Tuesday, February 24, 2009
"Dear Mr. President, Tell Me What to Do..."
Caught President Obama's speech tonight. Now, I know why never watch these things. The "spontaneous" partisan applause that breaks out every 90 seconds. More standing and sitting and standing than a Catholic wedding. The post-speech autograph session?!
I'm sure most of tomorrow's water cooler conversation will revolve around Obama's awkward tiptoe through the weeds of nationalized banking and government-run health care, but for a few seconds, the President was speaking directly to me:
In the end, there is no program or policy that can substitute for a mother or father who will attend those parent-teacher conferences, or help with homework after dinner, or turn off the TV, put away the video games, and read to their child. I speak to you not just as a President, but as a father when I say that responsibility for our children's education must begin at home.
Hey, I read to my son! I do one of those things!
"Have you ever tried simply turning off the TV, sitting down with your children, and hitting them?"- Bender, Futurama
ReplyDeleteAll kidding aside, it was nice to see a president speak with a clarity and purpose that I haven't seen in my lifetime (granted, I'm only 22).
ReplyDeleteNot to condescend to you but good on you for reading to your kid. I'm a college student and I see too many kids say things like "eew! I don't like to read!"
I love reading to the boy. I don't even mind that every book he owns is published by and populated with the Disney family of characters. Gotta create brand loyalty early and if our small family doesn't support mom and pop outfits like Disney, then what'll we read?
ReplyDeleteDiznee Land? We're sorry, but there's profit to be had.
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