July 24, 2008

life as I see it

There are huge social cycles that occur. A large butterfly like effect that you can intellectually trace back to some nexus.

kids today, they are raised by schools, Internet, television and games. Parents are both working hard to provide for their family that they just don't have energy to put the effort into.

This is a generalization, of course. How did we get here?

Well you could Nexus back to the moratorium on offshore drilling, and stopping nuclear power. The cost of power going up effects all goods as does the cost of delivery. Add to that ongoing, on growing government programs taking bigger and bigger chunks of your salary, along with regulations requiring businesses provide, unneeded, unwanted insurance plans. Making one persons wages not enough to sustain a family. Illusion or not.

How about WWII and women entering the job market? Quite a few ego's shattered because of that. And of course most men not comprehending the situation. Suddenly you have an 80% (wild guess) increase in the labor pool. Supply and demand means that wages would drop. That puts dual income as a must have.

My mom was a stay at home mom. We grew up, sharing the days events around the dinner table. On some weekends we would get in the car and drive places as a family. We knew the neighbors. I can still mentally go down the street imagining the houses and recall the last names of the inhabitants. I am not sure a majority of people could do that today.

Because my mom and so many moms on the street were stay at home, they would tend to get out of the house, garden, bowl, go to PTA meetings, see each other shopping etc. They would make plans and in general have that 'watering hole' or Laundry mat experience that is largely gone.

There are a lot of good parents out there. They are the ones asking if they are doing the right by their kids. The kids of these good folks, invite friends over. Some of these friends see and note something is different at this household and be attracted to something about that. The real observational thinkers, will actually ask questions and talk to the parents.

These kids have the potential to incorporate what they saw lacking in their own home life when they get to that point. This is already happening.

7 comments:

keeka said...

I do think part of the problem was women entering the work force. When a couple came together, they both had so much money to pool together that "things" were aquired without really thinking about it. When it came time to have children, the soon to be parents couldn't deal with losing some of their spending freedom, so they both continued to work. I actually encountered this when I was pregnant with Kaleigh. A friend at work and I talked about staying home and how nice it would be. Unfortunately right before giving birth, she and her hubby bought a Mercedes, well naturally the only way to afford it would be for her to keep working after the baby was born. The reasoning? A mercedes is a safe car, we were thinking of the baby. HUH?

keeka said...

I run into the after effects of bad parenting every day of work. As a preschool teacher it is very much apparent which mothers work and which don't. It is also apparent, which ones are feeling guilty about working! Those are the parents of the children who don't know how to share, and expect things to always go their way. I am going to toot my own horn now...While at McDonalds the other day a businessman was sitting next to our table. The kids and I got our food and prayed and ate and had a nice conversation. At one point the man turned to me and asked if we prayed before every meal. I said yes, and he commented at length about what well behaved kids I have. He made a point to say that he doesn't see a lot of well behaved kids around anymore, and that it is refreshing to see a parent take an interest in the upbringing of their children. Both Kaleigh and I felt good the rest of the day! Cole didn't pay much attention...typical boy! : )

flyingvan said...

We've stuck to our pre-marital plan of paying down debt to the point that one income would do it, THEN have kids--and still put the marriage first. Our top priority is maintaining a household with a good harmony. A.M. has always spent less than I earned, every paycheck. The kids don't stress about money. Most of our friends always have money problems, yet they raise horses, eat out, find things they 'can't live without'. Plus, their kids tend towards 'husky'.... I guess kids could be a 'burden on society', but do away with all children and see what sort of society you end up with.

Unknown said...

Yeah Steve a little forsight can make for single income family really easy.

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Unknown said...

not ignorant its factual.

Single parents have a single income and was not the context. I do not envy my sister in law, who since her husband passed away, is raising three kids alone, and helping care for my recently widows Mom-in-law.

Steve said it re-read it.

If your a parent you do whatever you have to do, to provide for your child and better your situation. In our community we support http://www.casadebelen.org/ Casa De Belen. Which is an outreach program our Church started.

Fourth: I have faith that people are good, and do good things.