Negligent Parenting Magazine
Willow’s first home schooling lesson from me was about swearing. I give him a dollar every time he can pick my pocket without me noticing, and he is getting pretty good at it. My son has a dreadful disrespect for the police. i totally forgot to get breakfast for him the other morning. And tonight his 17 year old friend Rowan turned down the midnight laser tag adventure we (Willow and i) organized, because it was going to be too exhausting (Willow is 11).
The joke is that my style of child care will get me to the cover of Negligent Parenting Magazine.
family negotiations
And it was charming working with him on this evenings activities. In a series of staccato conversations it came together.
“Laser Tag – let’s do it!” Willow wanted in on this new game
“We’ll drive in the Acorn car i have.” i offered
“I will get Rowan and Evan to come.” Willow offers
“I will call Craig about Adrian” i suggest
“Where will we meet?” Willow inquires.
“Let’s meet at MorningStar.” i propose
“At 10 PM, we will be ready.” And he turns and walks out of the dining hall with an air of confidence i find unusual in kids his age, but i don’t see him at all clearly.
So let the fine editors of from Negligent Parenting bang on my door. i am helping craft a curious titan, who seems unafraid to take on anything.
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7 responses to “Negligent Parenting Magazine”
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- - May 5, 2014
your passport to complaining 
Why does he have disrespect for the police?
@LS – My son sees no advantages to the police. There is basically no crime where he lives, so their crime interdiction service is irrelevant to his life. What he does see is one of his dads getting arrested and thrown in jail by the police for trying to stop nuclear power plants from being build. So to him they seem like protectors of monied interests which are trying to destroy the world (which a fairly compelling argument can be made that they are). They are the people who enforce car seat laws which are changed to advantage insurance companies interests (see http://funologist.org/2011/04/18/not-far-from-the-tree/).
And some of Willows earliest primaries instructed him that “the police are not a neutral institution”. Willow has a more thoughtful and critical analysis of law enforcement officers than most affluent adults i meet.
“There is basically no crime where he lives,”
Except for all that music equipment stolen last summer….
Easy to “disrespect” the cops, until you need one.
We certainly have occasional crime. For which the police are largely useless. And in the context of community, there is very little need for the police. Years can go by without them coming on campus. I believe you have need of them, and thus are perhaps forced to respect them. And our needs are different.
Disrespecting the cops is a privilege afforded affluent white people. Those with brown skin disrespect the cops at their own peril.
You can disrespect the copies by choosing to be in places that are different from where they are, which is what my son and i largely do. There is not a color or income barrier to these communities.