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	<title>Total Depravity &#187; Parenting</title>
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	<link>http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com</link>
	<description>Why did the chicken cross the road? Because his parents told him not to.</description>
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		<title>iParent: Readymech</title>
		<link>http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/2007/03/iparent-readymech/</link>
		<comments>http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/2007/03/iparent-readymech/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Mar 2007 13:28:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jared</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fatherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/?p=352</guid>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Any kid knows that defending a fort without reinforcements is just asking for an ambush. Be prepared (and foster your child&#8217;s love for double-sided tape) with a <a href="http://readymech.com/">Readymech</a>&#8212;paradoxically adorable&#8212;monster army!</p>
<blockquote><p>
&#8216;Readymechs are free, flatpack toys for you to print and build. They are designed to fit on an 8.5&#8243;x11&#8243; page and printed with any printer. You’ll need double-sided tape, thick matte paper, and 10-15 minutes for build time.&#8217;</p>
<p><em><a href="http://readymech.com/">Readymech</a></em>
</p></blockquote>
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<p>And if these troops should succumb to a family cat or large glass of water, <a href="http://www.paperrobots1999.com/home.html">Paper Robots</a> are there to pick up the slack. Nothing beats <a href="http://www.paperrobots1999.com/model04.html">Optimus Prime</a><sup><font size="1">*</font></sup>. Nothing.</p>
<p><em>(Thanks, <a href="http://lifehacker.com/software/weekend-project/weekend-project-make-a-papercraft-monster-army-230161.php">Life</a><a href="http://lifehacker.com/software/weekend-project/weekend-project-make-a-paper-robot-231957.php">hacker</a>!)</em></p>
<p><font size="1"><sup>*</sup></font> Yes, this <em>paper</em> Optimus Prime <em><strong><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/82233313@N00/sets/72157594477968884/">actually turns into a truck</a></strong></em>!</p>
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		<title>iParent: Learn CPR</title>
		<link>http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/2007/02/iparent-learn-cpr/</link>
		<comments>http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/2007/02/iparent-learn-cpr/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Feb 2007 18:15:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jared</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fatherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/?p=326</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you need a refresher course for CPR, the University of Washington School of Medicine has a site with <a href="http://depts.washington.edu/learncpr/">information guides and video demonstrations for CPR and choking first aid</a>. All ages are covered, from infants to adults. There&#8217;s also an <a href="http://depts.washington.edu/learncpr/askdoctor.html">FAQ about choking and CPR</a>.</p>
<p>The first (and last) adult CPR class I took was in high school, and since then the American Heart Association now teaches thirty chest compressions, instead of five. The same goes for children.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s a lot of good information here, but it&#8217;s obviously no substitution for licensed instruction. Visit the AHA to <a href="http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3011764">find a CPR class</a> in your area.</p>
<p><em>(Thanks, <a href="http://www.lifehacker.com/software/first-aid/learn-cpr-and-choking-firstaid-233851.php">Lifehacker</a>!)</em></p>
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<p> &#8211;></p>
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		<title>iParent: Profanity Filter</title>
		<link>http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/2007/01/iparent-profanity-filter/</link>
		<comments>http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/2007/01/iparent-profanity-filter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:47:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jared</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fatherhood]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/?p=320</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I don't need that language in my mind, or in my heart. I'd rather my son avoid it, too. Which is something of a moot point given that he's three. But still.
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m always surprised by people who swear conversationally. I&#8217;m sympathetic to a broken dish or hammer to the thumb, but I&#8217;m of the opinion that you shouldn&#8217;t swear unless you&#8217;re on BBC. Or Mel Brooks.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m even more surprised when people swear in print. Not that we don&#8217;t all have our moments of weakness, but I&#8217;ve never sworn online. Swearing lives in the moment, and I&#8217;ve never reached a point in writing where I couldn&#8217;t think of a better noun or adjective. Where only a four-letter word could best capture the experience.</p>
<p>Plus, my grandma reads this stuff!</p>
<p>A lot of bloggers swear. And often. It&#8217;s not that I&#8217;m a prude, not that I can&#8217;t handle or get over it; it&#8217;s just that, given the choice, I&#8217;d rather avoid the more colorful side of language. I don&#8217;t need that language in my mind, or in my heart. I&#8217;d rather my son avoid it, too. Which is something of a moot point given that he&#8217;s three. But still.</p>
<p>We have spam filters for offensive e-mails, and firewalls for offensive everything else, but what about text?</p>
<p>Enter the <a href="http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/4175">Profanity Filter</a>, for Firefox! Using a pre-configured list, Profanity Filter replaces foul language with asterisks, keeping your eyeballs minty-fresh. And because language is alive and ever-changing, you can update the list with the latest and creative ways to cause women of high-society to drop their monocles in shock.</p>
<p>Profanity Filter requires the <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/748/">Greasemonkey</a> Firefox extension. Add-on. Whatever.</p>
<p><em>(Thanks, <a href="http://lifehacker.com/software/filters/download-of-the-day-profanity-filter-greasemonkey-228109.php">Lifehacker</a>!)</em></p>
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		<title>Parenting at All Costs</title>
		<link>http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/2006/09/parenting-at-all-costs/</link>
		<comments>http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/2006/09/parenting-at-all-costs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Sep 2006 15:51:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jared</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/?p=258</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We can't get through one milestone without the kid having to <em>learn</em> something. We can't keep asking Kelly's folks to handle the burden. It's just gauche.
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Parenting is a wonder and a joy and the most difficult job ever. Strangely enough, much of the joy comes from the grindstone. Still, I sometimes wonder: does raising children <em>have</em> to be so challenging?</p>
<p>I&#8217;m anxious for the day Ian and I can ride our bicycles through the park, leaves swirling behind as we race side-by-side. <em>That&#8217;s</em> fatherhood! But of course that means he needs to learn how to ride said bicycle. We can&#8217;t get through one milestone without the kid having to <em>learn</em> something. It&#8217;s exhausting! We can&#8217;t keep asking Kelly&#8217;s folks to handle the burden. It&#8217;s just gauche.</p>
<p>Here I am, raising my son like a chump, when clever parents on the East Coast are having and eating cake all over the place. And not having to wipe their children&#8217;s mouths. If you&#8217;d like to experience parenting at its <s>finest</s> easiest, <em>New York Magazine</em> offers <em><a href="http://newyorkmetro.com/family/features/21362/index.html">The Outsourced Parent</a>: The hands-free, do-nothing, price-is-no-object guide to rearing a child from conception to college.</em></p>
<p>I can barely catch a cold. Why teach my son to throw a ball when former Yankees pitcher Jack Aker will do it for $95 an hour?</p>
<p>Why suffer the embarassment of &#8216;the talk&#8217; when a complete stranger can blush in my stead for $400? Though that seems a little pricey for someone else to say, &#8216;Ask your mother.&#8217; In fact, why talk to Ian at all when a $149 per session &#8216;life coach&#8217; can give him more assurance than I ever could?</p>
<p>And the bicylce thing? $130 per session.</p>
<p>Melissa at <em><a href="http://theparentingpost.parenting.com/2006/09/the_price_of_pa.html">The Parenting Post</a></em> estimates that, in a money market account earning 4%, the $4 million outsourcing price tag could grow to nearly $6 million.</p>
<p>Kelly and I left Southern California because we didn&#8217;t want to raise our son in a culture that treats children as accessories. That may have been the biggest financial mistake of our lives. I could&#8217;ve earned $50 an hour teaching someone else&#8217;s kid to say &#8216;please&#8217; and &#8216;thank you&#8217;.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Married Treasure</title>
		<link>http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/2006/08/married-treasure/</link>
		<comments>http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/2006/08/married-treasure/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Aug 2006 19:55:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Jared</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://totaldepravity.gilbertsrus.com/?p=210</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You'd think a grown man would have better things to do than look for poorly-carved rubber stamps hidden in logs.
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You&#8217;d think a grown man would have better things to do than look for crudely-carved* rubber stamps hidden in logs, but <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letterboxing">letterboxing</a> is one of my favorite hobbies.</p>
<p>Letterboxes are (surprisingly enough) little, hidden boxes containing a stamp and a logbook. You follow the clues, find the box, stamp its logbook with your personal stamp, and your logbook with its stamp. Letterboxes are hidden throughout the country in (generally) public places, like zoos and parks. There are also virtual (online) letterboxes, postal letterboxes, and even letterboxes hidden within other letterboxes.</p>
<p>I like riddles and puzzles. More than that, I really like hiding and finding, knowing secrets and clues. <em>National Treasure</em> will never be a classic, but I loved every minute of it.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s really appealing about letterboxing is that it&#8217;s entirely family-friendly. All you need is a logbook and stamp to spend a fun afternoon with your kids, exploring the lesser-known areas of your community and solving puzzles. The clues will often involve local history, and every now and then require a compass.</p>
<p>We took Ian earlier this week, looking for a letterbox hidden in park near my office. The clues were a little too difficult for him, but he&#8217;s a pirate, and will always take time to look for &#8216;married treasure&#8217;. We asked him to look for landmarks disguised in the clues: fire hydrant, speed limit sign, third barbeque pit. He pointed, we followed; eventually we came to the box, hidden inside a group of rocks.</p>
<p>The only danger lies in combining a three-year-old with an ink pad.</p>
<p>As your kids grow, they can make their own letterboxes, carving stamps (it&#8217;s really not difficult) and writing clues. Ian&#8217;s helped me hide two boxes, and more are on the way.</p>
<p>To find letterboxes in your area, and for more information on getting started, visit <a href="http://www.letterboxing.org/">Letterboxing.org</a> and <a href="http://www.atlasquest.com/">Atlas Quest</a>. The northeastern United States seems to be especially active.</p>
<p>And if you&#8217;re ever in St. Louis, find <a href="http://www.atlasquest.com/lboxes/showboxinfo.html?gBoxId=18893">my</a> <a href="http://www.atlasquest.com/lboxes/showboxinfo.html?gBoxId=20246">boxes</a>!</p>
<p><em>* Actually, many letterboxers are quite talented, and craft beautiful, elaborate stamps. Mine are a means to an end.</em></p>
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