Tuesday, July 17, 2007

boomer guilt?

"life goes fast. make sure that you spend plenty of time at work."

those are words that i've never heard. in fact, at least once every couple weeks someone of an older generation tells me to make sure i spend plenty of time with my kids. at first, i just took this advice as just the culturally acceptable thing to say when talking about family and children. but i wonder?

i wonder if this is in fact the advice of many people (can i say most people) who are reflecting on their life and where they've spent their time. i almost hear an overtone of guilt when i hear these words.

it seems to me that the boomer generation is sensing the ill affect of a radical naturalism applied to parenting. naturalism has been the religion of the past generations. the goal seems to be "just feed a kid three good meals a day, make sure they get a great education and they'll turn out great." it's the view of life that only acknowledges the physical and mental. i wonder if many are sensing that something has been missing.

i might be reacting too far in the opposite direction, but i don't want to get to the end of my life and wish i used my time better. maybe i'll get to my 50's and wish i had spent less time with my family and children. but i doubt it.

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