Quote Originally Posted by birdgirl73
I don't think Hillary's It Take a Villiage to Raise a Child book was meant to disparage or dismiss fathers. It simply talked about how a whole community of people influence children as they're growing up. That's very true. I know I was influential in other kids' lives not only when I was a teacher but also as the mother of one of their friends. I don't find Hillary an idiot. She's clearly been a good mother to her own child, and I admire the way she worked through some very public difficulties in her own marriage and hung in there.

I agree that the divorce rate is ridculous. But I can't deny, as someone who's been married for 22 years, that it's not sometimes very tough. There are times when it'd be much easier to give up, and I think that's why so many people make choice to throw in the towel. Because it's just the easiest solution.

Divorce does damage children. It puts them at greater risk of poverty, crime, and dropping out of school. Makes many of them shy of commitment when they're adults. Boys greatly depend on resident fathers to teach them to be gentlemen and providers--and to model how to respect and treat women. And girls need fathers present in the house to learn that they have some value in men's eyes--and not necessarily just meaningless sexual value, which, as adolescents, they'll often go out seeking from the first available males when dad's not present in their lives.

Have you ever heard Dr. Laura Schlesinger on this subject? I think she's frequently bad-mannered and sometimes gives short shrift to psychological motivations behind people's behaviors. Often her callers are terminally stupid to begin with. But I agree with most of her attitudes about the importance of maintaining a stable, two-parent home for kids. And I think she hits a lot of valid points in her book The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands, too.

Divorce was uncommon among the circle of adults I knew when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s, too. My parents married young and have been married for 51 years, and both sets of my grandparents had marriages that lasted for more than 63 years. I'm certain the long-term examples they modeled have helped me keep hanging in there in my own marriage.

Oh well, we're not going to solve this tonight. But it's been a fun discussion, hasn't it? Hope you have a good Friday, Breukelen!
I'm not a Clinton hater - but I don't want her brand of "feminism" foisted upon the nation. I am more in the ballpark of the "childfree" mindset - and the perks and breaks that were given to parents during her husband's administration were grossly unfair to the rest of us. I recommend the book, The Baby Boon: How Family-Friendly America Cheats the Childless (Hardcover) by Elinor Burkett . Hillary is a senator in New York State, where I live, and isn't too bad, on many issues. I can't pull the Baby Boon book out right now as it is in the bedroom, and I would wake my wife up. It's worth noting that even some parents agree with many of Burkett's findings and observations. The Clinton Administration was notoriously overgenerous to parents, at the expense of non-parents and seniors, and this tendency translated into policies in the workplace, and other areas, as well.

I haven't heard Dr. Laura Schlesinger for a while. I don't really fit into the mold of a typical "husband", since I lived alone for a total of about 20 years and am capable of taking care of myself, albeit sloppily. But, I'll check her out the next time I'm in a library, or Borders book store.

Have a nice Friday - it's always the best workday, to me. :thumbsup: