So I am reading this children's story, seems to be going great. This dog named rover is letting everyone share his doghouse during a rainstorm. All the animals are getting along, they are cuddled up next to each other. They are keeping each other safe and warm.
Then, for no reason at all the skunk decides to spray his odeur in the dog's home, and I begin to lose sight of the point of this story. So, it is not about hospitality, sharing, and manners. That is fine. How about friendship? Meh, probably not seeing as only the dog has a name (which I refuse to use here because I don't feel like he is even the protagonist, and therefore I don't feel that he deserves any extra recognition...much like the partridge in a pear tree...nor do those gold rings deserve an extra bar in that song either...back to the point).
Furthermore, after everything, this dog is "happy he's alone." Now, don't get me wrong, learning how to spend meaningful time alone is an important skill. The inability to be comfortable alone has many negative long term effects on one's self-efficacy because that person invariably ties his/her agency to others. Yet, in first grade, in my humblest opinion, I think that it is equally if not more important to be more interested in experience acquisition, and that means spending quality time with others. If civil society is to prosper, its constituents need to be active, engaged, and amicable.
So the ending I would have liked to see is Rover and the neglected skunk in the doghouse together. And Rover, being above judgment, and befriending this character that gets a bad rap as either a smelly animal or a borderline sexual deviant (sorry Pepe and homage to Dave Chappelle).
Then, for no reason at all the skunk decides to spray his odeur in the dog's home, and I begin to lose sight of the point of this story. So, it is not about hospitality, sharing, and manners. That is fine. How about friendship? Meh, probably not seeing as only the dog has a name (which I refuse to use here because I don't feel like he is even the protagonist, and therefore I don't feel that he deserves any extra recognition...much like the partridge in a pear tree...nor do those gold rings deserve an extra bar in that song either...back to the point).
Furthermore, after everything, this dog is "happy he's alone." Now, don't get me wrong, learning how to spend meaningful time alone is an important skill. The inability to be comfortable alone has many negative long term effects on one's self-efficacy because that person invariably ties his/her agency to others. Yet, in first grade, in my humblest opinion, I think that it is equally if not more important to be more interested in experience acquisition, and that means spending quality time with others. If civil society is to prosper, its constituents need to be active, engaged, and amicable.
So the ending I would have liked to see is Rover and the neglected skunk in the doghouse together. And Rover, being above judgment, and befriending this character that gets a bad rap as either a smelly animal or a borderline sexual deviant (sorry Pepe and homage to Dave Chappelle).
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