To Shelter or Not to Shelter Kids

Some of you may remember when I blogged about the Sun Theatre from my hometown in Michigan.

About a block north of the Sun, is a bar/restaurant that was there in my Grandfather's day and his father's . . . you get the picture. It looks like a log cabin and is accordingly called the Log Jam. The Lumberjack in my story is modeled after this icon of small town entertainment, and while describing it in my chapter, I realized how prevelant kids were and still are in this bar.

In Michigan, as long as a bar serves food, kids are allowed. And trust me, parents take advantage of this fact and haul their kids out on a Saturday night for a Budweiser and Pizza. Beats having to find a sitter! Consequently, I knew what went into a Martini by the age of 5, as well as how to rack the pool table for the next round of straight pool. Make 'em tight, Eddie.

I recall my dad whispering the wisdom of the ages into my ear, "See that broad there? She's a gold digger." He was mortified when I was finally introduced to the 'broad' and said, "Oh, you're the gold digger." Out of the mouths of babes .

But, not everything dad taught me was bad. For instance, Dad would point to a scruffy-looking man who was bellied up to the bar and say, "If I was on the front lines in a war, that's the man I'd want by my side." Then he'd point to a man in a 3-piece suit and say, "but not him." He'd explain that you can't judge a person by the way they look on the outside. A classic lesson taught in a bit of a different way--but one I always remembered.

I never know how much to shelter my kids. They aren't allowed in bars here in Washington, so that isn't an issue. But I have to make other decisions. For instance, I let my 11 year old daughter watch House with us, even though it has adult content. I figure that I'd rather have her watch something with intelligent writing and dry humor than a show, say like Stacked, which boasts other assets, but intelligent writing isn't one of them. See, it makes me happy that my daughter admires the female doctors on the show, which is certainly better than wanting to grow up to be Pamela Anderson.

So, don't shelter if there could be a lesson learned or a good role model? Sometimes I think kids today are too pampered.

What do you think? To what extent should we shelter our kids? Is being able to rack the balls for pool a good skill? (I think so. LOL!) :)