Not a lot has gone on lately, so I haven’t updated the site. For some reason, writing out how I watched syndicated reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond and had chili dogs for dinner doesn’t sound like something I need to do. But now you know, so stop complaining.

I went to lunch yesterday at my friend Colin’s house. I mentioned him in my last post when I was talking about how I really can’t stand little kids but his kids are cool. Anyway, went to lunch over there and sort of had a little bit of my faith in humanity restored.

See, he’s got two kids - one’s 4 (Peter) and the other’s 1.5 (Tim). I think. I’m guessing at the ages because, well, I don’t remember these things (hey, it takes me a while to remember how old I am). Normally, I would not be amused by the antics or the things kids like this say and do. But certain things struck me.

For example, Colin’s wife, Kathy, was talking to me and telling me that Peter was “acting out” and she couldn’t figure out what was going on. Turns out, what she called “acting out” was him doing things like talking out of turn and not being polite. (Obviously I wasn’t there all day, but that’s what I saw.) Now, I don’t know about you, but that’s something I just assume a little kid like that will do. But it seems that can be controlled, and I find that very interesting.

Another thing: Peter was eating lunch and asked “May I please be excused to go potty?” Huh? Jenn’s niece usually just mumbles something incoherent that rhymes with “bathroom” and then whines a little and runs for the toilet. This was perfect English I was hearing. Unbelievable!

This all started me thinking, and I’d like to bring forth my (now very solid) belief: One of the prime reasons children in this country are gibbering idiots is bad parenting.

That’s right, bad parenting. It seems to me, at least by looking at these two tykes, that if you pay attention to your kids and teach them well, they may just act like the responsible human beings they’re supposed to be.

I’m not saying there’s no issue with the school system or anything else, but I think this is pretty conclusive evidence that it begins in the home and trickles out from there. Even if you have a pretty crappy school, you can at least grow up with the basics and some good common sense if you have a good parental environment.

I was considering writing an open letter to parents everywhere, right here in the blog. I may still. But for now, let’s leave it at that.