Archive for the ‘Parenting Issues’ Category

Crazy in Labor

Saturday, August 15th, 2015
Source: Facebook/WOTE

Source: Facebook/WOTE

Having a baby is a crazy time in anyone’s life.  Whether it’s your first child and you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into or your third and it’s all been-there-done-that, it’s surely going to be a crazy, hectic time.  And yet, many of us manage to fit in some wild stuff in between labor pains.  There are the usual things like not getting any medication to help with the pain (you put me in that much pain and I’d be breaking into the prison pharmacy if I had to) or eating a hearty meal only to throw it up shortly thereafter.

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Yes, Moms Really Are Hotter

Monday, August 10th, 2015
Source: YouTube

Source: YouTube

By far, the most attractive quality in a woman, as far as I’m concerned, is confidence.  Add competence to that and there’s no way simple physical beauty can compete.

With that in mind, I’ve always felt that moms — women who have their act together and are raising their kids with love and care — are more far attractive than those “barely legal teens” you hear so much about on the internet.  And, based on a new video from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and the Gregory Brothers, it sounds like I’m not alone in that assessment.

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The Supermarket Blues

Monday, June 29th, 2015

SadCupcakeIt doesn’t happen every time, but it happens often enough.  There I am, six feet tall, and built like a tank, with a full beard and one lobotomy-covering American-flag headband away from a recurring role on Duck Dynasty, standing in the grocery store aisle crying like a baby.  It’s not because mommy won’t buy me Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs but because I won’t buy them for my daughter.  Or, more accurately, because I can’t buy them for my daughter. (more…)

The WiFi Treasure Hunt

Saturday, June 6th, 2015

787337_96637039_400x300I have a friend who owns a vacation home near Lake Tahoe and, being pretty much the most generous person in the world, he lets us stay there when he’s not using it.  We took advantage of the long Memorial Day weekend and went up for a quick break.  We weren’t expecting great weather so we planned on just hanging out, enjoying the views, and relaxing quietly. We drove up on Saturday and after unloading the car and putting groceries away, the kids started in on a game of Monopoly.  That kept them busy for a while — long enough for me to learn that my laptop’s hard drive had died.  It also kept them away from their tablets long enough that they didn’t think to ask for the WiFi password until bedtime.  With a promise that they would get the password in the morning, they quickly turned in for the night.

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An Open Letter to Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar

Monday, June 1st, 2015

Dear Jim Bob and Michelle:

By Jim Bob Duggar (Email from Jim Bob Duggar) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

By Jim Bob Duggar [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

I would like to offer my sincere sympathies at this time. I am sure your daughters and the other girls involved in your recent scandal had no need or desire to have this brought up again and I know you must be feeling pain and shame as well.

Every parent must decide for themselves what they believe is the best way to raise their children. Considerations include public school versus private school versus homeschooling, attending church services versus eschewing religion, and, on an even more basic level, are kids better off as only children or do they do better with siblings.

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Talking to Anti-Vaxxers

Friday, February 6th, 2015

With the sudden resurgence of a disease thought eradicated in the US, vaccines have come, once again, to the forefront of the news in general and the parenting world in particular.  Specifically, the measles vaccine is one of the (if not *the*) most successful vaccines in the history of, well, vaccines.  And yet, there have been 102 cases in 14 states in January of 2015 alone.  For reference, in the eleven years from 2002 to 2012, nine years saw fewer than 100 cases.

Recently, parenting website The Stir published an article outlining the “22 Things Never to Say to Moms Who Don’t Vaccinate.”  Needless to say, I take exception with a number of them.

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Being a Model Citizen

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014

Voter PamphletOkay, I admit it.  Other than for a couple of critical issues, I am just not that into politics.  When an election rolls around, I try to pick people who will run things for me the way I want them to, and that’s about it.  So when I realized that today was the primary election here in California — on the way home from taking the kids bowling — I was seriously considering blowing off voting.

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There’ll Be No Coming Out In My House

Monday, June 2nd, 2014

A ClosetIf you’re a parent, you’ve undoubtedly heard plenty of stories of kids coming out to their parents that they are gay or lesbian.  Some of them have been amusing, others endearing, and some, unfortunately, have been heartbreaking.  Parents have responded with humour, with understanding, and with fear and loathing.  Some parents have gone so far as to disown their children and kick them out of the house.  That won’t happen in my house, but I’ll tell you that there also won’t be any “coming out” either.

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San Francisco History — The Project

Monday, June 3rd, 2013

Sara in her pride shirt and mouse earsA few weeks ago, my daughter came home with a list of topics and an assignment to do some sort of project about something related to San Francisco history.  She had been instructed to pick one that her parents knew about so she could get help with it.  I scanned the list of possible subjects and spotted The Gay Rights Movement.  That was a no-brainer.  I grew up in San Francisco and remember the assassination of Harvey Milk as if it were yesterday.  I spent a lot of time — for a straight kid with straight parents — in the Castro because it was close to where I had rehearsals and not too far from the Opera House.  It was a neat place to hang out on the way home.  So, it seemed obvious which topic would be best.  After all, what do I know about cable cars?

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Marriage Equality Is Not Acceptable

Monday, June 3rd, 2013

Photo: Mensatic/Morguefile.comIn 2004, newly elected mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom threw away his political future when he directed the county clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses to all couples, regardless of their genders.  This kicked the fight for marriage equality into high gear and here we are, almost ten years later, and we are well on our way to universal marriage equality in this country.  And that’s not acceptable.  Or, rather, it’s not enough.

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