DNA

I will be upfront and honest. I wasn' t the sharpest knife in the drawer when it came to science (or english or geometry) in high school. I improved in college but let's be honest - one reason I went to Francis Marion was because they didn't require labs with your science classes and even after sliding through high school and finally applying myself in college after all these years, I still remember a few things from my science classes:

*Newtons 3rd Law - for every action there is an equal an opposite reaction
*Cells
*Making a volcano for a science project
*Making all the planets for a science project (even included Pluto)
*Phylum (classifications of plants and animals)
*Dissecting frogs and worms

I might be able to remember more but I had 10th grade Biology with Dr. Allen. I remember him because he was the worst teacher (translation - coolest teacher) I had. We did nothing in class and spent more time walking in the woods around the Intermediate School (It is called Greg Campus now; When I went to school SHS was only 11th and 12th and 9th and 10th were at the Intermediate School) looking for leaves, bugs, insects, animals...etc. When we were in class, he would spend most of the hour in his office doing taxidermy work - stuffing ducks and all kinds of other animals while we did busy work. I am pretty sure you would get fired doing that today and I can honestly say that I don't remember anything he taught us (good thing I had to take Biology in college).

Since LA started teaching biology and physical science and I am occasionally asked to help grade some papers (Not something, I enjoy doing but I do it to support my wife and secretly everyone has a desire to grade papers and give someone a big fat "0" or an "14" and even the nerd that makes the "100" brings some satisfaction (just not as much) - I guess it some sort of payback for all bad grades you got during your school years (for most of the readers of this blog this might not be something you can relate to...maybe it only brings enjoyment to me)) One topic in Biology that was not mentioned while I was in high school or college was DNA. It is amazing how much knowledge has been learned in 25 years about DNA and now it is taught in high school. I know that DNA "is the building block of life" and I have picked up a few other things along the way but a couple of weeks ago I learned all I need to know about DNA and more specifically about men's DNA.

The first weekend in August is a tax free weekend for back to school shopping and a bunch of other unrelated items...which is ironic since our schools are funded by sales tax but that is a whole different post. For the past couple of years we have gone to Myrtle Beach, outlet capital of the south with LA's brother's family (wives and children) on that weekend to spend some time together and for the ladies to shop til they drop. While the ladies are shopping the men keep the kids. This year we had 4 daddy's and 9 kids (and one daddy left at 4 leaving 3 daddy's and 9 kids). The ladies left early and didn't return until late - 10pm. I won't go into the details of the day keeping the kids but the day consisted of rain, Mario on the Nintendo (it's a classic), golf cart rides, meltdowns (even a couple of adults), and a bruise on Aubrey's head from falling off the bed. We survived the day and didn't lose any kids and didn't have to take anybody to the ER which in my book is a successful day. What I did have confirmed is that men's DNA is different from women's DNA. It is not in men's DNA to keep kids for an extended period of time. We can do it but it is not our strength and if you leave us too long we aren't responsible for what happens to the kids or the house. Do you need more evidence about this DNA thing? Show me a daycare run by men. Aubrey and Wyatt's daycare doesn't have any males. How many men are working in the nursery at your church? For whatever reason, women are preprogrammed for it (Don't question God) and can handle it much better than men. It has to do with Men being hunters and women being nurturing.

So you can try to teach me about all the components of DNA and how it works but it isn't necessary I have figured out all I need to know. I am sure over the next 15 years, I will have to keep our kids by myself numerous times and will survive (and might even have some fun) but it is not in my DNA.