The End is Near

I was going to write this (as I always do) about the end of the semester, but between the title and this writing, I had a student come in and two phone calls--so I'm regrouping around this:

My kids and the doomsayers of 2012...

First of all, I grew up in the shadow of The Bomb. I am a child of the Cold War. My dad was a card-carrying Survivalist fully anticipating some post-apocalyptic disaster world and equipping our home for just such a nightmare. Thus, my childhood was not spared a fair share of dooms daying.

However, so much media has been spouting out doom and gloom about December of 2012 that even my younger kids are aware of the predictions. One asked me if I was going to have their pirate ship playground done before the end of the world this year. Another asked me if I had completed my bucket list, and if not, was I planning to before December. The oldest of these kids is only 9.

While most reasonable adults can sort the hubbub from the bub, I don't know that little kids can. They may not even be too sure about how SpongeBob can blow bubbles underwater, let alone be too clear on global catastrophe and the ensuing mayhem. None of them were alive to feel the anxiety or hear the doomsayers at the turn of the millennium.

I have noticed behavior among my kids that's not too dissimilar to adult sentiment/behavior regarding the end of the game:
lamenting not getting to grow up and have a family
abandoning all ritual and rule since it's all to be over soon
acting out plans and contingencies to survive the impending peril
rebelling against the prediction, denying the potential of it all

I wish I had some wise counsel on all this, something they'd be at peace with. They just don't trust their dear ol' dad, though, compared to the news and entertainment outlets that spew this stuff.

I guess in January 2013 I'll just get to say, "Told'ya so." They always like that so much.