Thought Sparkk

Everybody thinks that they know exactly how to raise kids...when they don't have kids.  When you've got the time to sit and ponder and think and spend days, weeks, potentially months finding solutions to complex problems of child behavior it all seems so simple. The truth of the matter is that you are never going to have all of the answers readily at your disposal.  You will make good decisions and bad decisions.  Some days will go smoothly, some will go very badly.  You will be exhausted most days and the answers that once seemed so clear in the silence of your pre-child life will be increasingly absent as you go along.  You will try your best, and that's all you can do.  Others will constantly criticize you for decisions you make and how you handle things with your children.  Especially people who have no kids.  Don't waste too much time trying to explain yourself to them or trying to justify yourself to them.  They just simply don't unders...

I'm really struggling to understand the mindset of "COVID-19 isn't really that bad.  Other pandemics were way worse."  And quite frankly, I'm more than a little fed up with the "What's the big deal" attitude entirely. First and foremost, just because something else is worse, doesn't mean something else isn't also bad.  Just because I didn't die in an accident, doesn't mean that breaking 12 bones in my body and being comatose "isn't really that bad".  Was Spanish Influenza worse?  Statistically, yes.  Does that mean anything else with a lower death toll is "nothing to worry about"?  No. Second, utilizing the narrative that the mortality rate of this virus is so low and simply stating the percentage chance of death, is irresponsible.  Sure, while you are technically correct, the math bears out how much of a colossal asshole you are for clinging to that.  Let's just look at basic figures.  4.4 million diagnose...

...and it was about that time in my life where I finally understood.  It finally clicked and all made sense.  You see, people don't actually talk to each other in order to exchange ideas and try to understand one another.  They don't take what you say and mull it over, weigh it, measure it, and see if it is true or not.  They don't answer your questions, they skirt them.  They don't look inward and self-examine.  They do not ever expect to change their mind based on a conversation with you.  Instead, while you are speaking they simple tune you out and begin formulating what they can say to not look foolish.  Doesn't matter what it is.  Doesn't matter if it contradicts what they just said.  Doesn't matter if it holds true to the core of what they believe.  They just want to yell at you for awhile because they disagree with you.  They will not answer any questions that you ask honestly, because that could possibly lead to them lo...