So this is not intended to be a politically loaded message. I am not interested in talking politics. I'm only interested in talking about my family's struggles with my 8 year old daughter's current interest in government.
For the last six months she has been very into everything to do with politics: she memorized all of the presidents and their political parties, can talk about how parties have morphed over time, basically understands that the two different parties and states have different rules for bound and unbound delegates, etc. She does not know much about the party platforms specifically. She hasn't had "the talk" yet. I really don't want to sit around getting specific about abortion (though she has a general idea, because she has run into it.)
I have very definite political beliefs. My family's are very different. My husband is very hopeless about the state of politics and the world and, honestly, is a little angry at me for wanting to bring a child into this world that he sees as overpopulated and destined to destroy itself. He is really bothered that she is interested in politics because he thinks it is a hopeless endeavor. Also, he is 2E (like my daughter) and does not like the fact that she immerses herself in information. That is what he does. He did not get the help he needed, has always struggled, and thinks that kind of learning is a waste of time. I can tell the way she studies things really bothers him on a visceral level. It hits too close to home.
And...she wants to watch the conventions. All. the. time. I let her watch the first 15-20 minutes of the primetime portion of the Republican Convention, but then I just couldn't do it. I personally felt it preyed on people and was angry and racist. I just didn't trust her to be able to see through all that. (Your political views may be different--again, this is not about politics but about trying to help my child.)
I want to expose her to both sides. We watched (not live) the request for a roll call vote on the rules, the delegates announcing their votes, and compared the two versions of first lady speeches to talk about plagiarism.
She wants more, more, more. She's always sneaking onto the computer to try to watch it. I want to support her interest in politics but the combination of everything is just too much.
I usually get very good advice on here and I'm just curious about your thoughts on how, when and why to set limits on this type of thing--and also how to discuss with her the reasoning for those limits.
