Raising a balanced child

As I watch my son grow up I often compare my childhood and what I wish my childhood had been in a perfect world with my son’s experiences thus far. Looking back at growing up in the 80’s and 90’s my fondest memories were: riding bikes up and down street and through the dusty lots where houses still hadn’t been build, playing basketball in the driveway until it was so dark that you couldn’t see the direction of the ball as it deflected off the rim, and just being outside being kids without any real cares except how much longer you could stay out before you were called home for the night. These days children are consumed with social media bullying them into not being bullies, video games that have become so realistic that priests and politicians blame them for all that’s wrong with the world, and the internet that allows you to keep up with the entire world 24 hours a day without ever having to pry yourself away from the couch.

Times have clearly changed and continue to evolve at an ever quickening pace. So how do you raise a child that has a healthy balance? Things like reality T.V and social media can surely be unhealthy when they consume your life, but I believe that it has become an important part of growing up in the aspect of a child’s social development. Being able to relate to your peers through a common bond such as last night’s episode of whatever show, the newest game, or the latest in social news is part of growing up as a child.

I feel the challenge for me as a parent will be to bring all of these aspects of my child’s life together into a healthy balance. I don’t have any real answers to these questions just yet but I am going to try to inject a little wisdom where I feel necessary in his life and hopefully be able to encourage him along the way. I welcome any suggestions or experiences in this matter as either a parent or what you experienced growing up. What effects do you think technology has on growing up today?

Everyone's a critic (#1)

Okay, so this is my second blog post ever in my life. So what better time to start criticizing other people's work than right now? In the spirit of being a critical reader, I have looked through seemingly endless blogs from various companies and now I am ready to judge.

The first site is one that I really fell in love with. It's called "The Whole Story". The blog belongs to "Whole Foods Market" and is a great collection of seasonally appropriate and creative food ideas. My big New Year's resolution this year is to eat better and cook more at home. This has proven difficult not just because of my already hectic schedule but also because I spent most of my 20s eating out of a Marine Corps chow hall rather than nurturing my gourmet chef within. I particularly like the food guides under the recipes tab. It lists general ingredients and gives recipe ideas for a particular food item. Ever look at a vegetable at the store and had just no idea how you would possibly turn that into food? I have, maybe it's time to live a little. The site itself is also fittingly simple; its uncluttered appearance gives off a small farmer's market comfortable feeling that makes you feel a little healthier just by visiting.

The next one that I found particularly interesting belongs to the internet mogul Google. Google's "Official Blog" is a mix of techie news from around the world. It may not be quite as useful as the previous blog in terms of personal gain however, I've already found myself engrossed and unable to quit reading about the exciting work that Google is doing around the world. I found their work at the Grand Canyon of particular interest. Mapping the Grand Canyon trails step by step may not seem like a useful advance for a corporate giant, but I work in a hospital where I frequently see patients that have been confined to their bed for years and some since childhood due to their health. I can imagine that it would be exciting for someone like that to be able to escape the hospital walls and see the world in a new way. I find it refreshing to see a huge corporation do something that improves the human experience rather than their own bottom line. The site itself is visually bland but the content is stunning.

In my quest through this new world of blogging (new to me) I've had a difficult time finding a site that I didn't like or at least learn a little bit from so I took a tip from "Time Magazine's" site and visited a blog from their list of "blogs that they could do without" and low and behold I came across the TSA blog. Given the nature of the TSA's work I found it a little awkward that their site took a shot at putting a little bit of humor into the subject of air travel. It seemed a little awkward and over all I would say the content of the site serves no real purpose. I hate to be critical of someone's hard work but that's what this is all about, right?