By Linda & Richard Eyre, for the Deseret News In a recent Deseret News article titled "Good romantic partners are likely to be good parents," clear connections are made between how well people do in their marriage relationship and how good they are at parenting. The article references a British study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. "A father who has a good relationship with the mother of his children is more likely to be involved and to spend time with his children and to have children who are psychologically and emotionally healthier," said W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and one of that study's authors. "Indeed, the quality of the marriage relationship affects the parenting behavior of both parents." It seems obvious when you think about it - someone who is good at one relationship is more likely to be good at others. But it is more than that.

I recently did a Google search: United Nations Child Abuse. Why? How many times can you tell your kids, "If you really think this is abuse, write to the United Nations?" I mean, you can't expect them to actually do anything! Maybe if I help them fill in the forms they could get refugee status on some Caribbean island. Therefore, I am pleased to tell you my labors paid off, and I found the UNICEF web site. These are the people who "really care" and, as their heading states:  CHILD PROTECTION FROM VIOLENCE, EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE  Perfect. However, as far as I can tell there's no place to report that you are being abused. How ridiculous is that! The cynical side in me would say that if you have access to a computer, you can't be doing that bad. But that would not be the sympathetic dad I want to project to my kids. So, after scrolling through categories of abuses, like children in war-torn countries battling the ravages of abject poverty and disease, not to mention child trafficking, I couldn't find anything that fit the struggles my kids are plagued with like not having the latest i-gadget. The point of all this is actually more reflective than my tone might suggest...