We may have been talking a little too much about politics in our house over the last few weeks. Just now, when I told Mr. 14 that I was writing about tonight’s dinner table discussion with friends – the US, Trump, tariffs, deportations, Signal – he rolled his eyes. “Everyone knows what you’re going to say.”
“What should I say instead?” I asked.
“Tell them that someone thought tariffs were a great idea,” he suggested. “Tell them that we had a big fight and we threw the person who thought tariffs are good into the backyard with the dogs.
“At least that will be different,” he added. “I mean, what Canadian thinks tariffs are good?”
So, um, yeah: that’s my 14-year-old’s take on Trump’s tariffs.
Back up two hours to the dinner discussion my son found so predictable. There, the 16-year-old daughter of a friend tried to fathom the Signal war planning fiasco. “Wait – what?” She squinted her eyes a little and looked at her mother and me like we were trying to pull a fast one. “They talked about bombing people in a group chat?” She paused and let that sink in. “Like, seriously? Grown men? Real bombs? In a *group chat*?” When we mentioned that they had accidentally invited a journalist and that some of them were outside the US, she was incredulous. “Do they even know how group chats work?”
Around the table, people talked about not buying fruit that came from the US, avoiding products they used to rely on, cancelling streaming services. The teen whose parent is cancelling streaming services was unimpressed, but consoled herself that “at least TikTok is Chinese.”
With that, we are treated to a TikTok video of NDP leader Jagmeet Singh demonstrating how he ties his turban while he talks about his Conservative opponent. (For the non-Canadians, the NDP is the furthest left of the three major Canadian political parties; we are having an election on April 28.) She calls this “hair porn” and we all watch, fascinated.
Not long after this, we piled into the living room to watch our movie. As we settled in, three families, four children, two dogs, I kept thinking of one of JD Vance’s lines from the leaked Signal chat, one which has been on repeat in my head, though not in the way he meant it. “I think we are making a mistake,” he wrote.
For once, I think the VP got it right. Maybe we should throw him in the backyard with the dogs.
Persistence and Pedagogy 
👏👏👏👏 to the 16-year-old’s assessment. It’s exactly right!
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Watching teenagers try to take in the chaos is actively hilarious. The whole Signal fiasco has been some sort of breaking point for them. They are just over adults who think they can run a country when they can’t even handle basic social media etiquette.
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I have a 14 year old who is over politics too, but who is also a caring, compassionate, sensitive, extremely liberal American child who is terrified about what is happening here and the ramifications that ripple outwards. I think your 14 year old and your friend’s 16 year old are 100% correct. “Like, seriously? Grown men?” and “We threw them into the back yard with the dogs” are perfectly reasonable reactions.
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Amanda,
As long as those backyard dogs are rabid and named Cujo, go for it. Also, watch the cold call of SNL this week. Hint: Group chat featuring that wise Miss 16’s doppelgängers. And, do have a look at my VP visits Greenland FB post. Canadians will love it.
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What is going on in USA and with its involvement outside goes agains common sense, normal human behaviour and even kindergartners’ logic.
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Ugh. So many mistakes. I think it’s great your children are part of these conversations. They’ll be better informed and ready to help make decisions (and vote) for a world that matters to them.
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The youth are not here to play! Their assessments are often clear and unvarnished. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know your teens through these conversations. Even as we’re amused, their takes also give us lots of food for thought.
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First off, grown men is not necessarily the same as adult men. They seemed a lot like boys on their video games. Second, the 14-year-old and the party reaction gave me flashbacks to being at my parents’ parties and watching the fireworks over Nixon and Watergate. My parents had a few friends who almost got thrown in the backyard. So much of this would be just eye roll- inducing if it weren’t so destructive and mean-spirited.
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