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Friday, January 09, 2004

being a parent is one of the hardest jobs in the world. i'm not even one and i can vouch for that! i think one of the reasons it's so hard is that we try to create a perfectly fair world for children, try to teach them that if they share, the world will share with them, that if they are kind and polite they will be treated well by everyone else. we want them to think that the only way to succeed is to make sure the cake is cut right down the middle and everyone gets an equal portion. we want them to believe that as they behave, so the world will behave towards them. but the real world is not like that, and that's where we get into trouble. we create an artificial environment for children, bring headaches onto ourselves while doing so, and end up with children who get shocked when they discover what the world really is like. i'm not saying we should thrust children into the ugliness of the world the moment they're born. i'm merely recognizing the impossibility of being both a good and entirely honest parent at the same time. then again, maybe if all children were taught the golden rule when they were young and grew up practicing it, the world might be a much better place. train up a child in the way he should grow, and when he is old he shall not depart from it. it might seem futile trying to battle the brutality of the world, but while there is still kindness existing out there, no matter in how sparse amounts, maybe it's worth building those glass bubbles for children, so that as they grow up they can make their own decisions whether or not to let the bubble burst.

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