September 9, 2006
Pittiful Wisdom on MarriagePosted by Bryan
Brad Pitt says he and Angelina Jolie won't marry until all people can.
Clearly, the man's logic is impeccable. He doesn't clarify if by "all people" he includes those feeling oppressed by age restrictions and those pushing for the legalization of interspecies marriage.
By evidence of the film dynasties of both Paris Hilton and Jean Claude Van Damme, we discover the precedent set in leading Pitt to his resolute position.
In the same interview, he said that he could not live without his adopted children. Not waiting to adopt until all people could, he shows that his logic is as stable as his consistency. This has to make Ms. Jolie feel pretty special...he can't live without her children, but when it comes to the mother of those children...meh...let's wait until everyone else in the whole wide world can get married, then we'll consider it.
Continuing on, Pitt reveals that he and I disagree about pretty much every aspect of parenting. He doesn't mind his kids being rambunctious. He lets them do whatever they want "if it doesn't hurt anybody" (to which the web writer comments, "lucky kids"). He emphasizes the importance to give three minute-warnings before ending their activities.
And I, on the other hand, believe in parenting.
Pitt's opinions were part of a puff piece called, "Fifteen things I think Everyone Should Know." I went looking for a wav file that might have helped, but it couldn't be found.
What I did find, though, was a page for The More You Know about The More You Know. Helpfully, there's even a link there to Find Out More.
Between advice from the Pitts (ba-dumpumcssh) and the PSA page, my brain is full.
I better take a nap.
September 9, 2006 12:04 PMI certainly wouldn't follow advice from Pitt on parenting but I have to agree with the three minute warning. In fact we would even stretch that to five where possible. Of course I don't mean giving a child five minutes to stop bad behaviour but letting them know that the activity they're involved with is about to end.
I don't think anything's more frustrating for a child than to suddenly be told that they have to end an activity they're enjoying right away. The scriptures tell us that we shouldn't frustrate or exasperate our children.
There will always be times when it's entirely appropriate to end an activity right away but wherever possible we'll let our kids know that they have 'five more minutes in the pool' or that we'll be 'going home from Grandma's in five minutes'.
It's something that shows them courtesy.
We took the principle from the Growing Kids God's Way course we did years back.
Yes, we absolutely believe in parenting and that children should obey their parents as the scriptures say but letting a child know that the end of an activity is coming saves a lot of heartache.
Posted by: Rodney Olsen at September 9, 2006 6:31 PMI don't have a problem with it the way you've explained it, Rodney. We pretty much do the same thing. Just yesterday, I told Cotter he had three minutes left of baseball before we had to leave.
I guess when I read it originally through my hypercriticism lenses I interpreted it more along the lines of giving a three minute warning for the tolerance of inappropriate behavior.
Posted by: Bryan at September 9, 2006 6:38 PM