Mr. Mom at the Park

I met him and his three-year old son at a park. First off, he has the most interesting job I've ever heard. You know the shapes and cuts of jewelry, like diamonds and what not? Well, he programs the little mechanical arms of the cutters to cut the correct shape.

While we were talking, his son saw this kid who had a cool hat with a propeller on top. When flyboy wouldn't give him the helicopter hat, he picked up sand from the sandbox and threw it in his face! His dad reprimanded him. But then his son got pushed over by another kid... and he just stood there and "let his son deal with it."

"When I was a kid," he told me, "me and my friend would sit across from each other with army-hats on. We would take our toy soldiers and put them in the middle, and then throw rocks at them. One day, a bigger kid walked up and took my hat. I didn't know how to respond. I tried to ignore him, but he kept taunting me with it. So I walked up to my dad and asked him what I should do. 'Son,' he replied, 'I don't care what you do. Just don't come back to me without your hat.' So, about five minutes later, I came back with a black eye and my hat on my head. Then he took me to McDonald's."

In the days of helicopter moms and dads, it's nice to see some parents still use the good old "figure it out on your own" method.