Raising Parenting Concerns

Books are not buckets. That is, authors aren't dumping their points of view into bins (in this analogy, readers are the bins). Rather, the act of reading is exactly that -- an act. Not passive. As one reads, one reacts and internalizes the text (or not) depending on one's background, interests, and personality. Who a reader is will certainly correlate to the effect a book has.

I am currently reading Dave Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. It's about many things: generation X, relationships, personal responsibility and accountability. Oh, and it's about parenting. As in, more specifically, the book contains examples of really bad parenting -- like, parents would probably be well-advised not to do some of the things highlighted in this book.

But the more I read, the more concerned I become. Because I strongly identify with the main character. That is, the bad parent. (Did I mention, by the way, that -- as a parent -- he really does a lot of things poorly?) So you see why I'm concerned, right? As a parent who identifies with the bad parent character (I'd even say "likes and admires certain things about said character")... does that not, by the transitive theory, then make me a bad parent?

As I often do in dire situations, I turned to my wife Alison, who yet again served as the voice of reason. "You're not a bad parent," she said. "It just means Eggers is a good writer."

I hope she's right.