Clement's word wisdom

--- Francine's teacher posts a weekly summary on the web called 'The Marvel News'. Every Friday afternoon, Francine and I like to read it together. Clement gets all excited " Yes,marble juice, marble juice!"
--- I am not sure where he picked up the word 已經 （meaning already in Chinese). And he uses it frequently. When I ask him to brush his teeth. He would answer "已經爹爹幫刷牙，刷牙爹爹已經幫，爹爹已經幫刷牙。“
--- 豆腐奶奶，即豆漿

commitment phobia!?

In this week's Time magazine supplement 'Style and Design', there is an article named 'The Leasing LIfe'. Owning luxury items was once status representation, but it is no longer the story. A new trend in luxury lifestyle is renting the good life, from vacation homes to cars to apparels. Quoted a consumer-trend tracker's words "People are more interested in experiences than owning things." For the fact that style and taste evolve quickly, leasing offers the benefits of a good life without all the headaches and commitment. Well, it would be very nice to have such an option when it comes to belongings. What about human relationship? It makes me think of today's perceptions about marriage. Living together to try out a relationship because no commitment in living-ins. Even if had walked down the aisle 'by mistake', there is always an exit door --- divorce for the couples who 'can't commit any more'! An era of commitment phobia!!!! I've heard people said that they felt pity for our older generations who had to 'stuck' in unhappy marriages. But I wonder if our generation with options and choices are any happier. What about our next generation? Children grow up with single parents, no parent, two moms or two dads. All these twisted relationships have brought twisted personalities. We should understand that why many drug addicts, psychos, killers come from broken families. Innocent children have to suffer because the grown-ups choose to resolve problems through the convenient paths. The human laws are amendable. 'No fault divorce' has allowed wedded couples to walk out of the relationship easily. Our heavenly Father's commandment is unchanged. If we think 'God have joined together, let man not separate' is a cruel and outdated command, have the husbands give a thought to 'love your wife as your own body', and have the wives 'submitted to your husbands, respected your husbands'? Maybe commitment is not such a horrify word after all. Perhaps we can begin to discover true happiness and freedom in our lives.

the trend

Francine overheard the word 'Webkinz' in our conversation, she yelled out "I want one too. Many of my friends have that." "Do you know what it is?" She shook her head. I said:" How can you ask for something that you don't even know what it is?" Her next day assignment was to find out from her friends what Webkinz is about before deciding if she should have one. When she come home from school the following day, I asked her if she had completed he 'assignment'. "I asked Luke. But I don't really remember what he told me. He was not so sure either." So we went on to the web to look for the answer. We ran through the 'take a tour' on Webkinz site several times, she finally got the idea after I added my explanation. Obviously, it's not something for her age although the marketers target kids from five to pre-teens. And I really don't like the fact that it requires so much internet time to 'raise' this pet. We had a good conversation about following the trend verses what is good and appropriate for us. Finally, we agreed that she can 'earn' one next week. But I warned her it wouldn't be such a big deal once she owns it. I just want her to learn that very often we just have the lust for things we don't really need. Sometimes it's dangerous to follow the worldly trend.

I am very pleased Wai have gotten the kids into Lego. Francine has assembled a mini-digger all by herself yesterday. It was her gift for Clement.



She has achieved her 'goal' in February and 'earned' an lego airplane. Daddy and daughter spent an afternoon together building the air craft. It was her largest and most complicated lego piece.



Lego is a great toy for creativity and craft skill enhancement. It sometimes takes a great deal of patience and determination to complete the work. Playing high tech toys is popular, but it can limit children's creativity and inter-personal communication skills. Prayerfully consider what is best for our kids' growth.