No News Is Good News

The other night, I was taking Addison to Aikido... just him and me.

For those who may not know him, Addison can monologue like no other.  He gets on a topic.. and flies.  Another interesting thing to note is that Addison speaks as if he is writing a 5 paragraph essay, and always has.  Pretty much every morning, after he comes in from chores, he comes to me with, "There were three interesting things that happened during chores today.  First, we ran low on goat grain.  We need more.  Secondly, Gretta and April are afraid of the noises my coat makes.  I need to remember to always wear this coat when I do chores.  Finally, Goliath's water bowl needs to be cleaned out.  Since I am afraid of Goliath, I need you or Daddy to handle that for me."  The points may change day to day, but the layout pretty much stays the same. 

On the way to Aikido, he explained to me that he didn't think it was good for people to leave the news on when kids are around.  He talked about drone strikes.  He talked about how living in a country that did not end with "stan" is a good idea.  He talked about the safety measures that should be taken when unpopular presidents end their terms in office and go out into the real world.  We came to the red light where they just finished the new entrance fountain (the "waterfall").  Addison expressed great concern at its cost.  "The national debt," he explained, "is way high.  Like, crazy high.  They shouldn't be building stuff like this!"  Once I let him know that it was private construction, he collapsed back into his seat and said with a relieved sigh, "Yes".

Addison told me that sometimes, when he gets stressed out about taxes getting high and all kids of other things, he tries to close his eyes and say, "I'm just a kid". 

Do you know who this reminds me of?

This is Hal, to a tee. 

My brother, at a young age, would stress out about all sorts of world issues.  And, we didn't have 24 hour news stations.

To be stressed out about taxes, the national debt, and the legality of drone usage, is one thing.  But, the vile things that are strewn across our television sets during the news should not be viewed by children.  We were all better off when we turned on the news at 6:00 to see what was going on in our world.  For children who are mindful of the issues of the world, having these words and images running free is unhealthy and painful, not to mention full of inappropriate content.

Yet another reason why I am happy not to have t.v. stations at home!