Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3801-3805 (6-10 August 2018)
efindumb:
Bubbles is showing her military squad leader experience here, even if she doesn't realize it. She turned the fearful Sam into a brave young lady simply by talking with her and showing her that she's stronger than she realizes...
Or maybe I'm looking too much into this and it's simply Sam being sarcastic with Faye being Faye not helping the situation...
pwhodges:
--- Quote from: Thrillho on 08 Aug 2018, 16:11 ---The point here is not 'when I was a kid I was left unsupervised and didn't die, nowadays kids need to be wrapped in bubblewrap.' The point here is that you were lucky. And 99.9% of people are lucky. And 0.1% of people are the 14 year old kid, left unsupervised by a 'responsible' adult, be that a teacher, a friend, or a parent, who does get fucking killed by one of these contraptions.
--- End quote ---
Perhaps I was lucky; I was allowed a huge amount of freedom (considerably more than I allowed my children - or maybe I simply didn't know some things...).
But this was not without context. It's not that I was just shoved out of the door and told to have fun however I cared to; I was taught about the dangers and warned of possible consequences. And my relationship with my parents (and I hope my chidren's with me) was such that I respected them, and took what they said seriously - but without it inhibiting my willingness to interact with and learn about the world. So yes, at age seven I was sent out to cycle into town after dark for choir practice; but when one time my bike was stolen during that practice, I also knew to go to the police station to report it, and so that they could call my parents to fetch me home.
I am trying to contrast this with a tendency I see towards laziness in parenting. An unwillingness to sufficiently engage with one's children, and intead to restrict them to keep them safe rather than actually helping them learn about the real world and what risk actually is and how to assess it for oneself.
It is because I was allowed, and often encouraged, to push boundaries that I have made that a part of my life, and continue to engage actively with the world in new ways even after retirement.
Carl-E:
--- Quote from: BlueFatima on 08 Aug 2018, 06:04 ---
--- Quote from: Carl-E on 07 Aug 2018, 23:20 ---
--- Quote from: OldGoat on 07 Aug 2018, 22:39 ---Jim's business involves industrial mixers that can break an arm - a boobooed fingernail isn't going to look all that impressive to him.
--- End quote ---
It's different when it's your kid. My wife was training to be a PA and had done an ER tour, seeing the working end of several bloody messes. When our 3 year old daughter bonked her head and it was bleeding, I held her for a bit to calm her before bandaging it up. My wife came home and saw the blood on the shoulder of my shirt after I'd told her about it, and she nearly puked.
--- End quote ---
I assume your daughter is your first? I promise you that by the time she's Sam's age, most things upsetting, gross and horrifying will have desensitized you and your wife. If you have more kids or spend time around a number of her friends (which can happen more when you have an only), all the more so. I remember freaking out and taking my kid to the hospital a black eye at 2 (it was scary swelling up so fast). Now, when she injures herself like that, it's like "Again?" And it's a list of check the injury, ice, ibuprofen, etc... Meanwhile, I get a few more grey hairs. :lol:
My kiddo's 9, and I can't imagine suing anyone over her losing a nail. I may not trust her to alone again with that person at her current age, but if she was a young teenager I may actually chalk it more up as a life lesson than blame the adult in charge. Kids cannot be bubble wrapped forever. I've nicked myself with Dremel before, and I managed to slice off the tip of my index finger through the nail twice with an Xacto knife. Those kinds are injuries happen all the time.
Sam, however, does have impulse issues a little greater than other kids her age. I do agree with everyone that Faye should never have left her alone. She should have asked Bubbles to watch Sam until she was done in the bathroom. Close supervision is a given with any beginners who use power tools (even sewing machines) for the first time. Sam also probably should have had gloves on (though I find them cumbersome for something as little as a Dremel).
--- End quote ---
It was our first kid. It was also 25 years ago. Our second child was much more active, and was a "frequent flyer" at the local emergency room. Somewhere around the age of 5 we started making her tell the nuns (it was a catholic-run hospital) what had happened to her, because most of the time it was so improbable. Falling off a fire hydrant, slicing her foot open climbing on a pile of shale in flip-flops, the cat slicing the inside of her cheek... this is the kid who got stuck in the shower because she climbed the wall in the corner, and was too scared of falling to get back down.
Eleven years later, she was the one who came down with thyroid cancer. It triggered an auto-immune response that made the doctors miss the tumor for four months. The immune response destroyed a large part of her autonomous, sympathetic and reflexive nervous systems before they found the cancer.
9 years cancer free, but she has a feeding tube and a wheelchair now.
It hasn't slowed her down, and everyone at the hospital knows her name. Still a frequent flyer.
BenRG:
We've seen this side to Bubbles before, specifically when she counselled Winslow about how best to deal with May but the politics sort of obscured what Jeph was really saying. What he was saying is that Bubbles does have a strong nurturing and parental side to her. Faye's approach is different but she's just as good with kids in her own way (specifically in directing their play so that dangerous instincts are controlled).
I know this might sound weird but is Jeph taking this in the direction of Faye and Bubbles ultimately adopting a child? Or at least telling us that this is something that they could do and make it work?
Panel 1 really does confirm in my mind that Sam has issues with social interaction of some sort. Interacting with Faye and the AIs at the repair shop seem to be a big thing for her right now.
Cornelius:
--- Quote from: ThrillHo ---I am frankly baffled that I'm the only person so far arguing in against leaving literal children unsupervised with power tools
--- End quote ---
I don't think you're the only one. The way I read the discussion, though, is that there's lot of push back against the idea of litigation.
My point of view: it wasn't very wise of Faye to leave her alone. Starting her on a dremwel, where this is about the worst that can happen, with the safety gear provided, was.
Gloves, and other safety gear don't always help, especially if it doesn't fit right. It's better to have firm grip on your tool and not be protected in case it slips, than be protected and virtually sure it will slip.
Incidentally , that might be a good metaphor for parenting as well. It's better to protective, and give them clear understanding of risk, and experience in handling it , than just give a set of restrictions , which doesn't build any kind of skill, so they are practically guaranteed to get in trouble later on.
As an aside, all I had when learning to use power tools , was eye protection, and my father's supervision. And not even eye protection for a dremel. I must admit to freehanding most of what I've used dremel on, even if it's metal.
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