Upcoming Topics and a Night of Rest...

I haven't posted in a couple of days...that cold that I mentioned a week ago turned out to be bronchitis, and between that, working (oh, the grading!), and seeing visiting friends and celebrating the upcoming wedding of other dear friends, I've been in that crazy-busy place we all go to. Posting will start again tomorrow (well, I guess it's technically started again tonight, but it's not really about anything). Some topics that have grabbed my attention lately that I plan to explore focus around sexuality and kids--what we teach them and when. The notion of the SlutWalk has grabbed my attention lately, and I plan to attend one of them.. Although it's a separate topic, it has also got me to clarifying some of my thoughts about age-appropriate sexual education, and the exposure that kids have these days to social media, tween shows, etc. etc. To be clear, I don't ever hop on a blaming-media bandwagon for societal ills. Parents who make arguments like kids-who-play-video-games-are-violent bother me like nobody's business. Those kind of broad generalizations aren't helpful, don't consider the importance of other factors like good parenting, sensible kids, personal responsibility, etc. etc. They also ignore the reality that societal expectations are what they are. They can certainly be changed, but not without difficulty and mass effort. But since entering my stepdaughter's life, I've thought a lot more frequently about the cultural ideas and expectations that we outline for children. So over the next little while, I'll explore some of these notions, and ask for your input, too! Stay tuned...