Heh. The only thing that ever really slowed down the Whys in this house are full and complete explanations for whatever the Why is at that moment. Wish you much luck with that, been there, done that.

But that’s also the same time when you get to lay down all the most important code, the most critical part of kids’ operating system. It’s a much tougher job than I thought; I really learned to appreciate my own parents during that period of time. (And by “appreciate”, I mean I also realized then exactly how cracked my folks were in having 3 kids inside 3 years. Jeebus.)

The violence thing is very challenging; a lot of people too easily dismiss that guns are “natural” to boys. Poppycock. What was natural BEFORE guns? Personally, I think role playing and asking a lot of questions about feelings can blunt the damage that society will inflict in regards to guns and violence, like “How do you think the person feels after being shot?” “How do you think people should feel after they hurt someone?” and so on. Western societies are more likely to do this with girls than with boys; this is where we go wrong, though, by not encouraging more empathy in boys and also asking children to think outconsequences of every chosen action.

The other component going on in this house is that my spouse is a hunter. While I don’t care for guns or hunting, I respect this part of his cultural heritage; I personally have no problem with hunting if it is done within environmentally sound guidelines (like thinning overpopulation but not to excess) and as humanely as possible, with respect for the animals and their environ. My spouse is big on gun safety, too. The kids have grown to learn that guns are dangerous, do incredible damage and are intended to kill, that guns must be handled with utmost care, that guns are used only to kill meat that will be consumed — and for nothing more — and that they must pass a gun safety course before they will ever touch one, and only under my spouse’s supervision. That’s probably the only way I can see mediating the culture of guns. Not easy when there are so many Second Amendment freaks, but at least it’s a third way.

And we do talk about the Second Amendment here and how far too many people misunderstand its intent.

I have a 3.5 and a 1 year old. Both boys. I am raising them in the belly of the beast (GA).
It pains me when they come home from their cousins and they tell me that army tanks are cool. That wrecks mountains of progress and efforts that my wife and I have tried to instill in our kids.

What’s worse is that some think its no big deal that all kids play with tanks, and to that I say, “No shit. Look at the world we live in.”

WE must break the cycle of violence.

Peace.

T-

You can podcast the Brian Lehrer show. Today’s show isn’t up yet, but when it is, iTunes will put it in my library.

To podcast, go to WNYC.org. Scroll down to “Am I Blue” and click on the “more” link.

That takes you to the Brian Lehrer Show’s page. On the right, click on the Podcast link or MP3 link, if that’s what you use.

On the linked page, click on the podcast provider you use, in my case, iTunes.

Presto! The next thing you know iTunes appears on your screen and the Brian Lehrer Show shows up in your podcast directory. iTunes immediately begins downloading the first show it sees in your subscription.

For those of you who haven’t taken the jump to podcasting, go ahead and get an iTunes or other podcasting provider account. There are going to be more and more things you’ll want to hear – - or see, if you’re ahead of my curve – - and you might as well get the means to hear them sooner rather than later.

A hint from this techno-dud: Don’t try to find your programs at the iTunes music store. Instead, go to the source of your desired show: AAR, PBS, WNYC, whatever, and follow the subscription directions from there.

Don’t ask me how WNYC knew whose iTunes account to put that subscription in (I don’t think I want to know) but it did.

Once you have transferred the progam from your library to your iPod or MP3 player, you can look like all the other techno-zombies at the gym or in the grocery, listening to your favorite liberal show as you go about your daily chores. :)

We watched something this weekend — can’t remember what — that showed protests against the Vietnam War as well as against Reagan’s apathy towards AIDS. I pointed to the demonstrations and told the kids I remember these well, that protest still happen often here in the Statesn (although not often enough), but that I worried they wouldn’t see them or remember them because they never saw them on television.

At which point my twelve-year old said, “Because Republicans own the media…”

Made me so proud to know she was paying attention — and yet, it also emphasized how closely children are watching us.

Stephen Parrish, CPA,
We are in agreement. However, I feel that we are 1 Supreme Court decision and/or 1 (more?) stolen election from considering that duty as American citizens.