it is the young adult's isolation, coming home to an empty apartment with little real-life interaction beyond work that concerns me.
I totally agree! I am concerned with the younger generation that spends HOURS on video games every day. It not only isolates them but they don't seem to realize it because the virtual world becomes more real to them than "real life". I think interacting with people online in a game is perfectly fine in a limited timespan. But it can be very addicting and I know adults that have been caught up in it. It ruins their life IMHO.
We spent the morning at our small town fair. This is country living at its finest. LOL Heritage Day today with busloads of school children coming in to see all the old ways of farming live & in action. Tonight starts 3 days of animal shows where all the children raising livestock bring them and compete to see who the judge decides is the winner. Quilt show, garden show, carnival rides, pie auction, local bands playing on outdoor stage, etc ......all the excitement that a tiny town can create.
LucyLee - We live on the edge of a small town. The town is basically a one-mile square. Our yard fence is also a pasture fence. We have cows on two sides of us and houses on 2 sides. I am sorta surprised that allow DS10 the freedom to run around out of my sight in our tiny town. I hope that I am not being naive. I know I have a small town mindset, but I also recognize there is an evil world out there too that preys on innocent children. I discussed it with DH this morning to check that we aren't putting DS10 in danger. We discussed each house between us and the church and we know who lives in each one. Not only know the people...but in most cases, we know multiple generations of their families too. I think it is more dangerous for DS10 to go into a public bathroom in a big city event than it is to run free on the streets of our small town. I just know that we can't wrap the children in bubble wrap and keep them totally safe. It seems everything is a risk.
DH and I are going to allow DS10 to drive his go-cart in the parade tomorrow. Part of me screams NO, he could get hurt!. The other part of me knows he could get hurt getting into the bathtub. There is no way to ensure he will be safe in anything he does. Raising children isn't easy. IMHO. There isn't a right answer that fits all situations.
My break is over. Time to hit homeschool lessons hard since we had a 3-hour field trip this morning.
1. Know what you want.
2. Go after it relentlessly.