I learned in church today

[SeattleUte]

I took my kids to Lion King 3D yesterday. (I still love that scene with the baboon parting the cat tails and saying, "Here is your father".) They are 5 and 7 and had not seen it but that made it better. (They have seen a lot of Loony Tunes and Wallace and Grommit, etc. on DVD, especially on airplaines.) Last week was the Husky game. I selectively initiate them to popular culture.

[UtahDan]

PS: I do agree with your choice not to raise them as Utah fans.

This is maybe the lowest blow I have ever seen you inflict, Jeff.

[Paperback Writer]

We know a few families that don't allow their kids to eat sugar. They go nuts when they come to our house; foraging through the fridge and cupboards, etc., devouring all sweets they can find.

Here's something a scout leader might appreciate. On this weekend's monthly camp out, I had to arbitrate a dispute between two scouts. While the troop was playing capture the flag, one scouts sugary snacks went missing from his tent. Only empty boxes and wrappers remained. The accused scout did not confess even though many (including myself) were fairly sure of his guilt. I mediated with the scout whose goodies were gone by promising him a bag of candy if he finished his personal fitness merit badge he's been struggling with (the irony is not lost on me). Anyway, after lights out I had trouble falling asleep in my hammock and saw some shadows by the picnic tables that were serving as our camp kitchen. Those shadows turn out to be a scout who has left the picnic tables and is walking towards a copse of trees. Concerned that one of my scouts is not in his tent and is leaving our camp site, I grap my headlamp, put on my boots and follow. But I don't turn on my headlamp until I get to the copse of trees. What do I discover? The same scout who just a couple of hours earlier was accused of eating another scouts goodies, has appropriated the troops hot chocolate mix that was to be used for breakfast. He is opening the individual hot chocolate packages and is pouring them into his mouth; one-by-one. He was on his third packet when I surprised him by turning on my headlamp and catching him in the act.

And, you guessed it - the scout comes from a family that forbids sugar in their house.

[SeattleUte]

Come on. Now you are sounding like a Luddite to boot.



Sounds like a great opportunity to teach your kids how to discern quality and make good choices. And how to manage time.

I seem to recall that you also prevent your kids from listening to any form of music but classical. With all due respect, that is just nuts. There is such a rich universe of wonderful music out there beyond classical. I can't for the life of me figure out why you would want to deprive them of experiencing that.

Your kids are going to be a mess when they leave home for college, just like the overly-sheltered home school kids. Good luck with that.

PS: I do agree with your choice not to raise them as Utah fans.

Here's the thing. Rock music is everywhere. All kids are imbued with it unless they live in a religious cult. As to mine, it's all over their school. The kids sing the Beatles and the Stones at choir. The speakers are playing pop music in the mornings when they arrive and at social events. And this is a very competitive school. You go in a restaurant, it's there. Rock music is more common than sunshine in Arizona or rain here. So, all it comes down to is teaching kids values, that some art is great and transcendent, and some art is more ephemoral, while a great deal of it is garbage.

The problem is not that my kids will grow up ignorant of rock music. They will grow up imbued with it whatever anyone tries to do. In fact, demonizing it is a sure way to make it alluring to them. Ultimately, rock music is a lot like sugar or junk food. Some is good in a classic way in its own right, but if that's all you eat. . . .

Our kids eat plenty of sugar at school, at home, at birthday parties, etc. But I see a lot of obese kids out there, often they are washing down a pastry with a Gatorade, and I think about lives brought short, amputated limbs, blindness, the agony of of romantic rejection and loveless lives. Most obese kids are such because of parental deficits.

[Sleeping in EQ]

I suspect SU's kids will be fine. He will look at them sternly and demand to know what they are listneing to on their iPods. They will smile calmly and tell him "why, nothing but some of Bach's mass in b minor, pa-pa" and he will sink back down in his easy chair, clutching his ipad warm with the heat from its discharging battery as he browses the net, smugly asssured he has saved his children from artisitic and cultural depravation. Meanwhile, the kids will leave the room, smirking at ewach other, listening to wahtever music is their choice, and knowing the old man is easy oh so easy to fool.

So SU is like Winchester from M*A*S*H?

[NorthwestUteFan]

And, you guessed it - the scout comes from a family that forbids sugar in their house.

My cousin became diabetic at age 4. He was the 3rd of 4 boys, so his two older brothers (10 and 7) were beside themselves when my aunt banned all sugar snacks in their home.

One year we went to Lake Powell and took with us the oldest cousin, who had just turned 12. This was the year Costco first opened and my mom went crazy buying flats of soda pop and candy for the trip. My cousin downed about 9-10 cans of some red Shasta drink and nearly half a bucket of Red Vines.

During the night he was up 12 times puking his guts out, luckily finding his way out of the tent to blow the red frothy mix into the Bullfrog Bay sand.

After that experience my aunt allowed candy, cookies, etc back into the house, but PURCHASED my diabetic cousin's shares from him every time the rest of them ate it. At Halloween he sold all of his treats to his three brothers. Everybody was happier, and my young cousin earned quite a bit of money for his 'sacrifice'.

[Paperback Writer]

My cousin became diabetic at age 4. He was the 3rd of 4 boys, so his two older brothers (10 and 7) were beside themselves when my aunt banned all sugar snacks in their home.

One year we went to Lake Powell and took with us the oldest cousin, who had just turned 12. This was the year Costco first opened and my mom went crazy buying flats of soda pop and candy for the trip. My cousin downed about 9-10 cans of some red Shasta drink and nearly half a bucket of Red Vines.

During the night he was up 12 times puking his guts out, luckily finding his way out of the tent to blow the red frothy mix into the Bullfrog Bay sand.

After that experience my aunt allowed candy, cookies, etc back into the house, but PURCHASED my diabetic cousin's shares from him every time the rest of them ate it. At Halloween he sold all of his treats to his three brothers. Everybody was happier, and my young cousin earned quite a bit of money for his 'sacrifice'.

I know all about the challenges of sugar and diabetes as I have a daughter who is a Type 1 diabetic. We decided that the worst thing we could do was to ban sugar in the house for her three older brothers. But we did cut back on sugar and eat healthier as a family. The result was much less junk food and her brothers found that they liked the healthy alternatives better. Halloween and Christmas were a challenge at first but now they are not a big deal. Santa Claus still gives some treats and my diabetic daughter found she gets better alternatives in her stocking. Halloween candy gets bartered (extra turns on the TV/XBOX) to her brothers or traded in to parents for other stuff. I'm surprised that they haven't gone to a cash system like your cousins but that may be due to not much of a demand by her brothers and they do value their cash.

[Moliere]

Shouldn't she be MM now?

That would be too confusing with MMM and it leaves open the possibility of me changing my name back at somepoint. Plus, now I can just say she never took my name and that will give her respect in SU's eyes...

[NorthwestUteFan]

I'm surprised that they haven't gone to a cash system like your cousins but that may be due to not much of a demand by her brothers and they do value their cash.

I think my aunt funded the candy purchase on the sly, but the kids also bartered for chores...

This was in the pre-video game days, except for Atari and maybe the Apple IIe. Today it might be different.

This strategy worked (swapping candy for cash) in their case, and they all turned out fine. I think this method is a good alternative, and certainly is better than having a poor diabetic kid cry himself to sleep after trick-or-treating on Halloween when he isn't allowed to have the candy he 'earned'.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Here's something a scout leader might appreciate. On this weekend's monthly camp out, I had to arbitrate a dispute between two scouts. While the troop was playing capture the flag, one scouts sugary snacks went missing from his tent. Only empty boxes and wrappers remained. The accused scout did not confess even though many (including myself) were fairly sure of his guilt. I mediated with the scout whose goodies were gone by promising him a bag of candy if he finished his personal fitness merit badge he's been struggling with (the irony is not lost on me). Anyway, after lights out I had trouble falling asleep in my hammock and saw some shadows by the picnic tables that were serving as our camp kitchen. Those shadows turn out to be a scout who has left the picnic tables and is walking towards a copse of trees. Concerned that one of my scouts is not in his tent and is leaving our camp site, I grap my headlamp, put on my boots and follow. But I don't turn on my headlamp until I get to the copse of trees. What do I discover? The same scout who just a couple of hours earlier was accused of eating another scouts goodies, has appropriated the troops hot chocolate mix that was to be used for breakfast. He is opening the individual hot chocolate packages and is pouring them into his mouth; one-by-one. He was on his third packet when I surprised him by turning on my headlamp and catching him in the act.

And, you guessed it - the scout comes from a family that forbids sugar in their house.

That's a great story.

[snowcat]

One of the observations my wife has made about around here is how much more over-protective parents are on stuff like this, yet she sees lots more kids on laps in cars, not in the right car seats, young kids riding in the front seat, etc.

You really should consider moving out of Texas.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

The two things that prove Satan is gaining complete power over this world are the fact that you can not display the ten commandments in government buildings and a transgender person on reality "family" TV.

[pellegrino]

The two things that prove Satan is gaining complete power over this world are the fact that you can not display the ten commandments in government buildings and a transgender person on reality "family" TV.

wth? that's the best they could come up with?

[RC Vikings]

Today we talked about the second coming and about what would happen. I'm pretty sure I won't be around for it and I sat their wondering how this affected me. I wish we would talk more about Christ and how we can become better people because week after week I walk out of that church truly uninspired.

[Clark Addison]

A few months back my wife had surgery, and ever since then she hasn't been able (or maybe willing) to sit in church chairs for three hours, so she has been going home after Sacrament Meeting. I have gotten in the habit of sitting in the back of Sunday School and spending the hour reviewing the previous day's BYU game thread from CUF. Today, my wife attended Sunday School with me for the first time in a few months. I learned in church today that my wife does not approve of my new habit. So I read it in priesthood instead (which is harder because there are only about 8 of us in there).