family – blueZhift Blog

It’s that Dragon Con time of year again, Thank God! And this morning we had breakfast and then went to get in line to pick up our con badges at the Courtland Grand Atlanta Hotel (formerly Sheraton). The line was long as expected, but moving quickly, also as expected.

Dragon Con Badge Pickup Line – Faster Than It Looks

While still outside, I noticed a woman breastfeeding her baby as she moved along in the hustle and bustle of the crowd. I did not think much about it at the time, only remembering that all of our children were also breastfed, and having some warm memories of those times. Once inside though, my thoughts drifted back to the woman breastfeeding her child.

I thought of just how important this event must be for someone to bring their child to it. We never brought any of our babies to conventions. We tried it once with our first child, only to return home and find a sitter because it was not working out. But later, we did bring our kids, once they could walk on their own. So in our own experiences, these cons were important enough events to involve the entire family.

Then it occurred to me that this was really the norm for Humans across history. The family was always involved in every activity worthy of doing, whether traveling to find more fertile pastures across the plains or around the world. Or gathering to celebrate new life, or mourning the passing of loved ones.

So back in 1987 when Star Trek: The Next Generation revealed that Galaxy Class starships like the Enterprise, included crew and their families, it wasn’t some strange, woke, notion shoe horned into the lore. Indeed, it was consistent with Human behavior across centuries of history. The Family is the fundamental unit of Humanity. This is how we do things, and this is how we Dragon Con, from newborn babes to Octogenarian Matriarchs!

I don’t think anyone starts a family with a mind to create specific traditions. Those just arise on their own as time passes. It looks like family puzzle building has become one of our family traditions. My wife has always liked putting puzzles together, but at our old home, it just never caught on with anyone else.

Maybe it was the ages of the kids, or perhaps the layout of the space. In our new place, the dining room lies between the living room and the kitchen. A couple of months ago, my wife brought back a puzzle from a Scrabble party and started building it on the dining room table. We just left the pieces there and with nary a word, people would occasionally stop to put some of the pieces together.

Everyone took part in the puzzle building activity. From the 10 year old who loves rules, up to the 17 year old who is generally too cool to spend much time with the rest of us! The puzzle became a place of pause and fun, a new family hub. Through interruptions for hot pot dinners and school projects, eventually the puzzle was completed.

Without even thinking about it, I brought out a new puzzle. I wanted to see if what I had witnessed was just a fluke, or if this was some fun we could continue to enjoy. I had received a Star Trek themed puzzle as a gift years ago, and had never really gotten started on it. Now seemed like a good time to tackle it and test if the puzzle bug had really taken hold.

After a slow start, the magic struck again! Once more everyone engaged in the puzzle building! From youngest to oldest once more joined forces to vanquish yet another foe! And as I write this, puzzle number 3 is already underway. So I think it is safe to say that puzzle building is well on its way to establishing itself as one of our family traditions!