🍾 Ah Hell I'm Turning 40

Hyper toddlers birthdays something something.

So I’m turning 40 on Thursday. Milestones etc.

Originally, this was going to be a quick newsletter. But today:

1. The 2 year old woke up from a nightmare at 1:30 in the morning and WOULD NOT GO BACK TO SLEEP. My wife did a great job with him but he finally fell back asleep… at 5am. Kid screaming and crying the whole time.

2. Was getting the kid ready for daycare in the AM and he falls off a climbing toy and gets a huge black and blue mark. In the five seconds I turned away from him to get my coffee, kid manages to get in trouble.

3. Can’t take the kid to daycare, because you know, he fell. Took the day off from client work and schedule myself an evening shift instead because LOL running a business when you have a toddler is always an adventure.

4. Kid ends up recovering from fall quickly, spends next 10 hours running around, throwing tupperware and housewares across the apartment and ignoring me when I tell him to stop climbing on furniture. Just giggles and starts using the sofa cushions as slides FOR THE NEXT 10 HOURS.

Anyway I’m tired and ornery right now. Get off my lawn.

With that said, all I really want for my birthday is to climb on top of the roof and howl at the moon. Because, in 2020, that’s all you can really do, right? All the normal options are *out* and there isn’t a damn thing to do about it.

And then lots of other things happening in the last month which are stressful and not the best to deal with. IRL things you have limited control over and limited ability to mitigate. I’m a control freak and those things are the worst enemies.

So this is a short newsletter. And because it’s still Giving Tuesday, donate a few dollars to RIP Medical Debt… no matter when you’re reading this. Just send them lots and lots of money because you can buy medical debt for pennies on the dollar and make a stranger’s life much easier.

See you next week.

Neal

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About This Newsletter: My name is Neal Ungerleider, and I’m a strategic communications consultant working with brands and agencies on marketing/advertising/PR projects. I worked as a journalist in a previous life and now write this weekly newsletter about the comms industry and adjacent things. Thanks for taking the time to read it. For more, here's my bio, my portfolio, and current projects.

Connect on Twitter or LinkedIn and learn more about my services at nealungerleider.com. Contact me by replying to this newsletter or emailing neal@nealungerleider.com.