My arms are sore now after playing volleyball Cub scout dads for 3.5 hours. As soon as I dropped Xuân off for his scout meeting, I joined the dads. It was a great way to spend my Friday evening unwinding. I am not that good at volleyball, but I am not so bad either. These days, any physical activity is good for me. I am still hoping that we will head to Stowe next week for spring break. I want to do some more skiing and snowboarding.
The Trump Regime lost 36 out of 56 cases in the federal court. Six emergency cases being challenged before the Supreme Court. The Trump Regime has openly attacked the lower court judges and disrespected the rule of law. Even if they lose in court, they have done irreversible damages to the government. Let’s hope that the judiciary will hold Trump and his regime accountable for their lawless and reckless behavior. We need to restore America democracy.
In the latest episode of the Ezra Klein Show, the host talks to Jonathan Haidt on how “Our Kids are the Least Flourishing Generation We Know of.” I highly recommend it for parents. With the rise of digital addictions and AI, our kids are fucked. They don’t have the mechanism to deal with these endless stimulations. I am deeply concerned about our children.
This sample features a collection of English idioms translated into Vietnamese. I selected these idioms from Tiếng Anh Tèo and Người Việt Mình Nói. The page is typeset in Cosima and Kukka, designed by Anita Jürgeleit. Check out Idioms: Thành ngữ.
My kids log on their devices as soon as they wake up on weekends and come home from school on weekdays. They don’t do much else. They don’t read. They don’t do homework. They don’t study. They don’t help around the house. Their grades are dropping and they don’t care.
I am frustrated, disappointed, and hopeless. My wife and I keep fighting over this and we don’t see eye to eye on the issue. We are moving further apart on parenting. I can’t stand it when kids disrespect their parents and here we are.
My dad slapped me or hit me with a log. I thought he was so cruel, but now I understand. I probably deserved it. At times, I want to slap the taste out of my kids’ mouth for being disrespectful, but then I don’t want to hurt them. I am so conflicted.
I love them too much to let them ruin their lives. They spend so much time on their devices and yet they never get enough. One of my kids told me straight out that he doesn’t want to spend time with me anymore. He just wants to spend time with his PC all day, everyday.
With my older kids, I told them countless times about the importance of education. They don’t care. Their grades are slipping. I told them about managing their screen time. They don’t care. They continue to spend hours and hours on their devices. I want to take them out, but one of the older ones wants to stay home. I am getting tired of making him go. The older kids aren’t doing any sports or physical activities.
My hopes and dreams for my kids had died. The bar is so low now. I have no expectations for them. I don’t know how they will survive without us if all they do is wasting their time on their devices and not picking up any other skills. I won’t be here forever. My health is not great and I don’t expect to live long.
Furthermore, I don’t want to put my relationship with my wife at risk. This is the biggest reason that the kids are getting away with their digital usage. Until she collaborates with me, I can’t do much for them.
We need to act now because our democracy is on the line. We have everything to gain if we do and everything to lose if we don’t.
On Saturday, April 5th, the people are taking to the streets around the nation to fight back Trump and Musk. Join Hands Off! and other organizations to defend our democracy.
Susan Crawford defeated Brad Schimel for a State Supreme Court seat. Even though Trump endorsed Schimel and Musk spent $21 millions trying to buy the election, Judge Crawford won by a significant margin. Wisconsinites fight back the Trump and his authoritarian regime. Other states must do the same to defend our democracy.
Xuân and I are transitioning slowly back to the skatepark. Xuân is catching up to his skills from last year on his scooter. He’s a bit more careful now than before. He takes less risks. That’s good. I don’t want to have to go to the ER.
As for me, my routine is the same on rollerblades. I am not learning anything new. I am not dropping in from the deep end of the bowl. I am not interested in grinding. I am pretty much stalling. I am losing motivation.
I have been wanting to try out skateboarding because I love snowboarding so much. In fact, I have been missing skiing and snowboarding. I have been spending a lot of time searching for a board for Xuân and one for Đán, yet I keep wanting to buy one for myself. I want a dedicated carving board, but the price range is from $800 to $1,200. I can’t afford that.
I am still keeping my hope up for one last spring skiing and snowboarding week in the second week of April. We’ll see. I am still waiting for my wife to book a spot.
After reading two books on democracy back to back, I needed something lighter. Rob Sheffield’s book on how Taylor Swift reinvented pop music seems like a good reading detour. I must confess: I am not a Swiftie. I tried to listen to her albums, but I can’t get past three songs. I read Sheffield’s music reviews for Rolling Stone every once in a while; therefore, I wanted to know what he has to say about Taylor Swift. Not knowing her work makes it hard for me to follow the book. I enjoyed it though. It’s a quick read. I might take a deep dive into her catalog like I had with Miles Davis, JAY-Z, and Bob Dylan. Will see!