If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times by now, “We’re in uncharted territory.”
What exactly does that mean? Plainly put, it means that we’re down the rabbit hole. It means that people are scared. It means there has been a sharp uptick in the sale of dystopian novels like Orwell’s 1984 and Sinclair Lewis’ It Can’t Happen Here.
It means that since Donald Trump took office and delivered his Inaugural address using the word “carnage,” every day is a day of heightened reality.
How Trump is Like Your Toddler
In some ways it reminds me of the first days of motherhood — when you’re feeling shell-shocked. How are you ever going to wrap your head around this new reality that has changed your life?
Remember the first months of your child’s life when you believed that every single little thing you did was a matter of life and death? Maybe your wore the same shirt for three days? Everything was a blur. Then you calmed down, and realized you were in a long-distance run and needed to conserve your strength.
Now, whether your son or daughter is three-months-old or thirty, it might serve you well to take the same approach. The life of the next generation, and all those coming up, is on the line.
Personally, I don’t think it’s going to get better. So, you are going to need to prepare yourself. Case in point…
I remember when my son would throw a horrible temper tantrum. After the screaming, tears and calm-down period, he would be just fine. Although, I would remain a wreck for days.
I am learning from that experience and rebooting. Actually, our 70-year-old president’s behavior is quite similar to that of a toddler. No impulse control, says outrageous stuff, and then blames it on everyone else (“Tommy did it first.”).
Except in this kindergarten class, the teachers and principal are going along with the acting out tot. Wondering why the GOP won’t break with Trump? John Cassidy writes in the New Yorker, “As long as Trump pursues a policy agenda that Republicans support, and which they played a large role in crafting, they will continue to shrug off his nuttier and more despotic tendencies.”
Ground Zero for Parents: Climate Change
Pediatricians often say, “Pick your battles.” OK, but there’s so many to choose from! However, if you are a parent who believes that there will be no future to fight for if there is no planet, climate change is your concern.
An M.I.T. study from 2013 determined that air pollution in China kills an estimated 4,400 people daily. The parallel figure in the America is 548 people per day. I don’t think we want China’s statistics.
So, if you ever stomped into your kid’s school when there was a bully to be reckoned with, or an unsafe situation that you strongly believed was untenable, here are three things you can do right now:
- Educate yourself and others: Political operatives have launched a series of efforts to intentionally deceive the public with “fake” news, and what spokespeople for the Trump Administration are calling “alternative facts.” Fight back against spreading fake, “alt” news about climate change, with knowledge.
- Pick up the phone: Keep it local. Focus on state and local representatives and make sure they know where you stand on the Scott Pruitt nomination for the EPA. Let them know, by constantly calling and writing, that American does need a federal watchdog called the EPA. The country needs protections against polluters and agents of big money interests who only care about their financial bottom lines.
- March with us: Join us on April 29th for the March on Washington for Climate, where we will have a parent delegation as an official partner of The People’s Climate Movement.
Parents are the voice of reason. (Tweet this) Collectively, let’s make sure this is one tantrum that doesn’t get out of hand.