On the agenda for next week before our Dakota County Commissioners I found this proposed resolution: Public Health – Proclamation Of Family Day - A Day To Eat Dinner With Your Children - September 22, 2008
I'm sure this is offered with the county's stated goal of "nurturing" its citizens in mind. "Nurturing" as in, "We'll tell you how to live your lives because we know so much better than you do, and it's for your own good," kind of like a parent would say to a child, only in this case the government is speaking to its adult citizens as though they were children in need of guidance.
Don't get me wrong. I'm a firm believer in eating meals with your children. And I don't mean in front of the television. I mean in a setting where family members talk to each other, find out what's going on in each other's lives. It's part of parenting. It's what adults who love their children do.
But look at this resolution: "A Day to Eat Dinner With Your Children - September 22, 2008." Is this an annual event? The implication is that it's okay to not eat dinner with your children on other days, as long as you do it on this particular day.
I'm sure that whomever came up with this idea means well. But think about what's left unsaid -- how many of those adults needing guidance out there will read this to mean that you only need to eat dinner with your children one day a year? Or one day a week? If the county really does believe that parents need to be told how to parent their children, don't you think we'd be seeing a resolution that had been given a little more thought?
