Sunday, November 29, 2009

Pre-historic and Modern Parenting

Kids are wonderful beings which we parents try to mold, to protect, and to uplift. I realize there are bad parents out there. The majority of us who are parents or had parents can say with some certainty that parents aren't intentionally bad at parenting, we just make our mistakes.

Some time ago for which we do not have written records, men taught their sons how to hunt and women taught their girls to gather. I'm sure it wasn't a good idea to lash a spearhead on to a spear without a double knot. Nor was it sage advice to mistake a poisonous root for an edible tuber. Humans dating back much longer than we can tell in stories had parents who worried about educating their children.

Of course, prehistoric humans made some fatal and near-fatal mistakes. I bet the teenagers thought they had the worst parents when mom fed them the wrong root or dad wouldn't let the youngsters hunt big game. All the other young men were allowed to hunt. No one else had a mom who was a bad cook.

Though the disappointments may be different today, kids don't appreciate that parents are fallible. Kids don't appreciate that their parents may have a good reason for grounding them from the big hunt.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Why Post Anything

In a first attempt to air my beliefs, notions, inklings, and even some higher-level thinking, I decided today to start a blog. I have a lot of friends and acquaintances who publish something on the web regularly. I know a few people well who write books. I, on the other hand, write stuff on paper and usually throw it away.

I decided to start this blog, for the most part, because I am curious. Will anyone really pay attention to my ramblings? Will anyone really take One Fish for the Road seriously enough to seek the gems?