C'mon. Let's Be Baaaaaaad!

Go ahead. Break some rules with your kids. Do it. I just read this article by our blogmiga Meagan Francis in which she describes the excitement her children experienced from going with their dad to the midnight showing of Indiana Jones.
On a...

Wait. For. It.


SCHOOL NIGHT!

Then she goes on to discuss how quickly feeling good about a parenting decision can switch to feeling crummy when you realize your decision may not be receiving approval marks from other parents. This is an experience many parents can relate to and share. It does burst one's bubble of parental confidence at times to discover what you are doing isn't "mainstream", but you know what? Maybe the other parents are being non-commonsensical. After all, a 12 year old watching midnight movie on a weeknight with their parent isn't the same thing as an 12 year old being dropped off at a midnight movie by a parent. Period.

Some of my most fond memories of childhood are when my parents "broke the rules" with me. Letting me sleep over at my friend Louisa's house on a school night so our entire gaggle of girlfriends could watch The Lords of Flatbush on TV. Being Brooklyn Girls we had just had to see this movie and it was The Fonz people! I also remember the time my dad took me when I was a young teen to a bar to celebrate my birthday because a famous folk singer and human rights activist was playing that night and he thought it would make my birthday extra special. Which it did.

I remember these as special experiences I shared with my parents. Not every day events. These occasional deviations from the day to day, became memories from my childhood I cherish.

So go ahead, take your kid to a midnight showing of that special movie you know they really want to see, pick up your child from school in the middle of the day and whisk them to McDonald's with you for lunch. Is an author your child enjoys reading coming to a bookstore near you? Take your kid to the signing and so what if it's on a school night. I did this with Son One when This guy came to town and it was AWESOME.

Occasionally it's good to be bad. And it's really not all that bad if you stop and think about it. If no laws are being broken and no feelings are being hurt,and common sense is being observed then I say, "Go for it!"

I bet you will be surprised at what kinds of rule breaking you can come up with that isn't expensive, doesn't take tons of time and yet will be something you and your children will look back upon and love that you did together.

Delurk and tell us what you want legislators to know about your life and what you need

We've got some big ears listening to us right now. On Wednesday we met with a senate staffer on Capital Hill to discuss family/care giving policies in our country. Here is the question we were pondering:

What kind of policy can everyone, regardless of political affiliation, support? What would get parents motivated to get to the election booth? Our demographic is low at the polls, but there are definitely policies being discussed on The Hill that families need to discuss and learn about. If you could choose one type of caregiving policy to support and actually vote for, what would it be?

Is it universal health care? Paid vacation? Paid sick days? Universal respite care? A 30 hour work week with no "exempt" status to justify some having to work 70 hour weeks? Something else?

What? Name it! What is your numero uno concern?

We will be following up on our discussion and meeting with more folks on The Hill. So let us know what you want from our legislative system.

We want to help make it happen! So let us hear your voice and tell us what you want and we'll make sure we get it to those big ears!