nixtress's Diaryland Diary

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How do you explain "redneck" to a kid?

In the car this morning, Ryan heard something on the radio and asked me what "redneck" meant.

Hmm..how to explain stereotypes to a 7 year old?

Because I have to take the job of raising my sons to be good people seriously, I explained that it wasn't a very nice way to describe someone as very backwoodsy or cowboyish and told him to ask me again when he's older (then I can perhaps explain the humorous edges it can have).

That had me thinking--how exactly do kids process stereotypes? My kids are pretty honest and generally will call things as they see them. I try to temper that, to a degree, by reminding them that sometimes the things we say can hurt others and that we always need to be mindful of that. Is it my place, though, to teach them to hide their true feelings? That's certainly NOT my intended result.

That's been resting on the outskirts of my brain function today. And don't think I wasn't having the tongue-in-cheek thoughts as well!

***

It's another sultry day but slightly breezy which helps take the edge off a bit. Trevor's friend Seth is over and I'm listening to the music of little boy laughter.

I've got laundry to do but it's just too hot to turn that dryer on right now. I'll bang away at it this evening, when the temps fall a bit and I don't have to worry about broiling up here.

The cats have even gone to the basement in order to cool off. Poor little boogers--they'll probably get carried away by the mammoth spiders down there!

Ah well. I'll be back later.

Happy Tuesday.

N.

2:25 p.m. - 2004-08-03

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