True to my nature, I changed my mind about the reviews. As I said in my disclaimer, my views on some things stay solid while others change in a very short time.

I think also that I may have been a bit unfair in my colorful but less than flattering description of Larry's nephews. They are little hellions, of that there is no doubt, but sometimes they do behave themselves and the older one is often quite sweet. He really has taken on the role of his brother's keeper and watches after the little guy almost like a parent. If he sees his brother getting too close to the road, he guides him away and distracts him with a game or chases him so that he forgets all about wanting to be near the road in the first place. That's pretty good thinking for a five year old. Hell, there are adults who don't have that much on the ball - they'd just yell at the kid.

Also, my SIL is actually pretty nice most of the time, but there are situations in which I really have to bite my tongue when she's talking. When she talks about gay people and non-christians it does bother me, just because of her narrow mindedness. She's one of those "God said it, I believe it, that settles it" types and she's not willing to give anyone who doesn't measure up to her belief of the way things ought to be a break. Her children are only allowed to listen to christian music and I believe their capacity to imagine is being squashed before it has the chance to awaken. The reason I say that is because almost everything they do is christian oriented, which leaves very little variety and very little room for creative thought.

My BIL is a comic book and science fiction enthusiast (we have the coolest conversations), but the only thing even close to those interests the children are allowed to have are Spiderman and (I'm not kidding), BibleMan. I looked all over the place for BibleMan stuff for the kids for christmas last year and even on the internet came up dry. But their mom and grandmother found it, so I guess some store somewhere stocks it. My SIL is really a nice person and I think she's a good mom. Her children are definitely well cared for and you'd really have to look to find a woman who cares more about her children's education than she does. She's teaches small children in a very good school, so to say this chick is on her toes doesn't do her full justice.

It does bother me that the kids aren't being allowed to fully flex their imaginative capabilites, though, because an imaginative child is a child who learns to be an active problem solver. Imagination breeds free thought, and as much as we'd like to be able to keep ourselves and our children sheltered, the fact is that our lives depend on our ability to think independently.

They aren't my children but it still bothers me. I don't think a child should be made to fear hell if he or she makes a mistake and if we restrict their exposure to even the most harmless an innocuous things (Harry Potter, for instance - don't even get me started on the ridiculousness of the objections to that), are we really doing them any favors?

John and I talk about spirituality all of them time and the conclusion he has reached is exactly the one I tried to guide him toward; that it's all individual and the path he chooses will ultimately be up to him. That doesn't make me a better parent than my SIL, not by a long shot, but I feel that I'm giving my children the chance to be themselves and to not eventually end up with a lot of unnecessary guilt. When I was a child I was terrified every time I did something that resulted in my being made to stand in the corner that I was going to hell. That's a pretty heavy burden to lay on a kid.

It's none of my business, there's nothing I can do about it and I certainly was raised better than to run my mouth to my SIL regarding the way she brings up her children (unless they're being abused), but I need to vent about things like this occasionally.

What I see people doing with their children really gets to me sometimes.