Monday, August 14, 2017

I watch my youngest taking a bath. I am a room away, not hovering. He is playing with his toys and I hear the splish-splash of water against the tub. I can't make out what he is saying really, but he is content, playing. For the moment he is not locked into the nightly battle of brother vs brother angst.

There are so many things in this world happening. Most of it isn't new. It is just surfaced - so strongly on the surface it is in our face day in - day out. So much of our lives are funneled through smart phones, I-pads, computer screens. Algorithms drive what consume - whether it's the food we eat, the audio we listen to, the TV we watch.  Not that this is new either, perhaps in the concept - algorithms are modern day generators of the all time propaganda wheels that have been spinning throughout history. But the sheer ease, amount and immediacy of everything, that is new.  The onslaught from all sides.  That is new.

I watch my youngest, not even in kindergarten. He has taken it upon himself to soap up and rinse off. . .not realizing that he is using shampoo and conditioner for this task rather then body wash.  He can't read yet, so the fact that he is taking the initiative to wash himself with anything that seems to be body wash...well...good for him.

It's hard enough to filter fact from fiction, words from feelings. My kids will have to figure this out, sift through it, lest it be sifted through for them.  Will the ten to fifteen years I have some sway be enough to help teach them to wash out the dirt in the media onslaught? Will it be enough to help them take positive initiative in their day to day? I have no clue. I hope so.