Topic of the day: what you think is good for your kids might not matter after all

A friend posted this on his Facebook: The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting To me it's pretty much commonsense. I mean, it is never good to overdo anything. However, this quote might sound a bit depressing (or relieving, depends on what you have done):

Freakonomics authors Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt analyzed a Department of Education study tracking the progress of kids through fifth grade and found that things like how much parents read to their kids, how much TV kids watch and whether Mom works make little difference. "Frequent museum visits would seem to be no more productive than trips to the grocery store," they argued in USA Today. "By the time most parents pick up a book on parenting technique, it's too late. Many of the things that matter most were decided long ago — what kind of education a parent got, what kind of spouse he wound up with and how long they waited to have children."

Topic of the day: Magic The Gathering

I just learned about this game because its world championship was won by a team from China. This was the first time an Asian team won the team competition. There might be some truth in this old saying: "With the vast population of China, you should be able to form a team that win at any event" Well, maybe the FIFA World Cup is an excpetion.