Strollerderby

I am still trying to figure out how an admitted heroin user got an approved homestudy to adopt three times.  Having money does not make you smart or a good parent.  

I've always thought she was creepy, and having a passel of kids doesn't change her creep-factor.  What sort of nutcase buys a seven-year-old a knife?

A parent knows their child and can judge when they are old enough to handle the responsibility of a knife. I got my first pocket knife when I was five, and was taught how to handle it safely. I was also allowed access to hammers and nails to build forts and tree houses. A knife is a tool, and a useful one.

  Do you not trust your child with a kitchen knife? At seven years old, most children can help in the kitchen, slice their own apples, cut their own meat, etc.

I got my first knife at 5.  And it was razor sharp.  Heck, the fact that you think a dull knife is safer than a sharp one is a testament to your NOT knowing about mankind's most basic tool.

You know what teaches a kid how the world works?  Using tools.  There's no other way to slice open an apple and see its innards, or to disassemble electronics to figure out how complex they are, or to stick together spare parts in some sort of functional way.  And yes, it also teaches some very painful lessons that all curious hands-on people learn eventually.  They'll slice open their hands, whack their thumbs with hammers, burn themselves playing with matches, stab themselves with screwdrivers, zap themselves with capacitors and drop heavy stuff on their feet.  It makes you a cautious person.

I've got scars and I'm missing the tip of my pinkey, but I'm also perfectly comfortable replacing a transmission on a car, drywalling my ceiling, building a bookcase or computer, and rewiring my washing machine.  There's _no_ other way to learn this stuff other than to start young and occasionally get hurt.  

Parenting is about mitigating the risks associated with learning how the world works, without letting your kids falsely assume that it's a safe place.  In my experience, kids who grow up around dangerous stuff do a lot fewer life-threateningly stupid things as teenagers and young adults.