[Passions Take Many Forms] Aidan the ballplayer

Aidan loves baseball & he's very good for a 2-year-old.

Where did the therapy go?

I think it is becoming clear that this blog has evolved into a place for me to write about family, both in general and my family in particular. It's not that therapy is not a part of my life anymore. I just haven't had much to say about it. For one thing, I only see clients on Mondays, and as I'm probably going to be leaving in August, my client load is beginning to dwindle anyway. Essentially, my life right now primarily involves taking care of my 2 kids four days a week. I'm still working on my dissertation and searching for a job when I can, but the say-home-dad gig has definitely moved to the forefront. I suspect that as a reengage in therapy (hopefully in a new job beginning in August), I'll have more things to write along clinical and therapeutic lines.

In the meantime, though, I think this blog might be a good place to write about my experiences as a stay-home dad. It's not terribly exciting, to say the least, but I think there are kind a few nuggets of wisdom that I am gaining that I could pass on. If nothing else, I'm sure my mom, my mother-in-law, and other family members will enjoy reading about the kids.

First, for those of you who aren't very well-acquainted with my children, this is my two-year-old son, Aidan:



And this is my two-month-old daughter, Regan:



They are both very sweet kids, even if they don't always cooperate with what I want to do. I stay home with them four days a week so that we don't have to spend the money on childcare. Kari uses a vacation day every Monday to stay home with them. I am going back to work part-time, though, in a couple of weeks. Obviously, this arrangement is not very conducive to writing a dissertation proposal, so we're going to hire a college student to stay with them from noon until 5:30 three afternoons a week. This would have been necessary in July anyway because I will be teaching a class on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, and I would need the time to prepare, in addition to the Mondays when I see my clients. Also, Kari's work load will really pick up in July, so she wouldn't have been able to stay home on Mondays anyway.

So that's the situation. So far, I'm in my third week of doing this, and it's gone pretty well. We have our routine, which is absolutely necessary with kids this age, and we all know generally what to expect. All Aidan cares about is playing at the playground and swimming at the MAC. Regan, though, is eating a TON. She must be having a growth spurt. We'll see how big she's gotten tomorrow at her 2-month check-up.

[Passions Take Many Forms] Draft Day!

My first round draft pick. (MLB amatuer draft begins today.)

[Passions Take Many Forms] Tony Awards

I continue to be confounded about what the Tony voters consider to be the criteria for Best New Musical. Monty Python's Spamalot won the award yesterday, but the Adam Guettel musical The Light in the Piazza won the most awards (6; original lyrics/music, orchestrations, leading actress, scenic design, costume design, and lighting design). Spamalot won only best director and best actress in a featured role, in addition to best musical. It seemed like it was Piazza's night, but Spamalot took home the top prize.

Now, I'm not saying that it didn't deserve it; nor am I suggesting that The Light in the Piazza deserved it more. I haven't seen either show, so I can't say that one is better than the other, and I know that just because you have the best designs and music that you shouldn't be a lock to win. Maybe I'm just skeptical about the award after seeing it go to an inferior show so many times. But I honestly cannot understand what the criteria for this award really is. Is there some sort of rubric that the voters use? Do they throw darts at a bulletin board? I really don't know.

In other Tony news, I have been very impressed with what I've seen/heard from the new musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I generally don't like movie adaptations on Broadway, but this one looks/sounds very good. (I thought The Full Monty, by the same composer, had a really fun, entertaining score, so this shouldn't surprise me.) It only won one Tony (Best Leading Actor for Norbert Leo Butz), but the song they performed on the Tony telecast was the best of the night. I hear it's planning on touring beginning next year. I'll do everything can to see that one.

This is exactly what I mean...

It seems that a radical, right-wing organization calling themselves "Christian" are again waging war against companies who do not advocate their narrow definition of family. The American Family Association (I find the name quite ironic) is leading a boycott of Ford Motor Company after it ended its boycott of Disney. Why, you ask? They seem to believe that Ford and Disney have done much to "affirm and promote the homosexual lifestyle". They point to donations that Ford makes to gay rights organizations. My response? Good for Ford. Regardless of what someone believes about how whether the gay/lesbian lifestyle is right or wrong, I do believe that it is wrong for radical reactionaries to try to take that right away from a person, whether that be through boycotts, legislation, or especially a ridiculous and oppressive constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

I'm not trying to debate whether or not it is right or wrong, but if you believe it is wrong, then you should at least allow individuals to decide for themselves. God gave us the freedom of choice in our lives, and I don't believe that we have the right to take away those choices that God gave. The American Family Association assumes that because I am (a) an evangelical Christian and (b) a family therapist that I hold the same values that they do. Rather, BECAUSE I am a Christian and BECAUSE I am I family therapist, they could not be more wrong.