This is just a silly little personal anecdote, but I thought maybe it would make some of you smile. My niece is in grade school (2nd or 3rd I believe--I'm a bad uncle for forgetting, lol) and the last time I saw her, she wanted to tell me all about Abe Lincoln, because they were learning about presidents.

She said, "Uncle PumpkinsAndPopsums, are there any presidents that you like?" And I told her, "yes there are, and there's one in particular you should know about!" In my own words, I told her that any President throughout our nations history will be the recipient of both approval and disdain, and that sometimes in history, you get a President who many people did not like--enter Mr. Trump, of course. And I told her that even though a lot of people didn't like him, he still did good things for people. Her father is a diabetic, so I said "he tried to make medicine for your daddy more affordable" and such. She found all of this interesting, and I was relieved that she didn't respond by saying "I've heard of him, my teacher says he was a bad man." No sir! I beat them all to the punch LOL.

Somehow in my conversations with this kiddo, beards came up too. Probably because I usually have one but was clean shaven this time. She asked "Can girls grow beards too?" I said "No! And don't you ever let anybody tell you otherwise!" 😂 She said, "I thought so!"

Point of this random rant is that I'm glad I said the things I did--this kiddo deserves to grow up in an environment where she's allowed to think for herself, and even though I'm only 30 and do not have my own kids or anything, I know that as kids in my niece's generation grow up, they are going to encounter confusing things in school--both from teachers and peers.

One day, probably sooner than later, my niece will hear people saying that Trump was nothing but trouble. One day, she will hear people talking about trans folks, acting is if anybody can be that way, as if it is not some kind of illness (personally I believe a lot of trans/nonbinary people are sick and deserve help, and that's where it comes from. But a lot of people just treat it like a fad or some normal thing and those people suck lol). And when those things happen, I hope my niece will remember what I said. She looks up to me, and my part of our family. As a young adult, I know my words can have a serious impact on the children in my family who look up to me. That's why I feel like it is my duty to try and gently guide them in the right direction when the opportunity arises. It's not my place to say too much, but hey, if these little comments I made stick with her, and help her think for herself, then I have done my job. My brother does the same thing--he is mostly on the same page as me about all this stuff (not all the way sold on Trump but getting there, lol).

Anyways! Thought that would bring a smile to yall, because so often we see stories of kids being literally brainwashed into thinking like the hivemind, and living life in lockstep. My family will not allow that to happen to any of our children, be they nieces, nephews, cousins, sons & daughters, or otherwise. WWG1WGA!!!