Musing Posts

When my wife and I were raising our two sons, I would tell them that they needed to work hard and be ready to be on their own at a young age. I don't know if it was precisely 18—that's a bit early—what with college and such, but definitely by age 21.

Well, that kind of happened. They both served church missions, which put them out on their own for two years, and then they were back home for a while before heading off to college, which took another few years. However, both of them came back with wives, and now children, and are living with either us or their inlaws. The oldest will be thirty this year, while the youngest turns twenty-eight.

It's not like I haven't say in the matter, either. It's been mostly out of convenience—an attempt to help while both either get jobs, or better jobs. Not all employment, especially starting out, will give a person a living wage. So, what's supposed to happen in the meantime? Put your life on hold, don't start a family, or have both working until that time that the means to go out on your own exist?

Perhaps. The tradeoff has been having our first grand daughter living with us, and being able to see her every day and watch her learn and grow. It's been a totally different experience to watch that unfold as a grandfather than it was as a parent. Much easier.

So, while I still believe that the sooner kids can be out on their own, the better, that doesn't mean it won't take a while longer for things to be more or less launched. Certainly finances and economics play a roll. It's never been easy to live on your own, but it's certainly not getting any easier.

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dominion01 (60) · 6 years ago

Excellent and thoughtful response. My son is 8 months old, so I have a long time until he approaches leaving my house.

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rasamuel (63) · 6 years ago

View this question on Musing.io

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glenalbrethsen (68) · 6 years ago (edited)

I would be hard pressed to say that he is the best American president ever. In my opinion, he's managed to do some things that I am okay with, and there have been other times where he actually did something I expected him to do. However, I don' t think there's anything to date that puts him into the best ever category.

I mean, you would basically have to overlook Presidents like Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, who for the most part, are still looked upon as great presidents, and in the case of Washington, he was actually well liked in his day. Lincoln had an upward battle throughout his presidency, but generally, history is thankfully kind to him now.

I couldn't put Trump ahead of either of those men. And I would probably end up putting Ronald Reagan and Calvin Coolidge ahead of him, too.

I wouldn't say he's the worst President, and since he hasn't even finished his first term yet, it's hard to say where he'll ultimately end up, especially if he wins re-election, but if he continues to try to make good on his campaign promises, and actually succeeds, then I might rank him ahead of George W. Bush.

I'd have to go through and take a look at all the presidents to properly rank him, but for the time being, he's better than many, but not the best ever.