In Which Amy Notices Perspective... (Myspace Blog)

The last time I made my ex-husband angry, he called me the most awful, horrible name that he could think of... socialist. Never mind that it is truth, I AM a socialist. To him, it was the epitomy of Anti-American; the absolute bottom of the barrel, the most heinously awful thing he could possible imagine being. At first, I was offended. But, given time, I realized that the American perspective supported his conclusion. Socialists are considered the bane of American politics, a wonderful throw-back idea from the Cold War. Of course we are anti-American, we want to tyrannize and control and dictate. None of this is actually true; I have yet to meet a fellow socialist that is not painfully aware of the possibilities of tyranny and actively working against it. Neither are we so quick to get rid of America... just like any other player in the political field, we would like to see change. It turns out that I make my ex-husband angry all too often. Possibly, he felt dismay at the fact that I didn't seem to mind too much when he called me socialist, so he changed tactics. This time, he called me an extremist, and he did so to our daughter. I'll set up the scenario for you: He dropped her off after a week + of visitation. He expressed a desire to make sure that he had her during the time that his father was visiting for the holidays. I said, "Maybe we should just celebrate Yule instead of Christmas," seeing as how both of the 'other parents' celebrate Christmas, and it is very unimportant to me... it might be nice for everyone's needs to be met, and I was willing to be the one to give in. So he walks my daughter outside, and tells her that this proves his point that I am an extremist. Does anyone else see the problem? He chose to have a detailed conversation with a young, impressionable girl in regards to things HE sees as negative things about her mother... I am not a religious extremist... sometimes I feel like I do a pretty bad job at being religious at all, and I am ok with that. I don't believe in 'religion' anyway. And I am not a political extremist... many have told me that I do not do enough in the political realm. I am ok with that, too. I do what I can. My kids are free to make their own choices in each of these areas, and most of the time, I share my political views with them only when asked. (Unlike others, who are quick to be judgemental of any opposing political view, and are pushy about shoving thier ideals into conversations and email in-boxes.) The fact that this was told to the teenager about her mother bothers me the most. I do not believe that any person should hear negative things about one parent from the other. I work very diligently to make sure that I do not talk about him in any manner that might be considered negative. I /want/ her to love him. I think that we shall see whose plan was more effective as she gets older. I just hope it does not end up biting ANYONE in the ass.