We've all done it.
Parents trying to housebreak their kids are told to make a big deal out of the first dump that doesn't land in a diaper...rewards abound for the child who drops a brown trout in Lake Porcelain. I'm guessing there's even some moms and dads who roll video.
It doesn't stop in the bathroom--EVERYTHING our progeny does earns heaps of honor, all in the hope of building our child's self esteem.
Well, knock that s--t off!
A new school of thought says we might be crippling our kids by telling them how brilliant they are--to the point where we're screwing them up.
1 comment:
My mother used to say "it can't be THAT bad, you're still alive!" and "a little pain builds character". How I thought she really disliked us kids. Like mother-like daughter, now I'm a baby boomer Mom with 3 new adults roaming the world, and I observe they are much stronger individuals, able to handle today's tough world because I didn't worry so much about detroying their karma, being their best friend or trying to ferret out every germ in the house for fear something "might" rock their world the wrong way. And, I'm so glad I had the courage to do it. They survived teasing at school, difficult homework assignments (that they actually had to figure out), cold weather days, bad school lunches (aka right-of-passage stuff), being resonsible for themselves. They also received unconditional love, encouragement and consistency in return. Be a strong parent and you'll raise strong kids. My parents would tell us that if you take the time to raise your kids well, they won't come home as adults and eat all your food. I've learned that when kids learn to solve their dilemmas and tough out the rough stuff, they grow in self esteem, build life skills and succeed. What a wonderful payback for a parent.
In our house we call it "Mommy Love".
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