Role Models for Our Kids

I have been thinking about what my kids are seeing in the world around them these days and trying to anticipate who they may become based upon the role models they are exposed to. There are those people we would like our kids to emulate. like Peyton Manning for example. This is a man who has worked hard and been blessed with talent. He is clearly the best player on his football team and how does he respond? He goes out and plays his tail off every game, he works hard between games to be sharp for the upcoming week and his public persona is the nice guy a father would not mind his daughter dating (just so long as she is over 30).

There are those that we clearly do not want as role models for out kids. Take the antithesis of Mr. Manning, Terrell Owens. T.O. as he is referred to on the sports shows has gone from a really good player to an OK player and how has he responded? T.O. has long been known as a terrible teammate, self obsessed and arrogant, and over-spoken in public to a point of being obnoxious. Definitely not what I want my kids to aspire to.

So who are the jewels of my genetics looking up to right now? Spongebob Squarepants! Ok, Now you may say that Spongebob is a funny guy who is constantly being stomped on by those around him, but doesn't he always triumph in the end?

So maybe the more important factor in not who the kids are watching, but how you (or me) as a parent communicates with them about who they are seeing. People have good sides and bad sides even if both are not always shown. And in my opinion, the best role models for kids should be the parents. Unfortunately, some parents suck at it in a monumental way, but for those of us that truly care about these things, we should strive to be the best we can be so our kids look to us and not a yellow squishy marine sponge.

Age of Aquarius, Hero vs Badguy, and I Write Therefore I Am

It has been awhile but since I had a few minutes on this Sunday afternoon, I thought I would sent an update on the last few weeks. It has been quite busy with the Joneses as I am sure it has been with you.

Just this weekend, Ashley decided to participate in Locks of Love and had nearly a foot of hair cut off and donated to an organization which creates hairpieces and wigs for children who have lost their hair due to medical reasons and cannot afford hair replacement. She is maybe even more cute with her shorter hair, but it is taking her some time to get used to it.

For Halloween this year, Ashley dressed as the crime-fighting hero Batgirl and Ryan was the super villain Megatron from Transformers. After fighting a super battle, the teamed up to find and confiscate candy from all at one of the malls in Huntsville. And what a team they made. They brought enough candy home to make any dentist proud.



As for me, as I am sure you have heard, I am participating in this years National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and trying to bring that writer in me out into the open. The link above takes you to my page on the NaNowriMo webpage and as of this posting my word count is just under 10,000 words after 6 days of writing. 10K is 20% of the final goal so I have to get shaking if I want to complete the task. The characters are starting to come together and the plot is shaping up as well. I haven't been able to claim a genre yet, but I do plan on putting an excerpt out there soon to give you a little taste. I do have a working title: "The Other Side of The Coin". Also anyone wanting to participate in the editing process in January (after I tweak it a little myself) drop me a line and I will send you a copy to peruse. I am not expecting an award winning production, but I do want to be able to say that I wrote a novel.

That's it for today, the kids are demanding some attention, so until next time, don't take any wooden nickels.