General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I Support The Actions Described By President Obama Tonight, Ladies And Gentlemen [View all]The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)That would be a charitable explanation, and one that might perhaps be remedied.
Here is how it works.
Someone will suggest a policy, let us say, having the older grand-children take the younger ones to the park.
Someone else will say, perhaps, that is a good idea, it will make it easier to get some housework done, and make for an easier bed-time.
Yet another someone might say, that is not such a good idea, the younger ones don't always want to come home when the older ones say, and you can hear it all the way down the block when that happens.
Now both of these are actual reasons for supporting or opposing the policy suggested, one pointing to an expected benefit, one to a possible difficulty. Further discussion might weigh whether getting the kitchen floor washed without a lot of chatter and bother about tracking over it to get juice is worth the possibility of complaints big brother is a meanie and the small sabotages that can follow. Suggestions for how these objections to either course might be minimized may be suggested, and thoughts about whether these could actually be made to work might be introduced, and considered, in deciding whether there is going to be such an expedition or not.
Now, if one of the older grand-children were to say hey, you think it's such a good idea, you take 'em to the park, that would not be considered part of discussing whether the older ones taking the younger ones to the park was a good idea. The best that could be said about it would be that it was off to one side of the discussing the merits of the matter. Discussion of whether the park expedition will come off would proceed as if it had not been said at all....