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Faith & Fatherhood: The Shelf of Forgetfulness
Tuesday, 25 May 2010 21:48
Written by SeanC

forgotten toyI was watching something happen that I never really expected:  I heard a truth that I could completely relate to, uttered from the mouth of a pyro-technician on the TV.  Granted, it was PBS, but even so-

He is a munitions expert and he was rigging something up for an air-show themed around WWII fighters.  So he’d set up movie-set type strafing runs, and bombing runs, and then the pilots would fly the fighters over the pyro’s and they'd all go off and it would look cool.  Then there was this one effect that he said pretty much was just for fun.  “It doesn’t resemble any period ordinance, whatsoever.” He said.  And he was right.  They use this something_core wire that burns at a rate of 22,000’/second to set off the wall of fire.  Yeah.  H-eah!  That’s like mach 18.  Fire.  B I G F I R E.

He says, “we’ve found that there’s just something innately pleasurable to all people” when it comes to exploding stuff.

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How to REALLY Raise Your Daughter’s Self Esteem
Monday, 10 May 2010 20:06
Written by BikiniMom
(2 votes, average 4.50 out of 5)

self-esteem teenage girlI am irritated with the recent media blitz and marketing campaigns speaking about raising women’s and girls’ self-esteem and all this talk of re-defining society’s perception regarding physical beauty.  At first I thought, “Well it’s about time!  Finally, there is social movement that will help empower women and the young girls who are watching them.”  But this excitement quickly turned to disenchantment and disgust.  Whether it is the rash of popular television programs that promote extreme weight loss or ad campaigns sponsored by cosmetic companies, in my opinion they have all fallen short of the mark.

I now see what started out as a movement that showed great promise for bringing about healthier mind sets for our society’s female members was nothing more than sleek marketing campaigns to promote beauty products or other weight-loss related products/services.  Because these companies used verbiage and ads that seemed to promote self-empowerment and better self-esteem that didn’t mean they had anything of the sort to offer.  From what I’ve seen it was all nothing more than sleek advertising designed to suck the public into buying what they are selling, which is what they have been selling all along.  And that really ticks me off.

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Surviving Another Holiday Without My Children
Saturday, 08 May 2010 12:16
Written by BikiniMom
(1 vote, average 5.00 out of 5)

lonely holidayAs another holiday approaches I would be lying if I said that I am not fighting very hard to ignore the intense feelings of grief and sadness that lay just beneath the surface of my smile as I extend well-wishes to everyone I meet whether that be in real time or online.  But I know that I am not alone in this world; the one where a good, loving and fit parent’s children are kept from them.  I know that there are other parents who share my pain.

I still stand at the edge often staring down in the darkness of the abyss. But once I got to the point where I was no longer satisfied to merely survive I began to attempt LIVING. I’ve reached out to many others to try and comfort them because this gives me a sense of purpose so that I can keep finding reasons to wake up in the morning.

I’ve rejected the notion of shame that society has placed upon me and others like me who have been put in similar circumstances.

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The Bad Parent Trap
Wednesday, 05 May 2010 14:04
Written by BikiniMom
(1 vote, average 5.00 out of 5)

guilt-man-womanFirst allow me start by saying I feel that guilt is a useless emotion.  It zaps energy and sucks the life out of an already over-burdened soul.  This in turn causes self-doubt, more stress, less calm and a decreased ability to think situations through making it very difficult to strategize and come up with better solutions for the problem that caused the guilt to begin with.   Wash, rinse, repeat …until the good parent doesn’t know which end is up = parental paralysis.  This self-perpetuating down-ward spiral cycle will cause chaos in what should be an otherwise happy family; frazzled maybe but definitely happy.

Why then do so many good parents seem to feel unable to combat powerful urges to beat themselves up when their children aren’t behaving in ways that they (or society) deem proper or acceptable?  I am not talking about murder.  I am talking about your garden variety naughty and disobedient, the stuff that every single parent’s child does at one point or another, the only difference being degrees or subtle variations.  I don’t think there is a single good parent alive that enjoys watching their children falter, struggle and stumble.  But to expend so much energy feeling badly taking our children’s behavior so personally that our bodies are racked with debilitating anxiety is very counterproductive.  These feelings don’t help the parent as a human being, disciplinarian or role model and it certainly doesn’t help the child (who is watching that parent’s every move) to change any behaviors that their parents view as being negative.

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Pets and Parenting
Thursday, 15 April 2010 11:41
Written by WeaselMomma

Pets and FamilyThere are only 2 kinds of parents.  Parents who allow their kids to have pets and parents whose children will ask if they can have pets.  Depending on your lifestyle and interest, you may have or not have interest in having your children keep pets.  No doubt that pets are not for everyone.  Depending upon the demands of life and the ages of your children, cats and dogs may not fit into your lifestyle.  I however have found that pets can not only enrich family life, but are a great way to teach children responsibility and reduce their fears of wildlife.

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