I have tried really hard in my blogging "career" to leave politics out of it.  I don't know why.  I am pretty sure that if I was going to offend someone, I probably would have already done it with this post, or this post.  So, if you are still with me after I said all of that, then I am just going to keep on voicing my opinions.  Hold on to your underwear!  This might get a little bumpy. 

I am sick of the government making laws for me that are basically governing how I raise my child.  My child's safety is of the utmost importance to me.  I do not need the government to tell me where and in what position I should seat my child in my car.  I welcome all of the information.  I will read it, watch it, learn it, and make my decisions.  My decision might very well be in agreement with the recommendations, but I want to make that decision.  I do not want to be shamed, fined, or scared into it by some group of bureaucrats that don't love my kid.

I am amazed that not only are people okay with the government laying down the law for us and our children, they are actually asking for it!  They want the law to reflect their beliefs.  I get that having a law that supports your personal choice is validating, but wait until the law makers start making laws that you don't agree with.  I know.  You are thinking that the government isn't going to do anything that isn't "good" for us.  I might even argue that the government isn't actively trying to hurt our children, but they don't know (or aren't sharing) the long term effects of their laws.

Humor me for a minute.  God made people in such a manner that walking, running, moving, and other activities are done in the direction our eyes face.  I would assume that this is for a number of very easy to imagine reasons.  Twenty years form now we might be looking at our kids all grown up and wonder why there is such a dramatic rise in learning disabilities and behavioral issues.  Then, 20 years after the damage was done, the government releases a new study that says traveling in a vehicle rear facing scrambles brain messages in the formative years.  The brain can't translate the information when not looking forward and as a result, our children will struggle with behavior and learning due to facing the back of the car for so long.  I totally made that up, but it could happen. Will we still be happy that the government made that decision for us?

What happens when the law makers say that we can't feed our children cheeseburgers because they are fattening and lead to obesity.  Candy will also be illegal because not only does it contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle, it increases the likelihood of diabetes. Because some parents don't know how to limit treats, we will all have to pay the price.  Oh, and if your husband has dreams of your little boy being the next Brett Farvre, football will be illegal too.  Too many head injuries.  Your little girl wants to be a ballerina?  Sorry, dollface.  Too many dancers struggle with anorexia and bulimia so ballet will be illegal too.  If we stand by and graciously accept the rules they make for us, even when they are "safer", "better", and "healthier," we are paving the way for them to make every single decision we currently have.  

The bottom line is that they are just training us, and therefore training our children, to follow the leader.  Whatever they say must be right and good.  We are letting go of more and more of our rights willingly.  By the time our kids are grown ups, they will not know what it is like to be able to make an informed decision.  They will simply look up on their mobile computer what the government tells them they are permitted to do.  We are handing lawmakers our children's rights and thanking them in one swift motion.

Come on parents!  Let's raise our kids to make their own decisions!  They will be bright enough to know what is best for them if we guide and teach them by example.  If we are constantly looking to the government to tell us what is right, then our kids will do it too.  Do we train our kids to ask God as swiftly as we are training them to ask the lawmakers?  God, I hope so.