Teamwork

As the father of three small children, I get exposed to a fair amount of kid's television. My wife and I have noticed a disturbing theme running through a lot of these shows. It seems that none of the characters can ever achieve anything independently. Problems are only ever solved when the characters work as a team. Witness the song form the Wonder Pets: "What's gonna work? Teamwork!"

Personally, I want my kids to be independent. While the ability to work as part of a team is useful, the necessity of working as a team is paralyzing. The only person you're guaranteed to have around 100% of the time is yourself. If the SHTF and you're standing there looking for the other members of your team, you're SOL.

(Of course, this desire for independent kids may simply be a result of changing diapers for the last five years. That and eagerly awaiting the day when they can get their own damn breakfast at 6AM on a Saturday morning.)