Quote From: gwarrior6
I don't think that teaching Gracie to go spend a small fortune is a good idea on something that has a very small chance of happening. It's usually not a good horse to bet on. It's not a good thing to teach Gracie about blowing money without having a backup plan. Gracie said it herself " It's the only thing I'm good at". That's sad. She needs to have something else to lean on, because acting isn't forever, the older you are, the less work you get.
Even if Kiki/Kurt are divorced, isn't Warren entitled to see his sister? What about his mom? Is it fair to spend all this time/money on Gracie, and to hell with everyone else? There's no connection or family unity here. Is it healthy to let Gracie eat her weight in sugar because she wants to, or is it healthier to say "no"? Kiki wouldn't let her do that, so why is she ripping the family apart because Gracie thinks she wants to act?
I just want to speak to your assumptive "ripped apart" comment as someone who actually knows a little bit more about the emotional, psychological and spiritual health of my family than you do. Our family is anything but "ripped apart". In fact, I would hope you'd be happy to know that our family has been blessed with a good bit of emotional healing as both a direct and indirect result of the experiences we've had over the past year. Emotional pain comes into everyone's life of which I'm personally aware at times. For our family, this is not different and divorce is certainly at the top of the list of emotionally disruptive experiences for families. Fortunately for our family, we are all surrounded by so much love and support in our lives that we've been able to find a path out of the forest of post-divorce issues into the clear plain of possibility and healing.
I'm sure if some of you have noticed, but, it is no longer 1950 and the contemporary American family bears little resemblence to Ward and June Cleaver's house. Can you not see that in a world where a majority of children in some segments of society never know their fathers and where 60% or so of all marriages in all segments of society end in divorce that your criticisms of a family you know nothing about sound a bit shrill against the backdrop of reality? Why is it that you'd have so much difficulty accepting the simple truth of what I'm suggesting to you is the case for our family -- that the decision for Kiki and Gracie to take this adventure together has been an overwhelmingly positive experience for us all. Sure, there are aspects of it that are very difficult of for each us. At the end of the day, however, I could not imagine the past year going any better than it has for our contemporary American post-divorce family.
Of course, we have our challenges remaining to work on as a family and this will always be the case, as I'm sure it is with your family and with everyone's family who reads these message boards. With God's abundant grace, our humble hearts and a little luck, every single member of our family will be able to do what I'd wish for for you and for everyone -- follow their bliss!
I remain amazed when people like you insist that you have some uncanny ability to psychoanalyze perfect strangers with a few snippets of information and lots of wildly inaccurate assumptions. I certainly don't mind criticism and I find that constructive criticism can be immensely helpful to my life or to anyone's life. Do you believe that your comments above are intended to be helpful to anyone reading them or to my family? To me, your comments are trite bromides with no intent other than for you to get to read them back to yourself after they've posted.
Every single real concern you've raised here are concerns we've considered very carefully and continue to monitor very carefully. Our family learned several very important lessons from this experience and we are working to integrate those lessons into our lives for everyone's benefit and most importantly for Warren and Gracie's benefit. Wouldn't you find it a better use of your own time to turn your finely honed critical lens toward your own life and regardless of how grand a life you currently are experiencing (and I truly hope you have the grandest of lives), to find yet another level of happiness and fulfillment for yourself and for your family?
Have a nice Memorial Day weekend as we pause to remember the sacrifice of the all the men and women who were willing to risk or to give their lives for our personal liberty and for our ability to each pursue our own happiness in the way which works for our own unique lives!
God Bless!
~Warren & Gracie's Dad
(Original Air Date: 05/21/07) Dr. Phil’s child star competition heats up! Seven kids with stars in their eyes face the final leg of the competition in The Dr. Phil House, but do their mothers unwittingly sabotage their chances? After speaking with Veronica, Kiki and Larissa about how they could be a liability to their child’s success, Dr. Phil turns to Kim and Susan. Playing a video clip of Kim’s daughter, Alaina, in an interview, Dr. Phil points out the pressure and stress that she feels and how it may affect her performance in school. Then, Dr. Phil shows a video of Susan assisting her daughter, Meagan, during the dance rehearsals. In the video, Meagan struggles under her demands. Will these mothers adjust their behavior and take on a healthy, supportive role in their child’s career? Then, it’s time for the final talent show! Each child performs on the Dr. Phil stage, in front of his studio audience and a panel of Hollywood’s top talent agents, managers and casting directors, who decide the grand-prize winner. The children receive fabulous prizes for their hard work, but they mean little to one upset mother. Share your thoughts, join the discussion.
