The Manival is being hosted by Corey of a SimpleMarriage.
My favorite article comes from Zen and the Art of the Midlife Crisis. Kip describes his aching hopefulness as he closes a chapter of his life. It’s a touching experience of a man who has finally come to grips with the idea that his family will never be as it was.
I also quite enjoyed this rant on personal responsibility. His story on parenting is priceless.
For instance, he recalled an experience when his 8-year-old daughter and him were going on a walk around the neighborhood. He had told her to take her jacket because it was cold outside. “No, I don’t need it,” she proclaimed. He explained to her that she would get cold if she didn’t have her jacket, yet she still insisted she didn’t need it. “O.K.,” he said and they went on the walk.
A few blocks in she began grumbling about how cold it was and rubbing her arms. What did my professor do? Did he cut the walk off short? Did he take off his jacket and lovingly place it around his daughter? No, he made her walk the rest of the way home freezing her butt off. “Life’s about choices,” he explained to his daughter.
6 comments
Comments feed for this article
September 2, 2008 at 10:52 pm
marlajayne
Good one. I’d probably have gone back for a jacket (or sent her back). I think each parent fills a different role and that they’re both needed (if possible) in a child’s life. Okay, hang in there with me a moment. Both parents look at the world and KNOW that it can be a scary, daunting place. The mother, who is often the more nurturing of the parents, will try to prepare the child by saying things like, “Be careful.” They also try to make things “all better.” A father sees the same scary world full of pitfalls (and pit bulls too), but instead of trying to soften the transition to adulthood or make things “all better,” he tries to toughen them up and make them step up to the plate. I’m overgeneralizing a bit, but it’s what occurred to me while reading your post. I was (probably still am) the softie, and my children’s father took a tougher approach. Together we managed to have a parenting style that seemed to work.
hayden tompkins says:
I keep telling Chris that I am going to be a mean mom. Like when they go through their I-don’t-eat-anything-green stage, I’ll just use food coloring to make everything green. One can only hope!
I won’t know until I am living it, though.
September 3, 2008 at 5:48 pm
jimsmuse
I am snickering over your “color everything green” comment.
One of the most traumatic experiences for me of my son’s young life was giving in to his begging for the limited edition Heinz ketchup that was somehow chemically colored bright green….
hayden tompkins says:
ROFLMAO! My brother, too, begged dad for that ketchup. As far as I can recall, I think it pretty much went straight into the trash.
September 3, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Kip de Moll
Oh Hayden,
You’ll have many pleasant and frightening surprises when the time comes! I’ll so be glad to read your entries then.
In the mantime, ( I actually meant “meantime”, but the typo kinda works, don’t ya think?), thanks so very much for your kind seal of approval!
hayden tompkins says:
LOL, in the mantime. You tickle me.
September 4, 2008 at 2:52 am
thedailydish
YES YOU DO JASON. Yes you do.
hayden tompkins says:
Tee hee!
September 4, 2008 at 11:22 am
curlywurlygurly
yummmmmmmmy jason. i lurve you. sorry, hayden…i was too distracted by the eye candy to focus on your post. lol. i’ll be better next time.
hayden tompkins says:
I should just write a “How to Become a Batemaniac” post, and get it out of the way!
September 4, 2008 at 2:18 pm
thedailydish
His poor wife. WAIT. His LUCKY WIFE!!!