By overstimulating with lights, presents, music etc, we actually reduce their capacity for wonder. They need increasingly bigger doses. A simple dried dandelion stalk no longer suffices.
I suppose it is OK to say merry christmas. Just leave it there.[/quote]
I respect your right to disagree – just think maybe you’re holding your butt cheeks a lil tight.
The way Christians raise children works, the way my family raises children works, and the way you raise your children works. I’m fond of saying that you have to be a severely bad parent to screw up a kid. Kids are very resilient and are exposed to so much outside of their immediate family and neighborhood now that they can quickly adapt to overcome whatever deficiencies we have as parents. Unless the kid isn’t hitting on all cylinders then they were screwed to begin with.
Kids – all kids – have plenty of rough days growing up and will have even more as an adult. Who am I to be scrooge and dissuade them from enjoying Christmas. They’ll turn out juuuust fine.
It just seemed like everyone was trying to be the turd in sjk’s punch bowl in this thread. I’m saying its all good. Enjoy![/quote]
I change my mind. Some days I agree that parents don’t matter so much others I agree with larkin:
They fuck you up, your mum and dad
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you.
But they were fucked up in their turn
By fools in old-style hats and coats,
Who half the time were soppy-stern
And half at one another’s throats.
Man hands on misery to man.
It deepens like a coastal shelf.
Get out as early as you can,
And don’t have any kids yourself.
Philip Larkin
Childhood is generally surviveable, and people can seem ok…but when you actually talk to people really talk….they do seem to range from slightly wacky to deeply fucked up…with various abilities to cope.
And it might be their parents who made them a little nuttier than necessary.
Article on tight puritan butt cheeks re: banning christmas:
