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Dear
Mark,
Greetings and
happy Valentines Day tomorrow! Hope you're all well and that your winter
hasn't been as nasty as ours here in the northland. My lower back wishes I
would have actually bought the snowblower I was looking at in the Fall!
I know the
hoopla has faded a bit, but the memory of the Super Bowl halftime show is
still there for me. Maybe the good news is that we've reached the bottom!
Have
We Reached the Bottom? 
The questions
are all so compelling: Did Janet Jackson do it on purpose? Was it all
planned, or was it really a "wardrobe malfunction," as stated afterward by
Justin Timberlake?
These are the
questions that have been asked by the national media and by millions of
citizens of this country. We're hearing more information about "nipple
shields" than we'll ever want to know.
And not
surprisingly, we're hearing far more about these two performers after this
incident than would have been the case after a "normal"
performance.
But with so
much attention being paid to the mind-numbing idiocy of this act, we seem
to have lost touch with another, more sinister story. While people spend
their energy blaming two artists who have no clue as to the impact of
their action, we've taken responsibility out of the hands of a number of
people who should know better.
Somewhere in
this mess there are television executives who made the decision to present
a song with the lyrics, "I'm gonna have you naked by the end of this
song."
In front of 89
million viewers, and this was what they came up
with.
Somewhere in
Ohio, a man with his 8-year-old daughter was watching the half-time show
of the Super Bowl. What does this father say to his daughter after seeing
this song performed on what is probably the "biggest stage" in the world?
On a stage that's big enough to lend acceptability to these kinds of songs
and lyrics?
After all,
this isn't some seedy video shown late on a weekend night. This is the
Super Bowl-this is the showcase of American
culture.
I hope that
this father would have the courage to talk to his daughter about the
values that are important to him and how unhappy he was with the half-time
show. It's too bad that a conversation like this would have to occur
during the middle of the biggest sporting event in this
country.
And while this
conversation was happening, there were TV executives blaming Janet Jackson
and Justin Timberlake for their "deplorable
stunt."
I wonder if
they have any young daughters at home?
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A
"Moment" With my Son |
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I'd like
to share a short story with you. My five year- old son and I were
together at the health club the other day when I saw a friend. As
she met my son and shook hands with him, she told him that it was
nice to meet him.
He took
her hand and looked her in the eye and said, "It's nice to meet you,
too, Debra." I got a tear in my eye (it's typical, I hide it well)
and wondered at what age I was first able to meet someone in the
manner that he had just shown. Age 17 or 18?
All of
our experiences as parents aren't wonderful. We have challenges that
take us to the very edge. But we also have moments like these when
all of the challenges you've had with a child dissolve in an
instant.
Take
these moments in. Cherish them. Write them down. They're worth it!
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What's
Your Familys' Annual Financial
Performance? |
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Gary
Foreman has written an article on how to figure out your annual
performance financially.
Read
this article and check out his website, which has hundreds and
hundreds of great articles on saving time and money!
Your familys' annual
performance review
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Robert
Bly on the Plight of Fathers |
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Author
Robert Bly has some strong words for the inability of the American
workplace to provide men with an opportunity to be fathers and
husbands.
He notes
that in 1935, the average workingman had forty hours a week free,
including Saturday and Sunday. By 1990, it was down to seventeen
hours.
To read
this article, click on the link below.
Article by Robet
Bly
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Instructions
from the Dalai Lama |
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Here are
instructions for life in the new millennium from the Dalai
Lama:
1. Take
into account that great love and great achievements involve great
risk.
2. When
you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3.
Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, respect for others and
responsibility for all your actions.
4.
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful
stroke of luck.
5. Learn
the rules so you know how to break them
properly.
6. Don't
let a little dispute injure a great
friendship.
7. When
you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct
it.
8. Spend
some time alone every day.
9. Open
your arms to change, but don't let go of your
values.
10.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best
answer.
11. Live
a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back,
you'll be able to enjoy it a second
time.
12. A
loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your
life.
13. In
disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation.
Don't bring up the past.
14.
Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve
immortality.
15. Be
gentle with the earth.
16. Once
a year, go some place you've never been
before.
17.
Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for
each other exceeds your need for each
other.
18.
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get
it.
19.
Approach love and cooking with reckless
abandon. |
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Last
Call for Fathers Teleclass! |
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This is
the last call for the "Ten Steps to Being a More Effective Father"
teleclass on two consecutive Wednesdays, Feb 18th and 25th, from 7-8
EST.
You'll
leave this teleclass a better father or your money back! To sign up,
just click on the link below. The cost is just $19 for the two
sessions.
Teleclass
registration
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Poll
Results for TV Watching |
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Thanks
for writing and telling me about the TV habits in your family. The
results:
Most of
you seem to allow your kids a couple of hours of supervised TV a
day. Those who wrote in all had some kind of firm limits, as well as
with video games. Nice work!
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Quote
of the Day |
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"Even
the fastest horse cannot catch the meaning in an angry voice."
-Chinese
proverb
Take
care, happy fathering, and look for the
"moments."
- Mark
Brandenburg MA, CPCC
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