The Jackson 5 were all talented in their own right, but it was little Michael who was special one--the prodigy--the genius!

In fact, if Michael hadn't grown up and weirded out on us, there's little question, he'd be considered greatest entertainer of all time. As an adult, he still had magic that so captivated us when he was a child.

Actually, despite his current trials and tribulations, arguably, he's still considered greatest, if you judge him strictly on talent and record sales.

Remember, this man holds Guinness World Record for having biggest selling album of all time--"Thriller!" In addition, in 2000, at World Music Awards, Jackson was honored with Best Selling Male Pop Artist of Millennium award. In other words, he was voted best selling pop artist of last thousand years!

Yes, I know he looks like a freak now--or worse, but you should have seen this kid before allegations of child molestations, before weirdness, before plastic surgery. When he was performing on stage, you literally couldn't take your eyes off of him.

How ironic that is, because now, we can barely stand to look at him!

Dean Phillips is an Internet marketing expert, writer, publisher and entrepreneur. Questions? Comments? Dean can be reached at mailto: dean@lets-make-money.net

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The hidden entity is family as a unit. I've watched families that found a balance between everyone's needs and there really wasn't a family left when all was said and done. The parents are busy scheduling their own lives while teenagers are living independent lives dropping by house to eat and sleep, but otherwise completely disconnected from family and little ones are so busy with soccer leagues and music lessons and play dates with their friends that they have no real sense of what family is about. Everyone is happy, busy, flourishing individuals, but family as a unit has almost completely disappeared.

I've also seen families that went opposite direction and nobody got their personal needs met because everyone had to constantly sacrifice for greater good of family. Your career is decided at birth as well as whom you will marry because you must uphold family name or family traditions. Those people come to hate what family represents and want to bust out of prison of it all. Once again, answer lies in parents needing to find a balance between family and individuals.

As a mother, it's my job to juggle needs and dreams of every single member of our household. I always try to remember that secret entity "family" and what is it that family needs and dreams of. I teach my kids to not only look at how their needs impact each other, but also how it affects family's needs. For example, if I let my teenagers spend extra money after bills are paid each month, then how will family get to go to Disneyland this summer? They are an active part in helping to determine family's needs and goals as well as their own. I am very much a part of who gets included. "Wait a minute guys, did you forget that I need a new monitor for my computer before you get another game for your Xbox?"

In so doing, they come to understand that they're important, but not more important then me and I'm not less important then they are. The two-year-old's needs are just as important as teenagers' needs. Everyone makes sacrifices at times, but nobody is forced to sacrifice all of time. The kids understand that no one person is more important then any other. They also understand that family as a whole is just as important as each individual member within it. We have an amazingly strong family bond as well as each of us having very strong sense of personal worth. I feel that this may be most important thing I do, balancing needs of everyone including family as a whole.

Copyright 2004, Skye Thomas, Tomorrow's Edge