Ladyfisher's article this week is a home run. Many great points, a couple of which I would like to touch on. First regarding the general dumbing-down of dads on TV; this hasn't gone unnoticed in our family, but it certainly stands as on of the lesser sins of TV, not nearly as venal as the rampant sex-capades that are paraded about as entertainment or the gross lifestyles extolled as admirable, be they licentious or overly material in nature. All of this led to an easy cure in our house. By the time our young daughter was 12 months old the TV was out of here.
She's 5 now, and though we own a TV and a video and DVD player, we have no broadcast TV service and none of us are the worse for it. Red Sox on the radio and and a newspaper keep us up to date on the goings on at Fenway and the rest of the world, and as for entertainment, we do things together, and plenty of it outside. Which brings me to my next point.
My 5 year old daughters favorite things are racoons, frogs, and currently, sneeches. Though sneeches are tough to track down around here (thank goodness for the internet and plush) frogs are easy to catch down at the pond, where we swim and fish and play together. When the ducks come flying in she doesn't look up and say "look daddy, ducks!" she instead says "Look daddy, teal!" or mallard, or bufflehead, as the case may be. She knows the life stages of the damselfly and dragonfly and can pick out a bluegill bed at 20 yards.
Not all of this is just because of her time outdoors. Great books, and yes, videos and dvds have helped her developed such a keen interest in the natural world around her. And when the sun sets at the pond and we set off for home, it's often straight to the tying vise that we head, where she ties a "purple dragonfly" or something of that ilk. Last week she turned and said to me: "I think I need a rotary vice daddy".
No problem. I called up Hook and Hackle and bought one, for the cost of what we used to spend for one months satellite TV service. Money well spent? I think so. And she doesn't think this dad is such a dork after all. But hey, check back with me in a few years! Alec

[This message has been edited by flytackle (edited 13 March 2006).]