Monday

Miscellany

Christmas draws to a close. The picture above is the weight bench (with pulley system) that we gave the boys for Christmas. My wife found the beat-up box at K-Mart with a $15 price tag on it. She lugged it to the checkout counter and the digital scan confirmed it: $15. Whatta snag. It works really well, too. Not perfect, but very well. * * * * * * * We wrapped up our Christmas season with the kids' final presents yesterday. Marie and I both remember the Christmas blues as kids, so early on we decided to celebrate the entire twelve days of Christmas. We give the kids a small gift every day between Christmas and the Epiphany. The small gifts range in cost anywhere from free to $2. And then on the Epiphany, we give them a "real" present (cost: about $20). It seems to take the sting out of the Christmas blues, plus it preserves the Christmas season. When other people are hastily tearing down their Christmas trees, we're urging our kids to savor the season. I highly recommend it to any traditionally-minded Christian. * * * * * * * Hats off to the Diocese of Philadelphia for barring girls from playing football. Of course, now one young lady is battling them, but at least she's doing it the right way: by persuasion (an online petition). It's kinda stupid, yes, but at least she's not trying to use violence (force) through the courts and claims through the civil rights laws. I wish her well, though I also hope the Diocese stands firm. Football is a guy's sport, though I don't find it morally objectionable for girls to play it. I do find it morally objectionable for girls to wrestle boys (I mean, come on), but football doesn't have nearly as much groping. It has too much contact to make it proper for a girl to play with boys, but it's not like wrestling.