"I Only Know What I Read in the Papers"

Sunday, January 10, 2010. "I only know what I read in the papers" comes close to describing my experience of Sauk Centre this week. I've been doing not much quite a bit. I have one of those annoying bugs that are tough enough to produce a fever and a encourage staying inside: but without any interesting symptoms.

On a more serious note, one of the three funerals I heard about today was for Michael D. "Mike" Willhite. My condolences to his family and friends. I had a bit more to say in one of my blogs. (Another Death in the Community: This One Was Avoidable, Small Town Dad (January 10,
2010)).

I had to get to the Post Office Friday, and stopped by Coborn's on my way home. (I made sure I didn't breathe on anyone.)


No snowboarding polar bear at Coborn's now. January 8, 2010.

It was 'business as usual' at Coborn's: I suppose the Valentine's Day displays will be out, later in the month.


Sauk River. January 8, 2010.


Another week, another Herald. January 10, 2010.

Like I said, this has been an "I only know what I read in the papers" week for me. I was at Coborn's mainly to pick up coffee, partly to get the Sauk Centre Herald before it was next week. I learned that a barn burned - total loss - near Melrose. Good news, apparently nobody was hurt. There's that tax abatement thing I wrote about on Wednesday. That was front page news. Literacy tutors were the big news this week.

And, at the bottom of the front page, "The Power of 'No' " - an article that starts with "Wouldn't you like your kids or grandchildren to turn out to be adults who are self-disciplined, self-confident, honest, fun to be around and responsible?" (more online at the Sauk Centre Herald website)

Seems like a daft question. I mean, who would answer "no" to that? Well, I'm old enough to remember trailing edge of a time when parents were told - and often believed - that saying 'no' to your kids would stifle their creativity, or give them inhibitions, or something like that. My parents hadn't gotten the message, so I heard "no" fairly often. Good thing, too.

I know: parents can be over-strict ('no sneezing without permission'?): but this "The Power of 'No' " is a set of five sessions with topics like "Say no when you should," "parenting style and connection with kids,: "Real self-esteem and how to praise a kid," and "Knowing and presenting DDD." DDD, the article explains, is Disciplinary Deficit Disorder. Sounds reasonable to me.

Don't get me wrong: I think it's great for kids to be creative. Which is just as well, since one of my daughters is a music major, another is a writer, and the the oldest is back in school, studying commercial art. My son? He's close to publishing the beta version of software that he's developing. (Sounds like bragging, but I've got a pretty good opinion of my kids.)

Enough of that. I'm on the mend - I hope - and trust that I'll have something besides what I read in the paper to write about by Wednesday.