Dads Read Too

JER: “Duck! Rabbit!” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld masterfully displays the connection between perspective and cognitive bias.  The human brain is a magical meaning-making machine.  As explained by the books “The Righteous Mind” and “Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me)” , the human brain is programmed to react based on emotions and justify those actions to convince ourselves that we have made the right decisions.   I want to believe that “free will” exists, and that I am in control of my decisions, but there is growing research that helps demonstrate that humans can see, think, and feel that mutually exclusive realities exist based on their perspectives.  The 2020 Presidential Election is an example.  Some people, government officials included, claim that there was rampant, significant voter fraud that “stole” the election.  Other people, government officials included, claim that the election was the “most secure in history” . This event s...

Now, I don’t fully understand what it is like to be a girl, but I’ve  heard  and  read  that it can involve some unique challenges.   As a parent, I want to be able to prepare my children for the experiences they will have, for the emotions they will feel, and the activities they will participate in. But I also realize on a fundamental level that I can’t empathize with all of the emotions my daughters will feel, and that I can't prepare them for all of the experiences they will have because I haven’t felt all of those emotions and experienced all of those experiences.  This is partly why I love this book - "Dear Girl" so much.  It provides a vehicle through which I can talk to my daughters about experiences they might have, and give them an empathetic or sympathetic ear to listen to them.    It was a collaboration by mother Amy Krouse Rosenthal & daughter Paris Rosenthal while Amy was undergoing cancer treatment and published po...