Down for the count this weekend with an abcsessed front tooth. Fat lip. Can’t eat. Barely sleep. Waiting to hear from endodentist if he can squeeze me in before noon tomorrow. On penicillin since Friday. Major Motrin doses. Feel too crappy to blog.
But feel even crappier after hearing mental troglodyte Bill O’Reilly’s interview on 60 Minutes last night about his 10 Rules for Effective Parenting. I echo what non-blogger myrln had to say. (The capitalization is his):
— Discipline is essential, but no parent should inflict FREQUENT physical or mental pain on a child.
— A good parent will ensure that home is a refuge — a place where a child feels protected and loved. There will be no RANDOM violence, intoxication, sexual displays, UNCONTROLLED anger or vile language at home.
Does the first mean “occasional” pain is okay? And the second that “planned” violence, etc. and “controlled” etc. are okay?
It’s bad enough to have a toothache. Listening to O’Reilly makes me really want to escape to Fantasy Island.
The pain! The pain!
Kalilily Time
Just an old lady talking to herself
I was aware that you have your vices, but didn’t realize masochism was in the mix. O’Reilly? On parenting? The thought makes me want to vomit.
Were you too sick to pick up the remote? Or did you figure that the pain of this jerk would obscure the tooth pain?
Hope you’re doing better.
Thanks for posting this, Elaine. Guys like O’Reilly are feeding into panicked parents’ anxieties about their children’s (outsourced) future, and instead of guiding children to a loving humanity, we’ve got people advocating a complete dehumanization of them.
Haven’t the pharmeceutical companies developed some expensive prescription drug to get rid of annoying political pundits / psuedo-celebrity-journalists yet?