Shit My Dad Says - AND- The World According to Mr. Rogers

Shit My Dad Says

By  Justin Halpren

My seventeen - year old son Jack gave me this book to read.  We don’t live in the same house anymore, but we are closer now than when he lived ‘under my roof’.   And honestly the humanity of that phrase, that all parents use, and most likely Dads more than Moms, is at the core of this book.  As the story goes Justin Halpren was posting ‘shit his dad says’ on his blog.  It caught fire.  And so as an aspiring writer, against his dad’s wishes to some degree, he published this book.  Back to the phrase.  I am pretty sure that from a practical sense; since father and son both live under the same roof, it should be ‘our roof’.   I am sure every time a dad says something, no matter the superficial response, the son processes it in ‘his own way’.  Thus making the communication of the message most apropos with the syntax  being ‘our’.  When it blows back years later in the form of a blog or book you have to laugh at your own humility.  And as well, you cannot help but smile at the wisdom of our youth, my son.

The following is a sampling of ‘shit’ Justin’s dad says.  I shy away but would enjoy the roasting I’d get from my children. 

When I had an ear-ache, my mom would piss in my ear to kill the pain

On dealing with bullies:  You're going to run in to jerk-offs, but remember it's not the size of the asshole you worry about, it's how much shit comes out of it.

There's a hop in your step... You look like you finished taking a good shit all the time."

Jesus, Open a window, it smells like death shit in here.

I don't give a shit what time you get home, just don't wake me up. That's what time curfew is: not waking up.

Son, I use to wipe your ass, I know you better than you do.

Do people your age know how to. Comb their fucking hair?  It looks like two squirrels crawled on their heads and started fucking.==%! c

You have to listen and don't ignore what you hear.

The World According to Mr. Rogers

Important Things to Remember

By Fred Rogers

Books do not have to be voluminous in leaf count, or dense in discourse to be rich in wisdom.  Many of the generation I raised and hence forth were plopped in front of the television set, to watch shows like Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers neighborhood.  What were these kids really absorbing?  Well this post humanist book, is a tribute to the values of Fred Rogers, which if you listen to your grown children and ‘don’t ignore what you hear’, you may hear what you already know but may have lost track of. 

Again my son Jack gave me this book as well, as we cultivate a new chapter in our lives.  I am grateful to find wisdom and wit in Jack’s humor.  Both my sons and I now share books and value the conversations they generate.  Most of all the values instilled upon Jack are already flourishing as a young adult.  Apparently some of the ‘shit I said’ resonated with the message of his world around him.  I have to say, I too enjoyed sitting in front of Mr. Rogers neighborhood with my kids when I could.

Below are some of his worthwhile values to remember.

If you think you are small and insignificant then you have obviously never slept in the same room as a mosquito.

It takes Slender threads of chance to weave a life together.

Sixty billion people weaving a thread some with a sense of purpose most of the time, many only some of the time.

This renders a forest of randomness where only by chance to two people find their soulmate.

When two threads cross; two events dock at the same port, no mater its abstract appearance, a knot must be tied.

The story in life is not the river that runs through it, but the feelings that flourish along it's banks.

At the root of those feelings are the seeds of knowledge, nature in her purest form.