Month: June 2008

Posted on

Time: The Slippery, Fleeting Thing That Doesn’t Really Exist

I recently read two posts about the issue of time over at Dad of Divas (see links below). It’s a topic I think about often — how I’m spending my time, and how most of it is spent away from my family.

What is time?
We’re told it’s a man-made concept, that it doesn’t really exist. Yet there never seems to be enough of it. And whether or not it’s “real,” there are certain pressures, constraints and sacrifices inherent in the time paradigm.

My definition of time has a pretty bleak side. Time is life. And as we grind out the days and weeks away from our families (albeit in order to support them), there is something irreplaceable being sacrificed. Time with our kids. At the park. At music class. As they grow up. One day they’ll be adults, and we won’t be able to catch up with what we’ve lost.

Monday through Friday, like many moms and dads, my time is spent away from my family — away from my kids — at work. That’s 10.5 hours per day, 52.5 hours per week, 2,572.5 hours per year (I’ve deducted 3 weeks vacation). And I know parents who have it worse — working 12+ hours per day, and weekends too!

When I’m home with my boys, I’m usually so exhausted that it’s a struggle to be present and pleasant. There’s not enough time in the day for me to get enough rest. So I’m left feeling like a vampire has sucked the blood (and the life force) out of me, leaving me in a semi-zombie state. Does this sound like you? I doubt I’m alone.

I’m sorry to say I do not have a cure-all answer for this dilemma that so many of us face. What I do know is this — we can’t give up. We need to trust in the Universe and do our part to find a solution. Pray. Play the lottery. Make the best of our time with our kids (as hard as that may seem). Do whatever you have to do to avoid giving up. If you give up, all is lost. If you keep the faith, anything is possible.

If I did have a cure-all answer for the issue of time, it would look a lot like this:

I would clone myself into 5 people.

#1 Sleeps all day
#2 Spends all day with the kids
#3 Makes love with my wife all day
#4 Works all day
#5 Blogs about the other four

I think this would work out pretty well.

And remember, you are not alone…

Dad of Divas links:
Maniverse #5: Time in a Bottle
Blogging: Pastime or Addiction

 

Posted on

Have You Checked Out the Manival Yet?

This blog carnival is a fantastic journey into the minds of men. If you haven’t checked it out yet, here’s your chance to catch up.

Created by The Art of Manliness, it brings together some of the finest, most diverse blog posts I have ever seen. I hope you enjoy them…

Manival #9 @ Night Writer

Manival #8 @ Spark Plugging

Manival #7 @ Simple Marriage

Manival #6 @ Building Camelot

Manival # 5 @ The Care & Feeding of Man

Manival # 4 @ The Art of Manliness

Manival # 3 @ Shaefer’s Blog

Manival # 2 @ A Good Husband

Manival # 1 @ The Art on Manliness

And remember, you are not alone…

Posted on

The Health Benefits of Cake

Yes, you read that right — there are health benefits to cake. At least I think so. Here’s why…

Imagine for a moment that everything bad you’ve heard about cake is true. The refined sugar, the bleached flower and hydrogenated oil… bad for you.

But what about the positive chemicals your body releases when you experience the joy of cake? Not to mention the mental health benefits caused by the enjoyment of a tasty, fresh, heavily frosted piece of your favorite variety.

I think there’s a kernal of truth in my daddypothosis.

As I’ve admitted before, I’m not a scientist. And I’m OK with that. But I do know (first hand) that the daily grind, often devoid of joy, takes a major toll on us.

Study after study tells us what’s bad for us. Don’t eat refined foods, don’t breathe, don’t use plastic, don’t ingest one million gallons of anything — not even water (there are prescription drugs in there you know).

But who has done a study on the BENEFITS of cake? Or the benefits of anything enjoyable for that matter.

The point is that joy has great power. What we believe has a direct effect on what becomes reality. 

I’d like to see a study of people who do everything as healthy as possible, with one slight catch. Take all the joy out of their lives. My guess is that the lack of joy will crush any benefits of organic anything.

So, go ahead, eat that piece of cake. Enjoy it. It just might save your life.

And remember, you are not alone…

Family Blogs
blog

Posted on

Every Day is Father’s Day

All the playing, meals, sleep-interrupted nights, sheer-and-utter exhaustion, frustration, triumphs, failures, fears, anxieties, hopes, dreams, depression, lack of control, joy, happiness, honor of being a parent, unconditional love, driving, cleaning, colds, more cleaning, bills, tripping over toys, buying more toys, poop, boogers, hugs, kisses, conversation, questions, silence, surprises, naps, even more poop, tantrums (from the boys AND me), regrettable raised voices, lost tempers, peace, lack of peace, reading, running, art, trips to Toys R Us…

All of this and more. Every moment is worth it. Every second. It’s all a precious gift from the Universe — a gift from my boys and my wife.

And no matter how bad something may seem, underneath it all I am the luckiest man on Earth.

Thank you boys, for being my sons. Thank you girls, for watching over us. And thank you Kara, my wife, for our family.

When I really think about it, every day is Father’s Day.

And remember, you are not alone…

Posted on

Healthy Food Tip #2: The Perils of Partially Hydrogenated Oils & Other Bad Food Ingredients

You may have heard about the health issues caused by a food ingredient called partially hydrogenated oil (PHO). It is found in many, many foods in your supermarket and in restaurants. Although I knew it was unhealthy, I never really knew why until I did some research for this post.

In a nutshell, PHO’s are created when hydrogen bubbles (yes, hydrogen) are passed through oil that has been heated. This removes the essential fatty acids that do a lot of good for your body, and chemically alters the oil so it becomes a trans fat, also called a saturated fat (bad, bad stuff). McDonalds is one of the better-known trans fat cases because of all the media attention.

So why are PHO’s so bad? They cause cancer, diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis and allergies that can cause arthritis. It also disables your body from properly absorbing good essential fatty acids (necessary to sustain healthy life) found largely in polyunsaturated oils. Instead of being absorbed and providing your body with what it needs to function properly, the essential fatty acids are eventually stored as fat cells, causing you to gain weight.

I’m not a scientist (although I’ve been told I look like Dr. Egon Spengler from the Ghostbusters — sans the hair), so I won’t pretend to be. The purpose of this post is to inform you of the ill effects of this ingredient (as well as some others). I’ve included some informative links below for those of you who are interested in a more detailed explanation of PHO’s.

But I will tell you this. Companies use this stuff because it’s a really cheap way to give things like cake, cookies, pancakes, cereal and bread a rich buttery taste WITHOUT adding butter (which is more costly). It also extends the shelf life of the product so it can sit there for months (or years) instead of a few weeks. I guess the almighty dollar is more important than the health of our children.

Now that there’s more awareness, some corporations have changed the name of these trans fatty oils to mono-diglycerides. Don’t be fooled, it’s the same thing. Shame on every company that is trying to trick us. I wonder if the owners and employees feed this crap to their families. Or do they take their profits and shop at Whole Foods?

Hey Kellogg’s, charge me an extra dollar and take that crap out of your Pop Tarts — and your cereals. It’s in Froot Loops, Corn Pops and lots of other cereals I can’t think of right now (check the labels).

My question is this: who is going to step up, take responsibility and get rid of this stuff in our food? Will it be a major corporation that will set the precedent, the government, or nobody?

If that’s not enough to keep you up at night, here are a few more bad food ingredients:

Sodium Nitrite: found in bacon, hot dogs and other processed meats kids and parents like to eat. Why is it bad? It causes colon cancer and pancreatic cancer. It has been proven to cause leukemia and brain tumors in children! We eat bacon at least once a week!! At least we used to. I’ll have to check Whole Foods for organic bacon.

Naturalnews.com also lists: MSG, refined white flower, refined white sugar, aspartame, saccharin, artificial colors, chemical preservatives, color fixer chemicals and homogenized dairy fats. Visit their link, or use Google to find out more.

Special thanks to the following links which provided me with this useful information. Pleases visit them for more details:
– Ban Trans Fats
– What’s Wrong with Partially Hydrogenated Oils?
– The latest U.S. health safety distraction ploy: Blame China!
– Recovery Medicine

Related posts:
Healthy Food Tip #1: Decoding PLU Codes For Better Health

And remember, you are not alone…

Family Blogs
blog