Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for August 19, 2016

Ok, these two are really lousy parents. Maybe, Joanie abandoning J.J. was a good thing.

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

It stops being funny when it starts being you…

I didn’t think that these two would care about this. Not really, deep down.

It is interesting to see how much time and attention parents and grandparents give to their kids here in Ecuador, compared to the States. I don’t mean to generalize, but base it on my personal observations of my own family and of many other families’ interactions..

The family comes first here.

While kids have more freedom to be kids, without parental interference, than they do in the U.S.,, they have a much closer bond and interaction with the parents and grandparents. Both adults and children are openly affectionate and not afraid to show that love in public – Even teenagers !

It seems that paid parental leave is making the rounds as an issue again, thanks to it being an election year. Still, the paid parental leave being talked about would only cover a small part of the child’s life, allowing the parent to at least begin to figure things out and make the adjustment to being a parent. Even conservatives are beginning to talk about it. Of course, again, it is an election year.

Yep, definitely Hardball!

Everyone is trying to apply the same rules to everyone else. Maybe the type of upbringing should depend on where children are growing up, to adapt to the conditions they’ll be living in. 50 years ago there was more open space for kids to roam, less people, and lower technology. Now more people are living in higher concentrations, less open space, and a lot more things to do in a smaller area. While there may be the same percentage of predators, there are more of them in smaller areas, so the risk to unattended children would be greater. Kids should still have freedom to explore in denser communities, but better care should be taken for their safety.

I’m for open-range kids. My daughter doesn’t seem inclined to wander all over like I did, though, and that’s her choice. She knows what she wants.