So it’s Nephew Weekend for me (yeah!) and we’re sitting here watching The Day the Earth Stood Still (What is it about 50s movies that make them so perfect for young kids? No swearing, gratuitious violence or sex, that’s what). I’m trying to teach him about truth and lies. He’s only 3, but he’s bright and chatty and I think he’s asked me “Why?” about 1 million times today. So I think he’s ready for “advanced” concepts like the difference between truth and lies.

This may seem like a nonpolitical post to you, but it’s not. I’m trying to better understand how Republicans can function, how their world is constructed, and I’m wondering if some of it doesn’t come out of their childhoods. Actually, I’m sure that childhood development is the root of our problem. I can’t do the detailed post right now, but let’s just say that “Bobo’s World” isn’t just a pithy joke.

Anyway, in my own case, when I was young, I had a real problem with lying. I was creative, and I enjoyed living in a fantasy world of my own making and telling adults that it was real. I think it was about the 2nd grade, in my case, when I decided that lying was bad. A teacher shamed me for saying mean and untrue things about another little girl, and from that day forward I’m fairly sure that I understood I should avoid lying. The teacher shamed me by reminding me that she was disabled, and it was wrong to pick on the weak. “How would you like it if I did that to you?” she asked me, and it took. My parents were pretty tough too, and kept me honest with the usual combination of shaming, chores, bed without dinner, and plenty of Time Outs facing the corner.

As I write this, I realize how facile and silly it seems to ask you to share your own stories about yourself or your children. But then again, we truly are ruled by those who employ the language and “logic” of naughty, undisciplined children. In that spirit, seeing as how we fail to make them understand reality by using adult discourse, perhaps we should reevaluate and employ what works with toddlers. And DINOs (“Please, please, don’t say bad things about me. Here take my lunch money! Just don’t tell Susie I’m not cool, please!”). Heh.

…oh my gawd, Keanu is going to be in a TDTEST remake on the Sci-Fi channel. War on Terror, Battle against Communism- the aliens still aren’t impressed.