|
*So I guess I'm just fully committed to writing blogs about my family this summer. *Stoolies are the greatest! The amount of support and donations were incredible. I can't thank you enough. Today's Doug Wanoy's birthday (7/18). We are going to trivia tonight, so help me buy him a $150 Old Fashioned. * ***Please consider leaving a tip, so you can get more blogs like this*** CLICK HERE TO TIP Who is Syd Barrett? Our next stop on our journey through the Bauer Family is Syd Barrett. Syd Barrett is the oldest brother of the Bauer Brothers. *Side Note* There are three Bauer Brothers. The youngest (Jack Bauer's father), Wick McBauerson, perhaps might be the funniest of them all. He, however, has no aspirations to create content and lavish in the limelight but would rather create an app as a family, so we can get rich. Anyway... Although only a year apart, Syd Barrett is everything that Doug Wanoy is not. Doug is a troll that lurks behind a computer or in the shadows waiting to pounce on his next victim. Dare we say it, Doug, at his worst, might be perhaps a little mean. Syd is front and center, a Gallagher if you will, who marvels us with his slapstick humor and observational antics. Dare we say it, Syd, at his worst, might be perhaps a little cringey. Doug wishes to divide people with his escapades. At family gatherings, Doug will meticulously count the number of alcoholic beverages my cousin's husband consumes, so he can shame the unassuming lad later on. Syd yearns to unite people with his escapades. Syd will dress up in costume and perform song and dance to entertain the family with one of his many games he makes us play; all while pushing through his wife yelling, "[Insert real name], will you wrap this up please." Doug's goal is to get the family to argue. For example, Doug will whisper to Kyle's girlfriend (new to meeting the family) and ask if everyone is being nice and talking to her. He will coerce her to name the names of the people who aren't engaging her in conversation, so he can shame them. Syd, on the other hand, craves for the family to fawn, flaunt, and flock to and over him. For instance, Syd, at 60 + years of age and with a double hip replacement, will find a tree to climb and get perilously close to falling over the edge all in the name of the family to scream his name to get down. He is our family's paradigm of Michael Scott; his only wish is to be loved and admired by his family no matter the cost even if he has to sell his soul and time in the process. Does he need to be liked? Absolutely not. He likes to be liked. He enjoys being liked. He has to be liked, but it’s not like this compulsive need to be liked, like his need to be praised. We will explore three types of Syds today. Syd, the Card Guy Syd, the Podcaster Syd, the Godfather Syd, the Card Guy
The below excerpt was published in Chicken Soup for the Soul... For many, Jesus and Santa are the two main guys of Christmas. They steal the show. And although Jesus is definitely the reason for the season in our household, there is another guy who is almost just as important to our family every holiday season. It’s the Card Guy. We have a long-standing tradition on my dad’s side of the family of having a card contest over the years. What started out as a friendly game of voting on which Christmas card was the best to be sent to my uncle and his family turned into an all-out fierce competition of judging, alliances, secret voting, song and dance, tears, fights, and carefully crafting the perfect and funniest card for half a year. We’ve had family members become the Griswalds, Kardashians, Joe Biden and Obama, Doug Trump, and Ralphie and Randy from a Christmas Story all in the name of the Card Contest. And out of that, the Card Guy came to life. The Card Guy is my uncle. On the eve of the contest he transforms into character wearing a jean vest full of Christmas cards from days of yore. The lights dim, the music sounds, and he bursts into the room almost magically singing and dancing the opening number. Usually a spoof on a popular song. It’s oddly reminiscent of Michael Scott performing at the Dundies. Throughout his entire performance for the night, he does a spectacular job of hosting the contest. He divides the cards into categories: Nature, Religious, Landscape, and the biggest, most coveted one of all- the Picture category. Then, he dazzles us with his jokes, wit, charisma, and charm until he ultimately crowns the winner of the night. For a while, the Card Guy was on top of the world. But over time, we became greedy and hungry for victory. We pushed the Card Guy for more. More jokes. More songs. More pizzazz. And we riddled him when the contest dragged on for too long. We belittled him when our cards didn’t win. We booed him when his jokes didn’t land. We demanded him to perform like he was some kind of show puppet and not a real person with real feelings. We couldn’t see it, but the Card Guy was cracking. The pressure was too much. Finally, he hung up his hat and announced his retirement. Some family members made feeble attempts to encourage him to perform again, but he simply wouldn’t do it. But with the birth of children, weddings, surgeries, and the like, the family wasn’t able to be together at Christmastime for the past few years. We made some tries to have the contest over Facebook, but it was missing something. It was missing the Card Guy. With the last years being so hard we all needed something to unite the world during the holiday season. Someone to bring peace and simplicity back into the homes of America again. We needed the Card Guy. But more importantly, we needed the Card Guy because he unites our family together. He makes us laugh. He makes us value family traditions. He gives us hope that despite everything that has happened in the world, we will always have each other to lean on, fight and make up with, and ultimately create long-lasting memories with. Ones we can tell our children about. 2020 wasn't the year for traditions to be forgotten. It was the year for them to be remade, rebirthed, restored in any way possible. It was the year for Card Guy. The Card Guy TrailersThese videos are edited and produced by my cousin who is the most adept with content and production in our family. The Blair Card Project The Covid Card Guy Part 1 The Covid Card Guy Part 2 Sampling of Christmas Cards Over the Years
|
 | Lauren Barrett is a multi-passionate mom working to help all parents become their best selves and build positive relationships with their kids through mindful parenting. She has a degree in deaf education and a Master’s in Reading Education. She is a high school teacher of the Deaf and hard-of-hearing by day, a cross country coach by the afternoon, a writer/author by her son's nap times, and a full time mom to an amazing 4-year old. Lauren is a 3x author of the Add One-A-Day 30 Day Challenge, children's book, Henry's Hiccups, and parenting guide Now What? Mindful Checklists for Life's Hard Parenting Moments, a blogger at Lauren Barrett Writes, and has been published on sites like A Fine Parent, Pregnant Chicken, Pop Sugar, Her View From Home, and Scary Mommy. She loves her faith, running, visiting MLB stadiums with her husband, chocolate, scrapbooking, pretending she would actually do well on the Amazing Race, re-watching The Office, listening to Bobby Bones, and helping out all moms. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, James, and son, Henry. Follow her on Instagram at @laurenbarrettwrites, and get her free guide on what to do during the middle of a tantrum. |
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.
|
|
|
|
RSS Feed
Categories
All
Add One A Day 30 Day Challenge
Add One-A-Day 30 Day Challenge
Baby
Blogging
Life
Marriage
Mom
Parenting
Positive Parenting Discipline
Pregnancy
Raleigh
Running
Social Justice
Teacher
Toddler Eating
Travel
Vocabulary
Wedding
Writing