Plowing through

Sometimes I want to write but I have no plan whatsoever. I just kind of plow through until I find something.

Plow through...what an odd saying, it makes me think of Little House on the Prarie. Odd jump there I know, but I loved those books growing up. I checked them out from the library constantly, eventually my parents got me the full set of all the books and I ate it up.  I was determined to cook a thanksgiving dinner like Ma and Laura did (Which was just a wee bit over my head at the time). I wanted to find an Almanzo of my very own, and we would live on a farm and raise kids and animals.

Now in defense of what sounds like a moderate obsession, I still want to live on a farm, I married a hardworking man, and we have a baby (on the way) and a dog. So not too different from what child me wanted.

My sister and I were both voracious readers, and we read far above our "reading level". However, the content of young adult literature was much less volatile in the 80's, or at least it seemed that way.

It is really disturbing to walk through a bookstore's young adult section now and see things like Twilight, Hunger Games and the Divergent series. Books that are about ancient vampires hanging out in high schools, kids killing kids (not to far from Lord of the Flies, I know, but the political undertones and the loss of childhood make it sinister in a different way), and post apocalyptic life! We had Sweet Valley High, and the Lioness series, and fantasy series like Narnia and the Belgariad! Books about the process of growing up, not kids that were already adults.

I feel like we are doing a disservice to our kids letting them read books (though the same could be said for movies too) about adult topics with the main characters being, essentially, children! What happened to kids enjoying the process of growing up? Why is it that kids, especially girls, jump from 8 to 28 in about 4 years?!

Now I'm not saying that some kids aren't prepared to be exposed to content like this. I have two nieces who are smart as whips and completely understand the concepts presented in some of these series. They know that it doesn't apply to them and to what is appropriate for their actions. But I also have kids around me all day that are 8 and 9 and think that they are old enough to make their own life choices.

It seems that the focus of children's books has become more about entertainment and less about teaching, which I think is sad.

Wether we like it or not, life is a process, a path to be traveled to the end. There is no skipping milestones or a smooth path around a bumpy section, and books that romanticize monsters and trials and traumatic events make it seem that the path will be magical and surreal. That intent is more than action and the ends justify the means.

Plowing through life is what gives it meaning, not meeting a monster and falling in love, or winning a contest and starting a bloody revolution. Try building a life from scratch, going on an epic hero quest, or fighting for what you know you were meant to be. That is what everyone needs to read!

...Nature girl