Prerequisite

“That which does not kill you or the kid makes you stronger”

First Mama Nietzsche ism.

So what the heck is does this mean? What's does Friedrich Nietzsche have to do with raising a kid that's not destined to audition for “Sociopath Starsearch”? A little background might be in order here...

When I tried to go to college the first time (college 1.0, or “what I did before I discovered that sex and parties actually were fun”) I had visions of becoming a philosophy teacher. I did the typical and tired discovery of thousands of year old schools of though by long dead privileged men and believed as I raised my overfed fist in the air and proclaimed that I too had something Original to contribute.

Years later I raise my still overfed hand in the air, only now it joins it's mirror twin and form a big “W” on my forehead, like a special needs crane in flight, enthusiastic yet overshot.

Whatever.

So what I do know is all the information that I've scavenged like a rat with a bad case of obsessive compulsive disorder is I needed to pitch 80% of that crap and just do what works for me and my family and screw the rest. Is the kid healthy? Ok. Is the kid happy? Good. Do I not feel like jumping out the window trying to avoid the unrealistic expectations of others? Fan-f@*king-tastic. I'm way ahead of the game.

So, what does this have to do with Friedrich Nietzsche? The main thing I took away from Nietzsche's writings was the desire to ask questions and think for myself, even if it was a little brutal to do so at times. This is a skill I'd like my own child to acquire before she leaves the relative downy softness of the nest her father and I have and will try to continue to provide.

There it is in a nut shell. I'll be jotting down little peanuts of wisdom you can either pick out of the teeth or flush down, whatever you feel fit to do. It's your life, go live it....