The Glade 4.0

19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

Much like Arathain, I do my best to keep my personal politics away from my little girl. We have nightly dinner table discussions of world events and politics, and I make sure she stays informed. I ask her what she thinks, and then regardless of what she thinks, I work to challenge her ideas. Then we switch sides, and debate from opposite points of view. The goal being to improve her critical thinking, and to have the ability to see all sides of any issue, find the flaws in the logic of either side or both, before settling on an opinion or solution.

...

No, that's not like Arathain at all.

19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

Talking about politics with your children won't make them more successful.

19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

Sorry, I thought you cared about the success of your children. I'm glad to be a better parent than you, then.

he pitched me the same bill of goods Monte plans on pitching to his children.

LMAO, dude. Learn to read. Keep my politics away from my children =/ debate politics at the dinner table.

At the dinner table? What's wrong with you, man? That's supposed to be a relaxing time where you talk about your day. If you guys want to spend your dinner debating, more power to you, but it most certainly does not make you a better parent than me. It most certainly does not mean your child will be more successful, either, but the fact you mention that is somewhat telling. Sounds to me like you're one of those pushy hyper-active parents that doesn't let your kid have any downtime. I could be wrong - I just hope your kids don't turn into huge balls of overachieve-or-else stress.

19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

I'm actually with Rynar on discussing politics with children. Don't hesitate to discuss and keep the flow of ideas going. Just make sure you share the reasons for your beliefs, not just the beliefs themselves.

19 Yet she became more and more promiscuous as she recalled the days of her youth, when she was a prostitute in Egypt. 20 There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

Bullshit liberal myth.

She'll be prepared for the real world, and when she is competeing with your kid, she'll have the skills to overwhelm them.

My goal is to prepare her for the real world, and to make her ready for the day when she won't want her mother and I to be in charge of her any more.

Maybe you seek to teach your children other lessons, but I can't see how they could be more valuable than critical thinking, self-esteem and assuredness, a good work ethic, and a strong sense of self reliance and responsibility.

I'm actually with Rynar on discussing politics with children. Don't hesitate to discuss and keep the flow of ideas going. Just make sure you share the reasons for your beliefs, not just the beliefs themselves.

Ya know, the one critique I have of my father's parenting was that in his own flaming liberalism, he pitched me the same bill of goods Monte plans on pitching to his children. I was the type of young man who really would have benefited from military life, in hind sight, as my immaturity cost me years of productivity, and gave me a longer, harder road to walk on my path to success. Combining my work ethic and my intellect with service as an officer would have fast tracked me in life.

Encourage polite, open, and honest debate; especially if your children disagree with you. Your willingness to listen just might convince them you will listen if they need to talk to you about something really important.

If you don’t know the answer to something don’t fake it. Kids have a BS detector as sensitive as my beagle’s nose begging from the kitchen table. Besides they will probably be given the right answer next week in school, so don’t knowingly undercut your credibility. Far better is to sit down together with a book or at the computer and look up the right answer.

Talk to your kids about how various public policies affect your family directly. Make sure your children know you vote in every election. If you know a service member, talking about their service immediately personalizes much of our foreign policy and opens doors to a chat about domestic policy.
Encourage them to write their political leaders with polite questions or comments, most will write back with an answer. Take them to a city council, school board meeting, or a political event.

Ask them their opinions; they may surprise you with their insight. If they disagree with you, don’t shoot them down; ask more questions, eventually they will figure out the “right answer” even if it isn’t your “right answer”.

Political growth is a process like mental and physical growth. You don’t get angry with your child for being only four feet tall; likewise, don’t be angry when they disagree with your position on Darfur or abortion. With your help, they will come to their own truth on these and other issues; but more important, they will be ready and willing to engage in the debate as knowledgeable adults and take their place as citizens.