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Our hot weather continues. It’s over 90o F again. This may sound like whining, but we live in the northmost corner of the US. We are close to the Pacific Ocean and are surrounded by mountains. Our climate is Mediterranean. Summer highs rarely top 85o. Most of the summer is much cooler. As a result, very few homes have air conditioning. For the last week, our daytime high has exceeded 100o. That’s excessive in New York. It’s insane in Seattle.

We have enough portable air conditioners to stay cool even on the hottest days so far. Our deep freeze suddenly got warm. Poor Mrs. Lion had to take a lot of food out of our freezer to access a fan inside. It was frozen and not moving. She fixed it, and our freezer works better. It still isn’t right. We have a service contract and a technician will arrive on Wednesday. The freezer is cold enough to maintain frozen food but way too warm for ice cream. I’m sure that we will lose some food as a result of this.

Mrs. Lion couldn’t wax me on Monday. It’s way too hot in our pantry (where we keep the waxing table and supplies) to work there. The forecast for today (Tuesday) is finally normal with a high of 80o. In her post yesterday, “Even the Freezer Was Hot,” Mrs. Lion commented on how much work it is owning a lion. I hate being so much trouble for her.

editorial comment

The recent Florida law banning teachers from discussing gay and trans-sexual subjects drew a huge response around the country. Disney, Florida’s largest employer, came out against it. In retaliation, Florida revoked the special status granted to Walt Disney World over fifty years ago. It’s incredibly unusual for a corporation to get this openly political.

Disney has also made new rules for its children’s programming content. At least half of all the characters have to be “different.” That means racially or sexually different from the classic white male and female characters. This includes trans-sexual and gay characters.

Part of me applauds this change. Racially diverse characters allow children of all races to identify with popular characters. It’s about time for this. I’m not in favor of adding trans-sexual and gay characters. It isn’t that I think it is wrong to be either of those. I think it’s too difficult for pre-sexual kids to understand the complexities of trans and gay people.

Yes, I know it is unpopular to stick to genetic sexual identities. I don’t. I am comfortable with non-binary and trans people. I just think that young kids don’t need the complexities. If a parent is gay or trans, there is plenty of material to help kids understand. When my kids were young, we had gay friends. The kids didn’t relate to them as gay. For that matter, they didn’t relate to our heterosexual friends as straight. We were all people they liked. What sexual/political positions we took were irrelevant.

I think that’s still true. People are people whatever the genital subtleties. If questions come up, answer them. I just don’t see the value in pre-school sexual politics. Does that mean I don’t think teachers should discuss homosexuality with third graders? I don’t think it belongs in the curriculum, but if a kid asks a question, there is nothing wrong with discussions on the topic.

Do you think third graders need to be taught about domestic discipline? I don’t. But if a kid asks why mommy spanks daddy, it’s fair to offer an honest answer. My point is that sexual topics, regardless of gender combinations, need to develop organically. I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t ready to hear about any sexual topics until I was a bit older than a nine-year-old kid.

That doesn’t mean we need laws to force any particular agenda. We just need to use good sense and let our kids stay kids.