Not so Alternadad

Overall Alternadad provided me with an interesting perspective on parenthood. As much as I don’t like the lifestyle that Pollack leads, I realize that he has the best interest at heart for his family. I really like the chapter “ The Posterboard Jungle.” I think that Pollack really picked up on a theme that we have discussed earlier in class, ‘bad parenting.’ It is not unusual for parents to feel overwhelmed, especially with a child like Elijah and his seemingly never ending bite marks. I found it interesting that Pollack published an article and didn’t think that somehow it would get back to him. The fact that the responses were over a blog, makes things that much harder. Blogs are fairly easy to write, especially anonymously, and they take less time to send then regular mail. I understand that Elijah’s biting got out of hand and couldn’t help but feel that I wanted to interject and just tell them to discipline him or something. But then I realize that in part, my reaction is in observation of information that Pollack may have found out later. Furthermore I also understand that the biting only seemed to happen at school and perhaps it was not properly dealt with. Some of the ‘bad’ behavior that Elijah exhibits like sticking things up his nose is funny, but it also screams want of attention. At times I almost felt that Regina and Pollack needed to have another kid. There was one part where Elijah was playing with an imaginary pickle. I see that this kid has an imagination, but I also get the feeling that at times the parents don’t want to be parents. This sentiment has been expressed in other things we have read as well. It’s odd that when other people alluded to this I attributed to ‘the hardships of parenting,’ but when Pollack said this I had mixed emotions. In the first place Elijah is home all day with his parents and they obviously need some sort of break, but then again they chose the lifestyle. I’m glad that the family is moving, the neighborhood they were in sounded horrible. What I don’t understand however is why they would be moving to L.A. if they don’t have very much money. Is L.A. not more expensive than Austin? Lastly I would like to know what drove the consensus to L.A. It seems like both of them just said “let’s move to L.A.” After finishing the entire book I realized how much of a dad Pollack has become by the end. His world, although still involved with pot, seems to dwell more on family first which I think is a great character trait. The one question that I’m surprised Pollack didn’t blatantly answer was ‘did he achieve coolness as a dad?” On one hand through his obvious interaction with Elijah he has, but at the same time I expected more of an individual answer. I guess what I’m saying is that Pollack’s parent raising abilities are generic, however the methods may not be. Pollack, by the end has come a long way from being an Alternadad.