listening to your parents II

I've been feeling slightly weird about how I criticized my parents for justifying themselves/their advice poorly when I was younger. I just stumbled across a possible counterpoint which has helped me gain some perspective:

But you don't give a kid the entire picture right away. First, you make damn sure he doesn't fall off the cliff. As he or she gets older, you can tell her more about mountain climbing.

Look - there's no such thing as "the entire picture". You could go on forever about the "entire picture". And I think the gun thing is a good example. You don't teach safe gun handling to a toddler. You scare the living shit out of him about even going near one first. Later, you explain how to handle one. He may feel burned that he was first taught to fear them at all costs. If he tells you of this trauma, you slap him in the head and tell him not to be such a wuss.

No, I am not entirely serious. I am burlesquing my point in order to more clearly make it.

I get this. I guess what you say to your kids really depends on what issue you're instructing them and how capable they are of understanding more complicated reasons.