Writer James Lileks has come up with an interesting way of dealing with his daughter’s broken Nintendo:

(G)Nat dropped her Nintendo and it broke. This is a teachable moment, in which she learned an important lesson: don’t drop your Nintendo, or it will break. Also, a replacement is not immediately forthcoming. The world doesn’t work that way. Well, her world doesn’t work that way. I will not let her use savings to ut a new one, because she has no concept of money; I have told her she can wait three months, which is a mean cruel ETERNITY, but: she can hasten the day by spending Nintendo time on other things, such as reading and art. The more she does that, the faster Replacement Day comes.

I’ll admit, I may talk a good game but often I’m a total pushover. I have — on more than one occasion — immediately replaced a lost or broken toy (provided, of course, it was an accident and not due to carelessness). Even went so far that when a beloved stuffed animal went missing, I went on eBay and got into a bidding war to purchase a new one.

How do you handle such situations? Do you — finances permitting — buy a new one or do you turn it into a life lesson?

Recently I stumbled upon a parenting debate about whether or not parents would take their children to “Gay Day” at Disney World. Although “Gay Day” isn’t an officially sponsored event, it is an organized one. In case you’re not familiar with it, one day out of the year gay couples, with or without children, go to Disney World to experience the park as the majority.

What caught my eye was the following comment on pregnancy.org:

So now you understand why there is a need for “gay day”…’cause every other day is “hetero day” at Disney World (and everywhere else), and it’s tough to have everything catered to another group’s interests. Doesn’t feel so good when you don’t see your family and your own family values widely represented, does it?

That statement seemed so ridiculous to me. Why does anyone’s and everyone’s interests have to be widely represented anyway? My question has nothing to do with whether or not I “agree” with the “gay lifestyle”. I couldn’t care less about that.

For some reason, this reminds me of the times when I’ve been in the minority. At one of my past jobs, I went looking for a daycare for my older son who was about 3 years old at the time. Lucky for me, there was a Montessori across the street. How convenient was that? So, I made an appointment to take a tour and given that the company was located smack dab in the middle of “Korean Town”, all the children and staff were Korean. I’m not exaggerating. There was not one other ethnicity represented besides Korean.

I kept an open mind looking at Korean lesson plans on the teacher’s desks and when I received an awkward outsider reception from the Administrator. As convenient as it might have been, I decided against sending him there. I didn’t want my son to feel like the odd kid out if I didn’t have to. I also saw no reason to submerge into a culture at 3 years old that he would likely not appreciate or understand. Granted, kids are resilient and he would have adapted, and probably learned some interesting differences, but I would have preferred a more diverse group. It had nothing to do with hate or racism or prejudice, but of cultural comfort. That is why a Korean Montessori exists to begin with — in order to find that comfort and simpatico and preserve a unique culture.

My point being, the commenters accusing those who don’t want to go to “Gay Day” as hateful and ignorant, aren’t they contradicting themselves when they point out that gay couples don’t want to have to always conform to the interests of straight people and the majority?

Human nature dictates that people like to be around people like them, even those who are the most accepting and tolerant people in the world.

I have to wonder if the people accusing others of being hateful have made a point to live in an area outside their own race and common interests? I’m sure the answer is no.