Tuesday, March 7, 2006

Day Two

Okay this one might be a bit shorter…
Check out these websites that specialize in digital enhancement and then you can stop wondering why your wife/girlfriend spends so much time in front of the mirror…
And trust me it’s not for your benefit buddy…
o http://www.newfaces.com/shop/digital-photo-enhancement.php
o http://www.touchofglamour.com/Photo_Retouching.htm
Did you know that women’s internal organs are double in size during adolescence. And that they are substantially larger than men’s. No wonder they can hold those farts for so long – they’ve got the room!
We had a discussion on the factors that prevent adolescents from making the transition to adult thinking. There were a number of good factors presented in class including the role of the parent, and education. We spent a considerable amount of time talking about responsibility – primarily that youth don’t take any. Some one said that young people wanted all the frills without the work – the emergent church was destined to fail as a result. Hmmm! What I found on the contrary is that we as adults have not really challenged our youth to take on more responsibility. Like for instance – I tell my kids hey the chairs need to be stacked after the youth meeting. They do it! But of course if I just start stacking chairs and don’t inform them of their responsibility they don’t get it. So we have to tell them to do stuff when we expect that it should just come naturally. Well how should they know what to do if most of their life is handed to them – without the interaction of their own responsibility.
Another factor that I wanted to explore is how low SES, ethnicity, and nutrition might be causal factors in poor cognitive development. Marv seemed a little reluctant to go there – probably for a number of reasons including being perceived to place limitations on people affected by these factors so…
I think it is a shamefully unavoidable reality that we need to own. Our treatment of aboriginal Canadians is terrible. When you see the conditions that many of our brothers and sisters live with, it truly is a miracle when some of them achieve higher levels of cognitive skills. Let me be clear I’m not suggesting that they are less human or anything. I wish we would spend more time on this topic at some level cause I think we are responsible for this…
One other thing
Ron Taffel’s book “The Second Family” is deeply arresting – not for the faint of heart. I don’t know if I am going to let you read it Char. I feel guilty and messed up as a parent when I read that book.
I decided today that I want to live out a prayer every day – to connect my kids to my undivided attention everyday…
… now if you want to “give something up” for lent – great! This is what I am giving up. I am giving up be self centered just long enough each day to give my wife and family my undivided attention for as long as they need it each day. Wow! We’ll see what happens after lent…
Any way back to editing my paper.
out

1 comment:

Increasing... said...

so I google the title of Taffel's book and low and behold I get to read part of a chapter on amazon. yeah it's pretty scary stuff that young kids are into these days but what he says is intriguing. i'm gonna get me a copy - or borrow the one you pick up this week!
char