If I were the parent of a 9 yr old

If I were the mother of a fourth grader, these are the things I would not let him/her do:

1) Drink soda more than twice a week. Maximum.
2) Watch Family Guy. Or The Simpsons. Or any show rated PG 13.
3) Play video games where they kill people off. Practicing murder just doesn't seem very conducive to positive future aspirations.
4) Go to bed later than 9:00pm.

Yep, that's basically it. I would just prefer that my child not have a foul mouth or dirty mind, have rotten teeth, watch images of violence, or go to school tired. It's unfortunate that not everybody agrees with this.

BTW, I finally got a hold of Malcom Gladwell's Outliers, and it is absolutely fascinating. I started it yesterday at 3pm and just finished it. And it wasn't like I read all day today either. Highly recommend it. Some things you learn are astounding. Next on my list is Sam Gosling's Snoop: What your stuff says about you. I've already started it, and it may be equally as fascinating. Usually I read YA fiction, but both of these research based books are incredibly interesting. Go to the library! Or rather, wait three days until I return them.

P.S. In the past 3.5 weeks I have lost 1.3% body fat. Which is a big deal considering how many Hershey Kisses I ate during parent-teacher conferences. Plus all that cheese.

P.P.S. You should totally go to picnik.com because they have a totally wicked photo editor. I spent hours on there Monday night.