I have always considered cribs to be one of the worst crimes against humanity. When our babes were breastfeeding they never woke us up at night squalling, because all they needed to do was latch on, and they were comforted.

I think it's a lot of the reason that my sons are better men than I ever will be.

It's hard to describe the feeling I get when I hear a baby crying from a crib. I'm outraged, yet I can say nothing, or only very little, as people take great offense to challenging their paradigm when it comes to mistreating their children.

One thing I thought important regarding peaceful parenting, is that kids will occasionally require guidance. For example, keeping them from jumping over an open fire, or from playing with gasoline and a fire.

You can't let them find out why those things are not allowed through trial and error. They can't learn when they're dead. This is why I started teaching my kids how to handle dangerous things, like firearms and chainsaws, from an early age.

My eldest bought his first car with wages he earned working construction at 10. He could only drive it on private property, so I plowed some cat trails on our ten acre plot, where he serially crashed (and subsequently fixed) it, at low speeds.

When he wanted to get a driver's license, I didn't lose a wink of sleep, because he had already learned all the stupid things not to do in a car, including running me off the road once.

I am constantly thanked by my son for the way he was raised, as he encounters the various hurdles his childhood has prepared him to vault cleanly. I only wish that I had been raised better myself, because I'd have been able to do a better job raising my kids.

Thanks for your post. I think it's fitting that we look at how raising our kids prepares them for Independence Day, after all.