Fathered Five

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

From the Men’s Health daily marketing rag newsletter:

Dads—looks like you influence your kids more than you think. According to an Australian study, children are more likely to mimic your diet and exercise routines than Mom’s.

The researchers looked at 165 overweight children over a 6-month period, and found children who lost the most weight had fathers who were engaged in new eating and exercise plans.

So I’m keeping a list of things good dads are supposed to do: listen to your daughters, protect them, provide for the family, create a safe environment, initiate boys through the stages of male development, hold, rock, and feed infants, and on and on. And that’s just the beginning. Looks like it’s time to add “don’t make them fat” to the list. (There’s a completely separate list for things good husbands are supposed to do!)

Now it turns out I have to give up Twinkies and couch time, too, because the kids might see me eating them and think it’s okay to sit around eating potato chips and watching TV, which they are naturally inclined to do anyway. As am I. Path of least resistance and all.

The blurb continues (sorry; my source doesn’t cite the original study):

Your plate generally has less vegetables and more meat than your wife’s, making her the “bad guy” and you the hero of the household. Also, fathers tend to act as the role models of the house—when they make their lives healthier, the whole family becomes healthier.

Okay, I think that first point is stupid. Four of my five wouldn’t notice if all their hair fell out and they’re going to notice that my plate has less vegetables than mom’s? Please.

Americans are the fattest people on the planet, with childhood obesity literally at epidemic rates (1 in 4 children in New York City public schools is overweight). This is what David looked like after a two month tour through the U.S. (brought to you by McDonald’s, KFC, and agribusiness). I don’t know what other factors are involved, but mistakes by parents appear to contribute to this trend in obese kids and the attendant health problems. I know a lot of parents who stock up on chips and candy and ice cream. (I’ll have more to say about this when I tell you about a cool book I just finished, In Defense of Food.)

Luckily, we do pretty well in this regard at Chez Five. Necessity early on trained us not to buy junk food, not to eat out too often. It also meant we didn’t buy video game consoles or cable TV. And we’ve kind of grown to like it that way even though we could afford to do differently now. As a result, our teenagers snack on carrots and Albacore tuna (and raw onions for Boy 13) and chat online for amusement—but only for an hour per day. No kidding. Yeah, they pretty much hate us. Still, I could lose about 20 pounds and I do a fair amount of sitting. Looks like I just gained 5 more reasons to change.

Share This

Girl 2 was upset last night because Her Hotness wouldn’t play hide and seek with her during dinner. When she’d had enough, she stomped off to find her blankie, howling all the way to her room. She cried in there for a few minutes then whimpered back into the living room where Boy 4 was on the couch.

“Can you give me hugs?” she asked him.

He, being a guy, was too engrossed in his show to respond. (It was Scamper the Penguin, after all! Don’t tell me you’ve never been so engrossed you don’t hear what your girl says.)

We got his attention and told him she was sad and needed a hug. So he hugged her.

She needed some more a few minutes later. “Can you give me hugs?” And he heard her this time and hugged her again.

Pretty soon she was all better. I think it must have been his hugs.

Share This

20 years ago, while I was a missionary in Brazil, Her Hotness was at home living her normal life as a gorgeous 18-19 year old. That is to say, she dated a lot of guys. (Let me be very clear: “date” in my culture means just that—go out on dates. It doesn’t mean “bonking,” like it so often means in the glittering and chattering classes today.)

I doubt she spent a single weekend night at home during the two years I was gone. One guy, in particular, she dated a lot. Name was Jeff. But they split up before I got home, and the rest was history.

But a couple of years after we got married, Jeff resurfaced. He called my wife at work, just to chat, and wondered if we would like to get together with him and his wife just for kicks.

She told him she’d check with me and call him back. I thought about it for about a second and said No Way. She called him back and told him no and that was that.

Today’s post brought to you by Mr. Thompson, who comments on the His Needs, Her Needs post:

Well i haven’t got this book yet but i will get Soon ; For now i have a questions for everyone especially Husbands ? My wife told me a old friend of hers call her job and Ask will she go out to lunch with him later on this week and she told him of course i will . And then she call me and told me this and i was mad because she didn’t evite me she thought i was going to be ok with it ; I don’t think so big No, No No ! I said to her babe i’m going with you . He not going to be with you alone for Lunch ! All the Husbands do you agree with me or Not agree with me . And she’s 13 weeks pregnant with our 1st child !

First, Mr. T, congratulations on the baby. You’re in for a heck of a wild ride. Second, I agree with you. Third, even though this reunion with her old friend is probably completely innocent, I think your comfort level gets to dictate what does and does not happen in this situation. (Assuming you’re a reasonable person and not a yutz.) Marriage is a long process of give and take. She should give in this case.

Husbands, what do you think?

Share This

The boys introduced Girl 2 to king of the hill over the weekend. The couch was the hill. A large stack of pillows and towels and blankets made for a soft landing.

Yesterday, Boy 4 and Girl 2 wanted to play it again, but we were trying to get the house in order and wouldn’t let them make a mess with the blankets and pillows. They decided to play it anyway. You see where this is going.

Not long into the game, Girl 2 was thrown off the couch. She landed on her feet but couldn’t hold it and fell hard on her bum. Hysteria ensued.

She came to me for sympathy. I rubbed her owie and kissed her and told her I was sorry she was hurt. She got irritated and squirmed off my lap. She went into the living room, still howling at the injustice of it all, and said, “I want to play king of the hill!”

Share This

Her Hotness and Girl 16 were gone half of last week for Girls Camp. The other four stayed with my in-laws, and Joe had two glorious nights alone.

When I went to the in-laws’ house to pick up the four on Friday, we’d been apart since Wednesday. I packed them and their gear into the car and started the short drive home.

Boy 4 piped up from the back seat, “I’m happy to be a famowee again.”

Is that not the sweetest thing? That one will carry me for a while.

Share This