While the pandemic has meant that all four members of Casa Brillig have been at home since May, the youngest is fifteen years old and therefore we don’t talk a lot. Most of our conversations revolve around food… the procuring of food, the making of food, and discussions about where dishes go after the food is consumed. Laundry and “can you drive me to the field” are our other primary topics. Hearing him talk about other topics was only when he was talking in groupchats with friends behind closed doors, and didn’t realize his voice carried (if you’ve met my son… his voice carries like my voice carries. We do not ‘lilt’). Suffice it to say I know WAY more about what he finds attractive in girls and his thoughts on his friends’ significan tothers than I ever thought possible :-)).
However, I’ve noticed that in the past couple of months, that’s changing. K2 is a sophomore in high school and is taking three classes that are having an effect on him, even as he says they’re ‘boring’ and ‘not useful’. First — he’s taking AP US History, which is prompting many conversations about our system of government, how we got here, etc. Second — all 10th grade English classes spent the first months of school discussing various -isms (Ageism, Classism, Immigration, Homophobia/Transphobia, Racism, Sexism, and Religious bigotry) and students each chose one for an in-depth study and presentation due later this year (K2 chose Classism). Lastly, he’s taking an Intro to Philosophy elective with IMHO one of the best most engaging teachers in the school.
So we’ve had multiple conversations about the election, about our fears for what might happen, and he was clearly spending a LOT of time considering the situation. Post election we’ve been talking about cults of personality, why Republicans are acting the way they are, and racism. Out of the blue in the car last week he asked if I knew who Mary Shelley was, and when I said yes launched into his thoughts on Frankenstein. That discussion ended with a fascinating back and forth on whether or not it would be OK to bring someone back from the dead.
Tonight’s two topics were sparked by his observation that there were far fewer Trump lawn signs and flags around since the election. We talked about the concept of being intolerant of intolerance, which led to considering how to deal when someone you are friends with or who is family holds intolerant views. And then over dinner, he asked whether we thought it was appropriate that people compare Trump to Hitler.
Our answers and his are not relevant here, and out of respect for his fierce sense of privacy I’m not sharing them here. But it’s been wonderful having these conversations, and I hope that by giving him the space to share his thoughts without judgement, we’ll continue having them AND he’ll pick up some of what our values are and why.
I remember when this happened with K1, and am glad to experience it with K2. It’s also beyond magic hearing my two kids talking about Stuff. After a decade despairing they’d ever be friends, my heart is full knowing they’re as close as two siblings seven years apart can be before they’re both adults.
I hope you enjoy our Tops tonight, and that you regularly have meaningful conversations. Maybe we can do so in the comments!
Here at Top Comments we welcome longtime as well as brand new Daily Kos readers to join us at 10pm Eastern. We strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group mailbox by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find!
TOP COMMENTS
Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig.
From yours truly, brillig:
From Chris Reeves’ excellent Let's celebrate our red-state Democrats comes this comment by Matt Z on calls for red state secession, which was also highlighted eloquently multiple times by people after I’d decided to bring it here tonight.
I’ve been having discussions for days on the topic of Aysha Qamar’s Despite COVID surge, nearly 40% of Americans will gather in groups larger than 10 for Thanksgiving. jhecht succintly sums up the prospect.
TOP MOJO
Top Mojo for yesterday, November 15th 2020, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo.
TOP PICTURES
Top Pictures for yesterday, November 15th 2020. Click any picture to be taken to the full comment or picture. Thank you jotter!