Preddys

Patrick’s only seen bits of the movie, but there’s one line from Madagascar he remembers quite well, because his Ponch (Jordan’s dad) does a hilarious impression. Here’s the original from the film:

Now, usually, when Ponch does it, he puts something on top of his head to mimic the Lemur King’s headdress. So that will help explain what Patrick’s trying to do here:

Apologies for not having video of Ponch doing his version.

P.S., photos from Patrick’s birthday are now up here. The week-long adventure included a nice family party, a trip to build-a-bear, and a trip to Sea World that Patrick still can’t stop talking about, nearly a month later.

When I was a kid, maybe 13 or 14, my dad got it in his head that he wanted me and my brother to see Shaft. No, you would not normally confuse my dad with being a fan of Blaxploitation flix. Nor was he particularly keen to let us kids watch the entire movie.

But he was giddy to share with us one of the prime musical pleasures from his early adulthood, the still-amazing theme song and score by Isaac Hayes. So my dad went to Randall’s, rented the movie  (remember VHS?), and let us watch the opening credits. Then he shut it off, figuring correctly that was as much as young teenagers probably needed to see.

Like pay phones and stamped letters, the idea of renting a video cassette just to see a movie clip seems archaic. If YouTube had been around, my dad could have saved $2 and just posted the video to my Facebook. Like so:

So together, we both sat down in front of the computer and looked up the “spiderman theme song”.

First hit was a bingo:

Now when I saw the Shaft clip, I was confused, “I guess that was okay.” Only later in life did I realize how awesome Isaac Hayes could be, and it took a bunch of Quentin Tarantino and South Park to get me there.

Patrick has no such ambivalence about Spider-man. And he doesn’t need a cultural introduction to appreciate a costumed dude who swings around the city fighting crime. He’s in love. Every time we watch it, he simply asks, “Again?” So we watch it four or five times at a sitting. I’ve tried to get him into other YouTube videos, including the campy credits for Batman. But he’s not interested in watching other shows or cartoons or animal videos. He just wants Spider-man.

And since rewinding is painless and instant and free, I don’t mind indulging his newest first love.

Patrick loves my computer.

He takes every opportunity to climb up on my chair and bash away at the keyboard.

This morning he even brought his own “starter laptop” out, and placed it on my desk in front of my somewhat more realistic PC.

It was pretty cute.

You might also guess that Patrick’s at the adorable age where he’s talking and learning new words about every 90 minutes. This is an exciting and head-scratching time for us. Because as wonderful as it is, we can’t always understand what he’s trying to say.

Or worse. We know perfectly well what he’s saying, but he’s trying to say something completely different. Witness his struggles with the word “computer.”

This happened a few days ago. Fortunately for me, Jordan has (correctly) assumed that this is an adorable mispronunciation.

Patrick discovers basketball.

(download)

Click here to download:

VID00178.mp4 (98.93 MB)

…And why so many Asian-American kids succeed so spectacularly relative to their western peers. The reason according to Amy Chua (a Yale law professor and certified Chinese mom) is a fundamental schism in how parents approach their kids’ self esteem:

What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning, which is where Western parents tend to give up. But if done properly, the Chinese strategy produces a virtuous circle. Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence; rote repetition is underrated in America. Once a child starts to excel at something—whether it's math, piano, pitching or ballet—he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction. This builds confidence and makes the once not-fun activity fun. This in turn makes it easier for the parent to get the child to work even more.

But this, as Chua makes clear, isn’t something you can bottle and sell to American parents, because you’d have to overcome two competing paradigms:

1. Parents are wary of overly criticizing their kids or working them to death. American parents want well-rounded kids who “do their best.”
2. Not only does Chua’s “Chinese” method require their kids to work hard; the parents have to work hard, too. Because forcing your kid to study hard and practice piano is an exhausting commitment most parents aren’t willing to make.

There’s a caveat to that last bit that Chua elides. Many American parents are willing to drive their kids hard on one hobby or one goal. But it’s usually sports.

Unlike Chua, I’m not going to suggest her method of parenting is superior. But if you’ve ever wanted your kid to be the valedictorian, and a piano prodigy, and a law professor, you probably should read this article and take it to heart.  Even if you’re planning on coaching your kid to baseball or volleyball excess/success, it’s a good read for a different take on parenting.