I feel like I am seeing more and more toddlers on leashes these days. And I have to admit that I have a visceral reaction to seeing a child harnessed to their parent like a pet.
It's true, I tend to give the parent the cut eye for the parenting fail. But when I started to research this post, I'll admit, I had a small change of heart.
Remember how sanctimonious you were before you had kids?
I remember well being a young couple and watching parents with their kids and coming up with a long list of things that we would never do as parents.
Of course, we have broken almost all of them. Haven't you?
We swore we would never:
My house looks just like your house right now. Toys lying around that have no home, half-finished art projects, books piled on the counter and corners of tissue paper floating around under the couch.
It is a little much.
After writing about spanking yesterday, and reading the comments of the people who spanked and were spanked. I have to admit my mind has not been changed, the bottom line is that I do not condone hitting children. So, I was wondering what I would I do if I witnessed a parent spanking a child?
Would I step in? Would I just shoot dirty looks? Would I walk away muttering and tweeting? Would I take a moment to understand what was going on? Would I hand them a card from the Parenting Network and then move on?
Do you ever spank your kids?
I don't know anyone who will admit to spanking their kids. Most people will admit to overwhelming anger, to losing their cool, possibly to the occasional rougher-than-normal placement, some to the occasional smack -- but calm, cool spanking as a discipline technique?
Everywhere I turn I keep hearing about Elf on a Shelf. Parents in the schoolyard are talking about what a wonder it is, there are news reports about it increasing the magic of Christmas, and it is all over the Internet. And now there is even an animated TV show about it. There are even funny but not suitable for little children photos.
What is this new "family tradition" of The Elf on a Shelf? It is a wooden elf that comes complete with storybook. The Elf, so the story goes, has magical qualities; he watches the kids during the day and then goes back to report to Santa each night. The Elf is a playful little guy so he re-appears each morning in a different place [note to parents: you have to remember to move it nightly], to scare... I mean... observe... no, I mean delight the children each day.
Have you seen the video of the two boys spreading flour all over their house? It has over 2 million hits on YouTube and keeps growing.
Seems that mom wasn't feeling well and headed to the bathroom for a longer than normal visit and forgot to lock the safety latch on the cupboard. Her boys drag the bag of flour out and make their own mosh pit. Her reaction as she finds the mess? She repeats "Oh my Gosh!" about 100 times, grabs her video camera and puts it on YouTube, ostensibly for her relatives.
Are constant tantrums a part of your everyday life? Is the yelling and screaming getting you down? Are your old methods of time-outs, the naughty chair and yelling back not working anymore? There is a new method available, and it is free, thanks to the Yale Parenting Center.
(I actually don't want to make fun of the Yale Center, which is one of the few places out there that is doling out parenting advice based on actual research.)
"Study Finds Every Style of Parenting Produces Disturbed, Miserable Adults", reads the headline in satiric newspaper, The Onion.
The satiric blurb which was highlighting the absurdity of many parenting studies was taken a little too seriously by nervous parents who inundated the real, unconnected and slightly annoyed, California Parenting Institute with concerned calls.
One of my children is a holder. I won't tell you which one, but one of them can avoid going to the bathroom for days. Our family joke is that he is grinding diamonds in there.
It's been a problem for years (though I have to admit it is getting better) and if any of your kids does it, you will understand some of the agony that we have been through in trying to get him to go empty his bowels. Because when he holds it for a couple of days he is grumpy, tired, he feels sick and it can affect the whole family.
Emma WavermanEmma Waverman writes five days a week about the chaos of modern family life here at MSN.ca. She is the co-author of the family cookbook Whining and Dining: Mealtime Survival for Picky Eaters and Families Who Love Them and is hoping to one day to finish her certification as a parenting coach. She lives with her three kids, ranging from tween to grade schooler, and husband in Toronto. Emma has written for a variety of national parenting and lifestyle magazines and papers. When she’s is not making typos, telling you what she thinks, and thinking about dinner - you can find her on Twitter at @emmawaverman. You can contact Emma at embracingchaos@hotmail.ca
Spoon feeding isn't making childeren obese!!! It is the garbage they are eating and the lack of exercise!
onMy daughter is 10 months and she is about 50/50 between spoon feeding and self feeding. She starts her meal with the goopy stuff that requires a spoon, and ends it with eating the finger foods. I can understand how spoon feeding could lead to obesity if its forced, but you've also got to teach your children to communicate/ learn how to read them. When I'm spoon feeding my daughter, when shes full, she tends to close her eyes and put her hand up. Try once or twice more, same reaction, shes done. Its not so much the method the food goes in the mouth, but the idea of "cleaning your plate" that creates the problem. If a person has a child self feeding, they can still make them eat beyond satisfaction. Not the method but the attitude!
on
