I've just had an epiphany.

This is my blog.

Which means that there will be no shout-outs or interviews or dialogues or discussions or intelligent conversations. Of any kind. At all.

Because you know what? It's about me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. It's all about me.

And if you don't like it, you can just stop reading this. I can't believe that you all show up here every day to read this drivel anyway. Why would you do that? It's not as if this actually means anything. It's just my incoherent ramblings. Put here to get them out of my head.

So go! Off withya all!

And stop writing me e-mails with your wishes, demands and requests.

I use a Mac.

That's no secret. Neither is the fact that this type of computers attracts a phenomenal, cult-like following. But this is just insane!

The story is that they just opened a new Apple Store in Japan. In the fancy Ginza shopping district in Tokyo, to be more precise. And this shows the line of people waiting to get in!

Un-be-liev-a-ble.

You want proof that kids can do way more than we think they can? OK. The word 'toothbrush'. It was obviously invented by an infant. Why? Simple. Otherwise it would have been called a 'teethbrush'.

There you go.

To paraphrase a local saying: Chocolate, not just a breakfast dish.

Actually, looking up words in the dictionary is an old habit of mine. Harks back to the days when you really couldn't understand what I was saying. Did you for example know that 'chocolate' is actually 'fermented, roasted, shelled, and ground cacao seeds, often combined with a sweetener or flavoring agent'? Well, yes. But this one is better: 'Breakfast=The first meal of the day, usually eaten in the morning.' But I digress.

I just wanted to ask this simple question: How can you go wrong, when making a chocolate cake that is, if the ingredients are simply brown sugar, butter, eggs, strong coffee, normal sugar, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate?

Damn. This sure smells good, anyway.

A Wal-Mart for babies.

That's probably the best way to describe Babies'R'Us. These are humongous stores, filled to the rafters with stuff that is only for kids. Everything from preemie-clothes to bedroom furniture (only all the beds are size XS), from strollers and carseats to toys and picture books. We spent the afternoon in one.

I haven't been there since my first days as a father. Those times were so hectic and stressful that I really didn't take the time to wonder. This time, with my daughter sleeping in her stroller, I could marvel at the whole spectacle.

Imagine if this wasn't it. What if there were stores that sold business outfits for kids? Kid's coffee shops? Car dealers catering to toddlers? In short, what if kids and adults were equals? I mean, we do our best to accomodate all different varieties of people. No matter where you come from, whether you can speak the language or not, if you are mentally all there, etc. Sure, sex, skin color, sexual orientation, and more, may freak us out, and make us try to discriminate against each other, consciously or not. But at least we are supposed to strive for equality. To respect each and every human being. Regardless.

Which kind of brings me back to my point. I am watching my daughter growing. By the day. And soon enough she will be fully capable of doing all sorts of things. I mean, she will likely surpass my puny math knowledge in less than a decade. So why is she a part of a minority group in this society, whose dollars ard good enough to be taxed, but her voice is not good enough to be represented? Why are literally all her decisions, by law, not her own but mine until she is almost twenty years old?

Sure, sure. I can hear my 'whisper back' inbox wimpering 'Oh, nooo. They are going to yeall at me. Tell me that kids need to be guided. Shielded. Not least from themselves. Protected. From the evil of this world.' To this I say to you OK. I am not advocating that kids should run amok, as soon as they can run about. Of course this needs to be kept in perspective. In moderation. But still. I think that we, parents, collectively hang onto our power over kids for far too long.

It didn't used to be that way. Children used to come of age younger. Waaay younger. Read some Shakespeare, if you don't believe me. Romeo and Juliet, anyone? Granted, those times may have represented one extreme in the matter. But if so, then we today are living in times of the other extremes. I mean, people in their twenties should be able to decide whether to drink or not. All of them.

Not that I will be any better. By the time my daughter will be fifteen, I will have conveniently forgotten all these noble thoughts, that came to me in Babies'R'Us, and erased any remnants thereof.

Including this blog.