Nobel Peace Prize?
Goppy’s confused. Goppy’s been taught all his young life that you have to work for what you get. It adds value and importance to the item you are trying to achieve. Like the time Goppy had to clean yards for 5 straight Saturdays in order to save money for the new skateboard he wanted. He missed a soccer game, 2 birthday parties and worked in the rain just so he could earn money. But guess what? He takes better care of that skateboard than he does any other “wheels” that he owns.
But back to the point. Goppy heard on the news the other day that our President won the Nobel Peace Prize. He won it basically for the “vision of unity” he has for this world. Now no disrespect to our President, but Goppy thinks President Obama needs to show what he has done to deserve this award. Stand up for America, Mr. President.
By the way, Libby thinks its great — any prize that has the word “peace” in it, she’s all for! No matter who wins it!
I appreciate what you’re trying to do — pass your values on to your kids. All parents should take an active role in helping form their children’s moral foundation… Or perhaps “guiding their children as they form their own moral foundation” would be more accurate.
However, my concern is that you have put labels on the message — the labels of the two big political machines in the USA — and that these labels are both too black and white, in that the issues transcend party alliance (obviously there are plenty of hard workers — and plenty of slackers — in each party), and that the labels shift over time. That is, what the parties stand for can change over time (and this has definitely happened) — so you should pin to the values, not to the label/party.
Let me humbly suggest that rather than having the characters be ham-fisted caricatures of the political parties that imply a stark black-and-white view of what is in fact a much more complex world, that you would be better off tackling issues directly, rather than confusing children by painting such stereotypical views… Stereotypical views that are part of the problem in America’s growing political divide.
Using the Grasshopper and the Ant to tell a story of the rewards of hard work? Great! But wrapping it all in political baggage and strawman characters that turn ones neighbor into ones enemy, or even just into a stereotype that isn’t understood in any deptyh? That comes with a whole lot of baggage that may not be entirely helpful to children.
But either way, I do applaud that you care enough about your children to try and pass on your values to them, and I do appreciate your entrepreneurial spirit. In those regards your children are very lucky, even if I have concerns about the way you’re going about it.