Article May 3, 2004 Issue

'Dad, get real!'

By Kevin Graunke

Those three words, punctuated by the teenage eye-roll most parents recognize, were something I heard a lot from our daughters as they were growing up. Come to think of it, I still hear them once in a while.

But I do appreciate the timely reminders to check my thoughts, words, and actions to see if I am being realistic—or if I am, as the show tune title says, acting like "A Cockeyed Optimist."

Almost everyone has ideals, even if they're as simple as just hoping for improved circumstances—a nicer job, lasting relationships, better health. Sometimes people put idealism and realism into opposite corners: one, the upbeat, positive view, maybe a little naive, seldom practical. The other, a logical, fact-driven view of things that's efficient and down-to-earth but lacks imagination and scope.

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