So you raise at least two horrible people.
I would not brag about that if I were you.
Well I figure you give your kids “choices” so they learn HOW to decide.
Our oldest is a bonafide rocket scientist, a valedictorian, and working on some of the Mars designs. Our daughter is a biomedical engineer working on heart devices at a large medical device firm.
The secret belongs to my wife. She read to them constantly from birth through when they could manage it themselves. She instilled curiosity in them, and a desire to learn and discover.
THAT — just behind teaching wholesome values — is the biggest thing you can do for your child to set them on a path for success.
Her daughter Anne Wojcicki married Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin. She is now his ex-wife. The marriage did not last very long.
She and Brin founded Passarrelle Investment Co in 2014, a real estate company focuses on redeveloping downtown Los Altos, CA. She leads Los Altos Community Investments development group. Some of her projects have been good. The new State Street Market (where the old Beau Sejour was located) is a really nice addition to town. Have you tried eating there yet? Great food and a nice ambience.
“Don’t do anything for your kids that they can do for themselves”
Wow, that is probably the #1 argument I with my wife, make the kid do it herself.
One rule I made as a father; no one get a drivers license without two years experience with a lawnmower.
I also taught them how to use a toilet plunger. Rule number one for that task is “close your mouth”
Spank them (when they small, obviously).
She raised 3 corporate demons.
The most important rules I would share:
When my boys were young, they got in a mud fight. They came up to me, covered in mud, head to toe, laughing. I laughed too. From that moment on, they did their own laundry. There was no screaming on my part. I just told them that it’s time to learn a new skill. They needed a step-ladder to reach to the bottom of the machine, but they figured it out. They were excited. It was a fun day. I never did their laundry again. They soon found out they were the only children in their class who did their own laundry. They were proud that I trusted them with the job.
We figured out that the way to raise responsible kids was to give them as much responsiblity as they could handle. Long before they could drive a car, they learned how to use our tractor, and once they figured that out, they learned to use it with a trailer. The more we showed them that we trusted them with real jobs, they more they respected us. When they asked their dad if they could have a fire, Dad taught them how to chop the wood, and how to build a fire. They needed a little nudge when they turned 16 and had to get a job, but once they were hired, they realized there was a connection between how hard they worked and how much money they had. Since then, they’ve always managed to make their own money and they launched more easily than most kids.
Robert Heinlein beat her to this by 50 years: “Don’t handicap your children by making their lives easy.”
Esther - stfu - no one really cares
Some parents these days don’t teach their kids anything. They just ship them off to schools when they’re old enough and let the teachers try to catch those kids up with the kids that did get taught at home.
She gets paid to write this drivel?
My oldest is studying Aerospace Engineering and is in AFROTC. My youngest is a U.S. Marine. I think my wife and I did alright.
This is so true. When my sons were very young, hubby said I should make them do the dishes. I thought that was asking too much of them. I could do it quicker, they couldn’t reach the sink, I’d have to re-wash them, etc, etc.
I realized years later, that hubby was right. It didn’t matter that the dishes weren’t perfectly washed (how dirty could they be?) or that it took them longer than it would have taken me. The point was, that they had some skin in the game and were learning an how to do an everyday job-skill that SOMEONE had to do each day.
Now, when my grand-children ask if they can wash the dishes, I pull the chairs for them to stand on up to the sink, start the water, add some detergent, and let them have at it. (We are old-fashioned, our home was built in the mid-80’s when we were broke as heck and have no built-in dishwasher-—we figured that would come later when we had “extra funds”)
Yes, the dishes aren’t done perfectly, but they have a good time and feel a sense of accomplishment. As they get older, they do a better job at it. It matters not that they are usually soaking wet when the dish-washing is complete so then have to head to the bathroom for a bubble bath. Everyone and everything ends up clean, including the kitchen floor.
The point is, you can’t wait until your child is “old enough to take on responsibilities’. You have to start it at an early age. Thankfully, my son learned from my mistakes (himself having to learn late in life as to how to wash dishes or clothes), and has even his three year doing her chores. She is in charge of drying the bowls and putting them on the correct shelf. That was the job her older sister had previously.
Mothers especially coddle their children way too much. We do not want them to face too many challenges or put themselves in a situation that will upset them. That’s just our nurturing way. That’s why children need fathers in their life. Great fathers challenge their children to step out there and put themselves in the front of any situation and teach them to problem-solve in a way that mothers cannot do.
Wonder if she can define successful. Just because your a doctor or ceo doesn’t, necessarily mean your successful. It just means you have money. Plenty of miserable rich people out there.
I read this article earlier.
And I thought: Many kids set their alarms, wash dishes, make their own decisions, etc. That alone can’t be the reason her daughters are CEOs and a doctor.
Yet, she writes many articles doling out parenting advice as if she’s an expert because her daughters became CEOs and a doctor.
So, I searched further:
(1) Her kids grew up in the 1980’s when most kids were home alone all day taking care of themselves. Compared to other parents back then, this woman was a helicopter parent.
(2) Notice how she wrote, “There were many unpopular parenting rules I followed as a young, single mother.” But, other articles say she’s been married for 60 years to the father of her daughters.
(3) Her husband is a physics professor at Stanford, and she has a graduate degree, too. They sent their kids to Harvard and Yale. This sounds like a wealthy family.
So, take her advice with a grain of salt.
I can attest to it working
Read later.