David Vienna's Blog, page 242
March 26, 2015
We’re back with an all-new episode of Discussing News With...
We’re back with an all-new episode of Discussing News With My Kids. Me and the boys cover Ted Cruz and his presidential goals, Boeing’s recent patent on a force field, and Taco Bell’s new Biscuit Taco. Previous episodes available here.
March 21, 2015
Long jump. Well, more like a regular jump.
Long jump. Well, more like a regular jump.
This is how we do date night: Wine, tapas, dog.
This is how we do date night: Wine, tapas, dog.
March 20, 2015
I joined Stefanie Wilder-Taylor and Lynette Carolla of the For...
I joined Stefanie Wilder-Taylor and Lynette Carolla of the For Crying Out Loud podcast to chat about my book Calm The F*ck Down. But, we also discussed such diverse topics as our IVF struggle, ironic T-shirts, and Jonathan Winters. (I also gave the Tumblr parenting community a shout-out because you guys are rad.)
Listen to it now. And don’t forget to go like their Facebook page.
March 19, 2015
This morning, Boone said to me, “I miss the videos we used to do where we talked about news.”So, it...
This morning, Boone said to me, “I miss the videos we used to do where we talked about news.”
So, it looks like I’ll be ramping that back up. Expect a new episode next week.
March 18, 2015
An Open Letter
“It really upsets me when I see you comparing yourself to others and finding yourself in some kind of fault for not being pretty enough. It’s like you see what’s portrayed in the media as the only form of beauty, or that “sexiness” is the only vehicle for this. It’s unfair to homogenize your perception of self, and it is dangerous. You are uniquely beautiful each one of you.
It’s hard to see images of what we are told is beautiful and not believe it. But what the media portrays is a tiny portion of the myriad of beauty “types”. What they don’t show are the freckles that can draw attention to your button nose, or how a carefree smile that unabashedly shows a crooked tooth gives a glimpse to a confident woman. These little features are much more attractive than a beauty mark that everyone paints on the same spot on their faces.
Do not fall for the fallacy that only supermodels are sexy, or that sexy is the only way to be beautiful. The supermodel body type represents such a small part of the available human structure, yet all manner of people have had healthy relationships despite not being a six foot tall blonde with a double D bra size and weighing 90 pounds. Sex sells, and these images focus on the sexualized aspects of these women only. But the size of your boobs and butt are not the only measure of your worth, and it is your sense of self worth that brings out your beauty.
When you think that you have to look like something else to be beautiful, then you start to lose yourself. This leads to constantly questioning how you are perceived, which erodes your confidence. By setting limitations on what is beautiful we put limits on ourselves. We begin to question what it means to be feminine or masculine. These are social constructs and have no bearing on what we can freely enjoy, only what we are told to enjoy. This can lead to depression, or self destructive behaviors. You don’t need to destroy yourself nor construct an image of beauty to fit into.
You are beautiful because you know how to think, laugh, and love. Physical beauty is augmented by these qualities to bring about a fully rounded, confident, mindful individual. And it is the individual that is beautiful, not the glossy magazine covers that forces their models to fit in a boring cookie cutter mold of beauty. Be unique and be yourself, because each one of you is the definition of beauty.”
- Written by J. Haywood, a personal friend of mine, a father to three teenage girls, and my new hero.
March 17, 2015
trans-parenting:
My name is Kat, and I approve of this book...
:
My name is Kat, and I approve of this book (David Vienna’s, aka. thedaddycomplex, Calm the F*ck Down). This will likely be my go-to purchase for soon-to-be-parents for the foreseeable future, but even those of us who already have little ones running around can use the occasional reminder to CTFD as well. Well worth a read-through!
SUPER-YAY!
March 16, 2015
A new study shows spending too much time with your kids makes...
A new study shows spending too much time with your kids makes them lazy. And I learned a new term: Hyperparenting.
Hyperparenting basically means you are extremely involved in your kid’s life—like helicopter parents or Tiger Mother parents. A piece in the Wall Street Journal, titled “Too Much Parenting, Not Enough Exercise,” is filled with stats and percentages from the study, but here’s the point…
Children with parents who tended to be overly involved in their academic, athletic and social lives…spent less time outdoors, played fewer after-school sports and were less likely to bike or walk to school, friends’ homes, parks and playgrounds than children with less-involved parents.
Suddenly, I don’t feel so bad that both my wife and I are usually so goddamn busy we can’t hyperparent.
By the way, this article contains another term I’d never heard: Little Emperor parenting. Apparently, that means you give the kid whatever material thing they want. I thought that was just called “raising a spoiled asshole.”
(pic by Chris Selvig)
