Posts Tagged ‘freedom’

Who marries who at 3 years old?

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

Marriage is an abstract concept that, frankly, most young children don’t fully understand.  For them, it’s usually good enough to know that when grown-ups love each other very much and want to be a family together, they get often get married.  There’s no need to discuss the tax implications or workplace benefits or hospital visitation rights with a three-year-old.  But is it necessary to limit the concept to the traditional one-man-one-woman definition just because you’re talking to a three-year-old?  Even if you, personally, are okay with the idea of same-sex marriage?  Even if you live in a country where same-sex marriage is legal?  Lisa van de Geyn, writing in Today’s Parent, seems to think so, because talking about same-sex marriage is hard.

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Dreaming a Dream

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day here in the US, a federal holiday.  That means that the kids don’t have school so, because I don’t have to get them up and out the door, I get an extra hour of sleep while still heading off to work at the usual time.  But I worry about that.  I worry that, for most people, that is the extent of the meaning of this day off — a holiday in honor of some dead guy that did something at some point in history.  Is that enough, however, or do we, as parents, have a responsibility to our children to make it something more than that?

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Martin Luther King Jr. Versus The Snow Day

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

On the one hand, it is important to recognize the life and accomplishments of the great Martin Luther King, Jr.  On the other hand, educating our children is just about the most important task we have as a society.  So what do we do when a school district needs to make up for snow days and the only option available seems to be the reverend doctor’s holiday?

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