Lots of non podcast related action getting in my way this week.? But its just as well I know lots of people want to bask in the light of positive feelings and relief after Obama’s swearing in. And as many of you know, I have a tendency to try and poo-poo the popular sentiments of the day. So again, its good that I’m busy and you can enjoy this very big happening.? As I was reminded.. or rather.. yelled at by an American several years my senior: You don’t realize how it used to be, you didn’t live it. Of course I argued back that one needn’t live every part of history to undertstand it… but still.. maybe I deserved to be yelled at. Some choose to do it in the comments of this site, some as I sit watching an innaugeration, either way is valid.
Now one thing I can recommend, that I initially didn’t think would be any good, is a recent edition of On Point that talks about the role of today’s grandparents in our households. They start off with the Obama mother-in-law in the white house situation, and ask the larger question of are grandparents playing a role in how todays children are raised, how big is that role, what are the benefits and how about the drawbacks.? What is nice, beyond thinking critically of how we treat the elderly, is the stories that people call in with.? I too was raised with grandparents prominently in the picture during my childhood, and I think it was a very special and immensely enriching influence. This podcast made me want to dial in to the show and talk about my grandparents.? Alas, wrong time zone.