Category Archives: Parenting

“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”

– Anne Frank

Children don’t come with a manual.  They come, instead, with a perfect mind.  A mind that doesn’t know hatred or prejudice of any kind.  They know only love and a desire to bond with those around them.  They are unable to delineate ethnic races, or sexual orientation.  They know nothing of the controversial subjects circling the Internet and entertainment and news media.  We teach them those things with our words, our attitudes, and our deeds.

As parents, we try very hard to teach them right from wrong and to be respectful of others.  To maintain the dignity of others and to treat others as we, ourselves, want to be treated.  In many cases we succeed but we also sometimes fail, and in the process of trying, we never really know the answer to the question “How’d I do?”

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“I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.”

― Umberto Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum

As a society, we don’t acknowledge fathers in the way that we acknowledge mothers.  While we set aside a day we call Father’s Day, this was a historical afterthought.  Father’s day was conceived, and later celebrated, a year after the inception of Mother’s Day, on the heels of a Mother’s Day sermon.

Predictably, it was a woman who proposed Father’s Day.  The suggestion made by the fairer sex is predictable, because men do not seek adulation as fathers.  We do not bother promoting praise for the same reason society does not.  Neither men nor society see the role as an honor, relegating it instead to a duty — like going to work.

Now, if you ask ten strangers on the street, whether fathers are important, you would receive a nod “yes” from all ten.  That said, affirming paternal importance, no way mirrors the adoration we offer mothers, especially on their special day.

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It’s finally happened: I’m out of viewing material.

I have successfully depleted the Netflix instant view inventory of “1,000 Ways to Die” episodes along with scores of other movies and TV programming.  No-doubt, your question to me is “What the hell is “1,000 Ways to Die?”  The answer is “It’s crap.”, but I respectfully submit that is the wrong question.  The question I think you should ask yourself is “Why have I depleted so much Netflix instant view inventory?”  The answer is I haven’t worked since July 2011. Continue reading →