Under the Sea

Remember how I've written both in this blog and in my column that having kids has encouraged - or forced - me to do a variety of activities I wouldn't otherwise have undertaken? Well  Tuesday I found myself chaperoning  a field trip.

Now it's not my first trip counting heads and hollering at other people's kids to stick with the group. But Tuesday I went with the school to see a play. Wait for it...

The play was a junior high school production of The Little Mermaid.  You read that correctly, I watched a bunch of 12-14 year old kids - none of whom belonged to me - do a Disney musical.

I am so going to heaven for this one!

So Is Mine

Several years ago my friend Sabine told me a wonderfully funny story: A young man with whom she worked entered an elevator to find a lovely young woman standing in it. He smiled. She smiled. He turned and said, "By the way, those are great shoes!" Just as the doors were opening, she smirked and said, "Thanks, but I already have a boyfriend." To which he promptly replied, "Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart, so do I."

Well in a switch up, art is imitating life.  Last night we were watching American Idol - don't be hatin' on me, people - when an ad for Kindle aired. In it a man is struggling to read his e-reading device on the beach under the glare of the sun.

 Next to him is a swimsuit-clad woman easily reading her Kindle.  After discussing the benefits of the Kindle, the man buys one for himself and suggests they celebrate.

The woman informs him that her husband is bringing her a drink right now, and the man answers, "So is mine."

Now the ad lacked the sass and punch of Sabine's friend's encounter, but it's still ground-breaking. Yes, there's been print advertising geared toward the LGBT community for years. But to my knowledge, this is the first television ad for a general product that recognized our evolved society.

And the man used the word "husband." That's powerful.

Yes, it aired on American Idol. I realize that the show is a far "safer" bet against controversy than had it aired on Monday Night Football. But you have to start somewhere. And I'd also argue that Idol's demographic is very important - besides middle aged gay men like Kelly and me, it's viewed by younger people: preteens, teens, and the college set.

Their attitudes toward LGBT people are very different from their grandparents'- and seeing a Kindle ad with a twist isn't shocking to them. In fact, they saw just two people with spouses. And that's how change happens.

To view the ad click here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wY1UIES9wx8

Winter Pictures

Wondering what we've been up to this winter? Take a look!

Skier, snow border, Gus is just a duuuude.

Sleding during a visit from Uncle John (And Tante Sabine)

Snow fort out front - had a lot of snow this year!

 

 

Gus grew a beard!

 

 

 

 

Niko learned to make lemon soup.

 

 

Gus went snow shoeing 

 

 

Niko lost his first tooth (and second)

They both apparently grew mustaches

And Dad survived a long and cold winter...barely!

We Are From France

One of the most interesting aspects about having chickens is learning about eggs. Yes, they're incredible. Yes, they're edible. But they're also very different from the perfectly symmetrical, blinding white eggs or the matte brown ones you find in your local  grocery store. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors.

Our chickens are Americauna and Maran breeds. That means their eggs are bluish green and brownish read respectively.

And even within our girls there's a variety of colors and shapes on a daily basis. Look at the assortment we got this last Sunday:

Some dark, some light, some speckled, some plain. But all pretty similar. Unlike the egg we got a couple of weeks ago, leading us to ponder whether our chickens were really from Remulak. The egg was a conehead like Beldar, Prymaat, and their daughter Connie.

And yes, it is freakishly large:

Compare it to a "normal" sized egg:

I don't know what's going on out there, but come to think of it, Beldar and Prymaat did give out six packs and fried eggs on Halloween!

Who knows, maybe all that cluck cluck clucking in the backyard translates to four simple words:
WE ARE FROM FRANCE.

"French" chicken?

Niko, the New Man

A couple of weeks ago, I was minding my own business reading when Niko emerged from the bathroom where he had been getting ready for bed. There was  an air about him, a swagger - maybe even a strut in his walk.

Proudly he told me that while he was brushing his teeth, he felt a quick jab of pain, and voila! His first loose tooth came flying out! He'd been working that tooth for quite some time. Frankly, it was probably ready to drop a few days earlier, but he wanted nothing to do with the more traditional methods of extraction: strings, fingers, you get the picture.

The best part of losing his first tooth wasn't the $2 left by the Tooth Fairy (or even the additional buck that s/he left for him at Papou's), it's the fact the tooth right next to it is ready to drop any day now.

The Faces of the Story

Television reporters strive to put a face to their stories. A reporter can stand there and tell the viewers about a dog saving a little kid, and we'll get the gist of what happened. However, if that reporter interviews the kid and her parents, we are drawn in and are more engaged.

Many of the followers of Who's Your Daddy are already aware that Gus and I were recently interviewed by Carole Mikita of KSL - our local NBC affiliate - as the "faces" of her story regarding the Boy Scouts of America potentially removing the ban on gay scouts and leaders.

After the piece ran on the 5:00 o'clock news - it also aired at 6:00 and 10:00 - I read the online comments associated with the print story on KSL's website. Most of them were pretty vile and hate-filled. I think the comments support the statement I made during the interview that the existing policy is based on fear and ignorance. I hope they responders took the time to watch Carole's TV story. If they did, I hope they were able to put faces to it - faces not of a threat, but pretty much of a typical American family.

To see the story click here

Mr. Perfect

Gus has been experiencing a really successful academic year so far.  Everything seems to finally be clicking for him, and with that has come hard-earned achievement and even greater self confidence.

Thus far he's had back-to-back perfect-score book reports, he's aced every social studies quiz, and of 20 weekly spelling tests, he's had 100% on 19...missing one word a couple of weeks ago.

Now whereas we're very proud of him, and delighted with his progress, I'm becoming concerned that by achieving all this perfection he  is setting himself up for failure. He was incredibly disappointed when he missed that one spelling word. 

Parents spend so much time trying to teach our kids to do well, I think sometimes we don't teach them how to fail (not that getting 9 out of 10 right on a spelling test is failure.)

I suppose I should just be thankful that Gus takes my advice to "just do your best" seriously. And he knows what he's capable of achieving. But odds are that one day he's not going to do so well. I just need to ensure he knows we'll still be proud of him.