A Father's Love Questioned

The other day I was driving somewhere and I flipped on the radio. I caught the tail end of a comment from Dr. Dobson of Focus On the Family. He sited a statistic to the effect that children in this country go to bed without the love of their biological father. Hmmm, I thought. So, exactly where does that leave fathers of adopted children? Is my love for Aja now somehow disqualified because I am not her biological father? Needless to say, I was annoyed with that tidbit of wisdom. So, I decided to drop him a line. LOL, after I had calmed down of course:

Hello,

I heard something from Dr. Dobson, I believe, that I feel I must take him to task over. On a subscribing station (WGTS 91.9), I heard him site a statistic to the effect that a child goes to bed every night without the love of its biological father. Now, I guess that's not such a good thing. But, there are children, like my daughter, who go to bed every night with the love, prayers and concerns of "A" father. My wife and I adopted our daughter close to four years ago and I'm the only father she's known. And, I'm sure that there are countless other similarly situated families. The comment you made, at least to my ears, seemed to place a higher value on the love of biological parents, which is the furthest thing from the truth. If my daughter and other adoptees had heard such a statement, what impression would they have been left with? I don't think I love my daughter any less than if she were from my own loins. After all, biological differences between people are negligible. It's only our own foolishness that recognizes these slight differences as worthy of attention. I really don't know what I expect Dr. Dobson to do to rectify the comment because it's already out there. Perhaps he could be more mindful of the fact that love and concern are not dependent on biology or genetics. Did not Joseph love his adopted son?

The Homework Myth

I was always convinced that endless loads of homework combined with incessant politically driven testing was robbing our children of their childhoods. This is the time when children discover their world and how to navigate through it. Learning should be a rewarding experience. But, most of all it should be fun. Yes, FUN. This is the very thing that we adults seem determined to remove from the learning process. Below are Real Audio and Window Media Player links to an interview on the Diane Rehm show on this very topic.

Real Audio


Windows Media Player

Interesting Tidbits and Hilarity

Here's and interesting article I found about Barbados; one of the most beautiful places on Earth! Among other things, it's the only place on Earth where a McDonald's has failed!! Now that's heaven!