Hangry Birds
Eat breakfast before you leave the house, pack your own lunch for work and don’t be a Hangry Bird.
By Jonny Lupsha
Sometimes, being a parent is as much about learning what not to do as anything else. Fortunately, in my seven years as a father, I’ve seen ample cautionary tales and bad examples of parenting to avoid in order to be a good man in general and a good dad to my kids. One of the most obvious givens to me over the years has been putting my family’s needs ahead of my own whenever I can, and at least putting their needs in front of my wants. So imagine my surprise when I encountered two fathers in a week who chose to loudly express their annoyance with their families because dad hadn’t eaten recently enough — or as I like to call them, Hangry Birds.
The first was in the pediatrician’s waiting room when my wife and I took our newborn son for his day-after-discharge well visit. Any parent can picture this scene. The glass partition separated the healthy kid waiting area from the sick kid waiting area. New, first-time parents kept watchful eyes over their newborns. Sick schoolkids leaned their heads on their moms’ shoulders, pouting and red-faced. Parents checked their watches.
The guy next to me was an early 20s frat boy whose girlfriend was carrying their newborn, his car…
