Fact: We love talking about celebrities. Fact: We love judging parents. Fact: When you put the two together, it's like a giant irresistible peanut butter cup.
Thus it was not surprising to hear the Good Morning America crew discussing a clip of New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady jumping off a rocky cliff into the water on a Costa Rica vacation while holding the hand of his six-year-old daughter, who jumped with him. The Today Show did the same, and even came up with a name for the non-incident: The Brady backlash. (Actually, they've probably used that ever since deflategate) Anyway, Google "Tom Brady cliff" and you will see so many journalists sucking their thumbs, yours may spontaneously wrinkle in response.
My take? I'm no fan of danger, but I know that with very rare exceptions, most other parents don't love it, either. They want to help their kids, not hurt, them. That's my assumption regarding Mr. Brady, too: He would not put his child in danger, so the two were doing this for reasons of their own. Adventure, bravery, bonding—who knows? And who are we to jump in, as it were? Parenting is hard enough without the Greek chorus.
Brady put the video out to his millions of fans, so he must've known there would be a backlash. Heck, there was a backlash when he simply kissed his son on the mouth. But why not treat his family vacation video like all the other family vacation videos crowding our newsfeeds? Either go with a pleasant, "Wish I was there!" or a silent, "Wow, am I glad I'm not!" Then scroll on.
