Kirk blAug

We recently moved Jupiter's bookshelf out of his room and into the play area so that he might have more encouragement to read. He likes to look at and read books a lot and I thought that he might benefit from it being in the area that he spends more awake time. He had been spending time reading during nap or bedtime and not getting enough sleep. One day I asked him if the books were distracting to him and preventing his sleep. Later that day he told me he wanted the bookshelf out in the living room. I think this arrangement has turned out for the better. I also thought that as Tsunami gets older they will probably like to share their books with each other so that they can both read all the books. Right now we pick out the books which we read to Tsunami and sometimes Jupiter picks them out for him too, but soon he will have his own book interests that he can share with Jupiter. Any suggestions to add to the shelf?

Today, many websites are going black in protest of the Protect IP bill now going through congress designed to ruin the way the internet works. Watch the video and follow the link below to let Congress know that you like the internet the way it is. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/31100268 w=490&h=276] Fight for the Future

I think divorce gets a bad rap in our society. It gets painted as a problem when most often it is a solution to a problem marriage. Sometimes, for example when people marry their high school sweetheart, people have made an error in thinking that they have found someone who matches what they want for the rest of their lives. In this case, a divorce is the solution. Successful marriages have been studied to be associated with higher education and age. This makes sense. The more you know, the more you know what you are looking for in a partner. Many people are foregoing the whole idea of marriage altogether. Many people realize that as people grow, interests change and that you cannot definitely say that two people will remain interested in the same things for the rest of their lives. I am married to my wife, but I can see that point of view. Marriage in The US is also convenient for legal reasons. Taxes are higher on single people, and while the state using taxes to encourage marriage

Today Chris, the boys, and I went to The Loop on Delmar Boulevard to check out the Ice Carnival that was going on. When we got there it looked like the 5k and 10k which started at 10 AM was just ending and the stores were starting to setup some carnival games in front of their shops. Many of the shops had ice sculptures in front of them of something themed based on that shop. For example, Moonrise Hotel had a moon ice sculpture and a tattoo shop nearby had an eagle that was reminiscent of one someone might get tattooed on their body. Here are a few more of them we saw: Eventually we got hungry and ate at the Eclipse restaurant which resides in the lobby of the Moonrise. Following our meal, we made our way to the roof where a skate party was going on. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c5Zvz0GIZQ&w=490&h=279] Jupiter played a few of the carnival games on the sidewalk as we walked along too. He won a few stuffed animals. There was much more to do there, but the boys were

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion , or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. First Amendment of the United States Constitution Despite knowing full well what the US Constitution says about government sponsored respect for specific establishments of religion, many public schools in this country try to get around it by either hoping for the ignorance of its students and their parents, or finding loopholes in this system. Case precedent has, of course, found that any school sponsored prayer is unconstitutional. Recently in history, students or their parents have started bringing this violation up with those usually rural schools more often who have been violating the First Amendment for years and sometimes decades. When the school attempts to ignore these students and parents, the typical cours

Sometimes Jupiter likes to read the classic Golden Book tale, The Poky Little Puppy before bed or nap time. This is another of many children's stories where the intended moral of the story seems to have been surpassed by a message that, I think, conveys the nearly the opposite message. The Poky Little Puppy is a story about five little puppies who dig a hole under the fence to go out for a walk in the wide, wide world. The fifth, poky, puppy is always behind the others. Eventually the poky little puppy smells the dessert that is prepared for the puppies each night. The four other puppies smell it too and hurry home while the poky puppy takes his time. The four puppies then eat their dinner and are scolded by their mother for digging a hole under the fence with the punishment being that they do not get dessert. Then along comes the poky puppy after everyone is asleep. He is met with no dinner but left over dessert, since the four puppies were not able to eat it. This scenario takes

One thing that I think I need to work on with Jupiter is being less of a helicopter sometimes. A helicopter parent is a term for one who hovers over their children like a helicopter to the extent that they do not let them learn from their own experiences. It is a form of over-parenting. I do not think that I am as bad about it as some parents I see, but I do think that I could work on it a bit and so I have been. Mostly I have trouble letting him make a mess because it causes more work for me, but I just need to get over it and clean up the mess and be thankful that he had the chance at a new learning experience. The other day we were at the Magic House and all but one small section of the museum was closed until noon. Jupiter was playing in a water area that has a stream of water on several levels with boats and dams and watering cans, as well as a little fountain area, an enclosed water gun case, and a couple other things to help teach young children about how we can interact with w