Well, anyway back to Ellie, she really likes both the car and the doll, Barbie is usually the Mother taking her kids to the zoo, with her kids, which are played by our Fisher Price Little People.  Now, we have way more Little People than Barbies in the house, what about the body image that they promote?

.

.

.

.

Last month I had a surgery that reduced my powers as a man, my wife says that I’m “just for show now.”  Well things didn’t go quite according to plan, the surgical area became infected, I was black and blue and pretty much useless for several weeks.  Not fun.

The upside was that I was forced to spend some time getting reacquainted with an old love of mine, video games.  Specifically I became infatuated with a game called Monster Hunter Tri.  To sum up the game play, I go around with a big sword and kill huge dragons and dinosaurs.  There’s something really satisfying when you finally kill a sabertoothed flying albino tiger.  Sounds like something Napolean Dynamite would say, true none the less.

Now I wouldn’t say that it was as engaging or personal as King of Kong or Anvil but still it was a tonne of fun.  During one part of the U.S. championships the crowd begins to chant “USA, USA, USA!!!”, and I seriously had this ironically semi-serious thought, “I’m proud to be an American.”  Strangest thing ever.  Watch it, laugh and thank me later.

The book begins with Mitch being asked by his Rabbi to perform his eulogy, he sees this Rabbi but once a year and so, finds it more than a little odd being asked to perform such an important and meaningful task.  Mitch begins to spend regular time with the Rabbi and as he gets reacquainted with him, also finds a new place for faith in his life.  Simultaneously, he gets to know a pastor of a ultra poor church in Detroit, and sees another side to faith, that of a man from a totally different  background than that of his Rabbi.

I had a good time with the book.  I enjoyed hearing the wisdom of the Rabbi after a lifetime of loving his congregation, how humble he was and honest.  He shares things that can seem so simple yet profound, inspiring.  An easy read and a good way to get my mind working in important areas again.

I found it very thought provoking.  Often I feel myself sucked into thinking my kids are falling behind if I don’t have them involved in all these different things that will accelerate their learning curves and athletic success.  So many families have each child involved in multiple activities, I think at the cost of spending just normal time together and putting a lot of pressure on the kids.  I think growing up in a conservative small town has somewhat insulated me from some of these trends, but there is still a lot of pressure out there to get your kids started early, even when they are still toddlers.

Ideally, Liz and I want to find a balance between family time, academics, church, sports and just letting Gibson, Ellie and Cameron be themselves… kids.

You can watch Hyper Parents and Coddled Kids anytime you like at the CBC Doc Zone.

I instead went with something different, way different, another Chuck Palahniuk novel, Choke.  I just needed something to come out of left field.  Well, Choke did that in spades, Palahniuk has a different way of looking at the world, he fills his books with outrageous situations, his twisted imagination has an incredible reach.  It’s difficult to say if I would recommend the novel or to whom, but for me it served it’s purpose.

Here’s a quote that stopped me for a second,

“It’s pathetic how we can’t live with the  things we can’t understand.  How we need everything labeled and explained and deconstructed.  Even if it’s for sure unexplainable.  Even God.”

I’ve always had a lot of questions of God, wanting to know how things work and why.  But I think I’ve been making strides the last few years in letting go a bit, not having to figure out all the answers.  This is an ongoing process though for sure, and as always there needs to be a balance.  In this case between being comfortable with gray areas and making inquiries into the mystery that is a higher power.