I have mentioned before that there are things you aren't going to do with your kids before you have kids. You are not going to give them sugar, let them play video games or have toy guns; you are not going to watch a video before bed time or whine-you-into staying at the park for 5 more minutes. You are not going to do these things- really. Your intentions are good, your drive steadfast and your parenting ideal. You aren't going to do these things and you certainly aren't going to take them to McDonalds and let them eat junk and play in the play place for two hours just so you can grade papers and they get worn out before bed time. You aren't going to do these things... and neither am I. And then you have real kids that are not your hypethetical kids in the books you read... and you do. Okay, so maybe you don't but I do. Atleast I have some solace in the fact that we planted a vegetable garden together this weekend (with baby Kate... I was too muddy for photos) and we have banished cable television (I do miss Chris Matthews) and that the kids mostly work off the saturated fat in the crawling and running.