Joyless Scolds

Being a parent is tough - I don't care what day and age you are in. There is always "something" that kids want that make parents cringe from time to time. One toy for girls today that many parents don't worry about is the American Girls line of dolls. While I have never had a chance to hit the American Girl stores, my friend Ed Morrissey has. His post on the family's trip to the Mall Of America American Girl store (for the Little Admiral) led to some comments that reveal why many liberals consider conservatives to be "joyless scolds". Comments like...

Hard hitting reporting there Ed.

American Girl pushed a hippie chick doll, one year. Do you want your daughter to emulate that?

That you would excuse American Girl’s association with this rabid feminazi group as not a big deal is kind of like your multiple posts praising and gushing over Grover Norquist, the Islamic jihad’s most effective Republican. To you, that’s apparently not a big deal either.

I got similar from other conservatives when the Junior Logician got into Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon and Harry Potter. I guess they were afraid that with characters like "Dark Magician" they thought he would get into necromancy (magical arts) or some such nonsense.
There's more, but I think you get the drift.

Obviously, the final commenter is not a parent. If she were she would know that there are times and places where politics should not encroach and that is in your child's play. Unless, that is, you want to permanently turn your child OFF of politics all together. Child's play should be just that....the child at play. If you, as a parent, feel strongly enough about the issue you can do the same thing that hundreds of other parents did - write and call the manufacturer and lodge a complaint, but don't drag your kids into it.

Apparently some people turn EVERYTHING into a political statement and when you are a parent that can actually be a dis-service to your child. Yes, you want to teach them your values but at some point in time, their individuality is going to kick in. You can either be a teacher - impart the values and let the child decide or you can be a scold and forbid the toy. In the first instance, your child may or may not to go ahead with that toy. In the second, your child resents you because you won't even consider getting them what they really want. Either way your child learns a lesson....about you. What lesson do you want them to learn that you are a joyless scold just to make a political point?

There is a happy medium that needs to be walked when you are a parent (or grandparent) and the bottom line should always be the well being of your child. If that means putting your politics "on the shelf" for short while, do it. That does not mean you should spoil your child, but if given a choice between a toy that outwardly portrays your values and one that is the exact opposite, you have to choose (for the sake of the child) the outward appearances.

Kids don't know about or understand corporate politics. Why punish them over something that they don't understand - unless you want them to resent you and your politics that is....