My son, who turns 13 months Superbowl Sunday, has learned to clap—and he generally does so with the kind of unabashed glee reserved for children, the mentally challenged, and Michael Moore in a room made from cotton candy and thinly sliced corn beef.
Which is why I was surprised when—in the middle of the President’s SOTU address the other night—he began booing mentions of Social Security reform.
I’m not going to worry just yet. But if he’s still showing “progressive” tendencies by the time he turns 4, then it’s off to a military academy with him. I mean, I love him and all, but sometimes as a parent you just have to put your foot down, y’know…?
Don’t worry, that type of behavior tends to go away around the same time as crapping their pants and putting everything in their mouth.
Now, in Moore’s case…..
Give him a timeout in his crib, and tape a picture of Jeane Garofalo on the headboard.
Don’t worry, I won’t call the social workers.
Sometimes even a military academy can’t help.
And the slow march from social libertarianism to cultural conservatism begins…
Chin up. You can stay funny.
13 months is very young to boo, for whatever reason. Maybe he thought Bush said “baby booers.” You should be proud, not concerned.
swimdad
Don’t you dare limit that child’s mind!!
The earlier you do this, the better off for everyone.
Which is why you should send him off now. . .
Spam word is ‘national’. As in ‘National Socialists’ . . .?
Sounds like he’s gonna become a Dept chair at CU in Thug Studies in a couple of decades.
Enjoy these innocent times, Jeff. Before you know it, he will be all grown up, leave home and learn more about clap than you want to know.
… in that order.
not a problem … babies have difficulty with aspirated sounds, your young’un was saying:
Booooooooooooooooooooo—shhhhhhhhhhhhh
but couldn’t quite make it to the ‘shhhhhh’.
He was just saying “Boo-urns.”
Sharp as a marble, that pretty much explains Moore and Kennedy.
How about another photo of the little tyke?
He was booing the booers.
Jeff, you deserve a visit from Child Welfare for merely putting your kid and Michael Moore in the same sentence. What kind of parent are you?!
That’s funny. My 27 month old claps and says “Yay” whenever she sees Bush on TV. That’s my girl!!
but sometimes as a parent you just have to put your foot down
And that foot…is you!
— in rememberance of Dean Wormer
They only do two words at a time when they are 13 months. He was booing Social Security. Didn’t even hear “reform”.
Actually, progresive ideas tend to linger into adolescence. The lightbulb goes off the first time they get a paycheck.
As a Customer Service Manager at a retail outlet, I see this all the time. The kid with his first job, works like a dog all week and then payday comes.
“Is this ALL?” they ask.
I then have to explain FICA and withholding, and State (which I always tell him he’ll get back when he files for his refund.)
The look on the faces of these kids is priceless. It’s like someone telling them there’s no Santa Claus or that the tooth fairy is your mother.
Of course, they don’t all become Republicans. But you don’t hear much in the way “progressive tendencies” from them any more.
It wasn’t my first paycheck that turned me from a raving moonbat to a conservative. However, the first time my husband-to-be showed me how big a bite the government took out of his sales comissions, I just about fell over. It was and still is obscene. Fair Tax, damn it. Social Security. Boooooooo.
My son–an incredibly gregarious being–was about two when we were living in a certain Middle Eastern country. The senior Senator from MA payed a visit to the country and, of course, the embassy held a reception for him.
My son absolutely refused to shake hands with the Senator, backing away, looking down, holding his hand behind his back.
Either the kid–now 19–was precociously astute in his political orientation, or the Senator was giving off such horrific vibes.
It was the first, and last, time he’d ever withheld social graces.