I'm deeply saddened whenever I see a woman who is clearly pregnant smoking. The �nurturer� in me wants to speak with the woman. But I�m sure we all know what the typical response might be.
Our nation is often referred to as a �nanny state.� Laws to protect us from ourselves and presumably guide us towards being better people abound. But there�s a very fine line between where we begin to dictate rather than guide.
I know the way I raise my children will be uniquely different than the way someone else raises their child. This does not make �my way� the correct way.
And whilst we already have laws that are defined to protect the rights of children, that law becomes quicksand in the eyes of �how I see it, how You see it, and the way it really is.� Personally, I would love a law that requires any product that contains aspartame to identified with a sizeable red �A� as a warning to consumers and especially parents of small children, that this is a carcinogen and can harm their child. But my practical side says, then common sense would dictate labels for oils, sugars, trans-fats and a plethora of other things. It�s so difficult to decide where to stop.
In some ways, the smoking mother�s behaviour pales in comparison to the environment in which that child may come to live. Poor nutrition, failure of the parents to engage, embrace and inspire their child, verbal denigration and mortification of the child, failure to provide the child with any inspiration in life, mental torment, physical neglect, and emotional blackmail.
In other countries, where freedoms are often not quite understood, I remember an event I witnessed in Transilvania Romania. I�ve worked with homeless street children there for years. It has made me aware that often, those with �homes� are not in much better circumstances than those without.
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