"Why Mommy Indoctrinates Her Kids"

If you (a) pay attention to google ads snuggled around almost any and every article on the web, and (b) read a lot of political stuff, you have no doubt seen the ad for "the book George Bush doesn't want your kids to read!!" . . . the book they call, "Why Mommy is a Democrat." (found here). I've noticed it before (and visited the website before) but want to comment on it in light of my recent interest in how parents influence their children.

It is always interesting to see my attitudes or opinions (that you may not have been aware you were expressing) voiced by your children. Partially due to their age and partially due to the vagaries of the race, my kids were understandably challenged to understand what was happening during this most recent U.S. Senate campaign in TN. Their daddy was gungho for Ed Bryant and opposed the ubiquitous (on TV) Bob Corker, and then their daddy supported Bob Corker and opposed the equally-ubiquitous Harold Ford, Jr. (Understandable, some adult Conservatives struggled keeping up, too).

Anyway, this book gets on my nerves because after reading its sample pages, I realized how lazy this "mommy" is. Don't get me wrong, I'm impressed at her initiative and her marketing is surely extensive and she is definitely working diligently to influence the next generation for the Democrat Party. But I think it is lazy because she is indoctrinating her kids rather than equipping them. Note the cute imagery in the pages of the squirrel "mommy" protecting her squirrel "children" from a mean elephant running nearby ("is this a parody?" my wife asks)

I know it is a fine line between the two, but I always try to imagine what it will sound like if my kid essentially parrots "what daddy said" on a given subject/issue in public or in front of the rare Democrat with whom I let her interact (just kidding). So I really endeavor to fairly represent the other side's position as well as my position and persuade them that my way is right. Hey, my kids think I hung the moon, so I don't need to demonize my opponent or my opponent's positions to persuade my kids to side with me.

But perhaps most importantly, such doctrinaire indoctrination certainly influences--rather negatively, how my kids will view others who may be different than we Williamses.