While Bazooka grows up or We Aren't Raising Namby Pambys around here!

We have a three week old daughter, nicknamed Bazooka. We have been talking about the kind of world she is destined to grow up in...

It seems America is continuously 'pansifying' today's kids.

Kids need to learn the boundaries of society in ways they understand - but recently the boundaries of society are all screwed up.

Kids can't run at the playground, for fear they'll get hurt. Yet, we complain they watch too much TV and don't get enough exercise. We ban books, images etc... that portray 'dangerous' activities (like climbing ladders), or with viewpoints that aren't 'politically correct.' Then we say this new generation doesn't read enough. We want every child to be smart and active, but if they get too rambunctious, creative or 'hard-to-handle' parents solve it by doping them up with Ritalin, Xanax or Zoloft... WTF?

Whatever happened to learning from your mistakes? To continuously asking annoying questions until a grown-up answers? To running and screaming outdoors with imaginary playmates and making games with no rules and no score? To learning rational behavior is met with rational behavior, and irrational behavior is met with a single or double firm smack on the buttocks? Heck, it's almmost as if it's illegal to be 'juvenile' these days, unless you're a congressman or celebrity...

We want Bazooka to grow up in a world where she can learn almost anything she wishes to pursue. When we think she is old enough, and with our supervision, she can find out that fireworks blow up or how to shoot a .22 rifle. She can find out for herself how to build a fort in a tree out of scrap bits of wood, tie knots in rope, and read about fire-breathing dragons and evil space robots without fear that it will 'warp her mind' or 'give her bad examples.' We don't plan on 'talking down to her level' any more than she needs to understand us, and hope she will be able to hold an intelligent conversation with a University professor with as much ease as she would another kid. Furthermore, if she wants to go running in the yard screaming about imaginary alligators chasing her - I'll sit back and laugh. I'll probably even play along and ask her what color they are.

It's about time that Americans raising today's kids take a good look at how ludicrous their schools and communities are being with all these cover-your-ass type laws.

If we want these kids to be worth anything as adults, we need to stop protecting them to death. They need to see a good example in us of how to deal with real world problems - not an overprotective, always scared of what-might-happen example. Hopefully we'll be raising Bazooka in the real world, and not in an imaginary construct 'for her own protection.'