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.
I’m glad that you let them have a life. ;)
Peeple act like a leash is equivalent to a choke chain, for heaven’t sakes.
Why is it ok to hold a child by the hand but not by a harness? You are holding him or her either way.
In no way are you treating your kid like a dog.
I have five kids and did not have to leash any of them. I’d say they were well trained. However, any one who has a one to two year old so perfectly and majestically trained that he or she will never ever spontaneously jump out or run off. . .
and has such command and concentration that, no matter what the situation, will never for a moment lose sight of one of their kids. . .
what can I say but you get the Perfect Person award.
I had my very compliant 8 year old almost get offed in a Costco parking lot. I was holding her little sister’s hand! My 8 year old was day dreaming and suddenly took a skip and ran almost unsalvageable in front of an oncoming car.
THANK GOD I saw it and wasn’t looking at my key or a puddle or in the direction of a horn and screamed her name JUST IN TIME.
THANK GOD she stopped dead in her tracks and avoided serious injury or death.
The best of kids, even the oldest of kids, will do sudden and whacky things some times. If they are 1 or 2 or 3, even if you are a stellar parent, expect it.
And if you think a leash will help you in crowds or hazardous conditions, by all means use one and do not apologize to the Perfect Parents With Perfect Children crowd.
My mom put me on one in Europe. It was a family joke, but I was not in the least harmed and she was a very good mother.
Thank you. People who look down their noses at us who have our hands full with life and judge how we treat our children by putting them on a leash (btw, the leash is attached to a harness around the child’s chest, not their neck like an animal) tick me off.
Thank you. People who look down their noses at us who have our hands full with life and judge how we treat our children by putting them on a leash (btw, the leash is attached to a harness around the child’s chest, not their neck like an animal) tick me off.
P.S. I put my daughter on a leash when she was quite small and at age 6 she was reading at the 10th grade level.