Superfudge

I had forgotten how much I loved Judy Blume's books until I picked up Superfudge at the library to read to Eldest. I think that I had read it in 4th grade or so. So, I wasn't too sure that Eldest would get it.

One thing I didn't quite understand as a child and now looking at it as a parent was how "middle class" Peter's parents were. How they (gasp!) rented a little 2 bedroom apartment in New York City. In fact, when Tootsie was born (the 3rd child) they didn't really have anywhere to put her but the living room. I started to come to the realization that maybe, just maybe, this is how most families lived in the beginning. How most couples that first got married didn't have a house or brand new cars. That they actually were eating mac & cheese, and that their kid's big treat was maybe a Popsicle every now and then. Going out to eat was a super fancy treat and many times we relied on our friends and relatives to help us out. Kids went outside and played and got into trouble and most times it was chalked up as kids being kids. What has changed?

One might say it's a more dangerous nation out there, but I'm not so sure. Crime since the 1980's is down. In fact in many areas, it hasn't been this low since the 60's. I have a lot of theories as to why this is and there are many folks more educated than I, who I'm sure have even better theories. So why are we more protective than ever over our children? Why do we feel like we need to have a ridiculous amount of material things before we have children? After all, we as humans have been having children since the dawn of time.

Many might say that education and knowledge are power, but depending on how we look at it who ultimately gets that power? And who is educating the masses? It seems as though many colleges are pushing big government these days. The media seems to rely very much on fear inducing tactics. Many marketers and companies are using fear to sell these days. There is another line of thought that alludes to the idea that inducing fear in a society is another type of power grab. After all, when we are all tuned into reality shows, our iPhones, and video games what time to we have to pay attention to what rights are being taken away?

I must admit I am just as guilty as the next person when it comes to zoning out. I just have to come to terms with the fact that "back in the day" hand me down clothes and leftover nights were the family norm.