You know, the days when you could go to a park and watch parents play with their kids?

I'm an odd creature. Unlike many other fathers that I constantly hear about, I actually take time out with my kids. I insist that my wife take off for the day so I can spend some time with them - just daddy and the girls.

This weekend, I had all day Saturday to spend with them as Kari went to a scrapbook convention. I decided to take them to the park as Georgia loves it and Irelyn is walking good enough to let her roam around a bit.

There were a lot of kids there. However, only 2 or 3 parents were actually paying any attention to their kids. Every single one of them had their ear attached to a cell phone. One little boy had fallen and scraped his knee. His mother never stopped talking, nor even did she look at the boy. She just picked him up, jostled him a little, and then put him back down.

I saw one guy talking to his litte girl while pushing her on the swing. Then I realized as I got closer that he was on the phone too - I just couldn't see the Borg implant dangling off his face.

I love my girls. It's bad enough I spend a lot of time in front of the computer, but I'll be damned if that's how they are going to remember me.