forget it. If you don’t have one, get one. It has changed the way I watch TV.

Dale Burgos manages the communications department for a Winnipeg school division and was joking about Grey’s Anatomy being cancelled.

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