On Thu, Sep 13, 2012 at 6:07 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > and grout patterns in my bathroom floor > Beth Benoit
> And my cat's fur is so so soooo beautiful, I'd cry if I weren't giggling. > > > On Sep 13, 2012, at 5:01 PM, Beth Benoit <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > And don't you love the shape of the pen? > > Beth Benoit > > On Thu, Sep 13, 2012 at 5:58 PM, Jim Matiya <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Dude, >> Parenting is cool.... >> >> ------------------------------ >> From: [email protected] >> Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2012 17:11:02 -0400 >> Subject: [tips] Can pot make you a better parent? >> To: [email protected] >> >> >> >> >> >> This appeared in the New York Times recently, and I found myself reading >> it to my (now adult - and parents!) children. It's hilarious, but also may >> give some food for thought about all of the ways of looking at parenting. >> (Just in case you can't access it, I cut and pasted it below my signature.) >> >> >> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/08/opinion/how-pot-helps-parenting.html?_r=0 >> >> Beth Benoit >> Granite State College >> Plymouth State University >> New Hampshire >> >> [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=www.nytimes.com/printer-friendly&pos=Position1&sn2=336c557e/4f3dd5d2&sn1=84de2ffb/98f1fc94&camp=FSL2012_ArticleTools_120x60_1787510c_nyt5&ad=BOSW_120x60_June13_NoText&goto=http://www.foxsearchlight.com/beastsofthesouthernwild> >> >> ------------------------------ >> September 7, 2012 >> Pot for Parents By MARK WOLFE >> >> San Francisco >> >> THE youngest of my three daughters was born around the same time I became >> a card-carrying medical cannabis patient. Even though I was only 44, I’d >> been suffering from occasional back pain. I also suffered bouts of stress, >> compounded by anxiety. The causes were unknown, but there seemed to be a >> correlation with work deadlines and flying coach with three children under >> the age of 5. Sometimes it got so bad I had trouble falling asleep at >> night, leaving me groggy and irritable. >> >> So, in 2010, I resolved to seek medical help. I received a thorough >> physical examination from my CannaMed <http://www.cannamed.com/> doctor, >> who checked not only my pulse but my blood pressure as well. Examining the >> results, he concluded that I would benefit enormously from a cannabis-based >> treatment regimen and recommended that I use a brownie-based form of the >> drug to avoid the lung irritation associated with other modes of dose >> administration. I soon had in my possession a shiny, state-sanctioned >> medical marijuana ID card, gaining me free access to the city’s expanding >> array of quasi-legal cannabis dispensaries. >> >> After two years of treatment, I can state unequivocally that I feel much >> better about pretty much everything. Sure, my back still hurts, but I’m >> cool with it. >> >> But the best part is an amazing off-label benefit I call Parental >> Attention Surplus Syndrome. >> >> Before beginning treatment, I was a dutiful if not particularly >> enthusiastic father. Workaday parental obligations were a necessary, >> unfortunate chore. I was so stressed out by the end of the day that >> bedtime, with its interminable pleas for more stories, songs, sips of water >> and potty breaks, felt like a labor to be endured and dispatched as quickly >> as possible. >> >> Here is what a typical weekday evening exchange between me and my oldest >> daughter once looked like: >> >> *Child:* Daddy, can you show me how to make a Q? >> >> *Father:* (sipping bourbon and soda, not looking up from iPad) Just make >> a circle and put a little squiggle at the bottom. >> >> *Child:* No, show me! >> >> *Father:* Sweetie, not now, O.K.? Daddy’s tired. >> >> It’s different now: >> >> *Child:* Daddy, can you show me how to make a Q? >> >> *Father:* (getting down on the floor) Here, I’ll hold your hand while >> you hold the pen and we’ll make one together. There! We made a Q! Isn’t it >> fantastic? >> >> *Child:* Thanks, Daddy! >> >> *Father:* Don’t you just love the shape of this pen? >> >> It’s the same with my middle child: >> >> Before: >> >> *Child:* Can I watch a video? >> >> *Father:* Of course! >> >> After: >> >> *Child:* Can I watch a video? >> >> *Father:* Why don’t we read a story and then pretend we’re in our own >> video! Go pick out a book, and I’ll go get the finger puppets. >> >> I swear I am a more loving, attentive and patient father when I take my >> medication as prescribed. Perhaps this isn’t surprising. As anyone who >> inhaled during college can attest, cannabis enhances the ability to >> perceive beauty, complexity and novelty in otherwise mundane things (grout >> patterns in your bathroom floor, the Grateful Dead, Doritos), while >> simultaneously locking you into a prolonged state of rapt attention. You >> not only notice the subtle color variations in your cat’s fur, you stare at >> them in loving awe for 20 solid minutes. >> >> I submit that this can be enormously salutary to the parent-toddler >> relationship. Beyond food, shelter and clothing, what do small children >> need most from their parents? Sustained, loving, participatory attention. >> Thank you, Doctor. >> >> No doubt some of you are tut-tutting that I should use meditation or yoga >> or Zen mindfulness to achieve this. Point taken, and if I had a full-time >> staff of cooks and nannies, I’m sure I’d give all that a whirl. But the >> reality is that my wife and I are raising multiple tots on modest incomes >> in a small space in a very expensive city. No time for Tantra. >> >> And I’m not suggesting that all stressed-out fathers should just get >> baked. You might even get a ticket for it in some states. And let’s not >> forget the health risks, which are rumored to possibly exist. I’ve heard >> that even a small amount of marijuana can impair short-term memory >> function. It might also affect short-term memory function. >> >> But for me, at least, the benefits clearly outweigh the risks. I find the >> time I spend with my children to be qualitatively different and simply more >> fun when I take my medicine (always in private, never in front of them, >> never too much). I am able to become a kid again, to see things through my >> daughters’ eyes and experience, if I’m lucky, the wonder of each new game, >> each new object and sound, as they do. >> >> Deeply embedded voices of authority in my head do still caution that I >> may be hurting my kids in ways I can’t see. But I just can’t imagine how it >> could possibly be worse for them than the consequences of their father’s >> former stress-fueled frustration and withdrawal. When I’m rolling around >> the floor with my giggling daughters, clicking into an easy dynamic of >> goofy happiness and love, I feel it’s just what the doctor ordered. >> >> Mark Wolfe is an art dealer. >> >> MORE IN OPINION (1 OF 23 ARTICLES) Opinionator | Townies: My Night as a >> Billionaire<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/my-night-as-a-billionaire/?src=un&feedurl=http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.jsonp> >> >> Read More >> »<http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/13/my-night-as-a-billionaire/?src=un&feedurl=http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.jsonp> >> Close >> >> --- >> You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe click here: >> http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13283.28aec02f231f4c4baa9a4a58ae139710&n=T&l=tips&o=20410 >> >> (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) >> or send a blank email to >> leave-20410-13283.28aec02f231f4c4baa9a4a58ae139...@fsulist.frostburg.edu >> >> >> >> --- >> >> You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. >> >> To unsubscribe click here: >> http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aaf72&n=T&l=tips&o=20412 >> >> (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) >> >> or send a blank email to >> leave-20412-13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aa...@fsulist.frostburg.edu >> >> >> >> >> > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443341&n=T&l=tips&o=20413 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-20413-177920.a45340211ac7929163a0216244443...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aaf72&n=T&l=tips&o=20414 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-20414-13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aa...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. 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