Yes, I have four children and I don’t care who you are, you cannot control a squirming, screaming 2 year old 100% of the time. Now, buzz of, Brown Deer Tick.
Well....I am the mother of 4 and only used the leash on the second. When the oldest was 13, I had 3 more children each only one year apart.
Taking a 2 and 1 year olds, and newborn out for a walk was a challenge all by itself. The 2 year old was a easily distracted ( especially trucks) and was so excited and thrilled to see one he would simply bolt.
Besides this our home was on a busy Main Street. For mere reasons of safety a leash was an absolute necessity. Especially in a parking lot.
In a parking lot are you able to hold the hands of a one year old and two year old while ( at the same time) unbuckling a newborn out of her car seat? ( Just wondering how many hands you may have been blessed with.)
So?....I contend that it is far less abusive to put an impulsive 2 year old on a leash than to straight jacket him in a stroller, or ( worse still) keep the 2 year old, 1 year old, and newborn imprisoned in the house.
But...I can see you are a much better mother than I am, and with the merely look of the evil eye could stop any bolting two year old in his tracks, even if you could only see the back of his head.
By the way, my 3 younger kids started college at 13, 12, and 13. All finished all general college requirements and Calculus III by the age of 15. The two younger had B.S. degrees in math at 18. The older of these two has a masters in math at 20. These young women are now married and mothers themselves and are strong in the gospel.
The oldest (now 24) will soon finish a masters in accounting. He is a nationally and internally ranked athlete, and has traveled the world representing the U.S. As an older teen he worked for several years for our church in the Baltics and as a result is completely fluent in Russian. He too is faithful in our church.
Leashing the second of my children didn't seem to hold him back any.
I hope your children are doing as well.
Totally agree with you! When my children wanted to disobey or wouldn’t listen to their mom, they got a whoopin’. A few times of a sting to the butt works wonders for kids who don’t like to hold hands when told to. To me, leashes for children are for parents who want the easy way out of controlling their children. People think I was paranoid when I tell them how closely my girls were supervised when little. I call it good parenting. You don’t tell a child “no” once, and then ignore them and expect to find that they minded you. If they can’t mind you and hold your hand, if they like to “bolt”, then they get to stay home with dad or with a babysitter! Or they get to sit in a shopping cart or strapped in a stroller. They might figure out sooner than later that they would rather be out and about with mom.