Parents' ideas about what's appropriate become slightly out of whack when confronted with the Herculean task of training a child to do any of the things that we normally take for granted.

While I, as a parent, can identify with the feeling of accomplishment that both parent and child experience when getting over these hurdles, it's something to be shared with your immediate family. Possibly your extended family, if they express an interest. NEVER, and I mean, NEVER in any overt way should this be shared with friends in a public forum. If you can't figure out how to send a couple of private messages to your girlfriends, and derive positive reinforcement and a sense of congratulatory response from it, well, a larger problem looms.

If you have a comic story about how the kid flung his crap at a cop who pulled you over, AND have pictures or video, that's different. But the mundane act of learning to achieve the simple milestones in life that EVERYONE with a complete set of chromosomes achieves isn't supposed to be on video, photographed, shared or otherwise lauded in any public forum. It shows a blatant lack of self-esteem, dignity and responsibility to your offspring's feelings.

For parents who experience tough times sleep training, toilet training, manners training, etc., there is no end of sympathy from me - holding down jobs, trying to make ends meet, trying to keep some identity as an adult who isn't constantly barraged with excrement, tears, tantrums, etc. and doing it on 3-4 hours of sleep a day is amazing. But you know what? More people do it than don't, so it's actually not that special to anyone but yourself. Enjoy your personal achievements and growth. With yourself.

Yes we all put our children in front of the television every once in awhile. In the morning when you want to eek out another 30-40 minutes of sleep, at night when their brains are so shut down, the thought of trying to engage them in any activity beneficial to their ultimate growth is a futile enterprise, or sometimes, when they come to you and say "Dad, can I watch Nemo? (for the 200th time?)"

Nothing replaces human contact and interaction, but sometimes, ya just want to watch a little TV, whether it's a couple of episodes of Spongebob with the wee ones, or letting them veg on their own to watch shows of their choosing. It's a way for them to control a variable of their existence in a world which offers increasingly fewer opportunities for them to exercise that luxury as they grow older with more responsibilities and activities to tie them down.

So, the next time you're feeling guilty, Mr. Leonard, it's not such a big deal. The kids need a little time to feel like they're in control of their destiny, and if it's not out of control, a few extra half-hours in front of the tubr aren't going to kill 'em.

Cheers!

nothing to see in this article.

I hate having to read through the column, and then find out that the premise, that teenage boys are into facials and all sorts of fetish nonsense is backed up by the most meager and ridiculous of sources and quotes.

Flory's attempt to be provocative again falls short.

When is Salon going to put her out to pasture and add some compelling, well-researched content? there have to be 100's of young journalists coming out of Columbia with better habits and instincts for news.

This article seemed written by a retard. Sorry. It sucked, and I can't get the time back. I wasted it reading this steaming pile of bits.

Just what are you snarking at? Carrie Prejean is a, pardon the expression, dumb slut. Do you know why? Anyone who makes a video and doesn't expect it to wind up on the WWW is just dumb. Anyone who makes a sex video expecting it to stay under wraps is SUPER dumb. Anyone who makes a sex video for their beloved, only to have further videos and nude photos appear, is a slut. Actually, I don't really think that, but it's really so much fun to be indignant about it.

There is a common thread though - between you and all these women - I can assure you that reading anything written, ghost written or otherwise

by you, Prejean or Palin is a complete waste of time.

Time to quit your day job, your night job, and whatever else job you have with content creation, and get back to whatever you were doing before this elusive "dream" of writing decided to rear its ugly head. Sadly for you, Journalism isn't really your friend.